Aula
The demand of high-res spectroscopy had seen a tremendous increase after the discovery of exoplanets. Such instruments are now among the standard equipment of nearly every observatory. The latest addition in the zoo is PEPSI, the new bench-mounted fiber-fed and stabilized “Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument” for the 11.8m Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). It covers the entire optical wavelength range from 383 to 914 nm in three exposures at resolutions of either R=λ/Δλ=50,000, 130,000 or 250,000. As of this year, the R=130,000 mode can also be used with two dual-beam Stokes IQUV polarimeters and as such provides another unique capability besides the ultra-high resolution mode. It is also fiber linked to a disk-integration solar telescope and the Vatican Observatory's 1.8m VATT. In this talk I introduce the instrument and focus on first data and results in order to "feel the taste". Among the first targets were the Sun and solar twins, Gaia benchmark stars, Jupiter's Io, planet-host stars with hot Jupiters as well as stars with Earth-sized planets, novae, the ISM, and much more.