Overview

Observing at the MMT is primarily available to astronomers from the home institution communities, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) & Steward Observatory (SO), University of Arizona. However, there are a number of nights available to the larger community through Public Access allocation by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO).

Each of the three institutions have their own Time Allocation Committee (TAC) which reviews proposals from its astronomy community and assigns telescope time based on scientific merit. The MMTO scheduling committee then schedules the telescope to accommodate all approved proposals from the three TACs. The SAO & SO TACs meet three times a year, where as the NOAO TAC meets twice yearly, and the telescope is scheduled in trimesters.

Use these pages to prepare your proposals and plan for your observing run at the MMT.  For further inquiries, please contact Grant Williams.