X-shooter is the first 2nd generation instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). It is a very efficient, single-target, intermediate-resolution spectrograph that was installed at the Cassegrain focus of UT2 in 2009. The instrument covers, in a single exposure, the spectral range from 300 to 2500 nm. It is designed to maximize the sensitivity in this spectral range through dichroic splitting in three arms with optimized optics, coatings, dispersive elements and detectors. It operates at intermediate spectral resolution (R ∼ 4000−17 000, depending on wavelength and slit width) with fixed échelle spectral format (prism cross-dispersers) in the three arms. It includes a 1.8 × 4 integral field unit as an alternative to the 11 long slits. A dedicated data reduction package delivers fully calibrated two-dimensional and extracted spectra over the full wavelength range. We describe the main characteristics of the instrument and present its performance as measured during commissioning, science verification and the first months of science operations.

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MICADO is the adaptive optics imaging camera for the E-ELT. It has been designed and optimised to be mounted to the LGS-MCAO system MAORY, and will provide diffraction limited imaging over a wide (∼1 arcmin) field of view. For initial operations, it can also be used with its own simpler AO module that provides on-axis diffraction limited performance using natural guide stars. We discuss the instrument's key capabilities and expected performance, and show how the science drivers have shaped its design. We outline the technical concept, from the opto-mechanical design to operations and data processing. We describe the AO module, summarise the instrument performance, and indicate some possible future developments. MICADO OVERVIEWMICADO is the Multi-AO Imaging Camera for Deep Observations, designed to work with adaptive optics (AO) on the E-ELT. It has been optimised for the multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) module MAORY; 1, 2 but it is also able to work with other adaptive optics systems, and includes a separate module to provide a single conjugate adaptive optics (SCAO) capability 3 using natural guide stars during early operations (see Section 4). As this simple AO mode sets low requirements on the telescope and facilities (e.g. no lasers are required), it is an optimum choice for demonstrating the scientific capabilities of the E-ELT at the earliest opportunity. The optical relay and support structure for SCAO provide the same opto-mechanical interface as MAORY, and in principle enable MICADO to be used with other AO systems such as ATLAS. 4 This phased approach means that MICADO will be able to make use of increasingly sophisticated AO systems as they become available.MICADO is compact and is supported underneath the AO systems so that it rotates in a gravity invariant orientation. It is able to image, through a large number of selected wide and narrow-band near infrared filters, a large 53 field of view at the diffraction limit of the E-ELT. MICADO has two arms. The primary arm is a high

MICADO will equip the E-ELT with a first light capability for diffraction limited imaging at near-infrared wavelengths. The instrument's observing modes focus on various flavours of imaging, including astrometric, high contrast, and time resolved. There is also a single object spectroscopic mode optimised for wavelength coverage at moderately high resolution. This contribution provides an overview of the key functionality of the instrument, outlining the scientific rationale for its observing modes. The interface between MICADO and the adaptive optics system MAORY that feeds it is summarised. The design of the instrument is discussed, focussing on the optics and mechanisms inside the cryostat, together with a brief overview of the other key sub-systems.