HRMOS: A High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph for the VLT
Abstract
This White Paper presents the scientific rationale and instrument concept for HRMOS (High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph), a next-generation instrument proposed for the ESO Very Large Telescope within the VLT 2030 roadmap. Current and planned facilities offer either multi-object spectroscopy or ultra-high spectral resolution, but not both. HRMOS fills this gap by combining very high spectral resolution, multi-object capability, and radial-velocity stability, enabling transformative studies in Galactic and extragalactic astrophysics. The baseline design provides a resolving power of R = 80000, radial-velocity precision of 10 m s-1 (goal: 5 m s-1), simultaneous observations of 50-60 targets, and broad optical coverage down to 385 nm. These capabilities enable precise measurements of elemental abundances, isotopic ratios, line profiles, and radial velocities for large stellar samples, including crowded fields, star clusters, the Galactic bulge, and nearby dwarf galaxies. HRMOS will address key questions on the age of the oldest stellar populations through nucleocosmochronology, the formation and survival of planetary systems, the assembly history of the Milky Way and satellites, the origin of the heaviest elements, stellar evolution, and the chemical and dynamical properties of the interstellar and circumgalactic medium. It will bridge large spectroscopic surveys and the next generation of extremely large telescopes, with strong synergies with 4MOST, Gaia, TESS, PLATO, the proposed Haydn mission, and future ELT instruments. Building on VLT/FLAMES heritage, HRMOS represents a strategic investment for European astronomy in the 2030s.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.04916,
title = {HRMOS: A High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph for the VLT},
author = {Laura Magrini and Thomas Bensby and Sofia Randich and Andrea Bianco and Oscar Gonzalez and Emma Fernandez-Alvar and Sergio G. Sousa and Letizia Caito and Marco Riva and Vardan Adibekyan and Anish M. Amarsi and Maria Teresa Belmonte and Maria Benito and Christian P. Clear and Camilla Danielski and Valentina D'Orazi and Riano Giribaldi and Camilla J. Hansen and Vanessa Hill and Robin D. Jeffries and Georges Kordopatis and Andrea Miglio and Dinko Milakovic and Germano Sacco and Jose Schiappacasse-Ulloa and Asa Skuladottir and Rodolfo Smiljanic and Maria Tsantaki and Almudena Arcones and Jose Maria Arroyo-Polonio and Martina Baratella and Beatriz Barbuy and John R. Barnes and Giuseppina Battaglia and Holger Baumgardt and Katia Biazzo and Manuela Bischetti and Angela Bragaglia and Tobias Buck and Sven Buder and Sema Caliskan and Gabriele Cescutti and Andrew Collier Cameron and Ryan Cooke and Sergio Cristallo and Francesco Damiani and Arnas Drazdauskas and Heitor Ernandes and Antonio Frasca and Mark Gieles and Valeria Grisoni and Moira Jardine and Evan N. Kirby and Jonas Klevas and Andreas Korn and Ioanna Koutsouridou and Cis Lagae and Nadege Lagarde and Romain Lucchesi and Francesca Lucertini and Luca Malavolta and Fabiola Marino and Tadafumi Matsuno and Thibault Merle and Sapna Mishra and Marta Molero and Mario Montalto and Michele Moresco and Alessio Mucciarelli and Domenico Nardiello and Valerio Nascimbeni and Brunella Nisini and Joana Oliveira and Elenia Pacetti and Marco Palla and Marco Pignatari and Danae Polychroni and Federico Rizzuti and Donatella Romano and Stefania Salvadori and Luca Sbordone and Emanuele Spitoni and Matthew R. Standing and Grazina Tautvaivsiene and Yuan-Sen Ting and Andrea Travascio and Diego Turrini and Sophie Van Eck and Kim Venn and Diego Vescovi and C. Clare Worley and Nick Wright and Robert Yates and Alice Zocchi and Laura Affer and Carlos Allende and Paul Barklem and Michele Bellazzini and Serena Benatti and Leda Berni and Francesco Borsa and Maurizio Busso and Tiago Campante and Roberta Carini and Brad Carter and Giada Casali and Mario Damasso and Elisa Delgado Mena and Ignacio Del Moral Castro and Silvano Desidera and Maria Pia Di Mauro and Ana Escorza and Sergio Fonte and Elena Franciosini and Xiaoting Fu and Paolo Giacobbe and Terese Thidemann Hansen and Henrik Hartman and Keith Hawkins and Neda Heidari and Krzysztof Helminiak and H. Jens Hoeijmakers and Stavro Lambrov Ivanovski and Pascale Jablonka and Chiaki Kobayashi and Arunas Kucinskas and Carmela Lardo and Sebastiano Ledda and Alesandra Lehtmets and Karin Lind and João J. G. Lima and Sara Lucatello and Fatemeh Zahra Majidi and Sarah Martell and Anna McLeod and Sergio Molinari and Stephanie Monty and Benjamin Montet and Michael T. Murphy and Henryka Netzel-Iłkiewicz and Belinda Nicholson and Patrick Palmeri and Luca Pasquini and Lorenzo Pino and Romolo Politi and Francesca Primas and Pascal Quinet and Monica Rainer and Heleri Ramler and Yassin Rany Khalil and Martina Rossi and Eugenio Schisano and Federico Sestito and Paolo Simonetti and Arianna Vasini and Silvia Vicente and Carlos Viscasillas Vazquez and Manuela Zocchi and Michele Zusi and Andrea Baruffolo and Martin Black and Anna Brucalassi and Simone D'Auria and Vincenzo De Caprio and Michele Frangiamore and Enrico Giro and Robert J. Harris and Alen Khanbekyan and Enrique Joven and Tom Louth and Matteo Munari and Graham J. Murray and Luis Fernando Rodriguez Ramos and Bernardo Salasnich and William Taylor and Andrea Tozzi and Steven Watson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.04916},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
Second version of the White Paper for the proposed HRMOS instrument for the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT)