ESO Instruments Summary Table
| Instrument | Spectral Coverage | Observing Mode | Spectral Resolution | Multiplex | Note | Telescope |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FORS2 | optical 330 - 1100 nm |
imaging (incl. configurable occulting bars), long slit and multi-object spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, imaging polarimetry | 260 - 2600 | yes | Spectroscopy with ~7' long slit, ~20" multi-slit, and laser-cut slit masks; high time resolution modes (imaging and spectroscopy) in visitor mode only; RRM | VLT UT1 |
| CRIRES | IR 0.95-5.2 μm | echelle, slit spectroscopy | 100,000 - 50,000 |
no | AO | VLT UT1 |
| UVES | optical 300 - 1100 nm |
echelle, image slicer, slit spectroscopy | up to 80,000 (blue arm) / 110,000 (red arm) | no | long slit capability in single order; iodine cell; RRM | VLT UT2 |
| FLAMES | optical 370 - 950 nm |
multi-fibre echelle,integral field spectroscopy | 6000 - 47000 | yes | 135 Medusa fibres; 15 deployable IFUs, one large IFU; GIRAFFE: single echelle order; 8 fibres to UVES | VLT UT2 |
| X-SHOOTER | UV-optical-NIR 300 - 2500 nm |
echelle, slit and integral field spectroscopy | ~5000-17000 | no | full spectral coverage with one pointing; slit + IFU; RRM | VLT UT2 |
| VIMOS | optical 360 - 1000 nm |
imaging, multi-object spectroscopy, integral field spectroscopy | 200-2500 | yes | IFU size on sky from 13"x13" to 54"x54"; multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) with 4 laser-cut slit masks; Imaging and MOS field of view 4 times 7'x8'. | VLT UT3 |
| ISAAC | IR 1-5 μm |
imaging, spectroscopy, polarimetry, fast photometry | ~250-10000 | no | 2.5'x2.5' field of view (1-5μm), 73"x73" (3-5μm) subwindow readout capability; RRM Expected to be decommissioned in 2012. |
VLT UT3 |
| VISIR | mid-IR 5-13 μm, 17-24 μm |
imaging, spectroscopy | 150-30,000 | no | field of view selectable: 19"x19" to 32" x 32" after the upgrade the new FOV of VISIR will be selectable between 46" x 46" and 78" x 78". |
VLT UT3 |
| NACO | IR 1-4 μm |
imaging, imaging polarimetry, spectroscopy, coronography (incl. 4 Quadrant Phase Mask, and Apodoizing Phase Plate), simultaneous differential imaging, sparse aperture masking (incl. w/polarimetry), Angular Differential Imaging (Pupil Tracking) | <1500 | no | AO with visible and IR wave front sensor; laser guide star; no AO and Cube Mode available Expected to be decommissioned in 2012. |
VLT UT4 |
| SINFONI | near-IR 1.1 - 2.45 μm |
integral field spectroscopy | 1500-4000 | no | AO with natural and laser guide star; RRM | VLT UT4 |
| HAWK-I | near-IR 0.85-2.5 μm | imaging, fast photometry | - | - | field: 7.5'x7.5', subwindow readout capability; RRM | VLT UT4 |
| MIDI | mid-IR 8-13 μm |
spectro - interferometry | R=30 (prism) or R=230 (grism); spatial resolution up to 15 mas at 10μm | no | 2 beam combiner - measures visibility | VLTI - ATs VLTI - UTs |
| AMBER | near-IR 1.5 - 2.5 μm |
spectro - interferometry | R~30, 1500 or 12000 | no | 3 beam combiner - measures also closure phase; spatial resolution up to 3 mas at 2 μm | VLTI - ATs VLTI - UTs |
| HARPS | optical 378-691nm |
echelle, polarimetry | 120,000 | no | 2 fibres, high accuracy | 3.6m |
| EFOSC-2 | optical 350 - 1100nm |
imaging, spectroscopy, polarimetry, coronography | ~1000 | no | imaging and spectroscopic polarimetry | NTT |
| SOFI | near-IR 1-2.5 μm |
imaging, spectroscopy | 600-2200 | no | - | NTT |
| FEROS | optical 350 - 920nm |
echelle spectroscopy | ~48,000 | no | - | MPG/ESO 2.2m |
| WFI | optical 350 - 1000 nm |
imaging | - | - | 30x30 arcmin sq. field | MPG/ESO 2.2m |
| SHFI | 211-370 GHz, 385-500 GHz and 1.25-1.39 THz | heterodyne receiver | - | - | - | APEX |
| LABOCA | 870 μm | bolometer array | - | - | 295 channels | APEX |
| SABOCA | 350 μm | bolometer array | - | - | 37 channels | APEX |
| FLASH |
280-370 GHz |
dual-beam heterodyne receiver |
- | - | PI instrument; simultaneous observations in four receiver backends of 4 GHz bandwidth | APEX |
| Z-spec |
190-308 GHz |
broad-band spectrograph |
250-300 | - | PI instrument | APEX |
| CHAMP+ |
620-720 and 780-950 GHz |
dual-beam heterodyne receiver |
- | - | PI instrument; simultaneous mapping with 7 pixels in each band | APEX |
| VIRCAM | near-IR 0.8-2.2 μm |
imaging | - | - | 1.5 degree x 1 degree field of view with 0.34" average pixel size | VISTA |
| OmegaCAM | optical 0.35-0.91 μm | imaging | - | - | 1 degree x 1 degree unvignetted field of view with 0.21" pixel size | VST |
