About SMARTS
The SMARTS Consortium operates the 1.5-m, 1.3-m, 1.0-m, and 0.9-m telescopes on Cerro Tololo, Chile. Membership to SMARTS is open to individuals, institutions, and international partners.
Join and Use SMARTS
SMARTS membership inquiries are encouraged at any time, as long as observing time is available and able to be scheduled along with the scientific programs of the current SMARTS members.
Members can purchase time on the SMARTS telescopes at very reasonable rates (see table, below) for single use observing runs that span a few days or weeks, or for distributed observing over one or more semesters for time-domain science.
If you are interested in joining SMARTS, please contact Charles Bailyn for more information.
| Telescope | Managed By | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9-m | GSU | $600 USD/night | Classical user mode only |
| 1.0-m | Yale | Currently unavailable, due to funding constraints | |
| 1.3-m | Yale | $200 USD / scheduled hour | service / queue nights only, includes overheads |
| 1.5-m | Yale | Currently unavailable, due to funding constraints | |
Primary Members who annually contribute $25K USD or more are entitled to a seat on the SMARTS Management Council. Those who annually contribute less than $25K are considered Secondary Members and do not participate in the governance of SMARTS.
Proposal Information
If your institution is a Member of SMARTS, please check with your institution regarding proposal submission procedures. If you are not a member yet, but are interested in using SMARTS, please contact Charles Bailyn. Users may also apply through NOAO.
SMARTS3 MOU
With a new agreement in effect as of October 1, 2013, the SMARTS3 consortium continues to operate the small telescopes at CTIO through January 2019. For further detail, please consult the SMARTS3 Memoranda of Understanding and the SMARTS3 MOU extension.