Related papers: The Extremely Large Telescope
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 searches for other life and for intelligence are fundamental problems that science faces today. Most searches so far have been focused on radio, but optical laser communication is an alternative, well suited for a ground-based…
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…
One of the problems of producing spectrographs for Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) is that the beam size is required to scale with telescope aperture if all other parameters are held constant, leading to enormous size and implied cost.…
We describe updated scientific goals for the wide-field, millimeter-wave survey that will be produced by the Simons Observatory (SO). Significant upgrades to the 6-meter SO Large Aperture Telescope (LAT) are expected to be complete by 2028,…
X-shooter is the first second-generation instrument for the ESO Very Large Telescope and will be installed in 2008. It is intended to become the most powerful optical & near-infrared medium-resolution spectrograph in the world, with a…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has led to the first images of a supermassive black hole, revealing the central compact objects in the elliptical galaxy M87 and the Milky Way. Proposed upgrades to this array through the next-generation…
In this article we identify and discuss various statistical and systematic effects influencing the astrometric accuracy achievable with MICADO, the near-infrared imaging camera proposed for the 42-metre European Extremely Large Telescope…
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO) will be a revolutionary leap forward in astronomical observing capabilities, enabling us to address some of the most profound questions about the universe. From unraveling the…
Strong gravitational lensing offers a powerful and direct probe of dark matter, galaxy evolution and cosmology, yet strong lenses are rare: only 1 in roughly 10,000 massive galaxies can lens a background source into multiple images. The…
The Calar Alto Observatory, located at 2168m height above the sea level in continental Europe, holds a significant number of astronomical telescopes and experiments, covering a large range of the electromagnetic domain, from gamma-ray to…
The scientific detector systems for the ESO ELT first-light instruments, HARMONI, MICADO, and METIS, together will require 27 science detectors: seventeen 2.5 $\mu$m cutoff H4RG-15 detectors, four 4K x 4K 231-84 CCDs, five 5.3 $\mu$m cutoff…
Self-lensing (SL) represents a powerful technique for detecting compact objects in binary systems through gravitational microlensing effects, when a compact companion transits in front of its luminous partner. We present the first…
Large astronomical instruments using tens to hundreds of optical or infrared science detectors pose specific challenges for detector control, where, in addition to performance, other engineering aspects like scalability, power consumption,…
The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and…
I describe a European collaborative project to survey \sim 20 square degrees of the sky at 15\micron and 90\micron with ISO. This is the largest open time project being undertaken by ISO. The depth and areal coverage were designed to…
A large wide-field telescope and camera with optical throughput over 200 m^2 deg^2 -- a factor of 50 beyond what we currently have -- would enable the detection of faint moving or bursting optical objects: from Earth threatening asteroids…
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…
The Einstein Telescope (ET) will be the next generation gravitational wave observatory in Europe with a sensitivity reaching beyond the CMB into the dark era of the Universe. Each corner of the triangular baseline design is the center of…
We recommend a conceptual design study for a spectroscopic facility in the southern hemisphere comprising a large diameter telescope, fiber system, and spectrographs collectively optimized for massively-multiplexed spectroscopy. As a…