The 2.7-m (107-inch) Harlan J. Smith Telescope, is the largest telescope on Mt Locke. The University of Texas at Austin operates the facility through the support of the state of Texas and offers time at no cost to users. Four instruments are currently available for use on the telescope, though only one instrument can be mounted at a time. The instruments are scheduled for use in blocks based on proposal selection and science scheduling constraints.
Remote observing is available at this facility for UT Austin prospers only. Classical observing is available to other proposers, please note that UT Austin proposals are prioritized over others.
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Telescope Information
| Primary Mirror | |||||
| Diameter | 2.72 m (107") | Focal Length | 10.68 m (35') | F-ratio | 3.93 |
| Cassegrain f/8.8 (Ritchey-Chretien) focus | |||||
| Focal length | 23.91 m (78.4') | F-ratio | 8.8 | ||
| Field of view | 61.5 arcmin | Plate scale | 8.62 arctic/mm | ||
| Cassegrain f/17.7 focus | |||||
| Focal length | 47.98 m (157.4') | F-ratio | 17.65 | ||
| Field of view | 31 arcmin | Plate Scale | 4.29 arcsec/mm | ||
| Coudé f/32.5 focus | |||||
| Focal length | 88.43 m (290.1') | F-ratio | 32.54 | ||
| Field of view | 6 arcmin | Plate scale | 2.32 arcsec/mm | ||
Instruments
Publication Credits
Documenting the published scientific output of our facilities is an important part of our reporting duties and essential for our understanding of our productivity as a facility. Therefore, authors who publish papers wholly or partially based on data collected at the HJST are required to credit the use of the telescope with the following acknowledgement: "Based on observations made with the Harlam J. Smith Telescope, owned by the University of Texas at Austin at the McDonald Observatory, Texas"