Foreseen Changes regarding La Silla, Paranal and APEX Instrumentation and Facilities

La Silla

HARPS: regular operation with the Laser Frequency Comb are pending the results of commissioning activities during Period 96.


Paranal

UT instruments and facilities

  • CRIRES is being transformed into a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph. Operations will likely not start before the end of 2017.
  • It is expected that XSHOOTER will undergo an intervention lasting up to 6 months in the coming periods during which the instrument will not be available for operations. The main aim of the intervention is to fix the ADC systems.
  • Installation of ESPRESSO, the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanet and Stable Spectroscopic Observations, is expected to start in Period 98.

Activities related to the installation of the Adaptive Optics Facility on UT4 (Yepun)

  • GALACSI, the adaptive optics module for MUSE, is expected to be installed on Nasmyth B during Period 98 during which MUSE will be unavailable for approximately two weeks.
  • The installation of the Deformable Secondary Mirror and re-commissioning of the telescope is expected to take place in Period 98; as a consequence, UT4 will not be available for approximately 3 months.
  • The commissioning of the AOF and AOF-related systems is expected to require monthly slots of up to 7 days during possibly 2 years.

VLTI instruments and facilites

  • Installation of MATISSE, the Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment, is expected to start in Period 98.
  • The installation and commissioning of the New Adaptive Optics Module for Interferometry (NAOMI), the low order adaptive optics system for the ATs, is expected to start in 2018. The schedule currently foresees the installation of one unit every 3 months during which the corresponding AT will not be available for regular operation for approximately two weeks.

APEX

  • ZEUS-2: Pending successful commissioning, the redshift (z) and Early Universe Spectrometer (ZEUS-2) may be offered as a PI instrument during future periods. ZEUS-2 is a broadband spectrograph covering 7 telluric windows covering 200 to 850 µm. For details, see Ferkinhoff et al. 2010.
  • ARTEMIS: In future periods, parallel observations at 450 µm (4 arcmin x  2 arcmin )  may be off ered.
  • SEPIA: A double sideband receiver covering ALMA band 9 (602 to 720 GHz) with 4 GHz IF bandwidth may be offered inside SEPIA as of Period 98.