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.
About the Telescope, Support Staff, and the Instruments

View of the SX (Left side of the telescope) taken closed dome by S Allanson, LBTO
The About and Instrument sections provide the users a plethora of information about the science capabilities available at the LBT, and information about the Support resources available. Detailed information is included for our Facility and PI instruments, both capabilities and use.
About Proposal Submission and Script Preparation

Cat’s Eye Nebula with SOUL LUCI1 AO in Ks H2 FeII – B.Rothberg, LBTO
In addition the the About LBTO and Instrument Pages, LBTO has developed a Phase I Tool (PIT) for Proposal Submission which is used by a number of our partners. LBTO Observing Tool (OT) is a tool that allows users to create complex and detailed observing scripts for our facility instruments. This tool allows users to visualize their science script generation.
About observing at our Facility, Obtaining your Data, and Data Dissemination

LBTO Facility – Image compliments of J. Crass, Notre Dame
Whether observing remotely, onsite, or in queue, there are a number of useful tools and links to help prepare for observing runs, monitor the site and weather, etc under Observing with the LBT. Data is accessed in real time through our data archive. Pipelines are in development by various institutions and instrument PI’s.
LBTO Instrument News
LUCI1 Critical MOS error Recovery Status
Mar 13, 2025: All normal modes with LUCI1 are released for science.
N375 and N30 imaging, as well as G210 and G200 spectroscopic modes have all been released for normal science use.
Mar 9, 2025: LUCI1 All modes **NOT** …
SX ASM Status Update
Update Feb 24, 2025
On-sky seeing limited checkouts were completed on UTFeb24. The binodal astigmatism was measured and collimation tables updated. The SX ASM is released for all available seeing-limited science modes without restrictions.
Update Feb 14, 2025
ASM …
DX AO in Cold Conditions
DX ASM in Cold Weather Update – Jan 21, 2025
Work was done in summer shutdown 2024 to attempt to address the issues causing the failures in cold temperatures with the DX ASM. Unfortunately, we have continued to see the …