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High-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy is one of the key tools to access the physics of the cool universe. In particular, the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres and their molecular constituents has in recent years demanded the highest fidelity instruments with exquisite sensitivity in this wavelength regime at high spectral resolution. At the VLT, CRIRES+ has been long awaited to occupy this parameter range (R=10^5; 1-5um), and has proven to be in highest demand since its first-light almost two years ago. CRIRES+ has transformed the CRyogenic InfraRed Echelle Spectrograph into a virtually new instrument with a 10-fold simultaneous spectral bandwidth, introducing cross-dispersion and large-area state of the art Hawaii-2RG mosaics as detector focal plane. The instrument features new capabilities such as spectropolarimetry, a refurbished SCAO system, a new and enhanced calibration suite including precision RV references and Fabry-Perot etalon, and a metrology system to deliver an exquisite instrumental stability. n this talk, I will present the instrument and its key performance on sky, touch on the challenges of its development and integration, describe what it took to deliver it to the telescope and to the community, and highlight some of the scientific results of its first two years of operation at UT3. |
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