Here we report on SOXS news
ESO DG on La Silla future
December 2016
A call for new instruments was made in 2014, aimed primarily at replacing the ageing instrumentation at the NTT. The medium-resolution (R = 5000) optical and near-infrared (0.4–1.8 μm) spectrograph SOXS (Son of X-shooter) was selected as the future workhorse instrument at the NTT. SOXS addresses in particular — but not exclusively — the needs of the time- domain research community. Further- more, the high-speed, triple-beam imager ULTRACAM, a visitor instrument, was offered for up to 25 % of NTT time in exchange for cash contributions to NTT operations. In addition, the Near Infra-Red Planet Searcher (NIRPS) was selected as the near-infrared extension of HARPS on the 3.6-metre telescope, creating the most powerful optical to near-infrared precision radial velocity machine for exoplanet research in the southern hemisphere.
The availability of SOXS on the NTT (and X-shooter on the VLT) will put the ESO community in an excellent position to follow up the most interesting transients to be discovered by the LSST from 2023 onwards. The combination of HARPS and NIRPS on the 3.6-metre telescope is crucial for providing critical ground-based complementary data for the ESA/Swiss mission CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) and for PLATO.
Full article here
