The KMOS team and other well-wishers at the time of first light

The KMOS team, along with other well-wishers and visiting observers, in the VLT control room at the Paranal Observatory at the time of first light. KMOS is unique as it will be able to observe not just one, but 24 objects at the same time in infrared light and to map out how their properties vary from place to place within each one. It will provide crucial data to help understand how galaxies grew and evolved in the early Universe — and provide it much faster than has been possible up to now. KMOS was built by a consortium of universities and institutes in the United Kingdom and Germany in collaboration with ESO.