The first generation of ELT instruments includes an optical-infrared high resolution spectrograph, indicated as ELT-HIRES and recently christened ANDES (ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph). ANDES consists of three fibre-fed spectrographs (UBV, RIZ, YJH) providing a spectral resolution of ∼100,000 with a minimum simultaneous wavelength coverage of 0.4-1.8 µm with the goal of extending it to 0.35-2.4 µm with the addition of a K band spectrograph. It operates both in seeing- and diffraction-limited conditions and the fibre-feeding allows several, interchangeable observing modes including a single conjugated adaptive optics module and a small diffraction-limited integral field unit in the NIR. Its modularity will ensure that ANDES can be placed entirely on the ELT Nasmyth platform, if enough mass and volume is available, or partly in the Coudé room. ANDES has a wide range of groundbreaking science cases spanning nearly all areas of research in astrophysics and even fundamental physics. Among the top science cases there are the detection of biosignatures from exoplanet atmospheres, finding the fingerprints of the first generation of stars, tests on the stability of Nature’s fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. The ANDES project is carried forward by a large international consortium, composed of 35 Institutes from 13 countries, forming a team of more than 200 scientists and engineers which represent the majority of the scientific and technical expertise in the field among ESO member states.
Following the idea originally proposed during the ESO-Workshop The Very Large Telescope in 2030, the concept of a high resolution spectrograph for the VLT has been further explored, both for the science and technological aspects. Such an instrument will fill a gap in capabilities amongst the landscape of future instrumentation planned for the next decade. Its key characteristic will be high spectral resolution (R = 60000-80000) with multi-object (50-100) capabilities and, possibly, a stability that would provide high radial velocity precision (∼10m/s). In this work, we describe the science cases and driving science requirements for the instrument. Furthermore we will present some design solutions and technical options considered to meet these requirements.
The MCAO Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph (MAVIS) is a facility-grade visible MCAO instrument, currently under development for the Adaptive Optics Facility at the VLT. The adaptive optics system will feed both an imager and an integral field spectrograph, with unprecedented sky coverage of 50% at the Galactic Pole. The imager will deliver diffraction-limited image quality in the V band, cover a 30" x 30" field of view, with imaging from U to z bands. The conceptual design for the spectrograph has a selectable field-of-view of 2.5" x 3.6", or 5" x 7.2", with a spatial sampling of 25 or 50 mas respectively. It will deliver a spectral resolving power of R=5,000 to R=15,000, covering a wavelength range from 380 - 950 nm. The combined angular resolution and sensitivity of MAVIS fill a unique parameter space at optical wavelengths, that is highly complementary to that of future next-generation facilities like JWST and ELTs, optimised for infrared wavelengths. MAVIS will facilitate a broad range of science, including monitoring solar system bodies in support of space missions; resolving protoplanetary- and accretion-disk mechanisms around stars; combining radial velocities and proper motions to detect intermediate-mass black holes; characterising resolved stellar populations in galaxies beyond the local group; resolving galaxies spectrally and spatially on parsec scales out to 50 Mpc; tracing the role of star clusters across cosmic time; and characterising the first globular clusters in formation via gravitational lensing. We describe the science cases and the concept designs for the imager and spectrograph.
KEYWORDS: Visible radiation, James Webb Space Telescope, Observatories, Adaptive optics, Large telescopes, Spectrographs, Spatial resolution, Hubble Space Telescope, Telescopes
A consortium of several Australian and European institutes – together with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) – has initiated the design of MAVIS, a Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system for the ground- based 8-m Very Large Telescope (VLT). MAVIS (MCAO-assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph) will deliver visible images and integral field spectrograph data with 2-3x better angular resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope, making it a powerful complement at visible wavelengths to future facilities like the space-based James Webb Space Telescope and the 30 to 40m-class ground-based telescopes currently under construction, which are all targeting science at near-infrared wavelengths. MAVIS successfully passed its Phase A in May 2020. We present the motivations, requirements, principal design choices, conceptual design, expected performance and an overview of the exciting science enabled by MAVIS.
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