Apache Point Observatory
New Mexico, USA

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ARC 3.5-m Instrument News

Note: Comments in bold are to catch the readers attention as the most relevant for their upcoming science observations

News Worthy Items

• ARCES is available. See below for more information.
• DIS is available. See below for more information.
• AGILE is NOT available. See below for more information.
• ARCTIC is available. See below for more information.
• KOSMOS is available. See below for more information.
• NICFPS is available. See below for more information.
• Triplespec is available. See below for more information.

Current Status

Instrument issues which our users should be aware of before taking data. For historical information go here. For future instrumentation or planned upgrades go here.

• 2024 Until further notice: Instrument CCD thermal electric cooler (TEC) has failed. We have been unable to bring it back at this time. The camera is unavailable for use until cooling can be restored. Thermalcontrol and CCD readout is onthe same board so it is not a simple matter to troubleshoot.
• 2024-03-25: Instrument CCD thermal electric cooler (TEC) has failed. We have been unable to bring it back at this time. The camera is unavailable for use until cooling can be restored. Thermalcontrol and CCD readout is onthe same board so it is not a simple matter to troubleshoot.
• 2012-01-24: APO still does not recommend taking dome flats with AGILE. More information can be found here.

• 2022: Most recent interorder ratio plot can be found here.
• 2023-04-15: The instrument IOL is excellent but has a linear downward trend.
• 2023-04-08: The instrument IOL is excellent.
• 2023-04-01: The instrument IOL is excellent.
• 2023-03-25: The instrument IOL is excellent. It is available for use.

• 2024-04-15: The instrument is performing nominally except for the water spots still exist on the fore optics.
• 2024-04-14: Dropped quad this weekend due to a wedged ICC. Russet recovered the Quad at 205K.
• 2024-04-08: The instrument is performing nominally except for the water spots still exist on the fore optics.
• 2024-04-01: The instrument is performing nominally except for the water spots still exist on the fore optics.
• 2024-03-25: The instrument is performing nominally except for the water spots still exist on the fore optics.
• 2024: Please consult with the Observing Specialist if you wish to take dome/cover flats with ARCTIC. With the supplemental baffle there is a flat field that is dependant on telescope position (altitude) and rotator angle that should be taken into account when taking flats.

• 2024-04-15: Notmuch new to report on ccd contamination. The instrument is performing nominally otherwise.
• 2024-04-09: Gordon was able to bring the ICC back up and usable for now. We willneed to order rplacement drives and rebuild the RAID. The instrument is available for use in the mean time.
• 2024-04-08: There is a failure of the primary hard drive on the ICC. We are investigating repair. Until it is fixed the instrument is not available for use.
• 2024-04-01: Report from Russet: Contamination check last week. Blue is the same or slightly improved. Red is resuming progress in a direction that I think should resolve contamination, hopefully sometime in April or May.
• 2024-03-25: Report from Russet: Contamination check last week. Blue is the same as 3 weeks ago. Red is resuming progress in a direction that I think should resolve contamination, hopefully sometime in April or May.

• 2024-04-15: Instrument is available for science and performing nominally. UWTEG report the next attempt at 1.25" slits will be delayed further due to a problem in Quality Control.
• 2024-04-08: Instrument is available for science and performing nominally. UWTEG report the next attempt at 1.25" slits will be complete later in April.
• 2024-04-01: Instrument is available for science and performing nominally. UWTEG report the next attempt at 1.25" slits will be complete later in April.
• 2024-03-25: Instrument is available for science and performing nominally. There was a need to restart software last week when an exposure froze for a science observation but the recovery was quick. UWTEG report the next attempt at 1.25" slits will be complete in abut 3 weeks.

• 2024-04-15: The instrument rotation has been restricted to less than its full range (rotator angle = -90 to +90) to reduce the number of resets required. The instrument is performing nominally with the occasional need to reset the array controller due to corrupted images.
• 2024-04-08: The instrument rotation has been restricted to less than its full range (rotator angle = -90 to +90) to reduce the number of resets required. The instrument is performing nominally with the occasional need to reset the array controller due to corrupted images.
• 2024-04-01: The instrument rotation has been restricted to less than its full range (rotator angle = -90 to +90) to reduce the number of resets required. The instrument is performing nominally with the occasional need to reset the array controller due to corrupted images.
• 2024-03-25: The instrument rotation has been restricted to less than its full range (rotator angle = -90 to +90) to reduce the number of resets required. The instrument is performing nominally with the occasional need to reset the array controller due to corrupted images.

• 2024-04-15: The instrument is performing nominally. Researching replacementhardware for TSpec-icc and Tcamera-icc computers.
• 2024-04-08: The instrument is performing nominally.
• 2024-04-01: The instrument is performing nominally.
• 2024-03-25: The instrument is performing nominally.

• 2024-04-15: The instrument is operating nominally.
• 2024-04-08: The instrument is operating nominally.
• 2024-04-01: The instrument is operating nominally.
• 2024-03-25: The instrument is operating nominally.

The information on this page is up to date as of April 15, 2024. This page is maintained by the 3.5-m Telescope Engineer .