9 Available Instruments

The following is the list of instruments available in the current trimester/semester. Another summary of available telescopes and instrumentation can be found here.

If one or more PI(s) is listed, then a signature is required from one of these people. The instrument PI should be contacted well before the proposal deadline for consultation about the observations as well as schedule constraints. It is possible that a PI instrument may not be available despite it's being listed here.

In most cases, there is extensive information about the instruments available with links from the telescope web sites.

LBT

Prime Focus Cameras

(f/1.125, no signature required): The Large Binocular Cameras (LBC) are wide-field prime-focus imagers covering a field of view of about 23 x 25 arcmin. LBC-Blue is optimized to work in the UBV bands from 320 to 500nm. LBC-Red is optimized to work in the RIz bands from 500 to 1000nm. Please see the informational links that can be accessed from http://zeus.as.arizona.edu/~dmccarthy/TAC/index.htm and http://lbc.mporzio.astro.it/.

MMT

Megacam

(f/5, no signature required): Megacam is a large mosaic CCD camera offering a 24' × 24' FOV at 0.08"/pix. Questions about Megacam should be directed to Brian McLeod (bmcleod@cfa.harvard.edu). A manual for MEGACAM is available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mmti/megacam.html.

Hectospec

(f/5, no signature required): Hectospec is a moderate-resolution, multi-object spectrograph fed by 300 optical fibers that are positioned by two robots, offering 5770Å of spectral coverage at ~6Å FWHM in the 350-1000 nm band. See http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#Hectospec and http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mmti/hectospec.html. Questions about this instrument should be directed to Dan Fabricant (dgf@cfa.harvard.edu) or Nelson Caldwell (caldwell@cfa.harvard.edu). Important: Hectospec is scheduled in a "queue" mode. The time to observe a configuration is the exposure time plus 30 minutes of overhead. For exposures of 3 hours or more, assume 60 minutes of overhead, as these observations usually require two setups. Proposals should request the total number of nights or fractional nights needed, including overheads and lunation. Observers should read the description of observer responsiblities when using Hectospec available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mmti/hectospec.html.

Hectochelle

(f/5, no signature required): Hectochelle adds a high-dispersion capability (R~32,000) over single, filter-selected orders using 240 of Hectospec's 300 fibers. See http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#Hectochelle and http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mmti/hectochelle.html. Questions about this instrument should be directed to Andy Szentgyorgyi (saint@cfa.harvard.edu) or hectochelle@cfa.arizona.edu. Important: Hectochelle is scheduled in a "queue" mode. The time to observe a configuration is the exposure time plus 30 minutes of overhead. For exposures of 3 hours or more, assume 60 minutes of overhead, as these observations usually require two setups. Proposals should request the total number of nights or fractional nights needed, including overheads and lunation. Observers should read the description of observer responsiblities when using Hectochelle available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mmti/hectochelle.html.

SWIRC

(f/5, no signature required): SAO Wide-field InfraRed Camera, a 2048 × 2048 pix J- and H-band imager offering a 5' × 5' FOV at 0.15"/pix. See http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mmti/swirc.html for more details. Although now a facility instrument, proposers are urged to contact Warren Brown at CfA before submitting a proposal.

Maestro

(f/5, Jill Bechtold): MMT Advanced Echelle SpecTROgraph, a single-object, high-throughput spectrograph at R~80,000 for the 320-1000 nm range. In its commissioning stage. Information can be found at http://boojum.as.arizona.edu/~jill/MAESTRO_2007/index.html.

Blue

(f/9, no signature required): Blue Channel spectrograph is a low- to medium-resolution spectrograph optimized for the 320-800 nm band. See http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#MMTSpec and http://www.mmto.org/instruments/bcupdate.shtml.

Blue+Echellette

(f/9, no signature required): Blue Channel spectrograph in cross-dispersed mode with the Echellete grating. Offers ~90 km/s resolution from 320-800 nm. See http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#MMTSpec and http://www.mmto.org/instruments/bcupdate.shtml.

