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State-of-the-art 19th century spectroscopy led to the discovery of quantum mechanics, and 20th century spectroscopy led to the confirmation of quantum electrodynamics. State-of-the-art 21st century astrophysical spectrographs, especially ANDES at ESO’s ELT, have another opportunity to play a key role in the search for, and characterization of, the new physics which is known to be out there, waiting to be discovered. We rely on detailed simulations and forecast techniques to discuss four important examples of this point: big bang nucleosynthesis, the evolution of the cosmic microwave background temperature, tests of the universality of physical laws, and a real-time model-independent mapping of the expansion history of the universe (also known as the redshift drift). The last two are among the flagship science drivers for the ELT. We also highlight what is required for the ESO community to be able to play a meaningful role in 2030s fundamental cosmology and show that, even if ANDES only provides null results, such ‘minimum guaranteed science’ will be in the form of constraints on key cosmological paradigms: these are independent from, and can be competitive with, those obtained from traditional cosmological probes.

The Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice project is a European project that aims to retrieve a continuous ice core up to 1.5 Ma through deep drilling at Little Dome C (LDC), Antarctica. In order to determine the age of the ice at a given depth before the ice is analysed in detail, 1D numerical models are often employed. However, they do not take into account any effects due to horizontal ice flow. We present a 2.5D inverse model that determines the age–depth profile along a flow line from Dome C (DC) to LDC, which is assumed to be stable in time. This means that flow line features such as flow direction and dome location have not changed over the time period considered. The model is constrained by dated radar internal reflecting horizons. Surface velocity measurements are used to determine the flow line and flow tube width, which also allows the model to consider lateral divergence. This new inverse model therefore improves on the methods used by 1D models previously applied to the DC area. This 2.5D model uses a previously developed numerical scheme with the novelty being the inverse methods used to optimise multiple parameters by comparison to radar constraints. By inferring a mechanical ice thickness, the model predicts either the thickness of a basal layer of stagnant ice or a basal melt rate. Results show that the deepest ice at Beyond EPICA Little Dome C (BELDC) originates from around 15 km upstream. The threshold for ice useful for paleoclimatic reconstruction is 20 kyr m−1 (20 000 annual layers per metre in the ice column). The oldest ice that meets this age resolution requirement is 1.12 Ma at BELDC according to the model. Over the LDC area, the thickness of a modelled basal layer is 200–250 m at the base of the ice sheet. Looking at modelled ice particle trajectories, interpretations indicate that this layer could be composed of stagnant ice, disturbed ice or even accreted ice (possibly containing debris). We explore the possibilities, though this is an open question that may only be answered by analysis of the Beyond EPICA ice core itself. Finally, we look at other ice cores that have already been drilled and measured, where the model has been applied. We discuss in detail the thinning in the deepest section of these ice cores, which is less than predicted by the model. This could mean that modelled ages are significantly overestimated in the deepest part of the ice column. Given that the age estimate from the 2.5D model is younger than previous estimates, this work shows the importance of considering the representation of the effects of horizontal flow when modelling the age profile.

State-of-the-art 19th century spectroscopy led to the discovery of quantum mechanics, and 20th century spectroscopy led to the confirmation of quantum electrodynamics. State-of-the-art 21st century astrophysical spectrographs, especially ANDES at ESO's ELT, have another opportunity to play a key role in the search for, and characterization of, the new physics which is known to be out there, waiting to be discovered. We rely on detailed simulations and forecast techniques to discuss four important examples of this point: big bang nucleosynthesis, the evolution of the cosmic microwave background temperature, tests of the universality of physical laws, and a real-time model-independent mapping of the expansion history of the universe (also known as the redshift drift). The last two are among the flagship science drivers for the ELT. We also highlight what is required for the ESO community to be able to play a meaningful role in 2030s fundamental cosmology and show that, even if ANDES only provides null results, such `minimum guaranteed science' will be in the form of constraints on key cosmological paradigms: these are independent from, and can be competitive with, those obtained from traditional cosmological probes.

We present our numerical simulation approach for the End-to-End (E2E) model applied to various astronomical spectrographs, such as SOXS (ESO-NTT), CUBES (ESO-VLT), and ANDES (ESO-ELT), covering multiple wavelength regions. The E2E model aim at simulating the expected astronomical observations starting from the radiation of the scientific sources (or calibration sources) up to the raw-frame data produced by the detectors. The comprehensive description includes E2E architecture, computational models, and tools for rendering the simulated frames. Collaboration with Data Reduction Software (DRS) teams is discussed, along with efforts to meet instrument requirements. The contribution to the cross-correlation algorithm for the Active Flexure Compensation (AFC) system of CUBES is detailed.

