Description
The Blue Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (BlueMUSE) is an integral field spectrograph intended for installation on one of the telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in the early 2030s. BlueMUSE is built on the heritage of MUSE and is a blue-optimised (350-580nm), panoramic integral-field-spectrograph with a minimum field of view of 1 arcmin2 and medium spectral resolution (R~3500). A unique instrument, BlueMUSE will offer science opportunities in many fields of astrophysics, including surveys of large sample of massive stars in our galaxy and the Local Group, studies of ionized nebulae, starburst and low surface-brightness galaxies. At high redshift, it will allow us to detect the IGM unambiguously in emission, as well as study the evolution of the CGM properties near the peak of the Cosmic Star formation history.
In spring 2025, BlueMUSE successfully passed its Phase A review, marking the completion of the conceptual design and is currently in the preliminary design phase. Here we present a selection of the science cases, along with the current state of the instrument development.
