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The Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph (IMACS) is a wide-field, multipurpose imaging spectrograph on the Magellan-Baade telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. IMACS has two channels—f/2 and f/4, each with an 8K × 8K pixel mosaic of CCD detectors, that service the widest range of capabilities of any major spectrograph. These include wide-field imaging at two scales, 0.20'' pixel-1 and 0.11'' pixel-1, single-object and multislit spectroscopy, integral-field spectroscopy with two 5'' × 7'' areas sampled at 0.20'' pixel-1 (Durham IFU), a multiobject echelle (MOE) capable of N ~ 10 simultaneous full-wavelength R ≈ 20,000 spectra, the Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter (MMTF), and an image-slicing reformatter for dense-pack multislit work (GISMO). Spectral resolutions of 8 < R < 5000 are available through a combination of prisms, grisms, and gratings, and most modes are instantly available in any given IMACS configuration. IMACS has a spectroscopic efficiency over 50% in f/2 multislit mode (instrument only) and, by the AΩ figure of merit (telescope primary surface area times instrument field of view ), IMACS scores 5.7 m2 deg2, compared with 3.1 for VIMOS on VLT3 and with 2.0 for DEIMOS on Keck2. IMACS is the most versatile, and—for wide-field optical spectroscopy—the most powerful spectrograph on the planet.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is an optical-infrared 25 Meter ELT to be located in Chile. It is being designed and constructed by a group of U.S. and international universities and research institutions. The Gregorian Instrument Rotator (GIR) for GMT will be a structural-mechanical assembly 9.4 meters in diameter and 6.9 meters long. The complete assembly including structure, instruments and mechanisms has a rotating mass of 117,000 kg. It will be supported by a unique bearing system using high-capacity precision industrial rollers. The rollers will support the GIR via two large hardened and ground runner bearings integral with the structure. The bearing system includes an upper axial bearing with (8) rollers and an upper and lower radial bearing, each using (10) identical rollers. The bearing system will have the advantages of adjustability, low friction, low noise (jitter), and low cost. The rollers have a manufacturer-rated capacity 4 times greater than their maximum working load in GMT. It is important that the hardened runner bearings have a life in this application comfortably greater than the life of the GIR in the telescope. A test was devised and executed to confirm the life of the runner bearing surface (track) and to characterize the bearing friction. The bearing system design and test details and results are described.

We describe the Michigan/Magellan Fiber System (M2FS) under construction for use on the Magellan/Clay telescope. M2FS consists of four primary components including: (1) A fiber-fed double spectrograph (MSPec) in which each spectrograph is fed by 128 fibers (for a total multiplexing factor of 256) and each is optimized in to operate from 370- 950 nm; (2) A fiber mounting system (MFib) that supports the fibers and fiber plug plates at the telescope f/11 Nasmyth focal surface and organizes the fibers into ‘shoes’ that are used to place the fibers at the image surface of the MSpec spectrographs;, (3) A new wide-field corrector (WFC) that produces high-quality images over a 30 arcmin diameter field; (4) A unit (MCal) mounted near the telescope secondary that provides wavelength and continuum calibration and that supports a key component in a novel automated fiber identification system. We describe the opto-mechanical properties of M2FS, its modes of operation, and its anticipated performance, as well as potential upgrades including the development of a robotic fiber positioner and an atmospheric dispersion corrector. We describe how the M2FS design could serve as the basis of a powerful wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), one of several next generation Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs), is a 25.4 meter diameter altitude over azimuth design set to be built at the summit of Cerro Campanas at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The primary mirror consists of 7 individual 8.4 meter diameter segments resulting in an equivalent collecting area of a 21.5 meter diameter single mirror. The telescope structure, optics and instrumentation has a rotating mass of approximately 1250 metric tons and stands approximately 40 meters tall. This paper reports the results of our ongoing preliminary design and development of the GMT structure and its major mechanical and opto-mechanical components. A major recent redesign of the Gregorian Instrument Rotator (GIR) resulted in significant changes to the telescope structure and several mechanisms. Design trade studies of various aspects of the main structure, hydrostatic bearing system, main axes drives, M2 positioner, M3 subsystem and the corrector-ADC subsystem have refined the preliminary design in these areas.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is an optical-infrared 25 Meter ELT to be located in Chile. It is being designed and constructed by a group of U.S. and international universities and research institutions 1 . Structural performance of large telescopes can be enhanced significantly with the added stiffness that results from distributing loads to many points in the structure. In defining the two rotating assemblies in an altitude-over-azimuth mount more than a kinematic set of constraints can lead to hydrostatic bearing oil film failure due to unintended forces that result from runner bearing irregularities. High Frequency Over Constraint (HFOC) increases stiffness without risk of oil film failure. It was used successfully on the Magellan 6.5 Meter Telescopes. GMT will employ this and two additional methods to enhance stiffness at frequencies from DC wind up through the telescope primary mode frequencies of ~11 Hz. This will be achieved without excessive hydrostatic bearing pad forces. Detailed discussion of GMT's hydrostatic constraints, azimuth track and optics support structure (OSS) runner bearing illustrations, and performance criteria are provided for the design.

A concept design has been developed for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The project is a collaboration by a group of U.S. universities and research institutions to build a 21.5-meter equivalent aperture optical-infrared telescope in Chile. The segmented primary mirror consists of seven 8.4-meter diameter borosilicate honeycomb mirrors that will be cast by the Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory. The fast primary optics allow the use of unusually compact telescope and enclosure structures. A wide range of secondary trusses has been considered for the alt-az mount. The chosen truss employs carbon fiber and steel and, due to its unique geometry, achieves high stiffness with minimal wind area and primary obscuration. The mount incorporates hydrostatic supports and a C-ring elevation structure similar in concept to those implemented on the Magellan 6.5-m and LBT dual 8.4-m telescopes. Extensive finite element analysis has been used to optimize the telescope structure, achieving a lowest telescope resonant frequency of ~5 Hz. The design allows for removal and replacement of any of the 7 subcells for off-telescope mirror coating with no risk to the other mirrors. A wide range of instruments can be used which mount to the top or underside of a large instrument platform below the primary mirror cells. Large instruments are interchanged during the day while small and medium-sized instruments can be enabled quickly during the night. The large Gregorian instruments will incorporate astatic supports to minimize flexure and hysteresis.

PANIC (Persson's Auxiliary Nasmyth Infrared Camera) is a near-infrared camera designed to operate at any one of the f/11 folded ports of the 6.5m Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. The instrument is built around a simple, all-refractive design that reimages the Magellan focal plane to a plate scale of 0.125'' pixel^{-1} onto a Rockwell 1024x1024 HgCdTe detector. The design goals for PANIC included excellent image quality to sample the superb seeing measured with the Magellan telescopes, high throughput, a relatively short construction time, and low cost. PANIC has now been in regular operation for over one year and has proved to be highly reliable and produce excellent images. The best recorded image quality has been ~0.2'' FWHM., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. To appear in "Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation," Proc SPIE (Glasgow), June 2004. Version with higher resolution figures is available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~pmartini/professional/publications/panic.pdf

The Apache Point Observatory 3.5 meter altitude-azimuth telescope features lightweight honeycomb optics, a fast f/1.75 primary figure, multiple on-line instrument capability and a control system designed for efficient remote operation. Friction coupled rollers drive the axes and couple the encoders. We have concentrated particularly on reducing local seeing effects by controlling heat in the vicinity of the telescope. Measures include mass reduction, emissivity control, insulation and forced ventilation.