Status and performance of Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel telescope and its growing suite of instruments

Stephen E. Levine; William T. DeGroff; Thomas A. Bida; Edward W. Dunham; George H. Jacoby

doi:10.1117/12.2312380

6 July 2018 Status and performance of Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel telescope and its growing suite of instruments

Stephen E. Levine, William T. DeGroff, Thomas A. Bida, Edward W. Dunham, George H. Jacoby

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10700, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VII; 107004P (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312380
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) is a 4.3-m telescope designed and constructed for optical and near infrared astronomical observation. The DCT is equipped with a cube at the RC focus capable of interfacing to five instruments along with the wave front sensing and guider systems at the f/6.1 RC focus. Over the period 2016 through mid-2018 the instrument cube ports were fully populated as several instruments new to the DCT were brought on-line (NIHTS, IGRINS, EXPRES). The primary and secondary mirrors of the telescope were re-aluminized, and the coating process modified. The facility operational modes have been refined to allow for greater flexibility and faster response to unexpected science opportunities. This report addresses operational methods, instrumentation integration, and the performance of the facility as determined from delivered science data, lessons learned, and plans for future work and additional instruments.

Citation Download Citation

Stephen E. Levine, William T. DeGroff, Thomas A. Bida, Edward W. Dunham, and George H. Jacoby "Status and performance of Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel telescope and its growing suite of instruments", Proc. SPIE 10700, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VII, 107004P (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312380

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