NEWS 7 - European Solar Telescope
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COORDINATOR’S CORNER
NEWS 7
THE EUROPEAN SOLAR TELESCOPE NEWSLETTER
EST is making good progress in all the activities the project is addressing and
here is again our Newsletter with the latest news.
As a project included in the ESFRI Roadmap, EST volunteered to be monitored
in an exercise to follow up its current status. Various aspects were evaluated
such as the relevance in a world-wide context, the scientific impact, the use
of the most modern technologies, the socio-economic impact in Europe, as
DECEMBER 2020 well as the perspectives for funding. The evaluation report acknowledged the
importance of the project and emphasised that a major bottleneck exists due
to the lack of involvement of the funding agencies. The project is working
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
hard to overcome these difficulties so that construction can be started in
the shortest possible time. As an intermediate step before an ERIC can be
EST monitoring towards ESFRI Roadmap 2021 created, different possibilities for an interim legal figure have been analysed.
In the coming months, steps will be given towards its creation as a bridge
PRE-EST and SOLARNET highlights between the present Preparatory Phase and construction.
The EST optical design has been completely revamped after deciding to
Design of the EST Pier Optical Path pursue the option of an adaptive secondary mirror. The optical path has been
simplified, leading to a much more efficient telescope. The new concept for the
Pier Optical Path, which generates the input focal plane for the instruments,
Tunable-Band Imagers for EST
is presented in this issue together with progress made in other relevant areas.
MCAO update An exciting videogame “Solar Mission EST” is on the way and almost ready to
be released. We all are looking forward to playing with it and saving the Earth!
This and other outreach activities are described in this issue and on our new
Results of the first call for tenders
website.
EST communication activities All members of the EST consortium hope you are safe in these difficult
times and wish you all the best for the coming year 2021, in which we expect
normality will come back to our lives.
EST newcomers
M. Collados, EST project coordinator
2
EST NEWS
EST NEWS
EST MONITORING AND UPDATE TOWARDS THE
ESFRI ROADMAP 2021
In preparation for the Roadmap 2021 studying the chromosphere. Moreover,
Update, the European Strategy Forum the 12 hours-time difference between
on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) DKIST and EST makes it possible to
has carried out the monitoring of perform continuous observations
the research infrastructures (RIs) of a given solar target with a full
listed as Projects which entered the day coverage. Therefore, EST is of
Roadmap in 2016, as is the case of worldwide relevance”.
EST. This monitoring had the goals
of (1) checking the overall progress Socio-economic impact. ESFRI
towards implementation; (2) assessing also assessed the socio-economic
the degree to which the project fulfils impact of EST, finding that “during the
the minimal key requirements for the construction and operation phases,
implementation phases of the life EST will cause socio-economic effects
cycle and the plans for reaching full not just on the surrounding area,
implementation; and (3) updating but it will also generate incentives parameters to achieve the scientific
all public information of EST for the for industrial growth elsewhere, by objectives, concluding that the project
upcoming ESFRI Roadmap 2021. means of the participation of private has properly reacted to the most
companies in the civil works, the current advances in technology and
The documents submitted by the EST provision of components, systems science, in order to ensure the leading
Project were analysed by the ESFRI and instrumentation, technological role of the EST”.
Working Group on Implementation developments, etc. [...]
and the ESFRI Strategy Working Group Finances. The major bottlenecks
relevant to the EST domain (Physical In social dimension, being a world- encountered by the evaluators is the
Sciences and Engineering). The wide RI, EST fosters international lack of involvement of potential funders
monitoring report approved by ESFRI collaboration and mobility requiring in the EST implementation: “While the
evaluated different key aspects of the people from different cultures work response of the scientific community
project and included recommendations together. It also creates a unique was very positive, yet the response of
to draw attention to the most important network of researchers in academia the corresponding national funding
requirements that need to be fulfilled in and in industry giving a new dimension agencies was not equally enthusiastic.
order for the project to be considered to the publicly funded basic science.
implemented by the time the 10-year Education and training of students In particular, given the reported broad
permanence of EST on the ESFRI in problem-solving mode as well as consensus of the European scientific
Roadmap expires. their involvement to data analysis and community working on solar physics
management issues will make them on the EST project, the national
The evaluators agreed that “EST will attractive to the industry. components of such community
be a unique facility for high-resolution should emphasize to their funding
solar observations. By the time of its The EST RI scientific results are agencies and institutions the relevant
commissioning, EST will supersede potentially of great relevance to tackle impact of the EST project on their
most European high-resolution some of the present societal challenges. future research activities in the field”.
telescopes and will gather in its facility For instance, the detailed information
all the best of these telescopes. Hence, that EST will be able to provide on the In view of this situation, ESFRI
its pan-European relevance for solar solar activity will certainly help in better urges EST “to seek for firm financial
physics is unquestionable". understanding the dynamics of strong commitments for construction from
solar phenomena like solar storms [...]”. the partners, but also to consolidate
The report points out that “the only commitments for operational costs
solar observatory competitive to EST is Scientific case. The evaluation for at least five years. Investment
the American DKIST, and that in some report confirms that “a significant decisions for ESFRI goes on to remind
aspects they are complementary: DKIST technological progress has been made that the most urgent risk is the lack
better suited for studying the solar since 2016 to improve spatial and of sufficient funding commitment for
corona, while EST more appropriate for temporal resolution, which are critical construction and operation phases".
EST NEWS 3
THE EUROPEAN SOLAR TELESCOPE ENGAGES
WITH STAKEHOLDERS
Spanish Minister of Science and Technology visited the EST headquarters in La Laguna. It is one of
the very few on-site meetings that we had this semester, since most gatherings went online
Spanish Minister of Science and Technology, Pedro Duque (grey suit, front right), stands at the EST booth during a visit to IACTEC, where the EST
headquarters are located. He was greeted by the EST Project Manager, Systems Engineer and Support Scientist.
