This presentation highlights the 2024 instrumentation suite in use at the Baade and Clay telescopes of the Las Campanas Observatory. Following two decades of operations, the partnership between the Carnegie Institution for Science, Harvard University, the University of Arizona, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan provides our observing community with seven facility instruments and seven PI instruments. Five of those instruments (IMACS, MAGE, FIRE, FOURSTAR and LDSS3) are mounted permanently at the telescopes and ready to be used every night. The availability of one of the Nasmyth ports and a Cassegrain focus at the Clay telescope, allows a scheduled rotation of the other eight instruments (MIKE, PFS, M2FS, IFUM, PISCO, MAGAOX, MEGACAM, WINERED) according to the scientific needs of the community in each semester. In this presentation we will give a brief introduction for all the facility instruments followed by a status report of their use and performance. We will also present the challenges posed by continuous operations and regular maintenance. Finally, we will outline the future instrumentation projects and upgrades.
The SOAR Telescope, near completion on Cerro Pachon - Chile, will carry Instrument Support Modules (ISMs) mounted at the two Nasmyth foci. Each ISM has three focal stations and is capable of making rapid instrument changes between them. Both ISMs also carry a Comparison Lamp System (CLS), guider and an acquisition camera, which are shared between the three instruments. One ISM supports IR instruments. The other is used for "Optical" instruments operating at wavelengths below 900nm. Beam steering mechanisms direct light from the SOAR science field or the CLS to the instrument in use. In the IR-ISM, light is sent to the lateral ports by dichroic mirrors which reflect IR and transmit wavelengths from 400-900nm to the guider. In the Optical-ISM, light is directed to the lateral ports by the use of first surface pick-off mirrors. Guiding is done off-axis. During operation, both ISMs can be rotated by 360° and must carefully control differential flexure between the guider and focal planes. A method of accurate relative flexure measurement has been developed where the ISM is rotated on its handling cart while carrying instrument mass simulators which reproduce its nominal payloads. In this paper, the ISM and its support sub-modules are described. Results of flexure measurements and tests of the CLS are provided.
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