Gain in resolution with MICADO

This diagram illustrates the gain in resolution that will be achieved with the MICADO instrument on the ELT. The left panel shows an observation of a massive galaxy at z=2. The right 3 panels show the same simulated galaxy (K_AB ~ 21.3 mag, half-light radius ~ 5 kpc) at different resolutions. This has been created to appear similar to the real observation at the same resolution. It contains a few hundred compact (unresolved) clusters covering a range of magnitudes. The clumps and clusters contribute roughly 40% of the total light of this simulated galaxy. Panels are: (a) diffraction-limited HST/NICMOS image of a real galaxy; (b) seeing-limited ground-based simulation; (c) HST/NICMOS simulation; (d) MICADO simulation.