Aims. We report on ESPRESSO high-resolution transmission spectroscopic observations of two primary transits of the highly-irradiated, ultra-hot Jupiter-size planet WASP-76b. We investigate the presence of several key atomic and molecular features of interest that may reveal the atmospheric properties of the planet. Methods. We extracted two transmission spectra of WASP-76b with R approx 140,000 using a procedure that allowed us to process the full ESPRESSO wavelength range (3800-7880 A) simultaneously. We observed that at a high signal-to-noise ratio, the continuum of ESPRESSO spectra shows wiggles that are likely caused by an interference pattern outside the spectrograph. To search for the planetary features, we visually analysed the extracted transmission spectra and cross-correlated the observations against theoretical spectra of different atomic and molecular species. Results. The following atomic features are detected: Li I, Na I, Mg I, Ca II, Mn I, K I, and Fe I. All are detected with a confidence level between 9.2 sigma (Na I) and 2.8 sigma (Mg I). We did not detect the following species: Ti I, Cr I, Ni I, TiO, VO, and ZrO. We impose the following 1 sigma upper limits on their detectability: 60, 77, 122, 6, 8, and 8 ppm, respectively. Conclusions. We report the detection of Li I on WASP-76b for the first time. In addition, we found the presence of Na I and Fe I as previously reported in the literature. We show that the procedure employed in this work can detect features down to the level of ~ 0.1 % in the transmission spectrum and ~ 10 ppm by means of a cross-correlation method. We discuss the presence of neutral and singly ionised features in the atmosphere of WASP-76b.

ESPRESSO is the new high-resolution spectrograph of ESO's Very-Large Telescope (VLT). It was designed for ultra-high radial-velocity precision and extreme spectral fidelity with the aim of performing exoplanet research and fundamental astrophysical experiments with unprecedented precision and accuracy. It is able to observe with any of the four Unit Telescopes (UT) of the VLT at a spectral resolving power of 140,000 or 190,000 over the 378.2 to 788.7 nm wavelength range, or with all UTs together, turning the VLT into a 16-m diameter equivalent telescope in terms of collecting area, while still providing a resolving power of 70,000. We provide a general description of the ESPRESSO instrument, report on the actual on-sky performance, and present our Guaranteed-Time Observation (GTO) program with its first results. ESPRESSO was installed on the Paranal Observatory in fall 2017. Commissioning (on-sky testing) was conducted between December 2017 and September 2018. The instrument saw its official start of operations on October 1st, 2018, but improvements to the instrument and re-commissioning runs were conducted until July 2019. The measured overall optical throughput of ESPRESSO at 550 nm and a seeing of 0.65 arcsec exceeds the 10% mark under nominal astro-climatic conditions. We demonstrate a radial-velocity precision of better than 25 cm/s during one night and 50 cm/s over several months. These values being limited by photon noise and stellar jitter show that the performanceis compatible with an instrumental precision of 10 cm/s. No difference has been measured across the UTs neither in throughput nor RV precision. The combination of the large collecting telescope area with the efficiency and the exquisite spectral fidelity of ESPRESSO opens a new parameter space in RV measurements, the study of planetary atmospheres, fundamental constants, stellar characterisation and many other fields.

We characterized the transiting planetary system orbiting the G2V star K2-38 using the new-generation echelle spectrograph ESPRESSO. We carried out a photometric analysis of the available K2 photometric light curve of this star to measure the radius of its two known planets. Using 43 ESPRESSO high-precision radial velocity measurements taken over the course of 8 months along with the 14 previously published HIRES RV measurements, we modeled the orbits of the two planets through a MCMC analysis, significantly improving their mass measurements. Using ESPRESSO spectra, we derived the stellar parameters, \\(T_{\\rm eff}\\)=5731\\(\\pm\\)66, \\(\\log g\\)=4.38\\(\\pm\\)0.11~dex, and \\([Fe/H]\\)=0.26\\(\\pm\\)0.05~dex, and thus the mass and radius of K2-38, \\(M_{\\star}\\)=1.03 \\(^{+0.04}_{-0.02}\\)~M\\(_{\\oplus}\\) and \\(R_{\\star}\\)=1.06 \\(^{+0.09}_{-0.06}\\)~R\\(_{\\oplus}\\). We determine new values for the planetary properties of both planets. We characterize K2-38b as a super-Earth with \\(R_{\\rm P}\\)=1.54\\(\\pm\\)0.14~R\\(_{\\rm \\oplus}\\) and \\(M_{\\rm p}\\)=7.3\\(^{+1.1}_{-1.0}\\)~M\\(_{\\oplus}\\), and K2-38c as a sub-Neptune with \\(R_{\\rm P}\\)=2.29\\(\\pm\\)0.26~R\\(_{\\rm \\oplus}\\) and \\(M_{\\rm p}\\)=8.3\\(^{+1.3}_{-1.3}\\)~M\\(_{\\oplus}\\). We derived a mean density of \\(\\rho_{\\rm p}\\)=11.0\\(^{+4.1}_{-2.8}\\)~g cm\\(^{-3}\\) for K2-38b and \\(\\rho_{\\rm p}\\)=3.8\\(^{+1.8}_{-1.1}\\)~g~cm\\(^{-3}\\) for K2-38c, confirming K2-38b as one of the densest planets known to date. The best description for the composition of K2-38b comes from an iron-rich Mercury-like model, while K2-38c is better described by a rocky model with a H2 envelope. The maximum collision stripping boundary shows how giant impacts could be the cause for the high density of K2-38b. The irradiation received by each planet places them on opposite sides of the radius valley. We find evidence of a long-period signal in the radial velocity time-series whose origin could be linked to a 0.25-3~M\\(_{\\rm J}\\) planet or stellar activity.