With a few exceptions, the COVID-19 and Miguel Núñez, EST Systems scientific projects that will concentrate
pandemic has transformed many Engineer, were the ones in charge of the efforts of the community for the
scientific and stakeholder meetings guiding him through the telescope next decade.
into online editions. specifics.
EST Support Scientist Carlos Quintero
One of those few rarities was the National science meetings go online gave an overview of the most recent
visit, in July this year, of the Spanish developments of the European Solar
Ministry of Science and Technology, It was the only face-to-face meeting Telescope during the solar physics
Pedro Duque. A former ESA astronaut, in a semester otherwise dominated session coordinated by another EST
Duque visited the IACTEC building in by online events. Two of those were scientist, Luis Bellot. Both the PDF
La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain), where the national gatherings: the XIV.0 Meeting and the recording of the session are
EST headquarters are located. of the Spanish Astronomical Society available online (his intervention starts
and the 106 National Congress of the at 03:10).
SPANISH SCIENCE Italian Physical Society (SIF).
MINISTER WAS BRIEFED THE SPANISH
ABOUT EST BY THE The Spanish Astronomical Society ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PROJECT OFFICE STAFF transformed its XIV annual meeting WENT ONLINE FOR ITS
in an online one. This society brings ANNUAL MEETING
During his visit, he met some of the EST together more than 800 astronomy
staff, who briefed him about the professionals and intends to be an Also online was the 106th National
science goals and technological independent forum for discussing all Congress of the Italian Physical Society
challenges of the telescope, as well as sort of topics related to Astronomy (SIF), held in September. The event
the current state of the project. and Astrophysics in Spain. The online gathered about 600 Italian physicists
Alejandra Martín, EST Project Manager, edition was held in July this year, with a from different research areas (Nuclear
Carlos Quintero, EST Support Scientist, special focus on the current and future Physics, Astrophysics, Geophysics,
4 EST NEWS
Biophysics, Applied Physics), who
shared their projects towards finding
common ground and synergies.
ITALIAN CONTRIBUTIONS
TO EST WERE HIGHLIGHTED
AT THE NATIONAL
CONGRESS OF THE ITALIAN
PHYSICAL SOCIETY
For the Astrophysics track, Francesco
Berrilli was invited to introduce the
European Solar Telescope to the
Italian community. The video of the
presentation, which highlights the
Italian scientific and technological
contribution to the project, is available
online (he appears from minute 33 In October, EST Systems Engineer Miguel Núñez participated in the second BSBF21 webinar
onwards). The PDF is also available.
BSBF seminars
The European Solar Telescope is one of the momentum and foster business representatives of several European
the Affiliated Big Science Organisation opportunities and collaborations technology companies.
of the Big Science Business Forum between science organisations and the
2021. This biennial event, initially European industry. Núñez gave an overview of the
scheduled for September this year in current situation of the European
Granada (Spain), had to be postponed EST Systems Engineer Miguel Núñez Solar Telescope, highlighting the
to 2021 due to the health crisis. participated in the second of those upcoming procurements and business
webinars, held on October 8-9, 2020, opportunities for the next years. The
In the meantime, the organisation is together with organisations like CERN, webinar was recorded, and Núñez's
setting up several webinars to keep EMBL, ESA, ESO, and ESRF, and presentation is available here.
Francesco Berrilli highlighted the Italian contrbution to EST at the 106th National Congress of the Italian Physical Society (SIF)
5
PROJECTS
EST NEWS
EST PREPARATORY PHASE
A report of activies carried out by the project during the last 6 months is provided, with emphasis
on the efforts to set up a legal figure for EST and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The aim of the Preparatory Phase (PP) scheme of EST has been identified as near the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope
of the European Solar Telescope (EST) an issue and a larger and permanent at the Observatorio del Roque de Los
is to provide a detailed plan regarding involvement of potential funders will Muchachos on La Palma has been
the implementation of EST, aiming at be pursued. In the meantime, a Board presented. An intensive communication
delivering the necessary information of Directors has been established. activity at societal, scientific, industrial
to make decisions, addressing both Its second meeting took place on and political level has been carried
technical and organisational issues as December 10, 2020. out. The EST communication strategy
well as costs and risks analysis. The has been evaluated by the EU as
PP is leading the detailed design of EST In parallel, the project has decided to remarkable.
key elements to the required level of also explore the viability of an interim
definition and validation for their final legal figure formed by individual COVID-19. On 14th March 2020, the
implementation. institutions, as a way to continue the Spanish government approved the
works leading to the EST construction. declaration of state of emergency
To achieve its goals, the PP of EST is throughout Spain to deal with the
supported by: (1) the PRE-EST H2020 The Czech 2019 Roadmap update health emergency caused by the
project, (2) funds from the Regional prioritised the project EST-CZ to COVID-19 pandemic. This state was
Government of the Canary Islands ensure the participation of CZ in the extended until June 21st. The Royal
to install, equip and recruit the EST construction and operation of EST. Decree 463/2020 declaring the state
Project Office personnel, (3) funds The UK Roadmap includes EST in of emergency included the suspension
from the Spanish Ministry of Science its recent 2019 update as a priority of conditions and interruption
and Innovation to test the EST MCAO project for understanding the universe of deadlines for administrative
and to develop the EST design and (4) with ground-based observational proceedings under way. Moreover, it set
the annual contributions provided by astronomy. The Swiss Roadmap a number of limitations on the freedom
the EAST partners from Switzerland, 2019 update set EST in the category of movement of citizens which also
the Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary, of infrastructures in which Swiss affected the working conditions.
