[ ESO ] La Silla

Science Operation Department
SciOp
The ESO 3.6m Telescope


[ ESO 3.6m Telescope]

General Information
The ESO 3.6m Telescope was commissioned in 1977, and completely upgraded in 1999. It has a horseshoe/fork mounting, and an interchangeable top unit allowing the secondary mirror to be changed from a f/8 to a f/35 Cassegrain focus. The pointing error is about 5" RMS. The pointing is limited to 70deg. zenithal distance, and 5.5h HA, but a small region under the pole is reachable.

News and updates
  • 2006-Oct-25 Maintenance of the 3.6m dome is progressing with good results. Science operations is expected to resume on Nov-04.
  • 2006-Oct-05 The dome of the 3.6m enters an extended period of corrective maintenance. Science operations at the 3.6m is temporarily suspended until further notice.
  • The telescope reaches an image quality better than 0.2" at Zenith.
  • Main mirror aluminized on September 13th 2005.

Instrumentation
 
Telescope Features
The 3.6m telescope
Pointing Limits
Target acquisition
Tracking and guiding
Image quality
Weather limits
Hatches opening
Projects
Lateral pads Ongoing
M2 upgrade Completed on 28-08-2004
Internal pages
3P6 internal pages (ESO access only)

[Observing] [ESO La Silla]  [La Silla SciOps Home Page]  [ESO]  [Index]  [Search]  [Help]  [News]