Latest News
January – April 2014 Observing Schedule
Dec 14, 2013
The observing schedule for January through April is posted, along with Program Titles.
Meteor in Tucson
Dec 13, 2013
On Tuesday, December 10, at 7:11pm, a sonic boom hit Tucson as a large meteor passed overhead. MMT’s all sky camera captured its bright flash in a single image. The frame shows the moon (center) and the meteor (upper). See the Tucson …
Facility Improvements at the MMT
Nov 01, 2013
Work began in October on the installation of a new comprehensive fire alarm system at all of the facilities on Mount Hopkins. Work remaining at the MMT is expected to be completed by mid-December. Work continues at the other mountain …
Evidence for Densest Nearby Galaxy
Nov 01, 2013
The MMT was one of the ground-based telescopes, along with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, used in studying a nearby and very dense galaxy, M60-UCD1. Read NASA’s press release and the paper.
Press Release — Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space …
Strategic Plan Charge
Oct 31, 2013
MMT Strategic Plan Committee Charge
We are empaneling a committee to lead the development of a long-term plan for the instrumentation and modes of observing at the MMT.
The near-term instrumentation situation at the MMT is:
* Binospec is expected …
Dual Supermassive Black Hole Candidates
Sep 19, 2013
Using publicly available data from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES), conducted at the MMTO with the hectospec instrument, researchers have discovered seven new candidates for dual supermassive black hole systems in the centers of galaxies. Based on the …
Follow the MMTO on Facebook!
Sep 13, 2013
“Like” the MMTO on Facebook! You can expect to see announcements, updates, and pictures of historical and current observatory activities along with some stunning mountain scenery.
Studying the Mass Distribution in Galaxy Clusters
Aug 28, 2013
Using the hectospec instrument at the MMTO, astronomers are studying the mass distribution in galaxy clusters. The basic techniques were developed by M. J. Geller (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) and her collaborators some time ago. The data are now good enough …
Explosion Illuminates Invisible Galaxy
Aug 07, 2013
For followup details on the recent exciting observation noted here previously of an optical afterglow of a distant gamma ray burst, observed in part with the MMT’s Blue Channel Spectrograph, click here.
Results from MMTPol
Aug 05, 2013
A new MMTPol image of IRC+10420, a yellow hypergiant star located in the constellation of Aquila, reveals the unusual nature of this object, one of the most luminous stars known. The imaging polarimeter, originally commissioned at the MMT at the end of …