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VIMOS - a Cosmology Machine for the VLT
March 13, 2002Successful Test Observations With Powerful New Instrument at Paranal
One of the most fundamental tasks of modern astrophysics is the study
of the evolution of the Universe. This is a daunting undertaking that
requires extensive observations of large samples of objects in order
to produce reasonably detailed maps of the distribution of galaxies in
the Universe and to perform statistical analysis.
Much effort is now being put into mapping the relatively nearby space
and thereby to learn how the Universe looks today. But to study its
evolution, we must compare this with how it looked when it still was
young. This is possible, because astronomers can "look back in time"
by studying remote objects - the larger their distance, the longer the
light we now observe has been underway to us, and the longer is thus
the corresponding "look-back time".
This may sound easy, but it is not. Very distant objects are very dim
and can only be observed with large telescopes. Looking at one object
at a time would make such a study extremely time-consuming and, in
practical terms, impossible. To do it anyhow, we need the largest
possible telescope with a highly specialised, exceedingly sensitive
instrument that is able to observe a very large number of (faint)
objects in the remote universe simultaneously.
The VLT VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) is such an
instrument. It can obtain many hundreds of spectra of individual
galaxies in the shortest possible time; in fact, in one special
observing mode, up to 6400 spectra of the galaxies in a remote cluster
during a single exposure, augmenting the data gathering power of the
telescope by the same proportion. This marvellous science machine has
just been installed at the 8.2-m MELIPAL telescope, the third unit of
the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the ESO Paranal Observatory. A
main task will be to carry out 3-dimensional mapping of the distant
Universe from which we can learn its large-scale structure.
"First light" was achieved on February 26, 2002, and a first series of
test observations has successfully demonstrated the huge potential of
this amazing facility. Much work on VIMOS is still ahead during the
coming months in order to put into full operation and fine-tune the
most efficient "galaxy cruncher" in the world.
VIMOS is the outcome of a fruitful collaboration between ESO and
several research institutes in France and Italy, under the
responsibility of the Laboratoire d`Astrophysique de Marseille (CNRS,
France). The other partners in the "VIRMOS Consortium" are the
Laboratoire d`Astrophysique de Toulouse, Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees,
and Observatoire de Haute-Provence in France, and Istituto di
Radioastronomia (Bologna), Istituto di Fisica Cosmica e Tecnologie
Relative (Milano), Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, Osservatorio
Astronomico di Brera (Milano) and Osservatorio Astronomico di
Capodimonte (Naples) in Italy.
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
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