Agreement signed for METIS instrument for E-ELT

ESO has signed an agreement with a consortium of institutes around Europe for the design and construction of METIS, an infrared camera and spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).

The agreement was signed by H. W. (Willem) te Beest, Vice-President Executive Board, Leiden University, on behalf of the consortium, and Tim de Zeeuw, ESO Director General, at a ceremony at the Science Faculty Club of Leiden University in the Netherlands, on 28 September 2015.

METIS is one of the Phase 1 instruments for the E-ELT. It will offer imaging and medium-resolution spectroscopy over a wavelength range from 3–19 micrometres, and high-resolution integral field spectroscopy over a wavelength range of 3–5.3 micrometres.