Program: GS-2009A-Q-22

In order to promote Gemini within Australia in the International Year of Astronomy 2009, and to encourage high school students to participate in astronomy and science, we propose a 'Gemini Imaging Contest' for Australian high schools. Schools will be asked to identify a southern celestial object and explain why they think it is worthy of study with Gemini. The winning school will be awarded 1 hour of Gemini South time to image their selected object with GMOS. This proposal builds on the hugely successful Canadian Gemini Imaging Contests, where the winning images have made the front pages of newspapers and astronomy magazines, collected nearly half a million web hits, and resulted in an ApJ publication.