Norway, Sweden, and the UK. The institutions have shown an interest. Similar measures were adopted by the
progress made so far was satisfactorily governments of other EST partners at
assessed by the European Commission, The EST Project Office is currently set regional as well as national level.
which declared that the consortium is up with a team of 29 people and is
demonstrating its relevant role towards working, jointly with the EST Science The negative impact of this situation
the realization of EST. and Technical Advisory Groups, to: motivated the request by the EST
(1) update the scientific and technical coordinator to activate article 51 (Force
The EST Board has chosen a European requirements; (2) consolidate the Majeure) of the Grant Agreement. As a
Research Infrastructure Consortium conceptual design or modify it where consequence, the project may seek an
(ERIC) as the most appropriate legal necessary; (3) define subsystem amendment for an extension due to
vehicle for EST. The Spanish Ministry of specifications for the preliminary the COVID-19 situation. Such requests
Science and Innovation shall initiate the design; (4) set the EST preliminary will be handled favorably and in a
negotiations with the corresponding design and (5) define the specifications speedy manner by the EC. However,
EST partner authorities. The EST ERIC for detailed design and fabrication, the maximum grant amount cannot be
statutes and governance structure updating the cost estimates and increased.
have been defined. construction schedule.
The lockdown mainly affected the call
Actions to set up a EST Board of The EST Science Requirement for tenders for the preliminary design
Governmental Representatives have Document is consolidated by now and of three subsystems of the European
been carried out but is not established a proposal to the International Scientific Solar Telescope. The tender process
yet. The lack of a direct involvement of Committee of the Observatorios de was reactivated in June 2020 and it is
the potential funders in the governance Canarias (CCI) to consider a location currently in the contract award phase.
6 EST NEWS
SOLARNET MID-TERM REVIEW
Map showing the 35 partners of the SOLARNET consortium in Europe, Japan, and the USA
The SOLARNET consortium success- A particular highlight was the on-track of SMEs in the consortium goes
fully defended the mid-term review of Trans-National Access Programme far beyond a formal association.
the project by the EU Commission on which provided easy access to Highly intense collaborative links
November 9th, 2020. The evaluation telescope infrastructures in the Canary have been maintained between the
committee was presided by EU Project Islands in addition to the Piz-Daint SMEs and academic institutions, with
Officer Dr. Mina Koleva and Prof. Dr. supercomputer owned by the Swiss strong networking focused on the
Kristof Petrovay from Eötvös Loránd National Computing Center. A total of development of innovative, state-of-
University, Budapest, Hungary, acting 90 researchers, primarily across EU the-art technologies and solutions. In
as the external reviewer. The meeting organizations and a few from non-EU this respect, the project might even
was organized via zoom and attended institutions, have benefitted from the potentially serve as a showcase for the
by 33 members from the consortium. access to the installations. This not only successful promotion and support of
facilitated collaboration and networking industry-academia partnerships lead-
The SOLARNET H2020 project started but also provided an opportunity to link ing to world-leading new technological
on January 1, 2019, with one of the theory with observations. The services developments with EU support.”
primary objectives to integrate the major at these infrastructures were also
European research infrastructures improved. Particular highlights are Due to COVID 19, several of the
in the field of high-resolution solar the capacity development to provide SOLARNET’s workshops and schools
physics, to promote their coordinated service-mode observations for SST had to be postponed. After an initial
use and instrumentation development. and remote-based observations for success where 8 early-stage and 4
Despite the initial setback in the year GREGOR. Virtual access activities have senior researchers could execute their
2020 with the sudden outbreak of the progressed as planned: new data have research stays outside their home
COVID 19 pandemic and lockdown been added to the archives and steps institutions, the mobility programme
imposed by the governments, the have been taken towards the addition suffered a major impact due to
commitment, untiring coordinated of higher-level data products. lockdown restrictions. This programme
efforts, and huge motivation from is currently suspended but can be
all its 35 consortium members Another highlight of the SOLARNET expected to resume once international
enabled SOLARNET to accomplish project is the industry-academy travel is unrestrained.
its deliverables and milestones at partnership which forms an integral
a success rate of 93.5% and 60% association of the project as part of the With the on-going restrictions on travel,
respectively within its originally planned joint research activities. It is playing a the 2nd General Assembly Meeting is
timeframe. The commendable efforts critical role towards the development of planned for February 4, 2021 when the
did not go unnoticed by the evaluation advanced cutting-edge European solar whole consortium will meet online and
committee who did not hesitate to instrumentation. In the words of Prof. discuss the next strategies towards
congratulate the consortium. Dr. Kristof Petrovay, “The participation achieving the project objectives.
7
EST TECHNOLOGY
EST NEWS
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE EST PIER
OPTICAL PATH SYSTEM
During the last 6 months, work has been done on the design of a lens-based Pier Optical Path
System. It will relay the light beam from the focal plane to the instrument room, 30 metres below.
