Latest News
November 17 – A Night Under the Stars
Nov 10, 2017
F.L. Whipple Observatory brings you A Night Under the Stars on Friday, Nov. 17, at the Historic Canoa Ranch. Join Ben Weiner, MMTO staff scientist, for a presentation at 5:00pm. Stargazing will follow starting at 6:00pm (weather permitting), courtesy of the …
Mt. Hopkins Road Travel
Oct 16, 2017
Expect a busy Mt. Hopkins Road for a couple of weeks! Various vehicles and staff are traveling up and down the road with the arrival and assembly of Binospec equipment. Be sure to drive carefully and use radios to …
White Dwarf Mergers
Oct 10, 2017
Read about new developments regarding merging white dwarfs that were first discovered from observations taken at the MMTO.
Revised – MMTO Observing Schedule
Oct 09, 2017
The revised observing schedule for October can be found here.
Mt. Hopkins Road Work
Oct 05, 2017
Grading of the road will continue on October 10, 11, and 12 between 9:00am and 3:00pm each day. Please coordinate via radios when driving on the road those days.
Summer Tour Update
Jun 13, 2017
Summer tours are currently on hold due to road work scheduled for the Mt. Hopkins Road. We appreciate your patience while the needed maintenance is taking place. Current plans are to resume the tours in September. Updates will be …
Summer Shutdown Schedule
May 22, 2017
Summer shutdown began on Tuesday, July 25. The observatory will reopen on Tuesday, August 22.
Small Fire on Mt. Wrightson – Officially Out
May 21, 2017
The Forest Service declared the small lightning-caused fire on Mt. Wrightson officially over as of 11:00pm on July 4. It began in the afternoon on July 2 on the west side of Mt. Wrightson. On July 3, the Forest …
Binospec Instrument
May 19, 2017
MMTO staff have been preparing for the arrival this fall of the Binospec instrument, a wide-field multi-object optical imaging-spectrograph. A place in the common building basement is also being prepared for the slit mask cutter. More information on the instrument …
Parking Lot Work at the MMT
May 19, 2017
Improvements to the summit parking lot began mid-March to create a pathway allowing easier movement of instruments between the Instrument Repair Facility (IRF) and main MMT building. The pathway is completed, but remains covered to ensure best results for the …