ESO 3.6 m telescope

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The ESO 3.6 m telescope

The ESO 3.6 m telescope is an optical and near-infrared reflector telescope with a 3.57 m mirror in an equatorial fork mount . It belongs to the European Southern Observatory ESO and is part of the La Silla Observatory in Chile .

The telescope is located at an altitude of 2400 m at the coordinates 29 ° 15 '39.5 "  S , 70 ° 43' 54.1"  W .

Built in 1976, it was fully operational from 1977. The late 70s of the 20th century it was, with its nearly 3.6 m diameter mirror and a mirror surface of 8.6 m 2 one of the largest optical telescopes in the world so supported and some achievements of science and technology . It came up with one of the first adaptive optics for the astronomical community in the 1980s . From 2009 the telescope played a key role in the discovery of 75 possible exoplanets .

A renovation in 1999 and the addition of a new secondary mirror in 2004 brought it up to date.

Instruments

Since April 2008, the HARPS , an acronym for H igh A ccuracy R Adial velocity P lanet S earcher , the only instrument on the ESO 3.6 m Telescope. HARPS is a glass fiber-guided , high-resolution Echelle - spectrograph , but dedicated to the search for extrasolar planets .

Former instruments

  • CES: a spectrograph with a spectral resolution of up to 235,000 in the wavelength range from 346 to 1028 nm
  • EFOSC2: The ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (v.2), a very versatile instrument for low resolution and image creation, now also installed on the New Technology Telescope .
  • TIMMI-2: The Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument worked in the spectral range from 3 μm to 25 μm.
  • ADONIS: An acronym for AD aptive O ptics N ear I nfrared S ystem, was an adaptive optics system of the second generation. More than 40 scientific peer-reviewed articles have been published based on this tool. ADONIS is the most mature version of various Adaptive Optics (AO) prototypes. In its final version from October 1996 it became an official ESO instrument, and in 2001 it was decommissioned. ADONIS was the first AO system that a large number of astronomers worked with.

Discoveries

The ESO 3.6 m telescope has been instrumental in a number of scientific discoveries since its first light . Especially recently, HARPS made it possible to find the exoplanet with the lowest mass at the time in 2009; Gliese 581e has only twice the mass of our earth. On the other hand, the planetary system with the most planets to date was discovered; seven planets orbit the sun-like star HD 10180 .

The telescope was also part of the elucidation of the decade-old mystery of the mass of the variable star class of the Cepheids . By HARPS it was possible to determine the exact mass of the Cepheid within a coverage binary system with a Cepheid and a normal star, resulting in a confirmation of the theory of the relation between stellar mass and Pulsationsdauer.

The discovery of the exoplanet Gliese 581 c by Stéphane Udry and others at the University of Geneva Observatory was announced on April 24, 2007. The team used the HARPS and analyzed the radial velocities to measure the effect of the planet on the star.

Comparison with other telescopes of the same generation

# Name /
observatory 		Illustration Aperture M1
mirror surface 		Sea
level 		First
light 		Principal Advocate
1 BTA-6
Special Astrophysical Obs 		Главная обсерватория.jpg 605 cm 26 m 2 2070 m 1975 Mstislav Keldysh
2 Hale Telescope
Palomar Observatory 		P200 Dome Open.jpg 508 cm 20 m 2 1713 m 1949 George Ellery Hale
3 Mayall Telescope
Kitt Peak National Obs. 		Kittpeakteliscope.JPG 401 cm 10 m 2 2120 m 1973 Nicholas Mayall
4th CTIO 4m / Blanco Telescope
CTIO Obs. 		4m - Victor M. Blanco Telescope.jpg 401 cm 10 m 2 2200 m 1976 Nicholas Mayall
5 Anglo-Australian Telescope
Siding Spring Obs. 		Anglo-Australian Telescope dome.JPG 389 cm m 2 1742 m 1974 Prince Charles
6th ESO 3.6 Telescope
ESO La Silla Obs. 		3.6-m Telescope at La Silla.jpg 357 cm 8.8 m 2 2400 m 1976 Adriaan Blaauw
7th Shane Telescope
Lick Observatory 		Shane dome.JPG 305 cm m 2 1283 m 1959 Nicholas Mayall

Telescope and location

  • The 3.6 meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory

  • The road to the ESO 3.6 m telescope

  • On the right in the foreground the Leonhard Euler telescope , the ESO 3.6 m telescope in the background

  • Panoramic view inside the dome of the ESO 3.6 m telescope

  • Early evening at ESO La Silla Observatory, the 3.6 m telescope in the back right. Credit: ESO.

  • Construction site of the ESO 3.6 meter telescope.

photos

additional

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 32 planets discovered outside solar system - CNN.com . In: CNN , October 19, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2010. 
  2. ^ Jack B. Zirker: An acre of glass: a history and forecast of the telescope . JHU Press, 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8234-6 , p. 204 .
  3. ↑ ADS query results for "ADONIS"
  4. ^ Gérard Rousset, Jean-Luc Beuzit: Adaptive optics in astronomy . Ed .: François Roddier. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-55375-X , The COME-ON / ADONIS systems, pp. 171 ff .
  5. ↑ Lightest exoplanet yet discovered , ESO. April 21, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2011. 
  6. ^ Richest Planetary System Discovered , ESO. August 24, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2011. 
  7. ↑ Pulsating Star Mystery Solved , ESO. November 24, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2011. 
  8. ↑ Ker Than: Major Discovery: New Planet Could Harbor Water and Life , space.com. April 24, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  9. ↑ Ker Than: Planet Hunters Edge Closer to Their Holy Grail , space.com. February 24, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  10. ^ Telescopes and Instrumentation, the ESO 3.6-meter Telescope . Accessed May 2011.
  11. ↑ Three Very Different Telescopes at La Silla . In: ESO Picture of the Week . Retrieved May 8, 2012. 

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