Abstract

Poster - Splinter General   (Keksdose / virtual plenum)

The MOSAIC multi-object spectrograph for the ELT

Kelz, Krajnovic, Steinmetz, Roth, Seifert, Xu, Quirrenbach
AIP, LSW

The multi-object spectrograph MOSAIC is one out of five instruments, currently in development for the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) of ESO. MOSAIC will use the entire field of view of the ELT with its 39m primary mirror and will enable the simultaneous observation of hundreds of objects in the optical and near-infrared spectral range. Furthermore, MOSAIC also offers imaging spectroscopy using deployable integral field units. The scientific goals range from the analysis of the most distant galaxies in the early phase of the universe and their evolution and mass assembly, to resolved stellar populations in relatively nearby galaxies. Furthermore, MOSAIC will provide spectroscopic follow-up to discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Euclid and Athena missions of the European Space Agency (ESA). The MOSAIC consortium includes institutes from 12 countries and is led by the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM). The German partner institutes are the Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) and the Landessternwarte Heidelberg (LSW). In all observation modes, optical fibres are used to connect the telescope's focal plane to the visible and NIR spectrographs. The development and construction of the optical fibre system is the work package of the AIP, based on its expertise with various precursor instruments. The spectrographs for the visible spectral range are developed at LSW and shall feature a low and a medium resolution mode, but with a minimum of moving components and high stability. We will report on the current status of the preliminary design phase and the associated trade-offs.