The Bok Telescope (also known as the 90-inch) is the largest telescope operated solely by

Steward Observatory Steward Observatory is the research arm of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona (UArizona). Its offices are located on the UArizona campus in Tucson, Arizona (US). Established in 1916, the first telescope and building were f ...

. It finds much use from astronomers from

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

, and

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

, with instruments capable of both imaging and

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter ...

. The telescope operates year-round, except during the August summer-shutdown when maintenance is performed while the weather is poor ( Arizona's

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

season lasts from roughly July through August).

History

The Bok Telescope was named after the prolific astronomer and director of Steward Observatory from 1966–1969,

Bart Bok Bartholomeus Jan "Bart" Bok (April 28, 1906 – August 5, 1983) was a Dutch-American astronomer, teacher, and lecturer. He is best known for his work on the structure and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy, and for the discovery of Bok globules, ...

, one of the most beloved astronomers in Tucson. It was used on March 18, 2007 by Bruno Sicardy to view Pluto's occultation of a star in

Sagittarius Sagittarius ( ) may refer to: *Sagittarius (constellation) *Sagittarius (astrology), a sign of the Zodiac Ships *''SuperStar Sagittarius'', a cruise ship * USS ''Sagittarius'' (AKN-2), a World War II US Navy cargo ship Music *Sagittarius (ban ...

. The building itself features a very long spiral staircase leading to the telescope and a balcony called "The Bok Walk". In the 2010s the Bok telescope helped support a survey with KNPO telescopes in preparation for the

DESI DESI may refer to * Desorption electrospray ionization * Drug Efficacy Study Implementation * Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument See also * Desi (disambiguation) Desi or Deshi is a self-referential term used by South Asian people. Desi may ...

instrument on the 4-m Mayall telescope. The Bok telescope was used along with the 90 Prime imager to take g-band and r-band observations.

Instruments

There are currently 3 instruments that are mainly used at the 90-inch, two that work in the

optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

and one in the near-IR. The

90prime 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

instrument, whose principal investigator is Edward Olszewski, is a prime focus, wide-field imager capable of imaging 1 square degree on the sky, while the

B&C Spectrograph B&C Records (which stood for Beat & Commercial) was a British record label run by Trojan Records' owner, Lee Gopthal. It existed primarily between May 1969 and September 1972. In 1971, the progressive and folk artists that were still signed to ...

does spectroscopy. The

Steward 256x256 NIR Camera Steward may refer to: Positions or roles * Steward (office), a representative of a monarch * Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district * Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other ins ...

, which has been available at the telescope since 1991, uses a NICMOS array which was built during the development of the NICMOS instrument on the HST. The 90-inch is also fitted with an eyepiece for direct viewing by a human observer, uncharacteristic for telescopes of this size.

References

External links

Bok Telescope Home Page Steward 256x256 NIR Camera
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