A spectrograph for exploring exoplanets
The University of Geneva is participating in a project costing 120 million euros.
Spectrometer.
University of Geneva (UNIGE)
Four spectrometers will soon be scanning stars for traces of exoplanetary life. When put together, they're called ANDES, which stands for ArmazoNes High Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph.
An important detail is that the design and construction of the device will be launched by the European Southern Observatory with an international consortium that includes the universities of Geneva and Bern. Therefore, there will be Swiss capital in a project that will cost 120 million euros.
These spectrometers will be for the Very Large Telescope, a future giant 39-meter-diameter telescope under construction in Chile. Currently, it is expected to see its first light by 2028, and the ANDES system will be installed there a few years later, around 2032.
In addition to its fundamental contribution to the search for exoplanets and life in the universe, the combination of the two will enable unprecedented progress in other areas of astrophysics, such as measuring the fundamental constants of physics, studying distant galaxies or discovering distant galaxies. The first stars in the universe. These agreements were signed on June 5.
These spectrometers analyze light into its different colors, allowing astronauts to determine the properties of observed astronomical objects, such as their chemical composition. The peculiarity of these from the Andes will be their strength.
It will have record resolution in the visible and near-infrared fields, and, linked to the ELT mirror system, will enable research in many areas of astronomy. The University of Geneva's contribution mainly concerns one of its four spectrometers, RIZ, which explores red and near-infrared wavelengths.
“This will be a great asset to scientists at the Center for Life in the Universe, a newly established center at the University of Geneva to explore the difficult question of life somewhere other than Earth,” explains Christophe Lovis, an astrophysicist at the Geneva Observatory.
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