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Hobby-Eberly Telescope
The HET was designed and constructed with a unique objective: to gather a very large amount of light, specifically
for spectroscopy, at extremely low cost.  A
fixed elevation-axis design, based on the radio telescope at Arecibo, and an innovative system for tracking stars, contributed
to an 80% reduction in initial costs compared to optical telescopes of similar size.
The primary mirror of the HET is the largest yet constructed, at 11.1 x 9.8 meters. At any given time during
observations, only a portion of the mirror is utilized. The HET's 9.2 meter effective aperture makes it
currently the world's fourth largest optical telescope.
The HET entered its commissioning phase in 1997, and began science operations in October of 1999.
more..
Gallery
Construction of the Hobby-Eberly
Telescope.
HET Observing Support
Information, such as proposal preparation, schedules, priority list, and instrument documentation, provided by the night staff.
HET Engineering
The pages of Mt. Fowlkes engineering staff, including policies and procedures, operations schedules, the problem report
management system, and other information.
The Trimester reports are prepared by the HET
Lead RA and include
information about the seeing, weather, allocation of observations by
partner, distribution of objects and status of the equipment.
Science and
Technical Publications
Bibliographic lists of HET science and technical publications.
NOAO Commmunity Access Program
HET observing time is available through the NOAO proposal process, under an agreement with the National Science Foundation.
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