Red

(f/9, no signature required): Red Channel spectrograph is a low- to medium-resolution spectrograph optimized for the 500-1000 nm band. See http://www.mmto.org/instruments/rcupdate.shtml and http://www.mmto.org/instruments/rc_upgrade.shtml.

PISCES

(f/9, Don McCarthy): PISCES is a wide-field near-IR 1024 × 1024 pix HgCdTe camera offering a 3.1' × 3.1' FOV at 0.18"/pix. See http://www.astro.umass.edu/~rfinn/pisces.html.

SPOL

(f/9, Gary Schmidt): The CCD Imaging/Spectropolarimeter combines polarizing optics and a transmission-optics spectrograph to provide high-throughput for the 380-900 nm band. See http://chinadoll.as.arizona.edu/~schmidt/spol/spol.html and http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#SPOL.

For the MMT f/15 instruments, one must indicate both the science instrument and the Adaptive Optics top box (MMTAO or LGS), even if one doesn't want to drive the adaptive secondary. Signatures for both are required. Write the combined setup in the form as, e.g., ``MMTAO+Clio''.

MMTAO

As with any other AO system, the degree of image correction falls with increasing airmass, increasing angular distance of AO guide star from the science target, and fainter guide star fluxes. For more detailed information, please look at http://www.mmtao.org.

Observers are reminded that at this point the AO, ARIES, PISCES, MIRAC-BLINC and CLIO teams should be included in the proposal and publication process.

LGS

(f/15, Michael Lloyd-Hart): MMT Laser Guidestar System. In its commissioning stage.

ARIES

(f/15, Don McCarthy): The Arizona infraRed Imager and Echelle Spectrograph provides several modes of diffraction-limited imaging and spectroscopy. See http://mmtao.org/aries/, http://mmtao.org/instruments.html#aries, and http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#ARIES.

CLIO

(f/15, Phil Hinz): CLIO is a 1.6-5 imager offering FOVs of 16" × 13" in L' and M and 9" × 7" in H and K. See http://mmtao.org/clio/ and http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#CLIO.

BLINC+MIRAC4

(f/15, William Hoffman or Phil Hinz): Mid-InfraRed Array Camera 4, a 256 × 256 pix mid-infrared imager for wavelengths of 2-26 µm, operating at 5 K and used in combination with the Bracewell Infrared Nulling Cryostat. See http://mmtao.org/wiki/doku.php/mmtao:mirac4_blinc, http://mmtao.org/instruments.html#mirac, and http://www.mmto.org/public_access/index.shtml#MIRAC.

Magellan I (Baade)

IMACS f/2

(f/11, no signature required): Inamori Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph, a versatile wide-field imager and multi-object spectrograph. IMACS has two cameras; the f/2 "short" camera provides a 27.4' FOV (vignetted at the corners) at 0.20"/pix See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/imacs/. The MMTF (The Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter) can be used with IMACS.

IMACS f/4

(f/11, no signature required): Inamori Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph, a versatile wide-field imager and multi-object spectrograph. IMACS has two cameras; the f/4.3 "long" camera provides a 15.4' × 15.4' FOV at 0.11"/pix. See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/imacs/. The MMTF (The Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter) can be used with IMACS.

PANIC

(f/11, no signature required): Persson's Auxiliary Nasmyth Infrared Camera, a general purpose 1-2.5 imager. See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/panic/.

MagIC

(f/11, no signature required): Raymond and Beverly Sackler Magellan Instant Camera, a high-throughput direct CCD imager providing a 2.35' square FOV in the 320-1000 nm band. See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/magic/.

Magellan II (Clay)

LDSS3

(f/11, no signature required): Low Dispersion Survey Spectrograph 3 is a high-efficiency, wide-field multislit spectrograph mounted at the Nasmyth West port. See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/ldss-3/.

MIKE

(f/11, no signature required): Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle is a high-throughput double echelle spectrograph mounted on the Nasmyth East platform. See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/mike/.

MIKE+fibers

(f/11, Mario Mateo (Michigan)): MIKE can be used in combination with a fiber system. See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/mike-fibers/.

MagE

(f/11, no signature required): The Magellan Echellette Spectrograph is a moderate-resolution, high-throughput, single-object optical echellette spectrograph mounted on the center-folded port (FP2). See http://www.lco.cl/telescopes-information/magellan/instruments/mage/.

