Instrument Characteristics

• Scale: 0.15 arcsec/pixel
• Wavelength range: 320 - 900 nm
• Two Cameras (detectors) are available (with various binning and region-of-interest options)
  • Blue Camera: optimized for the UV, down to 320nm
  • Red Camera: best response redward of ~400nm with negligible fringing
     
    • Which Camera: Blue or Red?
    • The Blue Camera is recommended for programs requiring the highest possible throughput blueward of ~4500 A, down to the atmospheric UV cutoff. Also, programs attempting fast time-series photometry should use the Blue Camera, since at present it has more flexible choice of Regions of Interest (ROI).
    • For all other programs, the Red Camera provides roughly equal response as the Blue Camera around ~4500 A and is better at redder wavelengths, with almost no fringing out to 9500 A.
       
• Imaging: circular 7.2 arcmin diameter field. 
   
  • SDSS, Bessell and Narrow-band filters (4x4 inch square). Up to 4 filters for imaging. The full list of available filters can be accessed in the SOAR filter list page
     
• Spectroscopy: Single Slit and Multi-Object Slit (MOS)
  • Gratings from 400 to 2400 l/mm (R~1850 to 14000 with 0.45" slit)
  • Single slits from 0.45 to 10 arcsec wide, 3.9 arcmin long. 
  • Order sorting filters (always mounted). Please note that the GG-385 filter has been retired because of poor optical quality. Observers should use the GG-395 instead.
     
• MOS mode: masks span 3x5 arcmin rectangular field​​
• Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC) available. The SOAR ADC is capable of full correction down to elevations of 30 deg above the horizon. Below that, and down to the 15 deg elevation limit of the telescope, the correction will be only partial; however, we recommend avoinding targets at elevations lower than 20 deg.  The ADC is most useful for MOS observations, or when the program does not allow orienting the slit at the paralactic angle.

Also, be aware of SOAR limits, overheads and efficiency.