First raw image obtained by NIRPS

The Near Infrared Planet Searcher (NIRPS) instrument, installed on ESO's 3.6-metre telescope, had its first light in mid-2022. Here we see the first raw data from the instrument, the spectrum of Barnard's star. Each horizontal line corresponds to a narrow region of light where both the absorption lines from the star and the absorption from the Earth's atmosphere are visible. The dotted lines correspond to the so-called comb spectrum, a "ruler" that is used as a reference for the horizontal lines, so scientists can know which wavelengths of light they correspond to.