Introduction. The European Solar focus at the instrument location (see diffraction over a field of view (FoV) of
Telescope (EST) will have an on- the conceptual design in Figure 1). 90” x 90”, and iii) the POP system shall
axis Gregorian configuration with an The option of a mirror-based system be optimised to deliver the highest
entrance pupil diameter of 4.2 metres. was evaluated but discarded due to possible throughput (in order to reach
The telescope aims to observe the Sun mechanical and space limitations; outstanding polarimetric accuracy
with unprecedented spatial and spectral the required off-axis configuration at the highest spatial resolution and
resolution. Following standard practice, and apertures of the mirrors are not be able to follow the fast evolution of
the main telescope will be placed feasible. solar phenomena), which calls for a
on top of a high building, to keep the minimum number of optical surfaces
telescope aperture away from image The main challenge of a lens-based POP in the system.
distortions generated by the ground system is to overcome the chromatic
heat. At the same time, the scientific aberration introduced by the optical Pier Optical Path design. The original
instruments will be installed at the base glass. This phenomenon implies that concept of the POP design was an
of the building where there is more lenses produce an image plane whose optical system composed of a set of
room to accommodate them. The base spatial location varies with wavelength. two achromatic doublets, as shown in
of the telescope has more stability, so In order words, a given instrument can Figure 1. Several glass combinations
vibrations and local seeing degradation be focused for a certain wavelength were examined and analysed by
are smaller there. In the case of EST, the range but defocused for other spectral means of simulations and analytical
vertical distance between the telescope ranges. Thus, the EST POP system is methods. Their performance over the
mount and the Coudé room containing being designed to deliver diffraction- working spectral range was compared
the scientific instruments is around 30 limit performance over the entire and studied. Nevertheless, owing to
metres. This long distance requires wavelength range to be observed with the great extension of the spectral
a complementary optical system to the telescope. range, none of the examined glass
transfer the focal plane from the top of combinations was able to produce
the building to the scientific laboratory System requirements. The design of a residual chromatic aberration that
at the bottom of the structure. the optical system should fulfill the guaranteed the required diffraction-
requirements presented in the EST limited performance.
The current version of this EST Pier Science Requirement Document (SRD).
Optical Path (POP) system uses a lens- The most relevant related to the POP Those results prompted us to think of
based relay consisting of a collimator- system are: i) the working spectral an alternative design to compensate
camera set up transferring the F2 range goes from 380 nm to 2200 nm, the strong chromatic aberration.
Gregorian focus to a new F3 science ii) the image quality shall be limited by Having in mind that the current light
Entrance
pupil Science
Gregorian focus F2
focus F3
Collimator Camera
M2 (ASM)
MCAO Intermediate pupil
Mirrors
M1
7.5m 30±2m
Figure 1. EST optical layout including the current version of the POP system. Distances between optical elements as well as
their sizes are not to scale. For clarity purposes, only rays coming from an object point on the optical axis are represented.
8 EST NEWS
Entrance
pupil
Gregorian
focus F2
IR Camera
Collimator IR pupil plane doublet IR Science
focus F3
IR beam (0.78µm-2.2µm)
M2
(ASM) MCAO VIS beam (0.38µm-0.78µm)
Mirrors
Tip-tilt mirror
M1 VIS pupil plane
VIS Camera VIS Science
doublet focus F3
Figure 2. EST optical layout including the new design of the POP system.
distribution system divides the light the red and near-infrared range and highly satisfactory and predict that the
coming from the telescope into four the other in the blue and visible range. POP system shown in Figure 2 should
different optical instrument arms (as Further analyses were carried out achieve the required diffraction-limited
described in the the previous issue of seeking the best glass combinations performance for the entire EST FoV
the newsletter), we wondered whether for both lenses, and a noticeable and the entire spectral range.
one of those spectral divisions could improvement in the performance was
be done inside the POP system. By achieved. Nonetheless, the capability We will now conduct an analysis of
splitting the beam after the collimation of this design was still slightly out of optical glasses and their combination in
stage with a dichroic beamsplitter, the SRD image resolution requirements chromatically-corrected optical systems,
we would introduce an extra camera and we considered substituting the taking into account material hardness,
doublet, but each doublet would deal collimator doublet by a triplet. The thermal properties, and birefringence.
with a significantly reduced spectrum. results obtained with this triplet-based Detailed ray-tracing simulations will
The division was made at 780 nm so collimator coupled with two doublet also be carried out with Zeemax to
that one camera doublet operates in camera lenses via a beamsplitter are verify the performance of the design.
TUNABLE-BAND IMAGERS FOR EST
Work is underway to complete the preliminary design of the Tunable-Band Imagers of EST by
December 2022. An international group has been formed to that end.
Tunable-Band Imagers (TBIs) are used excellent morphological context of the that is, a device that makes images
in solar physics to capture phenomena solar scene. of the polarization state of light in
that cannot be studied otherwise. narrow band wavelength regions of the
Their ability to image the Sun (small TBIs provide full spectropolarimetric spectrum that can be selected at will. It
resolved regions of it) in very narrow diagnostics of the portion of the Sun is a bad name because they measure
wavelength bands, scanning a spectral they observe. Spectropolarimetry polarization, as opposed to BBIs which
line in short periods of time, enables the embraces all the properties we can are real imagers.
identification of (magnetic) features measure to characterize the light
and their time evolution in a way that emitted by the Sun: intensity (basically Recently, a group of European solar
no other instrument can achieve. As energy), wavelength (color), and physicists from the Leibniz-Institut
part of the instrument suite of EST, polarization (a way to understand für Sonnenphysik (KIS; Germany),
TBIs complement the information the plane where light as a wave is Università di Roma Tor Vergata
provided by spectrographs based on oscillating). It is only by measuring light (UTOV; Italy), Instituto de Astrofísica
Integral Field Units (IFUs), which aim that we can understand the physical de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC; Spain), and
at diagnosing similar features but with state of our star. the Institute for Solar Physics of
a different approach. TBIs are also Stockholm University (SU; Sweden), led
complemented by Broad-Band Imagers TBI is indeed a bad name for Tunable by the IAA-CSIC Solar Physics Group,
(BBIs). These instruments deliver Imaging Spectropolarimeter (TIS), has been formed to carry out the tasks
EST NEWS 9
of a conceptual design of the TBI
instruments for EST. A number of such
TBI devices have been constructed in
different solar telescopes with different
technologies. We shall concentrate
here on those based on Fabry-Pérot
interferometers (also called etalons;
see Figure 1) as the means to select
a narrow band of the spectrum,
typically across a photospheric or
chromospheric spectral line. A (our) TIS
needs, thus, an etalon system to carry
out the spectral analysis, a polarimeter
to measure the four Stokes profiles
of light, and an optical system that
images the Sun on the detector(s). The
conceptual design includes choices
for the type and number of etalons,
the type of polarimeter, the spectral
resolution, the number of wavelength
samples, and many other requirements
that flow down from the scientific
requirements elaborated by the EST
Scientific Advisory Group. Three TIS Figure 1. Prototype of a 150 mm clear-aperture etalon for EST developed by
are envisaged for EST to cover the ICOS in collaboration with UTOV, INO, INAF and ADS. Credit: V. Greco / INO.
spectrum from 380 to 500 nm, 500 to
780 nm, and 780 to 1000 nm.
