The Gemini Observatory, which is engaged in various important research observations (including the North Gemini Telescope and the South Gemini Telescope), was hacked earlier this month and suspended operations. Astronomers do not know the motive of the hacker.
The NOIRLab report pointed out that a cyber attack occurred on August 1, which resulted in the forced shutdown and suspension of two telescopes of the Gemini Observatory (Gemini Observatory) located in different locations and with the same configuration, and some small telescopes were also affected.
The agency said the shutdown could affect the telescope’s observation schedule, which begins in February 2024.
One of the telescopes is located on the top of Mount Mauna Kea in Hawaii at an altitude of 4,200 meters. It is called the North Gemini Telescope. It was put into use in 2000. The control center is located at the University of Hawaii at Hilo; The Southern Gemini Telescope, also commissioned in 2000, is located at the Inter-American Observatory in Cerro Tololo, Chile.
For more than 20 years, the Gemini North and Gemini South telescopes have made remarkable achievements, such as helping to unravel why Neptune and Uranus have different appearance colors, taking clear images of the universe’s largest star R136a1, finding invisible small black holes closer to the earth, or discovering Uranus cloud top compounds Would cause the planet to smell like rotten eggs etc.
Astronomers said that the specific nature and source of the cyber attack is not yet clear, nor is the motive of the hackers, but the hackers may recognize the importance of the commercial aerospace industry to the US economy and national security, and associate the United States with space. assets considered a potential threat, at least NASA has been the victim of cyberattacks for years.
(First image source: NOIRLab)
