After a shutdown in operations at the end of March due to the pandemic, the MOONS Cambridge team working on camera assembling, testing and alignment is now back in action, already making excellent progress (and sharing impressive photos!). After access to the clean room for the first time (with some restrictions) in mid-July, the team … Continue reading Cooling down of MOONS cameras!
The powerful rotating front-end
All the parts for the MOONS Rotating Front End Structure, after manufacturing by CUNHOL (Portugal), are now at the IA (Lisbon) MOONS integration room and the entire main structure, including its retraction and screen mechanisms, have been fully integrated. The MOONS rotating front-end is a large assembly that will be mounted on the VLT Nasmyth rotator … Continue reading The powerful rotating front-end
HR-H silicon prisms in the house
A new milestone towards the MOONS completion has been achieved with the manufacturing and delivery of the high-resolution H-band silicon prisms. These large optical components, considered one of the main challenges of the instrument design due to their size and surface quality requirements, were designed by the INAF team in Arcetri, Florence. After a lengthy … Continue reading HR-H silicon prisms in the house
