Towards new strategies for the European mid-size OIR telescopes Jesús Gallego Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiviness 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 1
Outline l Science Vision and Roadmap: mid-size telescopes l ASTRONET FP-7: Monitoring the Implementation Coordinated actions during the last years l Current Status of mid-size OIR telescopes 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 2
A Grand Vision for Astronomy
Key areas in the SV l Cosmology l Galaxy Evolution l Milky Way Structure l Solar system and Extrasolar planets The Science Vision already identifies key areas where instrumental developments (massive MOS) will be needed. 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 4
SV: Modest-sized telescopes role and tasks l Searches and Surveys l Support for Gaia l Systematic monitoring for SN l Fast response to transients Recommendations l WF MOS telescope l 2m telescopes Network l Specialization l Coordination 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 5
A strategic Plan for European Astronomy
Priorities: ground Ground-based, Large Scale 1. E-ELT and SKA (phasing important) Ground-based, Medium Scale 1. European Solar Telescope 2. Cherenkov Telescope Array 3. KM3NeT Ground-based, Small scale 1. Wide Field, Multiplexed Spectrograph (8-10m tels) 2. Optimisation of access to existing telescopes: Solar, 2-4m and 8-10m 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 7
ASTRONET-FP7: Roadmap Implementation l ETSRC: European Telescopes Strategic Review Committee l WFS-WG: Wide-Field Spectrograph Working Group l ETRSRC: Working Group on RadioTelescopes l ETFLA: European Task Force Laboratory Astrophysics l WG-ASL: Working Group on Astrophysical Software Laboratory l l Common Calls & Common Actions Working Group Outreach Working Group l ELTSRC: European Large Telescopes Strategic Review Comittee
ASTRONET/OPTICON ETSRC ETSRC: European Telescope Strategic Review Committee on Europe s 2-4m telescopes over the decade l ASTRONET / OPTICON common effort l Urgent need to define a strategy for 2-4m (optical/nir) telescopes at the European Level (identified by both SV and RM) l Panel set up (chair, J. Drew) to identify how Europe s medium size telescopes could best contribute to the delivery of the SV and how could do so cost effectively. 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 9
ETSRC Report Published May 2010 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 10
ETSRC Recommendations l To work towards a common European TAC l To work towards combined management & operation for La Palma l WF Spectrograph on one 4m telescope on each Hemisphere l Formation of international consortia to build instruments for the Northern telescopes l Rational suite of telescopes/instruments l Imaging Support for Gaia 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 11
ETSRC Summary Three basic capacities: l Optical WF MOS (both hemispheres ideal) Priority to the Northern Hemisphere l Echelle Spectroscopy in both optical and near-ir l WF imaging surveys 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 12
Astronet-FP7: Task 5.1 l Task 5.1 Implementation of the ETSRC recommendations for the cost-benefit optimisation of the operation of the European optical/ir 2-4m telescopes Task leader MINECO l Duties of the task leader l l To promote and motivate the discussions Draw conclusions and reports for the EC l Agencies Workshop Madrid January 2011 l l CTAC model (by J. Davies) considered but not adopted Top priority to instrument specialization 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 13
CTAC and distributed model CTAC l 1500 nights /semester l 700 proposals l ESO OPC sized TAC l Support from OPTICON needed l Juste return NEEDED l Unit of currency TBD l Nights? l Adjusted nights? l Budget adjusted nights? Distributed model l Long-term projects with highly specialized instruments l Instruments as top-priority drivers l Specialized TACs See Davies poster 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 14
ASTRONET WFS-WG WFS-WG: Wide-Field Spectrograph Working Group Three main science drivers identified: l Milky-Way archeology (Gaia) l Cosmology (BAOs) l Galaxy evolution Two main facilities requested: l Optical WF-MOS R=5,000 in 4m telescopes, both Hemispheres l Near-IR WF-MOS in 8m telescope Published September 2011 Available at http://www.astronet-eu.org/ 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 15
ESO Call for WF Spectroscopic Survey Facilities l Call in September 2010 l May 2011, ESO selected two phase A studies, among the 7 proposals: - MOONS. MOS opt+jh Giraffe-like for VLT - 4MOST. Fibre-fed MOS for VISTA l Kick-Off meetings in September 2011, CDR 2013 l MOONS selected by ESO l 4MOST needs further work 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 16
ASTRONET Common-Action A new WF-MOS in the North: WEAVE for WHT l WHT Enhanced Aperture Velocity Explorer Proposed WHT Facility instrument Prime Focus Multi-fiber MOS, spectrograph on Nasmyth Multiplex ~1000, MOS, IFU, mini-ifu FOV 2 deg diam R=5,000 + 20,000 l 2012: Joint effort of several funding agencies (UK, NL, ES...) to guarantee WEAVE l PDR in Feb. 2013
2012-2013 l Following (in a broad perspective) ETSRC recommendations Top priority for instrumentation 4m telescopes becoming more specialized Large programs Complex instruments Harps-N for TNG 3.5m CARMENES for CAHA 3.5m WEAVE for WHT 4.2m Serious lack of resources. Struggling to survive Crisis! 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 18
Telescope by telescope l ING WHT/INT. Long-term programs WEAVE WF-MOS spectroscopy l NOT. Imaging and spectroscopy of transient sources ALFOSC, NOTCAM, FIES, X-SHOOTER-like l TNG. High resolution spectroscopy HARPS-N and Giano. Large programms l Liverpool Telescope. Time domain Astrophysics See Bode s poster on LT-telescope 2 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 19
Telescope by telescope Facilities contacted through OPTICON (Telescope Director Forum) to update status l CAHA: MPG/CSIC agreement until 2018 CAHA35. CARMENES Opt/IR echelle spectrograph. First light 2015 CAHA35. PMAS (IFU) and TWIN (two-arm) spectrographs CAHA22. CAFE (opt echelle), PANIC (WF-IR cam) and CAFOS (opt im & spec) l Visit posters by - Main astronomical facilities and site charactesitics Iglesias et al - Characteristics of the recent and future instrumentation Aceituno et al - Scientific highlights: educational and technological resources Iglesias et al 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 20
Telescope by telescope l MPG 2.2m: MPIA/ESO Agreement until sept 2015. WFI (WF Imaging) and FEROS (opt hi-res spec) GROND (multi-band imageer) No plans for new instrumentation l Bernard Lyot Telescope. Spectropolarimetry NARVAL and DEEP-NARVAL l AAT. IFU and MOS spectroscopy l OHP. High resolution sprctroscopy Large programms 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 21
ASTRONET Common-Action under consideration To coordinate an european-wide scheme to provide access for Astrophysics students l Example: ACADEMY program at Calar Alto 2m telescope 13/07/2013 ASTRONET-Turku 22