Problems like the size of the etalons any other scientific design, we started currently in operation at the Swedish
(they cannot be manufactured with with a number of assumptions that 1m Solar Telescope on La Palma.
current tools and procedures), the drive further decisions. Specifically,
optical configuration of the etalons the EST TBIs will have a tandem of We started by collecting a number
within the instrument (a really important two air-gapped etalons, each with of requirements TBIs should comply
matter), the kind of materials they are cavity (roughness) errors of less than with. The number of requirements has
made of, the field of view (the size of 2 nm (they are virtually the flattest, grown since and is still expected to
the imaged area) they should cover, the smoothest surfaces on Earth), one of grow. We aim at having a robust TBI
way we are measuring the polarization them with a high reflectivity coating General Requirements Document by
of light, the type and quality of the light and the other with a low reflectivity early 2021. This will be the basis for the
detectors, or the possible degradation coating. This combination has proved conceptual design of the instrument,
induced by the image rotation of a very successful for the Crisp Imaging which is expected by December 2022,
telescope without compensation Spectropolarimeter (CRISP) and the when a preliminary design review will
are topics that have been addressed Chromospheric Imaging Spectrometer be held. All these developments will of
by sub-groups of the whole working (CHROMIS), two TBI instruments course depend on the available funding.
group, which formed in its first meeting
in early July 2020. The work of the sub-
groups has been independent of the
others and, after a co-location meeting MEMBERS OF THE GROUP
held on 30 October, we are putting
everything together in a report that will Francisco J. Bailén, IAA-CSIC Oskar von der Lühe, KIS
be submitted to the EST Project Office. Nazaret Bello González, KIS Dario del Moro, UTOV
Luis Bellot Rubio, IAA-CSIC David Orozco Suárez, IAA-CSIC
The discussion has built upon the
Francesco Berrilli, UTOV Göran Scharmer, SU
previous TBI conceptual designs
achieved in 2011 with their pros and Luca Giovanelli, UTOV Rolf Schlichenmaier, KIS
cons, plus new calculations that Mats Löfdahl, SU Jose Carlos del Toro Iniesta, IAA-CSIC
enlighten the expected results. As in
10 EST NEWS MCAO TESTBENCH UPDATE The three deformable mirrors of the EST Multi-Conjugated Optics testbench have been characterized in the lab, in preparation for the integration of all the optical elements The European Solar Telescope (EST) will include Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optics (MCAO) to correct the blurring in the images introduced by the Earth’s atmosphere. The difference between classical Adaptive Optics and a MCAO system is that the later uses several deformable mirrors (DM) to achieve image correction in a wider field of view (FoV). To provide maximum spatial resolution over a square FoV of 40”x40”, the EST design includes 5 DMs.. There is no MCAO system working regularly in visible wavelengths, nor in solar neither in nighttime telescopes. To study and evaluate in a controlled environment the novel solutions developed for EST, an MCAO bench demonstrator with three DMs is being Figure 1. One of the three deformable mirrors of the EST MCAO testbench, developed at IAC within SOLARNET manufactured by ALPAO. WP7. During 2020 most of the testbench hardware has been received, including 3 ALPAO DMs: one with 820 actuators and two with 468 actuators. These DMs are based on a thin silver- coated optical surface with magnetic actuators attached to it. The actuators deform the optical membrane and compensate for the atmospheric aberration, providing a nearly flat wavefront in the science instruments. The characterization of the DMs was done last November by EST engineers. These tests were performed in the IAC optical laboratory using a Zygo Fizeau interferometer. The functioning and the specifications of the mirrors have been verified including the validation of parameters such as best flat figures (with surface flatness better than 10nm rms), tip-tilt stroke after flattening (larger than 10 µm peak-to-valley), defocus stroke (larger than 8 µm peak- to-valley) or linearity (better than 96%). The next step will be integrating all the optical elements in the bench. Figure 2. Results of flattening measurements with the Zygo interferometer.
EST NEWS 11
RESULTS OF THE FIRST CALL FOR TENDERS
The primary mirror assembly (M1), the telescope structure (TS) and the adaptive secondary
mirror (M2) were the systems included in the first call for tenders for the preliminary design.
The EST Project Office is currently three months and later reactivated to The EST project is pleased to have
working on the update of the telescope receive bids from the companies. The received proposals from a large number
design, starting from the conceptual closing date for the submission of bids of important companies from several
design developed in 2011 and taking was 7 August 2020. On the 10th of European countries. These companies
into account the science requirements August, the bids were initially reviewed. invested valuable time to prepare their
set by the EST Science Advisory Group in bids and the contracting authority has
December 2019. The goal is to achieve evaluated them in detail to make sure
LOT 1. M1 preliminary design
the preliminary design of the telescope, the process complies with the tender
which implies comparing different Advanced Mechanical & Optical conditions.
options, manufacturing prototypes Systems SA
to test some critical requirements SENER AEROESPACIAL, S.A. The evaluation has already been
and writing the specifications for the completed and the results are in
detailed design and construction. For LOT 2 .Telescope structure, pier process of publication. On 16 October
this preliminary design, the EST project and enclosure design 2020, the evaluation board proposed
will contract external companies with EIE GROUP Srl to award LOT 2 to IDOM CONSULTING,
expertise on specific technologies to ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, SAU.