Bok 90"

90Prime

(prime, no signature required): 90" Prime Focus Wide-Field Imager (90Prime) is a mosaic camera offering a 1.6° × 1.6° FOV at 0.45"/pix. We own UBVRI and SDSS u' g' r' i' z'. One may also borrow, with permission, Rogier Windhorst's galaxy-SED filters. For the purpose of observing-time calculations, please assume 1.5 arcsec seeing (90prime has 0.47 arcsec pixels), Kitt Peak sky values, the KPNO or 90" CCD count rates (with modifications made by comparing http://adansonia.as.arizona.edu/~edo/90prime1_qe.pdf to the nominal KPNO curve). Please remember that NOAO's "CCDTIME" program gives overly optimistic estimates. Although now a facility instrument, proposers are urged to contact Ed Olszewski before submitting a proposal. See http://stjukshon.as.arizona.edu/~edo/90prime/index.shtml.

B&C

(f/9, no signature required): The Boller & Chivens Spectrograph offers medium-resolution (2-5Å) and good throughput from ~320-1000 nm. See http://james.as.arizona.edu/~psmith/90inch/90finst.html.

B&C+Echellette

(f/9, no signature required): Boller & Chivens Spectrograph used in cross-dispersed mode with an echellette grating for complete 320-800 nm coverage at 1-2Å resolution. See http://james.as.arizona.edu/~psmith/90inch/90finst.html.

PISCES

(f/9, Don McCarthy): PISCES is a wide-field near-IR camera offering a 3.1' × 3.1' FOV at 0.18"/pix. See http://www.astro.umass.edu/~rfinn/pisces.html.

SPOL

(f/9, Gary Schmidt): The CCD Imaging/Spectropolarimeter combines polarizing optics and a transmission-optics spectrograph to provide high-throughput for the 380-900 nm band. See http://chinadoll.as.arizona.edu/~schmidt/spol/spol.html.

256 × 256

(f/45, Marcia Rieke or George Rieke): 256 × 256 pix Near-Infrared Camera. See http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/~marcia/Cam_page/.

FSpec

(f/45, Marcia Rieke or George Rieke): Long-slit 1.4-2.5 µm near-infrared spectrometer. See http://mips.as.arizona.edu/~chad/fspec/.

VATT

VATT4K

(f/9, no signature required): The 4064 × 4064 pix direct imager provides a ~ 13' square FOV from 320-1000 nm. See http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo/R1024/vattinst.html.

Kuiper 61"

Mont4K

(f/13.5, no signature required): This 4096 × 4096 pix CCD imager plus its autoguider is the optical facility instrument of the Kuiper Telescope. See http://james.as.arizona.edu/~psmith/61inch/instruments.html.

SPOL

(f/13.5, Gary Schmidt): The CCD Imaging/Spectropolarimeter combines polarizing optics and a transmission-optics spectrograph to provide high-throughput for the 380-900 nm band. See http://chinadoll.as.arizona.edu/~schmidt/spol/spol.html.

256 × 256

(f/45, Marcia Rieke or George Rieke): 256 × 256 pix Near-Infrared Camera. See http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/~marcia/Cam_page/.

CLIO

(f/13.5, Phil Hinz): CLIO is a 1.6-5 imager offering uses a 320 × 256 InSb 9809 ROIC detector with 30 µm pixels. See http://mmtao.org/clio/.

Mt. Lemmon 60"

PFC

(prime, Steve Larson): The prime focus imager for the 60" telescope.

Several of the PI instruments for the Bok and larger telescopes can be brought to the smaller telescopes as well.

In addition, one may bring private instruments to the telescopes. Always contact observatory personnel well in advance of submitting such a proposal. The TAC requires the signature of the mountain manager or director of the telescope to indicate that the observatory can support the instrument. The signature of the PI of the instrument is also required. Use the indicator ``Special'' for the instrument name in the list of runs and be sure to indicate the secondary cage.

Finally, eyepieces are available for several of the telescopes for educational and public outreach programs. Contact the mountain staff for information.