Ensuring the Reliability and Performance of Instrumentation at the Paranal Observatory

Instrumentation at the Paranal Observatory is currently composed of 18 scientific instruments (operational, in commissioning or on standby) and nine technical instruments (test camera, fringe trackers, adaptive optics modules, laser guide star facility, tip-tilt sensor). Over the 15 years since their first implementation and operation, enough information on their typical behaviour has been gathered to define a global plan for preventive maintenance and/or general refurbishment for each instrument in order to retain their reliability and performance. Several examples of monitoring of instrument performance are presented and reasons for failure are listed. We describe the range of activities undertaken to ensure efficient and reliable Paranal instrumentation

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey

none11siopenMarkova, N.; Evans, C. J.; Bastian, N.; Beletsky, Y.; Bestenlehner, J.; Brott, I.; Cantiello, M.; Carraro, G.; Clark, J. S.; Crowther, P. A.; And, 23 coauthorsMarkova, N.; Evans, C. J.; Bastian, N.; Beletsky, Y.; Bestenlehner, J.; Brott, I.; Cantiello, M.; Carraro, Giovanni; Clark, J. S.; Crowther, P. A.; And, 23 coauthor