Empresarios Agrupados Internacional SA
help us make progress at a faster pace The next steps in the process are the
ESTEYCO SA award of LOTS 1 and 3 to the selected
and in a reliable way.
IDOM CONSULTING, ENGINEERING, companies, which is expected to
In 2020, a first call for tenders was ARCHITECTURE, SAU happen in the coming weeks, the period
published for the preliminary design MT Mechatronics GmbH of time for claim, and finally the signing
of the primary mirror, the secondary of the contracts.
mirror and the set composed by the LOT 3. M2 preliminary design
telescope structure, the pier and the The next call for tenders will be issued
A.D.S. INTERNATIONAL
enclosure. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, soon for the preliminary design of the
TNO
the call was stopped for more than EST heat rejecter.
Main EST subsystems making up lots 1, 2 and 3 in the call for tenders issued in 2020.EST COMMUNICATION
12 EST NEWS
OUTREACH ACTIVITIES: EST GOES ONLINE
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, EST scientists and engineers could not take the streets,
but they nevertheless found ways to share their passion online.
The COVID-19 pandemic has
undoubtedly conditioned all cultural
activities in the continent. With
museums, conference centres, and
even bars closed (no Pint of Science
this year), EST researchers and
engineers had to turn to the Internet to
keep sharing their investigations and
results.
The European Researcher’s Night 2020
is a case in point. Celebrated on Friday,
November 27, all activities were online.
In Granada (Spain), Dr. Luis Bellot
explained the role of magnetic fields in Dr. Luis Bellot (IAA-CSIC) explained the role of solar magnetic fields in a video.
the Sun and the importance of EST to
understand them in a short talk released
on YouTube and organised by the
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-
CSIC and Fundación Descubre.
In Portugal, researchers from the
Geophysical and Astronomical
Observatory of the University of
Coimbra organised an online live round
table about the mysteries of the Sun.
Drs. Teresa Barata, Nuno Peixinho,
Ricardo Gafeira and João Fernandes
explained how scientists try to unveil
them with the help of advanced
instruments like the future European
Solar Telescope. They answered
questions from the public.
Also live was the event organised by the
Online round table by scientists from Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal).
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) in which
scientists shared their research with
the public. Our colleague Dr. Sophie
Murray was there to talk about the laboratories at the Physics Department still be watched online. In turn, Prof.
study of the Sun and the astrophysics of Università di Roma Tor Vergata (that Francesca Zuccarello from Università
research done by Irish institutions. can still be viewed online). di Catania participated in a round table
about the Sun and its role as a source
Italy loves the Internet Prof. Francesco Berrilli, from Università of renewable energy organised by the
di Roma Tor Vergata, debunked myths Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania,
But it was Italy who turned to Internet linking the Sun and global warming and available on the OACT YouTube channel.
the most: not less than seven online gave an overview on its actual role in
activities, including a virtual tour to the Earth’s climate in a live talk that can Two other online seminars were heldEST NEWS 13
Dr. Luca Giovannelli (Università di Roma Tor Vergata), talking about EST in the ERN 2020.
by INAF institutions: a 45-minute Finally, the lockdown has allowed EST (Telescopio Nazionale Galileo), who
conference on Sun-Earth relations, 24/7 scientists and other researchers to prepared an article for Il Carabiniere
observations, and solar instruments write articles for popular magazines. about the facilities at Observatorio del
(including IBIS 2.0), by Osservatorio This is the case of Dr. Gianni Mainella Roque de los Muchachos, including EST.
Astronomico di Roma (INAF-OAR),
and a two-hour overview on current
research in Astrophysics, by INAF-OACT.
Other researchers chose to share
not only their investigations but their
experience as scientists. For example,
Dr. Luca Giovannelli participated in
#ScienzaInsieme with a video summa-
rising his research journey and his role
in EST. Drs. Ilaria Ermolli and Mariarita
Murabito (from INAF-OAR) participated
in a live event in which female
astronomers shared their research
topics and experiences with the public.
Dr. Marianna Korsós (ELTE) giving a presentation at the Gyulia Astronomical Days.
Activities in the real world
However, not all activities were online.
Some lucky ones in Gyula (Hungary)
Scienze
OCCHI
I primi telescopi erano realizzati con sistemi di lenti perché quello che invecchia dal punto di vista scien-
e avevano il tipico aspetto di enormi cannocchiali a tifico sono gli strumenti, mentre lo stesso telescopio
tubo. I grandi telescopi moderni sono invece basati può continuare ad essere utilizzato sostituendo i suoi
coud participate in the Astronomical AL CIELO
su sistemi a specchi e quindi, più che a grandi can- strumenti con altri sempre più moderni.
