MAVIS is a multi-conjugate adaptive optics visible imager and spectrograph for the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). MAVIS stands for MCAO Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph.
MAVIS will be the first visible Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system in the world, using 6-8 laser guide stars to deliver diffraction-limited images (15 milli-arcsec) from the V band to the I band over a 30” field-of-view and allow integral field spectroscopy over a 3” field-of-view.
It is a general-purpose instrument for exploiting the highest possible angular resolution of any single optical telescope available in the next decade, either on Earth or in space, and with sensitivity comparable to or better than larger aperture facilities. By probing the frontier of angular resolution and sensitivity across a large portion of the observable sky, MAVIS will enable progress on an array of scientific topics, from our own planetary system to those around other stars, and from the physics of star formation in the Milky Way to the first star clusters in the Universe.
This project is a collaboration between Astralis (Australia), INAF (Italy), LAM (France) and ESO (Europe).
