Science Operations

LBTO Science Operations

 

Welcome to the Science Operations Web Pages for the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO), an international collaboration among institutions in the United States, Italy and Germany. LBT Corporation Members are: The University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona university system; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy; LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Germany, representing the Max-Planck Society, the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, and Heidelberg University; The Ohio State University, and The Research Corporation, on behalf of The University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota and University of Virginia.

Large Binocular Telescope – Image complements of Ryan Ketterer

Located on the summit of Mt. Graham, LBTO aspires to be the first of the ELTs and one of the leading 8-m class telescopes. Comprised of privately funded or national institutes and consortiums of universities, the goal of LBTO and its partners is to ensure that its community of users are receiving the highest-quality astronomical data.

On these pages you will find the information needed to prepare for observations or writing proposals and details about the instruments available.

Additional details about the Mt. Graham International Observatory (MGIO) site can be found on the MGIO web pages. Additional technical details about the mechanics and optics of the Large Binocular Telescope can be found on the main LBTO website.

 

LBTO Science News

Public Data Policy Expanded

Beginning February 1st 2024, all science data in the archive will be publicly available after the proprietary period for that data has ended. Therefore, all partner data acquired after February 1st 2024 with the 12 month default proprietary period will …

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Unveiling the population of dual and lensed active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsec separations

Unveiling the population of dual and lensed active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsec separations is an exciting Nature paper featuring the LBT AO system at work. The team describes a new selection method to obtain a sample of dual/lensed active galactic …

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Astronomy in the Near-Infrared: Observing Strategies and Data Publications

As any user in the NIR astronomical community may already recognize, the resources geared towards near infrared observing are few and far between.  The release of Astronomy in the Near-Infrared- Observing Strategies and Data Publications by Dr. Jochen Heidt provides …

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LBTO Instrument News

LBTI Instrument Status

As of Sept. 9, 2024, LBTI’s camera cryostat (NIC) remains off the telescope for ongoing maintenance and upgrade work, with some major uncertainty on the observing modes that will be available for 2024B and 2025A.  PIs of accepted 2024B programs …

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SX ASM Removed for Liquid Gap Contamination

Update Sept 20, 2024:
Assessments by the AO team have revealed that the rear-side surface of the SX thin shell (TS5) suffered significant water damage that will very likely require recoating.  Planning for recoating the thin shell is happening now …

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LBTO Restart 2024

Summer Shutdown 2024 Wraps up on Aug 30, 2024 with the first on-sky checkout of our instruments taking place Aug 30 weather permitting.
Update Sept 2 2024: On UT Sept 1 the Telescope experienced a water intrusion event.  The SX …

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