We use deep ({approx}27.5 mag V-band point-source limiting magnitude) V- and U-band Large Binocular Telescope imaging to study the outer disk (beyond the optical radius R {sub 25}) of the ...non-interacting, face-on spiral galaxy NGC 3184 (D = 11.1 Mpc; R {sub 25} = 11.1 kpc) and find that this outer disk contains >1000 objects (or marginally resolved 'knots') resembling star clusters with masses {approx}10{sup 2}-10{sup 4} M {sub sun} and ages up to {approx}1 Gyr. We find statistically significant numbers of these cluster-like knots extending to {approx}1.4 R {sub 25}, with the redder knots outnumbering bluer at the largest radii. We measure clustering among knots and find significant correlation to galactocentric radii of 1.5 R {sub 25} for knot separations <1 kpc. The effective integrated surface brightness of this outer disk cluster population ranges from 30-32 mag arcsec{sup -2} in V. We compare the H I extent to that of the correlated knots and find that the clusters extend at least to the damped Lyman-{alpha} threshold of H I column density (2 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -2}; {approx}1.62 R {sub 25}). The blue knots are correlated with H I spiral structure to {approx}1.5 R {sub 25}, while the red knots may be correlated with the outer fringes of the H I disk to {approx}1.7 R {sub 25}. These results suggest that outer disks are well populated, common, and long-lasting features of many nearby disk galaxies.
MORFEO (Multi-conjugate adaptive Optics Relay For ELT Observations, formerly MAORY), the MCAO system for the ELT, will provide diffraction-limited optical quality to the large field camera MICADO. ...MORFEO has officially passed the Preliminary Design Review and it is entering the final design phase. We present the current status of the project, with a focus on the adaptive optics system aspects and expected milestones during the next project phase.
SOXS is the new spectrograph for the ESO NTT telescope able to cover the optical and NIR bands thanks to two different arms: the UV-VIS (350-850 nm), and the NIR (800-2000 nm). In this article, we ...describe the final design of the visible camera cryostats, the test facilities for the CCD characterization, and the first results with the scientific detector. The UV-VIS detector system is based on a e2v CCD 44-82, a custom detector head coupled with the ESO Continuous Flowing Cryostat (CFC) cooling system and the New General Detector Controller (NGC) developed by ESO. The laboratory facility is based on an optical bench equipped with a Xenon lamp, filter wheels to select the wavelength, an integrating sphere, and a calibrated diode to measure the flux. This paper outlines the visible camera cryostat, the test facilities for the CCD characterization and the first results with the scientific detector in the laboratory and after the integration to the instrument.
The Son-Of-XShooter (SOXS) is a single object spectrograph (UV-VIS & NIR) and acquisition camera scheduled to be mounted on the ESO 3.58-m New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory. ...Although the underlying data reduction processes to convert raw detector data to fully-reduced science ready data are complex and multi-stepped, we have designed the SOXS Data Reduction pipeline with the core aims of providing end-users with a simple-to-use, well-documented command-line interface while also allowing the pipeline to be run in a fully automated state; streaming reduced data into the ESO Science Archive Facility without need for human intervention. To keep up with the stream of data coming from the instrument, there is the requirement to optimise the software to reduce each observation block of data well within the typical observation exposure time. The pipeline is written in Python 3 and has been built with an agile development philosophy that includes CI and adaptive planning.
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