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Fact
Sheet - SOAR
Telescope
- The
Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR)
Telescope is a 4.1-meter telescope
designed to produce the best quality
images of any observatory in its class
in the world.
- The
SOAR Telescope is located nearly 9,000
feet above sea level on Cerro
Pachón ,
at the western edge of the Andes Mountains
in Chile . This remote peak, one of
the best observing sites in the world,
provides clear, dry air which minimizes
image distortion and enhances infrared
observations.
- The
project is funded by a partnership
between Michigan State University
, the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, the U.S. National
Optical Astronomy Observatories, and
the country of Brazil . The nation
of Chile is a de facto partner.
- Total
cost of the project is $43 million,
including $32 million for initial
construction and 18 years of operations
costs. MSU provided $6 million of
the construction cost. In return,
MSU astronomers will have 12 percent
of the available observing time per
year, or approximately 40 nights.
- MSU
astronomers will use the SOAR Telescope
to study dark energy (supernovae and
galaxy clusters), dark matter (evolution
of structures, galaxies and galaxy
clusters) and chemical evolution (stellar
processes, elemental abundances in
ancient stars, and evolution of stellar
populations).
- The
SOAR Telescope simultaneously operates
multiple instruments to increase efficiency
and provide astronomers a suite of
tools to enhance observations. SOAR's
instruments include:
- The
Goodman Spectrograph for visible
wavelength spectroscopy
- The
Optical Bench Spectrometer for integrated
field unit spectroscopy
- The
SOAR Optical Imager
- The
Phoenix Infrared Echelle Spectrograph
- The
Ohio State Infrared Imaging Spectrograph
- The
Spartan Infrared Camera
- The
Spartan Infrared Camera was designed
and built at MSU. It will give astronomers
the ability to view stars, galaxies
and other objects whose images are
much harder to see at visible wavelengths
due to absorption by interstellar
dust or because the light of distant
objects is red-shifted to infrared
wavelengths.
- The
telescope's primary mirror is 4.1
meters in diameter and 10 centimeters
thick. The mirror is supported by
120 electromechanical force feedback
actuators. The optical train also
included light-weight glass secondary
and tertiary mirrors, and a fast tip-tilt
gimbal for the tertiary mirror for
first-order wavefront corrections
at 50 Hertz.
- A
remote observing room, located in
MSU's Biomedical and Physical Sciences
Building, will allow astronomers and
students to see the images captured
by the SOAR Telescope.
- The
room has two high-resolution projectors
displaying a view of the SOAR control
panels that is 12 feet wide by 5 feet
high. This display will include images
captured by the SOAR instruments,
and views of the Southern Hemisphere
night sky from Cerro
Pachón ,
allowing visitors to easily "look
over the shoulders" of the working
ast ron omers.
- MSU
SOAR Telescope contacts:
- Wolfgang
Bauer, professor and chairperson,
Department of Physics and Ast ron
omy, (517) 355-9200, Ext. 2015,
or bauer@pa.msu.edu
- Jack
Baldwin, professor, Department of
Physics and Ast ron omy, (517) 355-9200,
Ext. 2411, or baldwi80@msu.edu
- Timothy
Beers, professor, Department of
Physics and Ast ron omy, (517) 355-9200,
Ext. 2416, or beers@msu.edu
- Megan
Donahue, associate professor, Department
of Physics and Astronomy, (517)
355-9200, Ext. 2418, or donahu42@msu.edu
- Horace
Smith, professor, Department of
Physics and Ast ron omy, (517) 355-9200,
Ext. 2415, or smith@msu.edu
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