Hectospec

Manuals

Hectospec Observers Manual

Fiber Assignment Programs (more up-to-date than the Observers Manual)

Observer Responsibilities

Information on Hectospec Data Reduction

Quick Look Reductions at the Telescope

Draft Hectospec Hardware Reference Manual

General Info

Photo Gallery

Recent News

Instrument Layout
View of Fiber Positioners

Hectospec Positioner and Spectrograph

Papers
Construction of the Hectospec: 300 optical fiber-fed spectrograph for the converted MMT

Targeting and sequencing algorithms for the Hectospec's optical fiber robotic positioner

Hectospec is a moderate-resolution, multiobject optical spectrograph fed by 300 optical fibers. The instrument is composed of a robotic positioner and a large, bench-mounted spectrograph, joined by a bundle of 25m long optical fibers.

Dual robots, dubbed Fred and Ginger, reconfigure all 300 optical fibers in just 300 seconds.

The spectrograph currently offers 5770Å of spectral coverage at ~6Å resolution in the 350 to 1000 nm band. A higher dispersion grating offering ~3Å resolution is on order.

During the April 2004 observing run, ~10,000 spectra of 19th to 21st magnitude galaxies were obtained during 7 nights of partially clear weather. At the end of the run, the typical setup time had dropped to about 20 minutes, measured from the completion of the last exposure of the old field to the beginning of the first exposure on the new field.