WST - The Wide Field Spectroscopic Survey Telescope

Event Date:
2025-11-03T16:00:00
2025-11-03T17:00:00
Event Location:
HENN 318
Speaker:
Roland Bacon
Related Upcoming Events:
Astronomy Colloquia
Intended Audience:
Everyone
Local Contact:

Allison Man (aman@phas.ubc.ca) and Brett Gladman (gladman@astro.ubc.ca)

All are welcome to this event!

Event Information:

Abstract: 

The WST project aims to design and construct an innovative 10-metre class wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST) in the southern hemisphere. It will feature the parallel operation of two cutting-edge instruments: a high-multiplex (30,000), large field-of-view (3 square degrees) multi-object spectrograph (MOS) operating in both low- and high-resolution modes, and a giant panoramic integral field spectrograph (IFS).

WST’s ambitious top-level requirements place it well ahead of all existing and planned facilities. In its first five years of operation, the MOS is expected to observe 300 million galaxies, 25 million stars at low resolution, and 2 million stars at high resolution, while the IFS will deliver 4 billion spectra. These capabilities will enable transformative science across a wide range of astrophysical domains. A key strength of WST lies in the synergy between its MOS and IFS instruments, offering highly complementary spectroscopic survey modes. This dual approach is central to the project’s scientific ambition.

WST is envisioned as the next major facility for ESO following the ELT, and a proposal will be submitted in response to the upcoming ESO Call for Ideas in 2027. 

Given the project’s early stage, there is an opportunity to broaden the current collaboration—comprising leading institutes from nine European countries and Australia—by engaging additional communities interested in contributing to its development and scientific exploitation.
 

Bio: 

Roland Bacon is the principal investigator of the MUSE instrument (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of ESO. MUSE is the most sought-after instrument of the VLT today and has already led to a large number of spectacular scientific discoveries, covering almost all subjects, from the science of the Solar System to observational cosmology. Since the 1980's, Roland Bacon has built and commissioned several groundbreaking instruments in the field of integral field spectroscopy, such as the TIGER instrument for the Canada-France-Hawai Telescope, the OASIS instrument and the William Herschel Telescope's SAURON instrument for the analysis of the movements and star populations of nearby galaxies.

From 1995 to 2005, Roland Bacon headed the Centre de recherche astrophysique de Lyon. His research focused on the instrumentation of large optical telescopes and extragalactic astronomy has allowed him to direct and participate in more than 350 publications. Roland Bacon has already received several awards for his work, such as an ERC Advanced Fellowship in 2013 and the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2020.

Learn More: 

Links:

 

Add to Calendar 2025-11-03T16:00:00 2025-11-03T17:00:00 WST - The Wide Field Spectroscopic Survey Telescope Event Information: Abstract:  The WST project aims to design and construct an innovative 10-metre class wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST) in the southern hemisphere. It will feature the parallel operation of two cutting-edge instruments: a high-multiplex (30,000), large field-of-view (3 square degrees) multi-object spectrograph (MOS) operating in both low- and high-resolution modes, and a giant panoramic integral field spectrograph (IFS). WST’s ambitious top-level requirements place it well ahead of all existing and planned facilities. In its first five years of operation, the MOS is expected to observe 300 million galaxies, 25 million stars at low resolution, and 2 million stars at high resolution, while the IFS will deliver 4 billion spectra. These capabilities will enable transformative science across a wide range of astrophysical domains. A key strength of WST lies in the synergy between its MOS and IFS instruments, offering highly complementary spectroscopic survey modes. This dual approach is central to the project’s scientific ambition. WST is envisioned as the next major facility for ESO following the ELT, and a proposal will be submitted in response to the upcoming ESO Call for Ideas in 2027.  Given the project’s early stage, there is an opportunity to broaden the current collaboration—comprising leading institutes from nine European countries and Australia—by engaging additional communities interested in contributing to its development and scientific exploitation.  Bio:  Roland Bacon is the principal investigator of the MUSE instrument (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of ESO. MUSE is the most sought-after instrument of the VLT today and has already led to a large number of spectacular scientific discoveries, covering almost all subjects, from the science of the Solar System to observational cosmology. Since the 1980's, Roland Bacon has built and commissioned several groundbreaking instruments in the field of integral field spectroscopy, such as the TIGER instrument for the Canada-France-Hawai Telescope, the OASIS instrument and the William Herschel Telescope's SAURON instrument for the analysis of the movements and star populations of nearby galaxies. From 1995 to 2005, Roland Bacon headed the Centre de recherche astrophysique de Lyon. His research focused on the instrumentation of large optical telescopes and extragalactic astronomy has allowed him to direct and participate in more than 350 publications. Roland Bacon has already received several awards for his work, such as an ERC Advanced Fellowship in 2013 and the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2020. Learn More:  About the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE): https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/muse.html#par_title About the wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST): https://www.wstelescope.com/ About multi-object spectrographs (MOS): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Object_Spectrometer About integral field spectrographs (IFS): https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/technology/ifu/ About Roland: https://observatoire.univ-lyon1.fr/actualites/roland-bacon-laureat-du-prix-johann-wempe About the Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon: https://cral.osu-lyon.fr/  Links: See Roland in this English video, "Highlights from the MUSE, a 2nd generation VLT instrument for the VLTerche Astrophysique de Lyon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOrNz__7dGg The WST press release: https://www.wstelescope.com/press-releases    Event Location: HENN 318