ESPRESSO on VLT: An Instrument for Exoplanet Research

摘要

ESPRESSO (Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable SpectroscopicObservations) is a VLT ultra-stable high resolution spectrograph that will beinstalled in Paranal Observatory in Chile at the end of 2017 and offered to thecommunity by 2018. The spectrograph will be located at the Combined-Coud\'eLaboratory of the VLT and will be able to operate with one or (simultaneously)several of the four 8.2 m Unit Telescopes (UT) through four optical Coud\'etrains. Combining efficiency and extreme spectroscopic precision, ESPRESSO isexpected to gaining about two magnitudes with respect to its predecessor HARPS.We aim at improving the instrumental radial-velocity precision to reach the 10cm s$^-1$ level, thus opening the possibility to explore new frontiers in thesearch for Earth-mass exoplanets in the habitable zone of quiet, nearby G toM-dwarfs. ESPRESSO will be certainly an important development step towardshigh-precision ultra-stable spectrographs on the next generation of gianttelescopes such as the E-ELT.