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Solar System Science with the ELTs was a two-part workshop, Part I of which took place virtually on 28 April 2022, followed by Part II as a hybrid meeting at ESO headquarters on 13–15 June 2022. The main motivation for the meeting was to engage the community of Solar System observers in preparation for the forthcoming extremely large telescopes. A special emphasis was placed on exploring how ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ESO’s ELT), alongside the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), will fit into the expanding landscape of ground- and space-based facilities and transform Solar System research. The meeting brought together instrument experts and observers at all career stages, working on six continents, and representing the different sub-fields of planetary science. A Zenodo collection of the workshop presentations and discussions was publicly released to the community as a valuable resource to inspire and facilitate the development of the first extremely large telescope observing programmes. Solar System Science with the ELTs was envisaged as the first of the three-part conference series Extremely Big Eyes on the Solar System and set the stage for two further workshops in North America and Asia., Published in The Messenger vol. 189, pp. 48-50, December 2022.

Since 2005 ESO has been working with its community and industry to develop an extremely large optical/infrared telescope. ESO's Extremely Large Telescope, or ELT for short, is a revolutionary ground-based telescope that will have a 39-metre main mirror and will be the largest visible and infrared light telescope in the world. To address specific topics that are needed for the science operations and calibrations of the telescope, thirteen specific working groups were created to coordinate the effort between ESO, the instrument consortia, and the wider community. We describe here the goals of these working groups as well as their achievements so far., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

ESO regularly updates its science- driven perspective in order to provide the best facilities and services for its community. As part of this exercise, ESO polled its users between January and February 2020. Questions were inspired by the previous poll, conducted in 2015, to probe any evolution of community opinions and profile, with an emphasis on the future of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). Of the approximately 17700 registered users targeted, 10% had accounts in both the ESO and European ALMA portals, another 14% were registered in the ALMA portal only, and the remaining 76% were registered in the ESO portal only. Some 3700 email addresses, predominantly associated with the ESO portal, were invalid. From the remaining approximately 14000 user accounts, 1673 complete responses were received, a response rate comparable to that of the 2015 poll. The present poll was split into three parts: 1) profile of respondent; 2) current and future observing facilities; 3) ESO in the coming decade. Here we summarise the results and provide some highlights from the poll., Published in The Messenger vol. 184, pp. 8-14, September 2021.

Design and construction of the instruments for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) began in 2015. We present here a brief overview of the status of the ELT Instrumentation Plan. Dedicated articles on each instrument are presented elsewhere in this volume., Published in The Messenger vol. 182, pp. 3-6, March 2021.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is at the core of ESO���s vision to deliver the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world. Following on from our previous Messenger articles we continue with the description of the optical elements of the ELT. In this article we focus on the quintenary mirror (M5), the field stabilisation unit. In combination with the M4 mirror, M5 is vital to delivering the sharp diffraction limited images needed for science by correcting for the vibrations of the telescope, wind shaking and the atmosphere. We describe the main characteristics of the M5, as well as the challenges and complexity of this unique field stabilisation unit and its design and manufacturing status., Published in The Messenger vol. 185, pp. 3-6, December 2021.

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The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is at the core of ESO’s vision to deliver the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world. Following on from our previous Messenger article describing the primary mirror (M1), here we focus on the secondary (M2) and the tertiary (M3) mirrors of the ELT, outlining the complexity and challenges involved, and the current manufacturing status., Published in The Messenger vol. 176, pp. 13-15, June 2019.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is at the core of ESO’s vision to deliver the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world. Continuing our series of Messenger articles describing the optical elements of the ELT, we focus here on the quaternary mirror (M4), a true technological wonder; it is the largest deformable mirror ever made. In combination with M5, M4 is vital to delivering the sharp (diffraction-limited) images needed for science by correcting for atmospheric turbulence and the vibrations of the telescope itself. Here we describe the main characteristics of M4, the challenges and complexity involved in the production of this unique adaptive mirror, and its manufacturing status., Published in The Messenger vol. 178, pp. 3-4, December 2019.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is at the core of ESO’s vision to deliver the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world. With its unrivalled sensitivity and angular resolution the ELT will transform our view of the Universe: from exoplanets to resolved stellar populations, from galaxy evolution to cosmology and fundamental physics. This article focuses on one of the most challenging aspects of the entire programme, the 39-metre primary mirror (M1). 2017 was a particularly intense year for M1, the main highlight being the approval by ESO’s Council to proceed with construction of the entire mirror. In addition, several contracts have been placed to ensure that the giant primary mirror will be operational at first light., Published in The Messenger vol. 171, pp. 20-23, March 2018.