di nocchiali, assomigliano a grandi antenne paraboliche La storia delle Isole Canarie come luogo privilegiato
GIANNI la cui potenza dipende dalle dimensioni dello spec- per l’osservazione astrofisica è la storia della ricerca al servizio della ricerca italiana e internazionale, tut-
MAINELLA*
chio principale. Quelli istallati sull’isola di La Palma da parte di molti paesi europei di un luogo nell’emi- tora finanziato interamente dall’INAF (Istituto Na-
negli anni Novanta furono dotati di specchi di circa sfero settentrionale adeguato per l’istallazione dei zionale di Astrofisica) e gestito attraverso una fon-
Days at Almásy Castle. About 300 L
e Isole Canarie sembrano essere ormai di- ben sei volte più grande della Luna, eppure non ve- 4 metri di diametro, una dimensione notevole per propri osservatori nazionali, e di questa storia l’Italia dazione creata appositamente alle Canarie. Vari
ventate l’oggetto del desiderio di tanti italiani diamo questa grande spirale nel cielo notturno pro- l’epoca. Ma quelli dell’attuale generazione già hanno è stata protagonista fin dagli inizi degli anni Settanta. strumenti scientifici si sono avvicendati in questi
in cerca di sole, spiagge e clima mite tutto prio perché, a causa della enorme distanza, la sua specchi fino a 10 metri e per quelli in progetto sono La comunità scientifica italiana ebbe infatti in quel- venti anni al T NG, fornendo agli astrofisici di istitu-
l’anno. Forse in pochi, però, sanno che la comunità luminosità è estremamente debole e a occhio nudo previste dimensioni fino a 30 metri. l’epoca un ruolo di primo piano nelle campagne di zioni italiane e internazionali uno sbocco osservativo Sopra e in basso: il telescopio MAGIC nell’Osservatorio del
scientifica italiana, sin dagli inizi degli anni Settanta si riesce a distinguere solo una minuscola macchietta Esiste però anche un altro problema, e cioè il fatto test per scegliere il sito più adatto all’istallazione di Roque de los Muchachos. A sinistra: il telescopio solare
per le loro ricerche. Attualmente lo strumento più
Themis a Tenerife. Nelle pagine precedenti: il Telescopio
visitors had the opportunity to observe
del secolo scorso, è stata in prima linea nel lungo che è il suo nucleo centrale. che l’osservazione da terra viene filtrata da un velo futuri telescopi solari, scelta che alla fine ricadde
moderno tra quelli in uso permette di misurare la Nazionale Galileo e il GRANTECAN nell’Osservatorio del Roque
processo che ha trasformato due delle otto isole del- Gli osservatori astronomici sono dunque paragona- di circa 40 km di spessore: la nostra atmosfera, che sulle isole di Tenerife e La Palma. Tale partecipazione
velocità con cui si muovono le stelle a causa dei pia- de los Muchachos sull’isola di La Palma
l’arcipelago, Tenerife e La Palma, in uno dei princi- bili a delle enormi macchine fotografiche. L’edificio, oltretutto non è statica ma turbolenta. Per sfruttare ebbe come risultato la decisione del CNR (il Consi-
pali luoghi del Pianeta per la moderna osservazione con le sue parti mobili, è il “corpo macchina” con appieno le potenzialità di questi enormi telescopi glio Nazionale delle Ricerche italiano, che all’epoca
neti che gli orbitano intorno, rendendolo all’avan-
astronomica da terra. tutti i controlli del sistema e il telescopio vero e pro- bisogna quindi portarli in posti di grande altitudine, inglobava anche la ricerca astrofisica) di costituire guardia nella ricerca e nello studio dei pianeti extra-
I telescopi terrestri, se dotati di ottiche adeguate e prio svolge il ruolo di un obiettivo allo stesso tempo dove l’aria è fredda, secca e rarefatta e presenta una con la omologa istituzione francese una joint-venture solari. a La Palma di ben venti telescopi per lo studio della
the sky with binoculars and participate
situati in luoghi con condizioni atmosferiche favo- estremamente potente e luminoso, permettendoci minore turbolenza. Proprio queste sono le caratteri- durata dal 1996 al 2006 per la gestione del telescopio C’è però anche altro che bolle in pentola. Infatti radiazione gamma che viene emessa da sorgenti ce-
revoli, continuano infatti a rappresentare un valido quindi sia di distinguere dettagli che di vedere oggetti stiche di posti come Mauna Kea nelle Hawaii, le solare THEMIS a Tenerife, apportando anche perso- molte istituzioni scientifiche italiane partecipano sia lesti in cui hanno luogo processi astrofisici ad altis-
e irrinunciabile complemento alle moderne missioni molto deboli raccogliendo una grande quantità di montagne del deserto di Atacama in Cile e le cime nale scientifico italiano ed uno strumento realizzato al consorzio CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array, rete sime energie, i più violenti ed estremi che avvengono
su satellite. Non è una mera questione di potere di luce. E alla fine di questa catena, al posto delle vec- di Izaña a Tenerife e del Roque de los Muchachos a totalmente in Italia per lo studio della dinamica di telescopi Cherenkov) sia alla progettazione tecnica nell’Universo.
“ingrandimento”. La grande distanza degli oggetti chie pellicole fotografiche, poi sostituite dai moderni La Palma, queste ultime due entrambe a circa 2.400 della atmosfera del Sole. e scientifica del nuovo Telescopio Solare Europeo La rete di telescopi Cherenkov di La Palma sarà
in lectures about space weather, solar
celesti non solo riduce la loro dimensione apparente sensori CCD, vi sono oggi sofisticati strumenti scien- metri sul livello del mare. Luoghi dove inevitabil- Il simbolo della presenza del nostro Paese negli os- (EST). Il CTA è un progetto che prevede l’istallazione complementare a quella dell’emisfero sud del Pia-
in cielo, ma anche la loro luminosità. La galassia di tifici che trasformano la luce in dati numerici che mente, con il passare degli anni, si sono concentrati servatori canari è però soprattutto il Telescopio Na- neta, collocata in Cile, fornendo così una copertura
Andromeda, per esempio, nonostante disti circa 2,5 poi vengono analizzati dagli scienziati per ottenere i principali telescopi terrestri, che in queste condi- zionale Galileo, attivo ormai da oltre venti anni sul- completa del cielo. E ST sarà invece un telescopio so-
milioni di anni luce, dovrebbe comunque apparirci le informazioni desiderate. zioni possono avere una vita utile anche molto lunga l’isola di La Palma. Un progetto interamente italiano
lare di ultima generazione dotato di uno specchio
di ben 4 metri di diametro, una dimensione che po-
energy and how scientists study the
trebbe sembrare obsoleta per un telescopio notturno
ma che è assolutamente all’avanguardia per un tele-
scopio solare e che permetterà finalmente di miglio-
rare la conoscenza del funzionamento della nostra
stella e dei meccanismi dinamici e magnetici attra-
Sun (including a presentation of the
verso i quali l’atmosfera solare rilascia verso di noi
Non sono solo ambite mete turistiche, le isole Canarie: l’energia che viene prodotta nel nucleo del Sole.
