BOMBOLO: A 3-arms optical imager for SOAR Observatory

BOMBOLO is a new multi-passband visitor instrument for the SOAR observatory. It is a three-arm imager covering the near-UV and optical wavelengths. The three arms work simultaneously and independently, providing synchronized imaging capability for rapid astronomical events. BOMBOLO leading science cases are: 1) Simultaneous Multiband Flickering Studies of Accretion Phenomena; 2) Near UV/Optical Diagnostics of Stellar Evolutionary Phases; 3) Exoplanetary Transits; 4) Microlensing Follow-Up and 5) Solar Systems Studies. The instrument is at the Conceptual Design stage, having been approved by the SOAR Board of Directors as a visitor instrument in 2012 and having been granted full funding from CONICYT, the Chilean State Agency of Research, in 2013. The Design Phase has begun and will be completed in late 2014, followed by a construction phase in 2015 and 2016A, with expected Commissioning in 2016B and 2017A.