ESO Awards ELT Sensor Contract to Teledyne e2v

ESO has awarded a multi-million euro contract to the international company Teledyne e2v to design and produce a set of Large Visible Sensor Modules for use on the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Scheduled to see first light in 2024, the ELT is at the forefront of telescope technology. In order for the telescope to capture the Universe in exquisite detail, the ELT will use highly sophisticated adaptive optics systems which will enable it to adjust for changes in the atmosphere above it. These systems will require sensors of the highest quality.

Each sensor, with a size of 800 x 800 pixels, will employ Teledyne e2v’s renowned CMOS technology. Their extreme sensitivity and fast response will permit the ELT’s adaptive optics systems to make tiny adjustments around 700 times a second to compensate for variations in Earth’s atmosphere. This will ensure that the resulting astronomical images — of exoplanets, distant galaxies and everything in between — will benefit from the highest resolution possible.

The contract will last for four years, and consists of two stages. In the initial phase, sample sensors will be designed and manufactured to demonstrate proof of concept. Then a total of 28 sensors will be manufactured at Teledyne e2v’s site in Chelmsford, UK, most of which will be installed in planned ELT instruments and others will be deployed when needed.

Teledyne e2v, the world leader in this field, has previously supplied ESO with high sensitivity CCD image sensors for the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and their sensors will also be employed in the the forthcoming Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanet and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO).

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory