High Angular Resolution Science with Next-Generation Optical-Infrared Capabilities at ESO - Exploiting MAVIS and ELT Instruments in the 2030s, ESO Garching, 1-4 September 2026

Published: 09 Feb 2026
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This international conference, jointly organised by ESO, INAF - Arcetri and Macquarie University, aims to bring together the diverse scientific communities developing and preparing to exploit these instruments. Although each facility has unique strengths - MAVIS pushing diffraction-limited performance into the visible on an 8-m telescope, and the ELT instruments delivering unmatched infrared sensitivity and resolution on a 39-m aperture - their science cases are deeply complementary.

The coming decade will mark a transformative era for high–angular resolution astronomy. With the arrival of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and its first‐generation instruments - MICADO, HARMONI, and their AO component MORFEO - together with the next generation of high-sky-coverage adaptive-optics facilities in the optical on the VLT, such as MAVIS, the astronomical community will, for the first time, routinely access spatial resolutions of ~40 mas across the optical and infrared domains, with high sensitivity and diverse spectral and imaging capabilities. This unprecedented development will open new parameter spaces for exploring the formation and evolution of stars, planets, and galaxies, as well as probing the physics of compact objects and the distant Universe.

ESO warmly encourages participation from the broader astronomical community, in addition to instrument science teams, with the goal of fostering novel ideas, cross-fertilisation, and new collaborations. The deadline for abstract submissions is 15 May 2026.