Related papers: ELT-MOS White Paper: Science Overview & Requiremen…
The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) is a concept for an 8-meter to 16-meter UVOIR space observatory for launch in the 2025-2030 era. ATLAST will allow astronomers to answer fundamental questions at the forefront…
The start of operation of several large-aperture telescopes has motivated several groups around the world to conduct deep large imaging surveys, complementing other wide-area but shallower surveys. A special class of imaging surveys are the…
As we move towards the era of ELTs, it is timely to think about the future role of the 8-m class telescopes. Under the OPTICON programme, novel technologies have been developed that are intended for use in multi-object and integral-field…
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…
The 4MOST consortium is currently halfway through a Conceptual Design study for ESO with the aim to develop a wide-field (>3 square degree, goal >5 square degree), high-multiplex (>1500 fibres, goal 3000 fibres) spectroscopic survey…
The Einstein Telescope (ET), a proposed European ground-based gravitational-wave detector of third-generation, is an evolution of second-generation detectors such as Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA which could be operating in the…
Recent advances in astronomical observations have ushered in an era of remarkable discoveries. We now probe the Universe through multi-messenger signals, image the sky with unprecedented depth and resolution, and investigate individual…
We address three major questions in astronomy, namely the detection of biosignatures on habitable exoplanets, the geophysics of exoplanets and cosmology. To achieve this goal, two requirements are needed. First a very large aperture to…
The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a proposed next-generation, underground gravitational-wave (GW) detector to be based in Europe. It will provide about an order of magnitude sensitivity increase with respect to currently operating detectors,…
The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) is a second-generation VLT panoramic integral-field spectrograph under preliminary design study. MUSE has a field of 1x1 arcmin**2 sampled at 0.2x0.2 arcsec**2 and is assisted by the VLT ground…
We present the concept of BlueMUSE, a blue-optimised, medium spectral resolution, panoramic integral field spectrograph based on the MUSE concept and proposed for the Very Large Telescope. With an optimised transmission down to 350 nm, a…
Within the next decade, atmospheric O$_2$ on Earth-like M dwarf planets may be accessible with visible--near-infrared, high spectral resolution extremely large ground-based telescope (ELT) instruments. However, the prospects for using ELTs…
The ELTI concept capitalizes on recent breakthroughs in large-format SPAD (Single-Photon Avalanche Diode) imaging sensors, combining them with the unprecedented collecting area and segmented architecture of the ELT to deliver a…
We proposed that the European ELT will be equipped with an ultra-high-precision polarimetric light feed as part of its high resolution optical and near-IR spectrograph HIRES. Such a feed is unique among the new ELTs and only possible in a…
Transmission and eclipse spectroscopy have been invaluable tools for the characterisation of extrasolar planet atmospheres. While they will continue to provide many new insights and discoveries in the decade(s) to come, these methods are…
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will open a discovery frontier for faint and fast transients with its ability to detect variable flux components down to $\sim$24.5 mag in a $\sim$30 second exposure. Spectroscopic follow-up of…
By the 2040s--50s, facilities such as \emph{Gaia}, WEAVE, 4MOST, Rubin, \emph{Euclid}, \emph{Roman}, and the ESO ELT will have transformed our global view of the Milky Way. Yet key questions will remain incompletely resolved: a detailed…
An important tool for the development of the next generation of extremely large telescopes (ELTs) is the Systems Engineering (SE). GMACS is the first-generation multi-object spectrograph working at visible wavelengths for the Giant Magellan…
MICADO is the adaptive optics imaging camera being studied for the E-ELT. Its design has been optimised for use with MCAO, but will have its own SCAO module for the initial operational phase; and in principle could also be used with GLAO or…
The forthcoming data expected from space missions such as CoRoT require the capacity of the available tools to provide accurate models whose numerical precision is well above the expected observational errors. In order to secure that these…