{"id":15281,"date":"2017-12-06T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15281"},"modified":"2017-12-05T15:31:22","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T20:31:22","slug":"eso-expresso-next-gen-planet-hunter-gets-first-light-from-the-very-large-telescope-vlt-in-chile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15281","title":{"rendered":"ESO: EXPRESSO next-gen planet hunter gets first light from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report from\u00a0ESO<\/a>:<\/p>\n

First Light for ESPRESSO \u2014 the Next Generation Planet Hunter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This colourful image shows spectral data from the First Light of the ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. The light from a star has been dispersed into its component colours. This view has been colourised to indicate how the wavelengths change across the image, but these are not exactly the colours that would be seen visually. Close inspection shows many dark spectral lines in the stellar spectra and also the regular double spots from a calibration light source. The dark gaps are features of how the data is taken, and are not real.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanet and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) has successfully made its first observations. Installed on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, ESPRESSO will search for exoplanets with unprecedented precision by looking at the minuscule changes in the light of their host stars. For the first time ever, an instrument will be able to sum up the light from all four VLT telescopes and achieve the light collecting power of a 16-metre telescope.<\/p>\n