Magellan telescopes operations - art. no. 627007

The Magellan Observatory consists of two 6.5 m telescopes located at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The Magellan partner institutions are the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Harvard University, the University of Arizona, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan. The telescopes are owned and operated by Carnegie for the benefit of the consortium members. This paper provides an overview of the scientific, technical, and administrative structure of the observatory operations. A technical staff of similar to 23 FTEs provides on-site support of the telescopes. This group is augmented by similar to 3 FTEs at the Carnegie Observatories headquarters in Pasadena who concentrate mostly on upgrades or modifications to the telescopes. The observatory is operated in the "classical" mode, wherein the visiting observer is a key member of the operations team. Instrumentation is supplied entirely by the consortium members, who continue to provide significant support after instrument commissioning. An analysis of the successfulness of this model over the first five years of operation is presented.