MMT Overview

MMT Overview

MMTO Partners: UA Steward Observatory, CfA/SAO

MMTO Council: UA (J. Bechtold, D. McCarthy); SAO (D. Fabricant, S. Murray)

Approximate time Sharing: UA (~40%), CfA (~40%), Director (10%), Public Access (~6%), M&E

Public Access Time remaining: (January 29, 2008): Dark (8.5); Gray (-16.5); Bright (40.5)

Smithsonian: TAC and scheduler (S. Kenyon)

Steward's Cognizant Scientist: G. Schmidt

Visitor Policy

Instruments

Instrumentation Updates for 2008A
SWIRC's new Y-band (1.04 micron) filter is available.

Facility Instruments

f/9:: Blue Channel Spectrograph provides low-to-intermediate resolution from 3200-8000 A with resolution as high as 30 km/sec.
Red Channel Spectrograph is optimized for the region 5000 A to 1.0 micron but usable to about 3700 A. Configurations include high-throughput long-slit modes at spectral resolutions from 20 A to about 2 A and prism cross-dispersed modes yielding complete coverage from 4500 A to 1.0 micron at moderate spectral resolution.; Red Channel Spectrograph is optimized for the region 5000 A to 1.0 micron but usable to about 3700 A. Configurations include high-throughput long-slit modes at spectral resolutions from 20 A to about 2 A and prism cross-dispersed modes yielding complete coverage from 4500 A to 1.0 micron at moderate spectral resolution.

Principal Investigator (PI) Instruments and Contact Scientists

f/5 (wide-field):: MegaCam: (B. McLeod) a large mosaic CCD camera with a 24'x24' field, made up of 36 CCDs with 2048x4608 pixels (0.08"/px).
SWIRC: (W. Brown) SAO Widefield InfraRed Camera has three science filters: Y-band (1.02 um), J-band (1.2 um), and H-band (1.6 um), plus a dark slide. The instrument is based on a 2048x2048 pixel HAWAII-2 detector (0.15"/pixel; FOV=5.12 x 5.12 arcmin).
Hectospec: (D. Fabricant) is a moderate-resolution, multiobject optical spectrograph fed by 300 optical fibers. The spectrograph offers 5770Å of spectral coverage at ~6Å resolution in the 350 to 1000 nm band. A higher dispersion grating offering ~3Å resolution is also available.
Hectochelle: (A. Szentgyorgyi) adds a high dispersion capability to Hectospec's moderate dispersion with a second, very large bench-mounted spectrograph using an echelle grating. Hectochelle uses 240 of Hectospec's 300 fibers and Hectospec's robotic positioner and attains R~32,000 (sigma~4 km s-1) over single, filter-selected orders.

f/9:
SPOL: (G. Schmidt) is a CCD imager/spectropolarimeter providing spectral resolutions of 4-15Å from 3800-9000Å. In the imaging mode, polarization maps can be obtained in filtered bandpasses at the seeing limit over a field of view 19" square.
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron wide-field camera (0.18"/px; FOV=3.1 arcmin)

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); SWIRC: (W. Brown) SAO Widefield InfraRed Camera has three science filters: Y-band (1.02 um), J-band (1.2 um), and H-band (1.6 um), plus a dark slide. The instrument is based on a 2048x2048 pixel HAWAII-2 detector (0.15"/pixel; FOV=5.12 x 5.12 arcmin).
Hectospec: (D. Fabricant) is a moderate-resolution, multiobject optical spectrograph fed by 300 optical fibers. The spectrograph offers 5770Å of spectral coverage at ~6Å resolution in the 350 to 1000 nm band. A higher dispersion grating offering ~3Å resolution is also available.
Hectochelle: (A. Szentgyorgyi) adds a high dispersion capability to Hectospec's moderate dispersion with a second, very large bench-mounted spectrograph using an echelle grating. Hectochelle uses 240 of Hectospec's 300 fibers and Hectospec's robotic positioner and attains R~32,000 (sigma~4 km s-1) over single, filter-selected orders.

f/9:
SPOL: (G. Schmidt) is a CCD imager/spectropolarimeter providing spectral resolutions of 4-15Å from 3800-9000Å. In the imaging mode, polarization maps can be obtained in filtered bandpasses at the seeing limit over a field of view 19" square.
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron wide-field camera (0.18"/px; FOV=3.1 arcmin)

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); Hectospec: (D. Fabricant) is a moderate-resolution, multiobject optical spectrograph fed by 300 optical fibers. The spectrograph offers 5770Å of spectral coverage at ~6Å resolution in the 350 to 1000 nm band. A higher dispersion grating offering ~3Å resolution is also available.
Hectochelle: (A. Szentgyorgyi) adds a high dispersion capability to Hectospec's moderate dispersion with a second, very large bench-mounted spectrograph using an echelle grating. Hectochelle uses 240 of Hectospec's 300 fibers and Hectospec's robotic positioner and attains R~32,000 (sigma~4 km s-1) over single, filter-selected orders.

f/9:
SPOL: (G. Schmidt) is a CCD imager/spectropolarimeter providing spectral resolutions of 4-15Å from 3800-9000Å. In the imaging mode, polarization maps can be obtained in filtered bandpasses at the seeing limit over a field of view 19" square.
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron wide-field camera (0.18"/px; FOV=3.1 arcmin)

