4MOST first-light field-of-view

Eso_ann25007b_1024

eso_ann25007b October 21st, 2025

Credit: AIP/Background: Harshwardhan Pathak/Telescope Live

On October 18, the 4MOST instrument used its 2400 fibres for the first time to analyse the light from different cosmic objects. The spectrograph, which is installed on ESO’s VISTA telescope, observed a large patch of sky containing two prominent objects: the Sculptor Galaxy and the globular cluster NGC288. This image shows the hexagonal 4MOST field-of-view and the many objects (marked with different coloured dots for different types of objects) it analysed in its first test observations. 4MOST collected a spectrum for each of these individual objects, allowing us to study their properties such as chemical composition or temperature.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/ann25007b/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, None, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 288 • Sculptor Galaxy
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Grouping > Cluster > Globular
Galaxy
Eso_ann25007b_1280
×
ID
ann25007b
Subject Category
B.3.6.4.2   C.5  
Subject Name
NGC 288, Sculptor Galaxy
Credits
AIP/Background: Harshwardhan Pathak/Telescope Live
Release Date
2025-10-21T14:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/ann25007b/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
3000.0, 2000.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
https://www.eso.org
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
None
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
ann25007b
Resource URL
https://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/ann25007b.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2025-10-16T14:20:37+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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