This poster present dynamical measurements from the KMOS (K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph) Deep Survey (KDS), which is comprised of 78 typical star-forming galaxies at z = 3.5 in the mass range 9.0 < log(M*) < 10.5. We fit spatially and spectrally convolved mock datacubes to the observed data, in order to make beam-smearing corrected measurements of the intrinsic velocity dispersions and rotation velocities of 33 galaxies in the sample classed as spatially resolved and isolated. The results suggest that the rotation-dominated galaxies in the sample are offset to lower velocities at fixed stellar mass and have higher velocity dispersions than star-forming galaxies in the local and intermediate redshift universe. Only 1/3 of the galaxies in the sample are dominated by rotation, which hints that random motions are playing an increasingly significant role in supporting the dynamical mass in the systems. When searching for evolution in scaling relations, such as the stellar mass Tully-Fisher relation, it is important to take these random motions into account.

We use the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey, the deepest degree-scale near-infrared survey to date, to investigate the clustering of star-forming and passive galaxies to z ~ 3.5. Our new measurements include the first determination of the clustering for passive galaxies at z > 2, which we achieve using a cross-correlation technique. We find that passive galaxies are the most strongly clustered, typically hosted by massive dark matter halos with M_halo > 5 x 10^12 M_sun irrespective of redshift or stellar mass. Our findings are consistent with models in which a critical halo mass determines the transition from star-forming to passive galaxies. Star-forming galaxies show no strong correlation between stellar mass and halo mass, but passive galaxies show evidence for an anti-correlation; low-mass passive galaxies appear, on average, to be located in the most massive halos. These results can be understood if the termination of star formation is most efficient for galaxies of low stellar mass in very dense environments., Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages, 9 figures, 1 table

We have analysed a sample of 25 extremely red H-[4.5]>4 galaxies, selected using 4.5 micron data from the Spitzer SEDS survey and deep H-band data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) CANDELS survey, over ~180 square arcmin of the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) field. Our aim is to investigate the nature of this rare population of mid-infrared (mid-IR) sources that display such extreme near-to-mid-IR colours. Using up to 17-band photometry (U through 8.0 microns), we have studied in detail their spectral energy distributions, including possible degeneracies in the photometric redshift/internal extinction (zphot-Av) plane. Our sample appears to include sources of very different nature. Between 45% and 75% of them are dust-obscured, massive galaxies at 3300 microJy, which at 35) sources at zphot3 galaxies to be discovered with the future James Webb Space Telescope., Accepted for publication in the ApJL, 6 pages including 1 table and 4 figures. Table 1 has been expanded to provide information for all galaxies in the sample

This paper presents the results from the first wide and deep dual narrow-band survey to select H-alpha (Ha) and [OII] line emitters at z=1.47+-0.02 (using matched narrow-band filters in the H and z' bands), exploiting synergies between the UKIRT and Subaru telescopes. The Ha survey at z=1.47 reaches a flux limit of ~7x10^-17 erg/s/cm^2 and detects ~200 Ha emitters over 0.7deg^2, while the much deeper [OII] survey reaches an effective flux of ~7x10^-18 erg/s/cm^2, detecting ~1400 z=1.47 [OII] emitters in a matched co-moving volume of ~2.5x10^5 Mpc^3. The combined survey results in the identification of 190 simultaneous Ha and [OII] emitters at z=1.47. Ha and [OII] luminosity functions are derived and both are shown to evolve significantly from z~0 in a consistent way. The star formation rate density of the Universe at z=1.47 is evaluated, with the Ha analysis yielding 0.16+-0.05 M_sun/yr/Mpc^3 and the [OII] analysis 0.17+-0.04 M_sun/yr/Mpc^3. The measurements are combined with other studies, providing a self-consistent measurement of the star formation history of the Universe over the last ~11Gyrs. By using a large comparison sample at z~0.1 (from the SDSS), [OII]/Ha line ratios are calibrated as probes of dust-extinction. Ha emitters at z~1.47 show on average 1 mag of extinction at Ha, similar to the SDSS sources at z~0. Although we find that dust extinction correlates with SFR, the relation evolves by about ~0.5 mag from z~1.5 to z~0, with z~0 relations over-predicting the dust extinction corrections at high-z by that amount. Stellar mass is found to be a much more fundamental extinction predictor, with the relation between mass and extinction being valid at both z~0 and z~1.5. Dust extinction corrections as a function of optical colours are also derived, offering simpler mechanisms for estimating extinction in moderately star-forming systems over the last ~9Gyrs [Abridged]., Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Revised version following the reviewer's report. 21 pages, 23 figures

