Coudé Auxiliary Telescope (decommissioned)
The ESO Coudé Auxiliary Telescope (CAT) was housed in a smaller dome, adjacent to the 3.6-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory, and fed the 3.6-metre's Coudé Echelle Spectrometer through a light tunnel. The CAT was fully computer controlled and was used for many different types of astronomical observations, including measuring the ages of ancient stars.
Science goals
High resolution spectroscopy.
Links
Coudé Auxiliary Telescope
| Name: | Coudé Auxiliary Telescope |
| Site: | La Silla |
| Altitude: | 2375 m |
| Enclosure: | Classical dome connected to ESO 3.6 m dome |
| Type: | Spectrographic telescope |
| Optical design: | Coudé (feeds the spectrograph of the 3.6-metre) |
| Diameter. Primary M1: | 1.47 m |
| Material. Primary M1: | Borosilicate |
| Diameter. Secondary M2: | 0.22 m |
| Material. Secondary M2: | N/A (four interchangeable M2 secondaries mounted on a turret) |
| Diameter. Tertiary M3: | 0.254 m |
| Mount: | Equatorial siderostat mount |
| First Light date: | 5 May 1981 |
| Decommissioning date: | Connected to ESO's 3.60 m telescope via optical fiber in 1998 |