the MICADO instrument enters the manufacturing phase

2023-05-17 17:45:28

Home > News > Research news > Light on… > ELT: the MICADO instrument enters the manufacturing phase

Posted May 17, 2023

MICADO, the first-light camera for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), is nearing completion of its design phase. The partners of the MICADO consortium, including the Paris Observatory – PSL, have started manufacturing the various subsystems of the instrument.

After a long design phase, MICADO consortium partners recently shared photos of some of the subsystems currently being built.

MICADO First Light Adaptive Optics Field Selector

Recently assembled at the LESIA of the Paris Observatory – PSL, this mechanical assembly was designed by the technical division of the INSU.

credit: INSU/LESIA

Discover Micado on video

On the occasion of this important stage of the project, the ESO (in collaboration with the MICADO consortium) produced the first episode of a series of explanatory videos, presented live on the ESO YouTube channel Friday, May 12, 2023.

**Review the video presentation of MICADO, with the participation of Eric Gendron, astronomer of the Paris Observatory – PSL**

credit : IT

MICADO will equip the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) with a first imaging capability to provide high resolution images of the Universe, at near infrared wavelengths.

**Artist’s impression of the Extremely Large Telescope**

credit : IT

**Artistic representation of the MICADO instrument**

credit : ESO / MICADO Consortium

It will be the ideal instrument for identifying exoplanets, unveiling the detailed structure of distant galaxies or studying individual stars in nearby galaxies. MICADO will also be a unique and powerful tool for exploring environments where gravitational forces and the effects of general relativity are extremely strong, such as those exerted near the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

**Diagram of the MICADO instrument subsystems**

credit : ESO / MICADO Consortium

The high technology implemented in the instrument will allow it to go far beyond the capabilities of the best observatories we have today, including those of the Hubble Space Telescope. Its sensitivity will be comparable to that of the James Webb Space Telescope, but with six times the resolution.

French contributions to MICADO

France is a major partner in the MICADO consortium with responsibility for the instrument’s first-light adaptive optics system and its high-contrast imaging mode. Under the direction of LESIA at the Paris Observatory – PSL, these developments also involve several French laboratories and national structures:

Laboratory for space studies and astrophysical instrumentation of the Paris Observatory – PSL (LESIA – Paris Observatory – PSL)
Galaxies, Stars, Physics, Instrumentation Laboratory of the Paris Observatory – PSL (GEPI – Paris Observatory-PSL / CNRS)
Institute Universe, Time-Frequency, Interfaces, Nanostructures, Atmosphere and Environment, Molecules (UTINAM – OSU THETA)
INSU Technical Division (DT INSU)
Charles Fabry Laboratory (LCF – CNRS / Institute of Optics Graduate School / Paris-Saclay University, Institute: INSIS)
Advanced Materials Laboratory – IP2I (LMA – CNRS / Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Institute: IN2P3)

The ELT and the MICADO should start operating at the end of this decade.