We use the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey to trace the evolution of galaxy clustering to z = 3. Using photometric redshifts derived from data covering the wavelength range 0.3 - 4.5 um we examine this clustering as a function of absolute K-band luminosity, colour and star-formation rate. Comparing the deprojected clustering amplitudes, we find that red galaxies are more strongly clustered than blue galaxies out to at least z = 1.5, irrespective of rest-frame K-band luminosity. We then construct passive and star-forming samples based on stellar age, colour and star-formation histories calculated from the best fitting templates. The clustering strength of star-forming galaxies declines steadily from r_0 ~ 7 h^-1 Mpc at z ~ 2 to r_0 ~ 3 h^-1 Mpc at z ~ 0, while passive galaxies have clustering strengths up to a factor of two higher. Within the passive and star-forming subsamples, however, we find very little dependence of galaxy clustering on K-band luminosity. Galaxy `passivity' appears to be the strongest indicator of clustering strength. We compare these clustering measurements with those predicted for dark matter halos and conclude that passive galaxies typically reside in halos of mass M > 10^13 M_sun while luminous star-forming galaxies occupy halos an order of magnitude less massive over the range 0.5 < z < 1.5. The decline in the clustering strength of star-forming galaxies with decreasing redshift indicates a decline in the hosting halo mass for galaxies of a given luminosity. We find evidence for convergence of clustering in star-forming and passive galaxies around z ~ 2, which is consistent with this being the epoch at which the red sequence of galaxies becomes distinct., Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 11 pages containing 8 Figures and 1 table. The source contains additional results tables

The MOONS instrument possesses an exceptional combination of large multiplexing, high sensitivity, broad simultaneous spectral coverage (from optical to near-infrared bands), large patrol area and high fibre density. These properties provide the unprecedented potential of enabling, for the very first time, SDSS-like surveys around Cosmic Noon (z ~ 1–2.5), when the star formation rate in the Universe peaked. The high-quality spectra delivered by MOONS will sample the same nebular and stellar diagnostics observed in extensive surveys of local galaxies, providing an accurate and consistent description of the evolution of various physical properties of galaxies, and hence a solid test of different scenarios of galaxy formation and transformation. Most importantly, by spectroscopically identifying hundreds of thousands of galaxies at high redshift, the MOONS surveys will be capable of determining the environments in which primeval galaxies lived and will reveal how such environments affected galaxy evolution. In this article, we specifically focus on the main Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) MOONS extragalactic survey, MOONRISE, by providing an overview of its scientific goals and observing strategy., Published in The Messenger vol. 180, pp. 24-29, June 2020.

This White Paper presents the scientific motivations for a multi-object spectrograph (MOS) on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The MOS case draws on all fields of contemporary astronomy, from extra-solar planets, to the study of the halo of the Milky Way and its satellites, and from resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies out to observations of the earliest 'first-light' structures in the partially-reionised Universe. The material presented here results from thorough discussions within the community over the past four years, building on the past competitive studies to agree a common strategy toward realising a MOS capability on the E-ELT. The cases have been distilled to a set of common requirements which will be used to define the MOSAIC instrument, entailing two observational modes ('high multiplex' and 'high definition'). When combined with the unprecedented sensitivity of the E-ELT, MOSAIC will be the world's leading MOS facility. In analysing the requirements we also identify a high-multiplex MOS for the longer-term plans for the E-ELT, with an even greater multiplex (>1000 targets) to enable studies of large-scale structures in the high-redshift Universe. Following the green light for the construction of the E-ELT the MOS community, structured through the MOSAIC consortium, is eager to realise a MOS on the E-ELT as soon as possible. We argue that several of the most compelling cases for ELT science, in highly competitive areas of modern astronomy, demand such a capability. For example, MOS observations in the early stages of E-ELT operations will be essential for follow-up of sources identified by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In particular, multi-object adaptive optics and accurate sky subtraction with fibres have both recently been demonstrated on sky, making fast-track development of MOSAIC feasible., Significantly expanded and updated version of previous ELT-MOS White Paper, so there is some textual overlap with arXiv:1303.0029