Abstract: The Mid-IR Imager and Spectrograph (METIS) will be one of only three science instruments on the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). It covers the wavelength range from 3 – 13 microns and offers several observing modes, including high contrast imaging (coronagraphy) and high resolution (R~100,000) integral field spectroscopy. The design and construction of such an instrument for a 39-meter telescope with 5 telescope mirrors offers a wide range of physical and technical challenges, including the elimination of atmospheric turbulence, the optimization of the coronagraphic masks, wavefront control inside the instrument, image control and stability, dispersing elements, mirror manufacturing and polishing, and many more. In my talk I will introduce the METIS project, its science goals, and the instrument baseline. The main focus of my talk will be on the above-mentioned design challenges and potential solutions.
Biography: Bernhard Brandl got his PhD under Prof. Reinhard Genzel at the Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics in 1996. After seven years as Senior Research Associate at Cornell University, working on infrared instrumentation for Palomar Observatory and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, he became a faculty member at Leiden University in 2003 (and also at the Technical University Delft in 2015). He is the Dutch deputy co-I of the MIRI instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, to be now launched on 18 December 2021) and the Principal Investigator of METIS at the ELT. His astronomical interest focuses on starburst galaxies and massive star formation.
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