A Stellar Census in NGC 6397 with MUSE
Abstract
The new and powerful integral-field spectrograph on the VLT, the Multi- Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), was designed to search for distant galaxies to an unprecedented depth, but it is also capable of opening new science windows on the Galaxy. To demonstrate this capability, the globular cluster NGC 6397 was observed during the commissioning of MUSE in August 2014. We outline how the analysis of this unique dataset allowed us to assemble the largest spectroscopic sample of stars in a globular cluster to date. We also highlight the scientific applications that benefit from such MUSE data.