Annual Report 2011 Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

10 I. General
Credit: CAHA
I.2 Observatories, Telescopes, and Instruments
The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has been a
key driver and partner in the construction and operation
of two large ground-based observatories. During
the 1970s and 1980s the construction of the Calar
Alto Observatory, still the largest observatory on the
European continent, had been the central focus of the
MPIA, and the two largest telescopes with 2.2 m and
3.5 m mirrors are still scheduled for competitive observing
programs. Since 2004 the observatory is jointly
operated as Centro Astronomico Hispano Aleman (Caha)
by the Max Planck Society, represented by the MPIA,
and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
(CSIC), represented by the Instituto de Astrofísica de
Andalucía (IAA), as an organization of Spanish law.
Since 1997, the MPIA has been the coordinating institute
for the German participation in the Large Binocular
Telescope (LBT) on Mt. Graham near Tucson, Arizona.
By the end of 2007, the second prime-focus camera was
installed which is now used for regular science programs.
The year 2008 has seen the installation and the
beginning of the commissioning of the first of the two
LuCi instruments, jointly built by the Landessternwarte
of the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University
(ZAH), the MPIA, and the MPE. Additional contributions
were also made by the Ruhr University Bochum and
the Fachhochschule Mannheim. Science demonstration
observations with this near-infrared multi-object
spectrometer have commenced in December 2009 and
at the beginning of 2010 the first excellent spectra
and images have been published. Furthermore, the
first adaptive secondary mirror for the LBT started its
operation in 2010 and hence the first “sharper than
hubbLe” near infrared LBT-images could be released.
The MPIA also uses its 2.2 m telescope on La Silla,
Chile, operated by the European Southern Observatory
(eso). As of April 1 st 2009 in a new agreement between
the MPG and Eso, the amount of time available at this
telescope for MPG researchers has been increased from
25 to 75 percent.
Fig. I.2.1: Areal View of the Calar Alto Observatory (caha).