MMT Observatory

Engineers stand next to the telescope with headphones. They are listening to a recording of the telescope’s natural vibrations and the motors.

The three week long “summer shutdown” at the MMT began last week. We spend the time working on annual preventive maintenance and engineering activities that can’t be done during normal operations. This year, that includes listening to the natural vibrations of the telescope (so we can suppress them)

We see a lot of wildlife on Mount Hopkins, including snakes. But they're not usually hanging out on the door handles. This is a harmless mountain kingsnake.

Photo by J. Di Miceli

The sun setting behind Kitt Peak. A number of observatory buildings can be seen in the foreground, silhouetted by the sun.

On Sunday, May 18th, the sun set directly behind Kitt Peak as seen from the summit of Mount Hopkins. 🔭

Photo by Dallan Porter

Not sure you’d want anything quite that fancy - a plain cotton mop will do

Looking through the chamber over the MMT telescope towards the south.

Sometimes our staff take photos from a slightly different perspective. 🔭

Photo by K. Salmas

For the purchase price, you’d think we would have!! Might’ve been lost in the last 20+ years.

We have a strict “no scrubbing/dragging” policy since the aluminum is exposed and easily scratched, so cotton mops are the best choice.

From the telescopes community on Reddit: The best way to wash your Primary Explore this post and more from the telescopes community

A video was also posted to Reddit showing the contact wash: www.reddit.com/r/telescopes...

The primary mirror is sprayed with water to start dislodging dust and foreign particles while the day crew prepares the mops.

Cotton mops are dabbed on the surface of the mirror to wash it. The mirror is covered in soap and water.

The mirror is dried with long air wands to prevent streaking. Someone stands in the central hole to soak up excess water with non-scratch material.

Our 6.5m primary mirror got a much-needed contact wash a few weeks ago! This process is done twice a year, and helps maintain the reflectivity of the aluminum coating. #astronomy 🔭

Crow perched on segmented telescope mirror of VERITAS

Crow perched on segmented telescope mirror of VERITAS

A crow having a dispute with its reflection in the VERITAS telescope mirror, seen at Whipple basecamp on the way back from @mmtobservatory.bsky.social

Scientists watch one of Uranus’ rings occult a star

Scientists observe Uranus starting to occult a star

Scientists observe as Uranus moves past a star and the star’s light reappears

Exciting night! The MMT, with the infrared MMIRS instrument, observed Uranus occult a star tonight! It was cool to see the rings and then the planet make the star (mostly) disappear. 🔭 #astronomy

Observing a star occulted by Uranus, in the infrared with MMIRS at the MMT @mmtobservatory.bsky.social

screen cap of a star being occulted by the rings of uranus as observed using MMIRS at the MMTO.

we’re observing uranus tonight as it passes in front of a fairly bright star. the plot in the upper left shows the star passing behind several rings. @mmtobservatory.bsky.social

Grey-blue sky behind the summit of Mt Hopkins. The telescope and another building can be seen on top of the mountain.

A peaceful morning on Mt Hopkins 🔭 #astronomy

Booth at the Tucson Festival of Book. There are a variety of posters and books on display

We spent today at the #tucsonfestivalofbooks sharing our passion for science and demonstrating how we use masks to take spectra of multiple targets at once. We will be back again tomorrow!

A rock slide is blocking the road up Mt Hopkins.

Weather brings mountains down! A rockslide on Mount Hopkins road on Sunday, March 9th. There was a snowstorm on Friday, March 7th. Some of the snow melted during the day on Saturday and seeped into cracks in the rocks.That water froze on Saturday night and literally broke the rocks apart!

Unfortunately public tours of the MMT are currently unavailable. It’s something we are considering for the future though! The visitor & science center at the base of Mt Hopkins is open most Fridays.

During the day the mirror is covered and the chamber is closed. But the chamber is open with the mirror uncovered every night that it is safe to do so.

Absolutely not a ridiculous question! We gently dab it with very soft mops while spraying it with water and soap. After it’s clean, we use dryers to ensure we remove all the water without leaving streaks. We’ll make a future post with photos to explain further.

The MMT telescope as seen from the fourth floor of the chamber. Parts of the secondary support structure and the chamber wall can been seen reflected in the mirror. Mountains and a yellow/orange sky can be seen through the open chamber doors.

Looking south from the fourth floor at sunset

Photo by K. Salmas

#astronomy 🔭

A family of coatimundis cross the road. A baby can be seen out in front

Big step for a baby coatimundi. Its front leg is straight out and its tail is in the air.

It’s not just astronomers who live on Mt Hopkins! A family of coatimundis were caught on camera crossing the road earlier this year.
Photos by A. Gerl

The MMT telescope is open and pointed at a dark blue sky

Orange sunset over distant mountains

Getting ready for another night of observing. With 12 hours of useable dark time, these are some of the longest shifts for our night staff

#astronomy 🔭

🔭 #astronomy

We are a 6.5-meter telescope in Tucson, AZ

Yes

@bot.astronomy.blue signup

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is seen against a dark blue background with a slight orange sunset glow below. The MMT Telescope building can be seen in the foreground.

A few weeks ago one of our operators captured comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) from the summit 🔭

Photo by B. Pinault

Observatory staff people below the structure of the MMT telescope

An MMT scientist looking at the reflections in the 6.5 meter telescope mirror

MMT Observatory staff gather in the chamber in front of the telescope for the annual staff meeting and picture.

view of blue sky reflected in the primary mirror of the MMT Observatory

blue skies at the MMT Observatory

Welcome to the official MMT Observatory Bluesky account! We are a 6.5-meter telescope located on Mt Hopkins, just south of Tucson, AZ.

Photo by R. Howie