The world's 4 largest telescopes in Chile have been equipped with "MATISSE", a new instrument developed by the OCA, enabling them to operate their 4 beams simultaneously.

MATISSE calibration masks, printed on a Volumic 3D Stream 30 Pro, saved a considerable amount of time in realigning and transporting this precious instrument.

The Volumic team is proud of the limitless applications of its equipment and the new possibilities offered to its customers. This, combined with the support and advice provided to help them succeed in their ambitious projects.

MATISSE (Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment), one of the few projects for which France is responsible to ESO (European Southern Observatory), was shipped to the Atacama desert in Chile in early October 2017. This was to be installed on ESO's VLT (Very large telescope ), the world's most powerful European astronomical observatory. Eight to ten months of performance validation, "on the sky" under real conditions, will then be required before the instrument can be made available to the international astronomical community.
For researchers, one of MATISSE's major objectives is to observe and understand our own Earth and the planets as a whole, by observing the sky in unrivalled detail in the infrared range and recombining the light from four telescopes (each 8 meters long!) on the eight telescopes of the VLT on Mount Paranal in Chile.
To find out more :

OCA :
http://www.oca.eu

The official website of the Paranal Observatory (Chile):
http://www.eso.org/public/france/about-eso/travel/paranal/

MATISSE :
http://www2.cnrs.fr/presse/communique/5209.htm
https://blogs.futura-sciences.com/feldmann/2017/08/29/matisse-linstrument-francais-va-equiper-vlt/

#imprimante3D #volumic3D #oca #eso #cnrs #telescope #impression3D #outillage3D #frenchfab #madeinfrance

Photo credits: (C) Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur - Christophe BAILET