Category Archive: News

  1. Decommissioning Hecto the spring of 2026

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    The MMT Observatory (MMTO) will be decommissioning Hectospec and Hectochelle on May 1st, 2026 in order to prepare MMTO for the arrival of ViaSpec. The decommissioning process for both Hectospec and Hectochelle will start on May 1, 2026. Thus, the last scheduled night of observing for either Hectospec or Hectochelle will be no later than April 30th, 2026. Depending on science allocations for the spring of 2026, the last night of observing could potentially be earlier in April.

  2. New Vistas in Astronomy Lecture Series, January-April 2025

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    Whipple Observatory’s New Vistas in Astronomy lecture series returns for its 56th year. The first lecture of the series will be held Thursday, January 30 at the Green Valley Recreation Center- West at 9:00 AM. All lectures are free and open to the public. More information, including future lectures, can be found here.

  4. Public Science Center is now OPEN!

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    The Science Center is now open! The Science Center is currently open on Fridays only from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (closed on Federal holidays).

    In order to ensure the best experience possible for the many guests we expect to visit, timed ticketed entry is required (but free) to visit the Science Center. Every guest who enters the Science Center must have a ticket. Guests who arrive without tickets will be asked to wait or to return at a later time with tickets. Tickets are available now.

    Tours up the mountain to the MMT and Ridge telescopes are currently closed while we work on developing new tour programs. Paid VERITAS Walking Tours are open. Tickets for Up Close with VERITAS must be purchased in advance online. Reservations are required and can be made here.

  5. Remembering J. T. Williams

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    Long-time MMTO engineer J.T. Williams passed away on December 3, 2024 at the age of 88. J.T. was a huge presence on Mount Hopkins from the very early days. He was a major contributor to the planning, construction, commissioning, and operation of both the MMT and the LBT. The successes of those observatories are due in large part to his inputs and efforts. Everyone that had the pleasure of working with J.T. knew that he had a very unique engineering talent and that he was both innovative and practical. For many of us, he was also a soft spoken mentor, often sharing nuggets of nuanced wisdom tinged with a little bit of humor.

    Plans are underway for a celebration of J.T.’s life and contributions to astronomy. Click here to see J.T.’s Obituary

  8. MMT at the Tucson Festival of Books – Science City March 9-10, 2024

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    The Tucson Festival of Books is back! Visit MMT Observatory in Science City’s Science of Tomorrow tent! The MMT Observatory presents a hands-on demonstration of multi-object spectroscopy and how it’s implemented at the MMT. Visitors to the MMT booth can become virtual observers by using a game controller to align a virtual image of stars and galaxies onto slit masks. Once aligned, the light from those objects will pass through to the spectrograph that produces the rainbow color spectra that scientists use to understand the velocity, distance, temperature, and composition of objects in our galaxy and beyond.