AVES (Adaptive Optics Visual Echelle Spectrograph) is a collaborative project between several INAF Institutes and researchers at ESO for the development of a medium-resolution (R=16000) echelle spectrograph for the VLT. The INAF Institues involved are: Osservatorio Astronomico Palermo (OAPA), Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera (OABR), Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OATS) and Osservatorio Astronomico di Catania (OACT). The Principal Investigator is Roberto Pallavicini (OAPA) and the co-PI is Luca Pasquini at ESO; the Project Manager is Filippo Maria Zerbi (OABR). Paolo Santin and Giovanni Bonanno are responsible for the activities carried out at OATS and OACT, respectively. An AVES Science Team chaired by Paolo Molaro (OATS) provides scientific support to the project.

The main purpose of this proposed instrument is to obtain intermediate resolution spectra of faint sky-limited objects two magnitude weaker than attainable with other (conventional) spectrographs at the VLT. Imaging/coronographic capabilities were also added to the instrument in collaboration with the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de l'Observatoire de Grenoble (LAOG) which participated in the development of the adaptive optics system NAOS.

A feasibility study for the AVES instrument was carried out over the years 1999 to 2001 with the financial support of Consorzio Nazionale di Astronomia e Astrofisica (CNAA). This led to a proposal for using the instrument at the secondary port of NAOS which was presented to ESO in September of 2001. Although in principle accepted as a visitor instrument, the AVES Consortium decided, upon invitation by ESO, to merge the AVES concept with that of a more ambitious wide-band high-thoughput non-AO assisted intermediate-resolution spectrograph (X-SHOOTER) that had been proposed in the meanwhile by ESO as a 2nd generation VLT instrument. X-SHOOTER has scientific objectives largely overlapping those of AVES, but a much larger waveband spanning simultaneously from the UV to the near IR.

Technical information about the proposed AVES Project (abandoned in the course of 2003 in favour of the now approved X-SHOOTER project) can be found in the following papers

• "Design Study for an Adaptive Optics Visual Echelle Spectrograph and Coronograph for the VLT"
  Pallavicini, R., et al., 2000, in Proceedings SPIE 4008, 167
  (download Postscript gzipped file, 416 Kb)
  
  
• "Optical Spectroscopy with Adapive Optics: the AVES Spectrograph for the VLT"
  Pallavicini, R., and the AVES Team, 2000, , in "Telescopes, Instruments, and Data Processing for Astronomy in the Year 2000" (A. Rifatto and G. Sedmak eds.), Memorie Soc. Astron. It., Vol. 71, N. 4 (Supplement), p. 83
  (download Postscript gzipped file, 381 Kb)
  
  
• "Scientific objectives and design study of an Adaptive Optics Visual Echelle Spectrograph and Imager Coronograph (AVES-IMCO) for the NAOS visitor focus at the VLT"
  Pallavicini, R., et al., 2002, in "Scientific Drivers for ESO Future VLT/VLTI Instrumentation" (J. Bergeron and G. Monnet eds.), p. 205
  (download Postscript gzipped file, 130 Kb)
  
  
• "The AVES adaptive optics spectrograph for the VLT: status report"
  Pallavicini, R., et al., 2003, in Proceedings SPIE 4148, p. 715
  (download Postscript gzipped file, 248 Kb)
  
  
  
  
  

  last update: 2004, 24 Feb