MOONS: a multi-object optical and near-infrared spectrograph for the VLT
Michele Cirasuolo
(1)
,
J. Afonso
(2)
,
Ralf Bender
(3)
,
Piercarlo Bonifacio
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Christopher Evans
(1)
,
Lex Kaper
(8)
,
Ernesto Oliva
(9)
,
Leonardo Vanzi
(10)
,
Manuel Abreu
(11)
,
Eli Atad-Ettadgui
(1)
,
Carine Babusiaux
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Franz E. Bauer
(10)
,
Philip Best
(12)
,
Naidu Bezawada
(1)
,
Ian R. Bryson
(1)
,
Alexandre Cabral
(11)
,
Karina Caputi
(12)
,
Mauro Centrone
(13)
,
Fanny Chemla
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Andrea Cimatti
(14)
,
Maria-Rosa Cioni
(15)
,
Gisella Clementini
(16)
,
João Coelho
(11)
,
Emmanuele Daddi
(17)
,
James S. Dunlop
(12)
,
Sofia Feltzing
(18)
,
Annette M. N. Ferguson
(12)
,
Hector Flores
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Adriano Fontana
(19)
,
Johan P. U. Fynbo
(20)
,
Bianca Garilli
(21)
,
Adrian M. Glauser
(22)
,
Isabelle Guinouard
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Jean-François Hammer
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Peter R. Hastings
(1)
,
Hans-Joachim Hess
(3)
,
Robert J. Ivison
(1)
,
Pascal Jagourel
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Matt J. Jarvis
(15)
,
Guinevere Kauffmann
(23)
,
Andy Lawrence
(12)
,
D. Lee
(1)
,
Gianluca Li Causi
(19)
,
S. J. Lilly
(22)
,
Dario Lorenzetti
(19)
,
R. Maiolino
(19)
,
F. Mannucci
(9)
,
R. J. Mclure
(12)
,
Dante Minniti
(10)
,
D. Montgomery
(1)
,
Bernard Muschielok
(3)
,
Kirpal Nandra
(24)
,
Ramón Navarro
(25)
,
P. Norberg
(12)
,
L. Origlia
(16)
,
N. Padilla
(10)
,
J. Peacock
(12)
,
F. Pedicini
(19)
,
Laura Pentericci
(19)
,
Johan H. Pragt
(25)
,
Mathieu Puech
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Sofia Randich
(9)
,
Alvio Renzini
(26)
,
N. Ryde
(18)
,
Myriam Rodrigues
(27)
,
Frédéric Royer
(4, 5, 6, 7)
,
Roberto P. Saglia
(3)
,
A. Sanchez
(24)
,
Hermine Schnetler
(1)
,
D. Sobral
(12)
,
R. Speziali
(19)
,
Stephen P. Todd
(1)
,
Eline Tolstoy
(28)
,
M. Torres
(10)
,
Lars Venema
(28)
,
F. Vitali
(19)
,
Michael Wegner
(3)
,
Martyn Wells
(1)
,
V. Wild
(12)
,
G. Wright
(1)
1
UKATC -
UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh
2 Observatorio Astronomico de Lisboa, Centro de Astronomia e Astrofisica da Universidade de Lisboa (CAAUL)
3 Univ.-Sternwarte Munchen (Germany)
4 GEPI - Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation
5 Physique des Galaxies et Cosmologie
6 Pôle instrumental
7 Physique stellaire et galactique
8 AI PANNEKOEK - Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek
9 OAA - INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
10 Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile (Chile)
11 ULISBOA - Universidade de Lisboa = University of Lisbon = Université de Lisbonne
12 Institute for Astronomy, Blackford Hill
13 OAR - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
14 UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
15 UH - University of Hertfordshire [Hatfield]
16 INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna (Italy)
17 CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives
18 Lund Observatory
19 INAF-OAR - INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
20 Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute
21 IASF-MI - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Milano
22 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
23 Max-Planck-Institut fur Astrophysik (Germany)
24 MPE - Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik
25 ASTRON - Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
26 INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (Italy)
27 European Southern Observatory (Chile)
28 University of Groningen [Groningen]
2 Observatorio Astronomico de Lisboa, Centro de Astronomia e Astrofisica da Universidade de Lisboa (CAAUL)
3 Univ.-Sternwarte Munchen (Germany)
4 GEPI - Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation
5 Physique des Galaxies et Cosmologie
6 Pôle instrumental
7 Physique stellaire et galactique
8 AI PANNEKOEK - Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek
9 OAA - INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
10 Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile (Chile)
11 ULISBOA - Universidade de Lisboa = University of Lisbon = Université de Lisbonne
12 Institute for Astronomy, Blackford Hill
13 OAR - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
14 UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
15 UH - University of Hertfordshire [Hatfield]
16 INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna (Italy)
17 CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives
18 Lund Observatory
19 INAF-OAR - INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
20 Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute
21 IASF-MI - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Milano
22 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
23 Max-Planck-Institut fur Astrophysik (Germany)
24 MPE - Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik
25 ASTRON - Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
26 INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (Italy)
27 European Southern Observatory (Chile)
28 University of Groningen [Groningen]
Résumé
MOONS is a new conceptual design for a Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope (VLT), selected by ESO for a Phase A study. The baseline design consists of ~1000 fibers deployable over a field of view of ~500 square arcmin, the largest patrol field offered by the Nasmyth focus at the VLT. The total wavelength coverage is 0.8mum-1.8mum and two resolution modes: medium resolution and high resolution. In the medium resolution mode (R~4,000-6,000) the entire wavelength range 0.8mum-1.8mum is observed simultaneously, while the high resolution mode covers simultaneously three selected spectral regions: one around the CaII triplet (at R~8,000) to measure radial velocities, and two regions at R~20,000 one in the J-band and one in the H-band, for detailed measurements of chemical abundances. The grasp of the 8.2m Very Large Telescope (VLT) combined with the large multiplex and wavelength coverage of MOONS - extending into the near-IR - will provide the observational power necessary to study galaxy formation and evolution over the entire history of the Universe, from our Milky Way, through the redshift desert and up to the epoch of re-ionization at z