MORFEO for ELT
Multi-conjgate adaptive Optics Relay For ELT Observations
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Morfeo (formerly known as MAORY) is a first-generation instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), the 39-m optical-infrared telescope that the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has been building since 2017 in collaboration with the community of Member States. Morfeo will help compensate for the distortion of light caused by turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere that makes astronomical images blurry. Morfeo will not perform scientific observations but will instead allow other instruments to perform observations with excellent image quality (primarily the MICADO instrument).
Modern ground-based telescopes cannot achieve their full potential without adaptive optics, sophisticated systems that correct for the blurring effects of the Earth’s turbulent atmosphere and allow us to obtain sharp images of astronomical objects near and far.
Morfeo is one of the key adaptive optics systems on the ELT. During the first years of operation of the telescope, this instrument will work with near-infrared camera MICADO, moreover Morfeo is designed to also feed light to a second instrument in the future. For scientists to make very precise measurements of the positions, brightness, and motions of stars, MICADO needs stable and sharp images across a large field of view — the adaptive optics provided by Morfeo will help it to achieve this.
ROLE OF THE OBSERVATORY
The international consortium that will develop Morfeo from phase B (preliminary design) to phase E (commissioning in Chile) includes our institute INAF (lead institute responsible for the design and construction of the instrument at system level), the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble and the Irish National University of Galway
OBSERVATORY STAFF INVOLVED
Matteo Aliverti – Thermal System WP Manager – matteo.aliverti AT inaf.it
Andrea Bianco – Optical Engineer – andrea.bianco AT inaf.it
Matteo Genoni – Mechanical Engineer – matteo.genoni AT inaf.it
Marco Riva – System Engineer, Project office – marco.riva AT inaf.it
Edoardo Redaelli – Opto-mechanical WP Manager – edoardo.redaelli AT inaf.it
Giorgio Pariani – Optical Engineer – giorgio.pariani AT inaf.it
Paolo Saracco – Science Team – paolo.saracco AT inaf.it
Marcello Agostino Scalera – Thermal Engineer – marcello.scalera AT inaf.it
TIMELINE
WEBSITE
CONTACT
Marco Riva – marco.riva AT inaf.it
CREDITS
Web page content: M. Riva
