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Other Publications Year : 2015

The Science Case for Multi-Object Spectroscopy on the European ELT

Chris Evans
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Jose Afonso
  • Function : Author
Omar Almaini
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Philippe Amram
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  • PersonId : 1237027
Hervé Aussel
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Beatriz Barbuy
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Alistair Basden
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Nate Bastian
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Giuseppina Battaglia
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Beth Biller
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Nicholas Bouché
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Andy Bunker
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Stephane Charlot
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Michele Cirasuolo
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Chris Conselice
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Thierry Contini
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Jean-Gabriel Cuby
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Gavin Dalton
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Ben Davies
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Alex de Koter
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Karen Disseau
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Jim Dunlop
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Benoît Epinat
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Fabrizio Fiore
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Sofia Feltzing
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Annette Ferguson
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Adriano Fontana
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Thierry Fusco
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Dimitri Gadotti
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Anna Gallazzi
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Jesus Gallego
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Emanuele Giallongo
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Thiago Gonçalves
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Eike Guenther
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Vanessa Hill
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Roridgo Ibata
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Lex Kaper
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Andreas Korn
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Søren Larsen
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Olivier Le Fèvre
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Bertrand Lemasle
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Claudia Maraston
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Yannick Mellier
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Simon Morris
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Göran Östlin
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Roser Pello
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Laura Pentericci
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Celine Peroux
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Patrick Petitjean
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Lucía Rodríguez-Muñoz
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Hugues Sana
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Daniel Schaerer
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Eduardo Telles
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Scott Trager
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Laurence Tresse
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Niraj Welikala
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Stefano Zibetti
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Bodo Ziegler
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Abstract

This White Paper presents the scientific motivations for a multi-object spectrograph (MOS) on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The MOS case draws on all fields of contemporary astronomy, from extra-solar planets, to the study of the halo of the Milky Way and its satellites, and from resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies out to observations of the earliest 'first-light' structures in the partially-reionised Universe. The material presented here results from thorough discussions within the community over the past four years, building on the past competitive studies to agree a common strategy toward realising a MOS capability on the E-ELT. The cases have been distilled to a set of common requirements which will be used to define the MOSAIC instrument, entailing two observational modes ('high multiplex' and 'high definition'). When combined with the unprecedented sensitivity of the E-ELT, MOSAIC will be the world's leading MOS facility. In analysing the requirements we also identify a high-multiplex MOS for the longer-term plans for the E-ELT, with an even greater multiplex (>1000 targets) to enable studies of large-scale structures in the high-redshift Universe. Following the green light for the construction of the E-ELT the MOS community, structured through the MOSAIC consortium, is eager to realise a MOS on the E-ELT as soon as possible. We argue that several of the most compelling cases for ELT science, in highly competitive areas of modern astronomy, demand such a capability. For example, MOS observations in the early stages of E-ELT operations will be essential for follow-up of sources identified by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In particular, multi-object adaptive optics and accurate sky subtraction with fibres have both recently been demonstrated on sky, making fast-track development of MOSAIC feasible.

Dates and versions

obspm-03898944 , version 1 (14-12-2022)

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Chris Evans, Mathieu Puech, Jose Afonso, Omar Almaini, Philippe Amram, et al.. The Science Case for Multi-Object Spectroscopy on the European ELT. 2015. ⟨obspm-03898944⟩
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