Daily Image
20-11-2009
METIS at the European – Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).
| Submitter: | Gabby Kroes |
| Description: | The images show the METIS instrument at the straight through port of the E-ELT. The spherical cryostat of 2.5 meter diameter is visible in which the main part of the instrument is located. This cryostat is supported by a hexapod structure in order to accurately align the instrument with the E-ELT optical axis. A special working platform is provided to have easy access to the instrument for maintenance. Tuesday 17 November 2009 the final review documentation for the METIS Phase-A review was delivered at ESO. In December the phase-A review will take place at the ESO headquarters in Garching. METIS is the ‘Mid-infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph’, the E-ELT (phase A) instrument to cover the thermal/mid-infrared wavelength range from 3 – 14 µm. The E-ELT with its 42m aperture will undoubtedly open up new perspectives for optical/infrared astronomy. It will not only enable observations of fainter and fainter targets – scaling sensitivity from the VLT to the E-ELT – but also new kinds of observations that have never been possible before. These new perspectives include the thermal and mid-IR range longward of 2.5 µm. The mid-infrared wavelength range is extremely rich in spectral diagnostics, which are complementary to diagnostics found at other wavelengths. It contains emission and absorption lines of virtually all molecules, numerous atoms and ions, and unique solid state features. For METIS the following main science drivers, which were used to define the instrument baseline, where derived from the science case: • Proto-planetary Disks and Formation of Planets • Physical and Chemical Properties of Exoplanets • The Formation History of the Solar System • The Growth of Supermassive Black Holes • Morphologies and Dynamics of High-z Galaxies The METIS consortium consists of five partner institutions from the Netherlands (PI: Bernhard Brandl - NOVA), Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Belgium. The METIS team draws heavily from its long-term experience with numerous successful ground- and space-based instruments, such as JWST-MIRI, VISIR, MIDI, TIMMI2, NAOS/CONICA, MICHELLE, HERSCHEL-PACS, and SPITZER-IRS. |
| Copyright: | METIS |
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