2.4-meter telescope The MRO telescope is a
Nasmyth design on an azimuth-elevation (az-el)
mount. The telescope is capable of
slew rates of 10 degrees per second, enabling it to observe artificial objects in
low Earth orbit. The telescope is also used for
asteroid studies and observations of other
Solar System objects. As of May 2008, the facility is under a multi-year contract with NASA to provide follow-up astrometry and characterization data on near-Earth asteroids and comets as part of
Spaceguard, and also collaborates with the Air Force to track and characterize satellites in GEO and
LEO orbits.
Magdalena Ridge Optical Interferometer The Magdalena Ridge Optical Interferometer (MROI) is an
optical and
near infrared interferometer under construction at MRO. When the MROI is completed, it will have ten telescopes located on three arms. Each arm will have nine stations where the telescopes can be positioned, and one telescope can be positioned at the center. The telescopes and their enclosures will be moved with a customized crane. Light from the telescopes' primary mirrors will be directed along the arms to the Beam Combining Facility (BCF). These pipes will be evacuated of all air in order to reduce distortions. Inside the BCF, the light will first travel through extensions of the pipes in the Delay Line Area, which will bring the light beams into
phase. Then light will exit the vacuum pipes in the Beam Combining Area (BCA), where the light will be directed into one of three permanent sensors, or to a temporary instrument on a fourth table. The light will strike a total of eleven mirrors before entering a sensor. The MROI was designed with three research areas in mind:
star and
planet formation,
stellar accretion and
mass loss, and
active galactic nuclei. The first telescope was installed in 2016, but construction was paused in 2019 when the AFRL funding was withdrawn by
US Congress.
New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument The
New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument (
NESSI) is a ground-based instrument specifically designed to study the atmospheres of
exoplanets. The $3.5 million instrument is the first purpose-built device for the analysis of exoplanet atmospheres, and is expected to have a powerful impact on the field of exoplanet characterization. The Principal Investigator is Michele Creech-Eakman at the
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, working with seven co-investigators. The NESSI instrument was mounted on the observatory's 2.4 meter telescope. The instrument's first exoplanet observations began in April 2014. ==See also==