MUSE from Europe to the Chilean Sky

Abstract

MUSE (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) is a second generation instrument, built for ESO (European SouthernObservatory) and dedicated to the VLT (Very Large Telescope). This instrument is an innovative integral field spectrograph (1x1 arcmin 2 Field of View), operating in the visible wavelength range, from 465 nm to 930 nm. The MUSE project is supported by a European consortium of 7 institutes.After the finalisation of its integration and test in Europe validated by its Preliminary Acceptance in Europe, the MUSE instrument has been partially dismounted and shipped to the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile. From October 2013 till February 2014, it has then been reassembled, tested and finally installed on the telescope its final home. From there it will collect its first photons coming from the outer limit of the visible universe.To come to this achievement, many tasks had to be completed and challenges overcome. These last steps in the project life have certainly been ones of the most critical. Critical in terms of risk, of working conditions, of operational constrains, of schedule and finally critical in terms of outcome: The first light and the final performances of the instrument on the sky.

The FLASHES Survey. I. Integral Field Spectroscopy of the CGM around 48 z ≃ 2.3–3.1 QSOs

“…These studies focused on extended Lyα with sample sizes of seven and five, detecting extended emission in 4/7 and 1/5 targets, respectively. More recently, teams using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (Caillier et al 2014) have produced surveys of Lyα emission around quasars and galaxies at z3 with sample sizes on the order of tens of targets. Borisova et al (2016; hereafter B16) studied 17 bright radio-quiet quasars (and 2 radio-loud) at z∼3.5, finding ubiquitous "giant" Lyα nebulae on scales larger than 100 proper kiloparsecs (pkpc), with clear asymmetries and a circularly averaged radial profile following power laws.…”