MOONS, a state-of-the-art spectrograph built by a consortium of six countries (the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, and Chile) as well as ESO, will set sail to unlock the secrets of the Universe. This month, after more than a decade of innovation and collaboration, MOONS (Multi-Object Optical and Near-Infrared Spectrograph) left the UK Astronomy Technology Center (UK ATC) in Edinburgh, where the entire instrument was assembled and tested. This marks the start of an 11,000 km journey to the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Paranal site in Chile.
MOONS was built by an international consortium led by the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, involving collaboration across six countries. Th`is project marks a significant milestone for French science and engineering, particularly through the development of new expertise in using fibers in cryogenic environments—a responsibility led by France.
Its journey to Chile marks the final stage before its integration into ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and its first use in 2026.
UK ATC has led the project, which has been supported from the outset by CNRS-INSU and the Paris Observatory-PSL. Within the consortium, France has been responsible for the fiber link, the slit environment, the shutter, and the data reduction pipeline.
Its unique capabilities will enable astronomers to study millions of stars and galaxies, providing unprecedented data on the formation and evolution of galaxies and the structure of our Milky Way. This will help answer some of the biggest questions in astronomy.
Contacts :
Hector FLORES Co-PI Français du projet, LUX, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, hector.flores@obspm.fr
Isabelle GUINOUARD Chef de Projet Français, UNIDIA, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, isabelle.guinouard@obspm.fr
Frédéric ROYER Responsable DRS, LIRA, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, frederic.royer@obspm.fr
