The telescope uses active optics on its primary and secondary mirrors to attain median image quality 0.7 arcsec at a wavelength of 500 nm. Multiple instruments are available on standby, mounted at unusually high weight-capacity Nasmyth foci and two lower capacity bent-Cassegrain foci. Switching is accomplished within a few minutes by rotating the 45° tertiary mirror. The pointing of this mirror is adjusted at high speed to prevent image blur from vibrations induced by wind-shake of the telescope structure.
Overview
Its optical specifications are:
M1 total diameter 4300mm
Entrance Pupil Diameter 4100mm
Pupil central Obstruction 980mm
M1 working f/# 1.6855 (no prime focus is available)
User instruments are employed by individual astronomers or teams but not available to all users.
US astronomers access the telescope remotely over the Internet 2. Chilean and Brazilian astronomers use their high-speed networks. An on-site operator controls where the telescope points while the remote astronomer controls the instrument and data retrieval.
The SOAR telescope dome is a $2 million, 66-foot-diameter (20 m), weatherproof structure weighing over 70 tons.[2]
This image shows stars appearing to “trail” around the south celestial pole (at the center of the circles) above the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope
