Current Instruments
Read more about NOIRLab's instruments and other capabilities in the Capabilities brochure.
Instruments by Telescope
Blanco 4-m Telescope Instruments
Blanco Telescope Scientist: tim.abbott@noirlab.edu
COSMOS Instrument Scientist: sean.points@noirlab.edu
DECam Instrument Scientist: alistair.walker@noirlab.edu
NEWFIRM Instrument Scientist: sean.points@noirlab.edu
| Instrument | FOV or slit (arcmin) |
Resolving Power or Scale (arcsec/pix) |
Detector | Wavelegth range (micron) |
Status |
| DECam Wide field optical imager |
132x132 | 0.263 | 62x 2048x4096 CCDs |
0.32-1.10 (grizy filters) |
Availablle |
| COSMOS Optical Imager |
10 arcmin diameter (imaging) | 0.29 | e2v (2048x4096) | 0.32-0.98 | Retired |
| COSMOS Optical Spectrograph |
0.6, 0.9, 1.2, 1.5, 3.0 arcsec (long slit) | ~2200 (with 0.9 arcsec slit) | e2v (2048x4096) | 0.37-0.98 | Retired |
| COSMOS Multi-Object Spectrograph |
5x10 arcmin (MOS) | ~2200 (with 0.9 arcsec slits) | e2v (2048x4096) |
0.37-0.98 | Retired |
|
NEWFIRM |
27.6 x 27.6 | 0.4 | 4x 2048x2048 InSb detectors |
1.0-2.4 |
Science Verification 2023B |
Scientific Staff Telescope and Instrument Responsibilities
Check the NOIRLab site to make sure that your favorite instrument and telescope are available before writing your proposal!
SOAR Instruments
See SOAR site pages:
SMARTS Instruments
| Telescope | Instrument | Slit or FOV (arcmin) | Resolving Power or scale (arcsec/pix) |
Wavelength range (micron) or Filters |
Observing Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5-m (60-inch) |
CHIRON Spectrograph |
one star | <140,000 | 0.41-0.87 | Entirely service/queue mode. |
| 0.9-m (36-inch) |
Tek2K Optical imager |
13.6x13.6 | 0.401 | 0.31-1.00 | Mixture of classical and service/queue observing, each run is 7 nights duration. |
CTIO Instruments No Longer Available
- CTIO Mosaic II - optical wide field imager (retired)
- 4m RC Spectrograph (retired)
- NEWFIRM - infrared wide field imager (transfered back to Mayall 4-m at Kitt Peak)
- ISPI - IR imager (inactive)
- Hydra - multi-object optical spectrograph (retired)
- 1.5m R-C Spectrograph (retired)
- ANDICAM - optical and infrared imager (retired)
Instruments by Type
Instruments at CTIO by type for the telescopes Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, SMARTS 0.9-meter, and SMARTS 1.5-meter telescopes.
Optical Imagers
| Telescope | Instrument | FOV (armin) |
Scale (asec/pix) |
Detector | Wavelegth range (micron) or filters |
| Blanco | DECam | 3sq. degrees | 0.263 | 62x 2048X4096 LBNL CCDs |
0.3-1.1 (ugrizY+VR) |
| Blanco | COSMOS | 10 arcmin diameter | 0.29 | e2v 2048x4096 | 0.32-0.98 |
| 0.9-m | Tek2K | 13.6x13.6 | 0.401 | SITe 2048x2048 CCD |
0.31-1.0 |
Optical Spectrographs
| Telescope | Instrument | FOV | Resolving Power | Detector | Wavelength range (micron) |
| Blanco | COSMOS | Long slit - 10 arcmin long slit | ~2,200 with 0.9 arcsec slit | e2v 2048x4096 | 0.32-0.98 |
| Blanco | COSMOS | MOS - 5.0x10.0 arcmin | ~2,200 with 0.9 arcsec slit | e2v 2048x4096 | 0.32-0.98 |
| 1.5-m | CHIRON | one star | <140,000 | 4096x4096 | 0.41-0.87 |
Infrared Imaging
- SPARTAN - (on SOAR 4.1m Telescope)
- NEWFIRM - (on Blanco 4-m Telescope)
Infrared Spectroscopy
- TripeSpec4.1 - (on SOAR 4.1m Telescope)
Retired Instruments
- ANDICAM - Ohio State Visual/IR Imager (on SMARTS 1.3m Telescope, reference only, retired since 2019)
- OSIRIS - The Ohio State InfraRed Imager/Spectrometer (reference only, on SOAR 4.1m Telescope)
- ISPI - Infrared Sideport Imager (reference only, on Blanco 4m Telescope)
- 4m IRS Infrared Spectrograph (reference only, retired)
- 4m/1.5m CIRIM Cerro Tololo IR imager (reference only, retired)
Instruments by Telescope
Updated on September 5, 2023, 2:51 pm