The Messenger Telescopes and Instrumentation

NaCo — The Story of a Lifetime

No. 179 (March 2020), 7–11

Authors
  • Schmidtobreick, Linda [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Ageorges, Nancy [KT Optics GmbH, Germany]
  • Amico, Paola [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Brandner, Wolfgang [MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany]
  • Cerda, Suzana [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Cid, Claudia [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Close, Laird [University of Arizona, Tucson, USA]
  • Garces, Eduardo [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Gillet, Gordon [Independent engineer, Antofagasta, Chile]
  • Girard, Julien H. [STSCI, Baltimore, USA]
  • Guajardo, Patricia [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Hau, George [University of Bath, UK]
  • Hummel, Wolfgang [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Jung, Yves [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Kasper, Markus [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Lidman, Christopher [Australian National University, Canberra, Australia]
  • Lundin, Lars Kristian [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Mardones, Pedro [Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile]
  • Mawet, Dimitri [Caltech/JPL, Pasadena, USA]
  • O’Neal, Jared [Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, USA]
  • Pompei, Emanuela [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Schmutzer, Ricardo [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Silva, Karleyne [Gemini Observatory, La Serena, Chile]
  • Smoker, Jonathan [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Soenke, Christian [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Tacconi-Garman, Lowell E. [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Valenti, Elena [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Valenzuela, Javier [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Velasquez, Jose [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
  • Zins, Gerard [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
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Section
Telescopes and Instrumentation
Abstract

NaCo was switched off on 2 October 2019, almost 18 years after its first light. The last exposure was of the standard star HD590 as part of the close-out calibrations. To date, 699 papers have been published using NaCo data, including observations of the Galactic centre, direct images of exoplanets orbiting their stars, young stellar objects, brown dwarfs, massive stars, stellar clusters, Solar System objects, SN 1987A and several extragalactic sources. We present a short history of the life and achievements of NaCo from the viewpoint of the Instrument Operation Team, Instrument Scientists, and Instrument Engineers.

DOI
Bibcode
2020Msngr.179....7S
Dates
Created: 2020-03-01/2020-03-31
Length
5 pages
Rights
Copyright European Southern Observatory

Cite this article:

Schmidtobreick, L., Ageorges, N., Amico, P., Brandner, W., Cerda, S., Cid, C., Close, L., Garces, E., Gillet, G., Girard, J., Guajardo, P., Hau, G., Hummel, W., Jung, Y., Kasper, M., Lidman, C., Lundin, L., Mardones, P., Mawet, D., O’Neal, J., Pompei, E., Schmutzer, R., Silva, K., Smoker, J., Soenke, C., Tacconi-Garman, L., Valenti, E., Valenzuela, J., Velasquez, J., Zins, G.; NaCo — The Story of a Lifetime. The Messenger 179 (March 2020): 7–11. https://doi.org/10.18727/0722-6691/5186