Project Support

ARGOS

The ARGOS projects will equip the LBT, the Large Binocular Telescope, with an up to date laser guide star and wavefront sensing facility. ARGOS will utilize multiple pulsed lasers to generate artificial guide stars. A total of six laser guide stars will be used to correct the ground layer turbulence above each of the LBT mirrors. The primary goal of the facility is to correct the atmospheric turbulence induced distortions, thus enhancing the imaging and spectroscopic capabilities for LUCI over a wide field of view
The electronic group is responsible for the system elektronics.

Einstein Probe

The MPE is contributing to the Chinese Einstein Probe (EP) satellite mission, which is designed to monitor changing objects in the X-ray sky. On the one hand, this is part of a European contribution by ESA to Einstein Probe, which includes the eROSITA-like optics of the FXT X-ray telescope ("Follow-up X-Ray Telescope"). On the other hand, regardless of this, MPE provides CCD modules for the FXT camera and temporarily for test purposes the eROSITA demonstrator model of the optics and possibly also the flight spare. The electronics group is responsible for quality control (QA) in this project.

Picture: The original design of the EP satellite

eROSITA

Our electronics group is responsible for planning, developing, manufacturing and testing of the onboard-electronic, which deals with controlling and processing the data from the 7 CCD cameras, and the thermal control of the cameras and the mirror modules. more

GRAVITY /GRAVITY+

The upgrade for GRAVITY and the ESO VLTI laboratory started in 2020. GRAVITY+ enables interferometry in the milli-arcsecond range and allows the observation of very faint objects. GRAVITY+ consists of different system parts which were developed at the same time by different consortium partners. The central unit, the wavefront sensor, was developed and built at MPE. The electronics group was responsible for the planning and control of the electromechanical components (linear stages, rotation stages, piezo actuators), taking into account the ESO specifications and the special environmental conditions at the Paranal site. The short project timetable and the associated timely procurement of the electrical components during and after the corona period were particularly challenging.

GROND

GROND is an imaging instrument to investigate Gamma-ray Burst Afterglows and other transients simultaneously in seven filter bands. Several dichroic beamsplitters feed light into three NIR channels and four visual channels, each equipped with its own detector. GROND is mounted at the MPI/ESO 2.2m telescope on La Silla (Chile), and is operational since 2007.

The electronics group developed and manufactured the complete control electronics for all components and process controlled temperature stabilisation and the monitoring electronics for probable disturbances.

LUCI

LUCI is built by a German consortium led by the Landessternwarte in Heidelberg. MPE contributes the multi-object spectrograph unit that handles the slit masks for LUCI1 and LUCI2. The unit was developed, integrated, and testet at MPE. In addition, MPE was involved in the fabrication of the LBT hardpoints. The hardpoints are extremely stiff variable length actuators, six of which are used to control the position in space of each of the LBT primaries.

The electronics group developed the control and monitoring electronics.

OPTIMA

OPTIMA is a high-speed photoncounter which is used to measure (Gamma-ray) interesting objects, especially pulsars with high time resolution (10^-6 s.) and high sensitivity.Meanwhile it is used to observe also other rapid variable objects (e.g. Cataclysmic Variables or Gamma Ray Burst afterglows) from observatories world wide. OPTIMA is mobile and can be used at a variety of telescopes.

The electronics group is responsible fort he processing oft he counter signals and the recording electronics. As FEE (front-end electronics) charge sensitive amplifiers (A 250) were used.