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); Hectochelle: (A. Szentgyorgyi) adds a high dispersion capability to Hectospec's moderate dispersion with a second, very large bench-mounted spectrograph using an echelle grating. Hectochelle uses 240 of Hectospec's 300 fibers and Hectospec's robotic positioner and attains R~32,000 (sigma~4 km s-1) over single, filter-selected orders.

f/9:
SPOL: (G. Schmidt) is a CCD imager/spectropolarimeter providing spectral resolutions of 4-15Å from 3800-9000Å. In the imaging mode, polarization maps can be obtained in filtered bandpasses at the seeing limit over a field of view 19" square.
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron wide-field camera (0.18"/px; FOV=3.1 arcmin)

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000)
f/9:: SPOL: (G. Schmidt) is a CCD imager/spectropolarimeter providing spectral resolutions of 4-15Å from 3800-9000Å. In the imaging mode, polarization maps can be obtained in filtered bandpasses at the seeing limit over a field of view 19" square.
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron wide-field camera (0.18"/px; FOV=3.1 arcmin)

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron wide-field camera (0.18"/px; FOV=3.1 arcmin)

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000)
f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):: PISCES: (D. McCarthy) a 1-2.5 micron diffraction-limited (0.026"/px; FOV=26") or "wide-field" camera (0.1"/px; FOV=1.8 arcmin)
CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); CLIO: (P. Hinz) a 2-5 micron diffraction-limited camera
BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); BLINC+MIRAC4: (P. Hinz, W. Hoffmann) a nulling interferometer coupled with a 2-25 micron camera
ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000); ARIES: (D. McCarthy) ARizona Infrared imager & Echelle Spectrometer is a versatile 1-5 micron diffraction-limited imager & spectrometer (R=4000; 30,000; 50,000)

Future Instruments and Contact Scientists

f/5 (wide-field):: BinoSpec: (D. Fabricant) an imaging spectrograph with dual 8'x15' fields of view, The spectral range of Binospec is 390 to 1000 nm and has 5000Å of spectral coverage at 6Å resolution to 2100Å of spectral coverage at 2Å resolution.
MMIRS: (B. McLeod) MMT and Magellan Infrared Spectrograph is a wide-field near-IR imager and multi-object spectrograph will offer a maximum resolution of R~3000 with a 0.4 arcsec slit. The final focal scale will be 0.2"/px, providing a 6.8 by 6.8 arcmin field of view for imaging. With slit masks the field of view will be 4 by 6.8 arcmin.
MAESTRO: (J. Bechtold) The MMT Advanced Echelle Spectrograph is a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph with R(theta) = 28,000 (0.7" slit) R=93,000 (0.3" slit). Single exposure wavelength coverage is 3150 to 9850 A with small gaps redward of about 8000 A.

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
LAIRS: (M. Rieke) Lockheed-Arizona Infrared Spectrometer is a 1-2.5 micron imager achieving high spectral and spatial resolution using a tunable filter.
MMT-POL: (C. Packham, T. Jones) will be a 1-4 micron diffraction-limited imaging polarimeter with negligible instrumental polarization.; MMIRS: (B. McLeod) MMT and Magellan Infrared Spectrograph is a wide-field near-IR imager and multi-object spectrograph will offer a maximum resolution of R~3000 with a 0.4 arcsec slit. The final focal scale will be 0.2"/px, providing a 6.8 by 6.8 arcmin field of view for imaging. With slit masks the field of view will be 4 by 6.8 arcmin.
MAESTRO: (J. Bechtold) The MMT Advanced Echelle Spectrograph is a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph with R(theta) = 28,000 (0.7" slit) R=93,000 (0.3" slit). Single exposure wavelength coverage is 3150 to 9850 A with small gaps redward of about 8000 A.

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
LAIRS: (M. Rieke) Lockheed-Arizona Infrared Spectrometer is a 1-2.5 micron imager achieving high spectral and spatial resolution using a tunable filter.
MMT-POL: (C. Packham, T. Jones) will be a 1-4 micron diffraction-limited imaging polarimeter with negligible instrumental polarization.; MAESTRO: (J. Bechtold) The MMT Advanced Echelle Spectrograph is a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph with R(theta) = 28,000 (0.7" slit) R=93,000 (0.3" slit). Single exposure wavelength coverage is 3150 to 9850 A with small gaps redward of about 8000 A.

f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):
LAIRS: (M. Rieke) Lockheed-Arizona Infrared Spectrometer is a 1-2.5 micron imager achieving high spectral and spatial resolution using a tunable filter.
MMT-POL: (C. Packham, T. Jones) will be a 1-4 micron diffraction-limited imaging polarimeter with negligible instrumental polarization.
f/15 (AO – NGS & LGS):: LAIRS: (M. Rieke) Lockheed-Arizona Infrared Spectrometer is a 1-2.5 micron imager achieving high spectral and spatial resolution using a tunable filter.
MMT-POL: (C. Packham, T. Jones) will be a 1-4 micron diffraction-limited imaging polarimeter with negligible instrumental polarization.; MMT-POL: (C. Packham, T. Jones) will be a 1-4 micron diffraction-limited imaging polarimeter with negligible instrumental polarization.