Hectospec

Manuals

Hectospec Observers Manual

Spectrograph Startup Procedures (software section is out of date)

Fiber Assignment Programs 

Observer Responsibilities

Draft Hectospec Hardware Reference Manual

Hectospec is a moderate-resolution, multiobject optical spectrograph fed by 300 optical fibers. The instrument is composed of a robotic positioner and a large, bench-mounted spectrograph, joined by a bundle of 25m long optical fibers.

Dual robots, dubbed Fred and Ginger, reconfigure all 300 optical fibers in just 300 seconds.

The spectrograph offers 5770Å of spectral coverage at ~6Å resolution in the 350 to 1000 nm band. A higher dispersion grating offering ~3Å resolution is also available.

During the April 2004 observing run, ~10,000 spectra of 19th to 21st magnitude galaxies were obtained during 7 nights of partially clear weather. At the end of the run, the typical setup time had dropped to about 20 minutes, measured from the completion of the last exposure of the old field to the beginning of the first exposure on the new field.