Infrastructure: MOSAIC – Instrumentation for ELT
Project title: Swedish participation in the multi-object spectroscopic instrument for the ELT
Main applicant: Göran Östlin, Stockholm University
Fellow applicant: Nikolai Piskunov, Division of Astronomy and Space Physics
MOSAIC is a multi-object spectrometer for the ELT that optimises the use of the ELT by analysing the light coming from up to 200 objects on the sky. The analysis is carried out actually by two spectrometers optimised to the optical and infrared light. MOSAIC also combines spectrographic and imaging capabilities. The so-called integral field units split the image of an astronomical object into many pixels and take spectra for each one of them. This leads to data cubes where spatial information is combined with line-of-sight velocity information for each region. The latter is particularly important when studying the dynamics of galactic mergers, star formation and other questions high on the agenda of modern astronomy. The science that MOSAIC and another ELT spectrometer, HIRES, will enable is of strong interest for astronomers in Uppsala, Stockholm, and Lund. The national support provided by the RFI through the SELTIC consortium allows active participation in construction of the instrument and early access to the science data.