We aim to confirm the presence of Proxima b using independent measurements obtained with the new ESPRESSO spectrograph, and refine the planetary parameters taking advantage of its improved precision. We analysed 63 spectroscopic ESPRESSO observations of Proxima taken during 2019. We obtained radial velocity measurements with a typical radial velocity photon noise of 26 cm/s. We ran a joint MCMC analysis on the time series of the radial velocity and full-width half maximum of the cross-correlation function to model the planetary and stellar signals present in the data, applying Gaussian process regression to deal with stellar activity. We confirm the presence of Proxima b independently in the ESPRESSO data. The ESPRESSO data on its own shows Proxima b at a period of 11.218 \\(\\pm\\) 0.029 days, with a minimum mass of 1.29 \\(\\pm\\) 0.13 Me. In the combined dataset we measure a period of 11.18427 \\(\\pm\\) 0.00070 days with a minimum mass of 1.173 \\(\\pm\\) 0.086 Me. We find no evidence of stellar activity as a potential cause for the 11.2 days signal. We find some evidence for the presence of a second short-period signal, at 5.15 days with a semi-amplitude of merely 40 cm/s. If caused by a planetary companion, it would correspond to a minimum mass of 0.29 \\(\\pm\\) 0.08 Me. We find that the FWHM of the CCF can be used as a proxy for the brightness changes and that its gradient with time can be used to successfully detrend the radial velocity data from part of the influence of stellar activity. The activity-induced radial velocity signal in the ESPRESSO data shows a trend in amplitude towards redder wavelengths. Velocities measured using the red end of the spectrograph are less affected by activity, suggesting that the stellar activity is spot-dominated. The data collected excludes the presence of extra companions with masses above 0.6 Me at periods shorter than 50 days.

The spectroscopic studies of near infrared emission arising from supernovae allow to derive crucial quantities that could better characterise physical conditions of the expanding gas, such as the CaII IR HVF spectral feature. For this reason is mandatory to have Diffractive Optical Elements (DOEs) with a spectral coverage in the range 8000 - 10000 Angstroms (for low z sources) combined with a reasonable Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N) and medium-low resolution. In order to cope with all of those requirements we developed a Volume Phase Holographic Grating (VPHG) based on an innovative photosensitive material, developed by Bayer MaterialScience. We demonstrated the capabilities of this new DOE through observation of SN 2013fj as case study at Asiago Copernico Telescope where AFOSC spectrograph is available.

SPHERE+ is a proposed upgrade of the SPHERE instrument at the VLT, which is intended to boost the current performances of detection and characterization for exoplanets and disks. SPHERE+ will also serve as a demonstrator for the future planet finder (PCS) of the European ELT. The main science drivers for SPHERE+ are 1/ to access the bulk of the young giant planet population down to the snow line (\\(3-10\\) au), to bridge the gap with complementary techniques (radial velocity, astrometry); 2/ to observe fainter and redder targets in the youngest (\\(1-10\\)\\,Myr) associations compared to those observed with SPHERE to directly study the formation of giant planets in their birth environment; 3/ to improve the level of characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres by increasing the spectral resolution in order to break degeneracies in giant planet atmosphere models. Achieving these objectives requires to increase the bandwidth of the xAO system (from \\(\\sim\\)1 to 3\\,kHz) as well as the sensitivity in the infrared (2 to 3\\,mag). These features will be brought by a second stage AO system optimized in the infrared with a pyramid wavefront sensor. As a new science instrument, a medium resolution integral field spectrograph will provide a spectral resolution from 1000 to 5000 in the J and H bands. This paper gives an overview of the science drivers, requirements and key instrumental trade-off that were done for SPHERE+ to reach the final selected baseline concept.