MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope

The MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope was originally constructed by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Heidelberg, Germany) and intended to be sited in Namibia. It was not installed there and later offered to ESO under an agreement where ESO undertook the installation of the telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile — achieved in 1983 — and managed its subsequent operation. As of 1 October 2013 ESO no longer offered the telescope to its users, although the Max Planck Society have continued to use it. The telescope and its instruments were also made available to Chilean astronomers and this has continued since 2013.

The telescope currently hosts three instruments: the 67-million pixel Wide Field Imager with a field of view as large as the full Moon, which has taken many amazing images of celestial objects; GROND, the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector, which chases the afterglows of the most powerful explosions in the Universe, known as gamma-ray bursts; and the high-resolution spectrograph, FEROS, used to make detailed studies of stars.

Science goals

Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) follow-up, spectroscopy.

MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope

Name: MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
Site: La Silla
Altitude: 2375 m
Enclosure: Classical dome
Type: Optical & near-infrared telescope
Optical design: Ritchey-Chrétien reflector
Diameter. Primary M1: 2.20 m
Material. Primary M1: ZeroDur
Diameter. Secondary M2: 0.84 m
Material. Secondary M2: ZeroDur
Mount: Equatorial fork mount
First Light date: 22 June 1983
Images taken with the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope: Link
Images of the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope: Link
Videos of the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope: Link
Press Releases with the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope: Link