A new look at the origin of the universe

The multi-object and near-infrared spectrograph of the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the University of Lisbon has a field of view the size of the moon and can simultaneously observe over 1,000 objects in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range. In future, it will be used in the Very Large Telescope (VLT), one of the world's most advanced telescope arrays in the mountains of the Atacama Desert in Chile. The spectrograph is the result of a long development process with various design challenges. One of them was the safe guidance of the sensitive optical fibres that transport the light from a rotating front end to the spectrograph. Even the smallest loads can lead to a falsification of the measurement results. In addition, the cable guidance must work reliably at an altitude of 2,670 metres under high ozone levels in order to prevent expensive system failures.

In order to guide the optical fibres safely from the rotating front end to the spectrograph, the researchers at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the University of Lisbon rely on energy chains made of high-performance plastic from the igus triflex series. The e-chains ensure that the fibres are not exposed to any stress during movement that could jeopardise the scientific observations. According to the engineers, the energy chains fulfil this important task reliably even at an altitude of 2,670 metres and under high ozone levels and extremely low humidity.