The new MMT

Dan Blanco; Michael Alegria; Shawn Callahan; Dusty Clark; Brian Comisso; Craig B. Foltz; J. Duane Gibson; Carol Heller; Ron James; Bill Kindred; Steve King; Cory Knop; Howard Lester; John McAfee; Alejandra A. E. Milone; Ricardo Ortiz; Timothy E. Pickering; Phil Ritz; Barbara Russ; Gary Schmidt; Dennis Smith; Peter Spencer; Tom Trebisky; Ken Van Horn; Steven C. West; Court Wainwright; Grant Williams; J. T. Williams

doi:10.1117/12.551963

28 September 2004 The new MMT

Dan Blanco, Michael Alegria, Shawn Callahan, Dusty Clark, Brian Comisso, Craig B. Foltz, J. Duane Gibson, Carol Heller, Ron James, Bill Kindred, Steve King, Cory Knop, Howard Lester, John McAfee, Alejandra A. E. Milone, Ricardo Ortiz, Timothy E. Pickering, Phil Ritz, Barbara Russ, Gary Schmidt, Dennis Smith, Peter Spencer, Tom Trebisky, Ken Van Horn, Steven C. West, Court Wainwright, Grant Williams, J. T. Williams

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5489, Ground-based Telescopes; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.551963
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

Originally commissioned in 1979, the Multiple Mirror Telescope was a highly innovative and successful facility that pioneered many of the technologies that are used in the new generation of 8 to 10 m class telescopes. After 19 years of operations the MMT was decommissioned in March of 1998: the enclosure was modified, the optics support structure was replaced, and a single 6.5-meter primary mirror was installed and aluminized in-situ. First light for the new MMT was celebrated on May 13, 2000. Operations began with an f/9 optical configuration compatible with existing instruments. Work has continued commissioning two new optical configurations that will serve a suite of new instruments: an f/15 deformable secondary mirror and adaptive optics facility that has obtained diffraction-limited images; and an f/5.4 secondary mirror and refractive corrector that provides a one-degree diameter field of view. The wide-field instrument suite includes two fiber-fed bench spectrographs, a robotic fiber positioner, and a wide-field imaging camera.

Citation Download Citation

Dan Blanco, Michael Alegria, Shawn Callahan, Dusty Clark, Brian Comisso, Craig B. Foltz, J. Duane Gibson, Carol Heller, Ron James, Bill Kindred, Steve King, Cory Knop, Howard Lester, John McAfee, Alejandra A. E. Milone, Ricardo Ortiz, Timothy E. Pickering, Phil Ritz, Barbara Russ, Gary Schmidt, Dennis Smith, Peter Spencer, Tom Trebisky, Ken Van Horn, Steven C. West, Court Wainwright, Grant Williams, and J. T. Williams "The new MMT", Proc. SPIE 5489, Ground-based Telescopes, (28 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.551963

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