Added page for SOAR

Author: rachel3834

docs/assets/images/soar_telescope.png

@@ -5,6 +5,45 @@ show_sidebar: false
 menubar: observatories_menu
 ---
 
-# The SOAR Telescope
+# The Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope
 
-More information coming soon.
+For more information, please visit: [https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/observing-ctio/observing-soar/aeon](https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/observing-ctio/observing-soar/aeon)
+
+<figure class="image">
+  <img src="/assets/images/soar_telescope.png">
+    <figcaption>The SOAR Telescope  Image credit: SOAR Observatory</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+The Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope is a 4.1 meter aperture telescope designed
+to work from the atmospheric cut-off in the blue (320 nm) to the near infrared, with excellent optical
+image quality, fast slewing and with a varied suite of instruments always ready for use. SOAR is
+funded by a a partnership between [NSF’s NOIRLab (NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy
+Research Laboratory)](https://noirlab.edu/public/) formerly the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory - NOAO), on behalf
+of the [U.S. National Science Foundation](http://www.nsf.gov/), the [Ministério da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovaçoes (MCTI)](http://www.mctic.gov.br/portal) of
+the Federal Republic of Brazil, the [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)](https://physics.unc.edu/), and [Michigan
+State University (MSU)](http://www.pa.msu.edu/). 
+
+The SOAR telescope is [situated on Cerro Pachón](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/soar-telescope/about/location) - IV Region - Chile, at an
+altitude of 2,700 meters (8,775 feet) above sea level, co-located on the same summit with the [Vera
+Rubin](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/vera-c-rubin-observatory) and the [Gemini South Observatories](http://www.gemini.edu/). Our [offices](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/soar-telescope/about/location) 
+are located in the [AURA](http://www.aura-astronomy.org/)/[CTIO](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio) compound, in
+the city of La Serena, Chile. For more information on the technical specifications of the telescope, see
+[this page](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/soar-telescope/technical-specs).
+SOAR is one of the founding partners of the Astronomical Event Observatory Network (AEON),
+together with Las Cumbres Observatory and Gemini, and has been running the highly automated
+SOAR AEON queue regularly since 2019. AEON at SOAR offers AEON-SOAR optical imaging and
+spectroscopy, and near-IR spectroscopy (out to 2.4 um). Starting in the second half of 2025 we will
+also be offering near-IR imaging.
+
+In addition to dynamic, programmatically accessible scheduling, AEON on SOAR provides real-time
+[optical imaging and spectroscopic data reduction](https://soardocs.readthedocs.io/projects/goodman-pipeline/en/latest/index.html), 
+which allows our [Goodman spectrograph](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/instruments/goodman-high-throughput-spectrograph) users to
+get fully reduced data seconds after shutter close. The SOAR AEON queue includes an observation of
+a spectrophotometric standard star every night. [Tspec](https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/instruments/triplespec41-nir-imaging-spectrograph) near-IR spectroscopy in AEON mode include a
+Telluric standard observed immediately after the science target.
+Users can use the [LCO Observation Portal](https://observe.lco.global/) or an [API](https://developers.lco.global/) to submit targets. All raw and reduced SOAR
+data are uploaded to the [Las Cumbres data archive](https://archive.lco.global/), from where users can download their data
+products.
+
+For more information on AEON at
+SOAR, please see our web pages at [this link](https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/observing-ctio/observing-soar/aeon).