Paranal cleanroom

This image shows the Paranal cleanroom. The instrument scientists are assembling an Annular Groove Phase Mask (AGPM) which, when installed in a camera, enables high-contrast imaging at very small inner working angles, potentially opening up new possibilities in high-resolution imaging. The part will be installed at the Paranal site onto the near-infrared camera and spectrograph 'CONICA', part of NACO — the VLT’s adaptive optics workhorse instrument. To learn more about this instrument read the article in issue 152 of the messenger.