Sep 15, 2026
9/14/26: During summer shutdown 2026 restart, it was discovered that the PEPSI SX PFU side was suffering from severe vignetting despite attempts to realign with the M3 on-sky. The cause was tracked down to index-matching oil in between some of …
Aug 31, 2026
Overview of SSD26 Telescope Activities
The SX and DX primary and tertiary mirrors were washed during SSD26.
The observing computers were upgraded to AlmaLinux 9. This upgrade introduces new procedures for remote desktop access. Users should refer to the Remote …
Aug 28, 2026
8/28/26: Due to last minute staffing commitments, the TMS system will not be available until approximately late September. However the LBCs can still be used although more frequent re-collimations will be necessary.
9/15/26: TMS system has been reinstalled, science release …
Aug 27, 2026
8/9/26: The PEPSI chamber pressure dropped down and began following atmospheric pressure. The issue was traced to a proportional valve that was always open and exhausting air to the outlets at the top of the chamber. Replacement parts have been …
Apr 09, 2026
MODS Controller Upgrade – MODS1 released for shared-risk observations
update: Apr 28th
MODS1 is now released for shared-risk observations. The release of MODS2 is being held back by an issue with the slitmask cassette which is being investigated.
Unlike with …
Mar 27, 2026
LUCI1 Detector Focus Repaired, Returned for Operations (May 4, 2026)
LUCI1 has been released for SL/ESM science. Verification sets showed that the passive flexure tables from Sept 2025 looked good, with the spots remaining within ~2 pixels over the full …
Feb 24, 2026
There will be an LBT Users Meeting on Tuesday, March 3 at 8am Arizona time over Zoom. Please contact the sciops team for login information.
Feb 17, 2026
Feb. 12, 2026: The TMS system recently experienced a hardware issue with the GPU in the PC controlling the system. A replacement GPU is currently being sourced, but for the time TMS will be offline.
March 27, 2026: We have …
Jun 28, 2025
On the night of June 26 UT when moving the 2.4″ longslit into the focal plane, the mask failed to insert into the focal plane despite the software thinking so. When the instrument was opened, the grabber was found to …
Apr 10, 2025
April 11, 2025: Problem with the oxygen regulator was found and resolved. The MOS mask milling machine has been returned to operation.
April 9, 2025: The laser for the MOS mask milling machine recently stopped working. Currently all mask milling …
