MPG/ESO telescope

The MPG/ESO telescope is a 2.2-metre f/8.0[1] (17.6-metre[2]) ground-based telescope at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in La Silla, Chile. It was built by Zeiss and has been operating since 1984. It was on indefinite loan to the European Southern Observatory from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA). In October 2013 it was returned to the MPIA. Telescope time is shared between MPIA and MPE observing programmes, while the operation and maintenance of the telescope are ESO's responsibility.[3]

MPG/ESO telescope
Part ofLa Silla Observatory 
Location(s)Atacama Desert
Coordinates29°15′28″S 70°44′12″W
OrganizationEuropean Southern Observatory
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy 
Altitude2,375 m (7,792 ft)
Built–1983  (–1983 )
First light22 June 1983 
Telescope styleoptical telescope
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope 
Diameter2.20 m (7 ft 3 in)
Secondary diameter0.84 m (2 ft 9 in)
Angular resolution0.3 arcsecond 
Collecting area3.8 m2 (41 sq ft)
Focal length17.6 m (57 ft 9 in)
MountingEquatorial mount 
Websitewww.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/
Location of MPG/ESO telescope
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The telescope hosts three instruments: the 67-million-pixel Wide Field Imager[4] with a field of view as large as the full Moon, which has taken many amazing images of celestial objects; GROND, the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector, which chases the afterglows of the most powerful explosions in the universe, known as gamma-ray bursts; and the high-resolution spectrograph, FEROS, used to make detailed studies of stars.[5]

In November 2010 it was used to discover HIP 13044 b, marking the first time a planetary system in a stellar stream of extragalactic origin has been detected.[6]

  • Messier 7[7] imaged by the 67-megapixel Wide Field Imager (WFI)[4]
  • WFI captures the star-forming dark cloud Lupus 3
  • The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) captured using the WFI camera
  • The Jewel Box NGC 4755 taken with the WFI
  • Amazing vista of the Lagoon Nebula taken with Wide Field Imager
  • One-square-degree image of the Tarantula Nebula using the WFI
  • The ESO 2.2-metre telescope in its enclosure in 1996
  • Aerial view of the La Silla Observatory, home of the MPG/ESO telescope
  • MPG/ESO telescope's silver dome is seen in the foreground[8]
  • MPG/ESO telescope images NGC 6388[9]
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References
  1. "The ESO/MPI 2.2m Telescope". ESO. 2 June 2014.
  2. "GROND - a 7-channel imager" (PDF). Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  3. "European Southern Observatory". ESO. 2 June 2014.
  4. "WFI—Wide Field Imager". ESO. 19 May 2014.
  5. "MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope". ESO. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  6. Bowdler, Neil (18 November 2010). "'Alien' planet detected circling dying star". BBC News. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  7. "Diamonds in the Tail of the Scorpion". ESO. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  8. "Is it a Bird…?". www.eso.org. European Southern Observatory. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  9. "The globular cluster NGC 6388 observed by the European Southern Observatory". ESO Press Release. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
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