è nell’arcipelago spagnolo, tra Tenerife e La Palma, La storia recente di queste due isole dell’arcipelago
che si concentra infatti il meglio della ricerca astrofisica canario è quindi anche una storia di ricerca scienti-
fica internazionale. Una storia e una realtà forse
EST project). Drs. Robertus Erdelyi,
internazionale. Con un decisivo contributo italiano poco conosciute in Italia, dove le Canarie sono viste
quasi esclusivamente come una meta turistica di sol
y playa. Una storia e una realtà alle quali tuttavia
l’Italia, anche se tra mille difficoltà, ha dato e conti-
nua a dare il proprio contributo da protagonista.
Bernadett Belucz, and Marianna Korsós IL CARABINIERE - OTTOBRE - 2020 91
*Astrofisico presso il Telescopio Nazionale Galileo di La Palma
actively engaged with participants and
answered their questions. "Occhi al Cielo" by Dr. Gianni Mainella (TNG) for the Il Carabiniere magazine.14 EST NEWS
NEW EUROPEAN SOLAR TELESCOPE WEBSITE
Towards an informative, responsive and maintainable website
Home page of the EST website at www.est-east.eu
The EST website is the main entry point websites. Moreover, multiple-device Since the Joomla article editor is still an
of information about the project. All support is an important objective due important tool for content generation,
the material generated by the project to the increase in internet traffic using the Project Office has set new building
is made publicly available through mobile devices. Indeed, in May 2020, blocks and sample codes to simplify
the EST website. This includes news, mobile devices accounted for up to and to improve the content generated
articles, scientific information, image 50.4 percent of the total web page through this editor. These elements
galleries, and private documents for the views worldwide. positively affect site maintenance
collaborators, among other resources. by providing a common solution to
In order to follow a RWD approach, recurrent problems of web content
Starting in March 2020, a significant new tools were added to the EST generation such as positioning and
effort was made to keep the EST website to facilitate the generation of responsiveness of the graphic material.
website updated. A major overhaul responsive and eye-catching content.
was carried out by the Project Office, The most relevant is the page editor As an extra tool, a global search facility
with a complete redesign resulting used to rebuild the Homepage that has been implemented. The EST
in a modern look and feel. The new can generate responsive content with website now contains a text search
interface supports multiple devices by a modern look and feel based on a field on the top of the site that eases
means of a Responsive Web Design variety of layouts and building blocks. the process of finding relevant articles
(RWD) approach. At the same time, the and content related to the criteria set by
website remains graphically attractive, Not only the general appearance the user.
simple and informative due to the use has been improved, but also the
of a template supporting Joomla 3.9 contents and maintainability. The From July 2019 we are employing
and bootstrap 4.0. EST Communication Office helped Google Analytics to generate statistics
to migrate all the contents to the on the use of the website. According
RWD is an approach that makes web new website, adding and deleting to this service, in the period June-
pages render properly on a variety material as necessary. Also a Funding November 2020 we had 2,955 unique
of devices and screen sizes. It also section was created. Another area users, who started 4,872 sessions
reacts to common user behavior that experienced deep changes is the and visited 18,767 pages (an average
such as screen orientation changes News section. Apart from a revamped of 3.85 pages per session). The mean
(vertical/horizontal). That approach design, a significant improvement was session duration was 3.5 minutes. The
offers various advantages such as achieved with the addition of a tool top ten visitor countries were Spain,
an optimized user experience for to build news listings automatically. USA, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan, China,
different devices (desktop, mobiles and This tool gather data and meta-data India, France, and Argentina, in that
tablets) and proper SEO (Search Engine from the news articles and generate order. These numbers clearly show the
Optimization) results, as the Google well organized listings, reducing the importace of the website to promote
search engine rewards responsive maintainability cost of the section. the EST project as a whole.EST NEWS 15 THE SOLAR TELESCOPE GALLERY – A NEW EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE The EST Communication Office has just released a solar telescope gallery, which contains high- quality images of 21 telescopes and observatories currently in operation all over Europe. Through 354 selected images, the documents and printed publications. happy to consider adding new pictures. new EST telescope gallery showcases It provides a convenient resource to All the images, plus many additional solar telescopes and observatories illustrate the main infrastructures used ones, are available for download across Europe, along with some of to study the Sun in Europe. through the EST Cloud Repository. their instruments and laboratories. Represented in the gallery are the Similarly to the EST Solar Gallery, the The gallery has received more than 630 Dutch Open Telescope, the Einstein images can be downloaded freely visits since its release in October 2020. Tower, the Observatory of the under a Creative Commons Attribution To promote this new resource, we University of Coimbra, GREGOR, Non Commercial NoDerivatives 4.0 have prepared a series of short videos Hvar Observatory, the IRSOL Gregory International License. We encourage showing drone recordings of some of Coudé Telescope, Kanzelhöhe Solar people to make use of them as much the telescopes. They offer astonishing Observatory, the Large Coronograph as possible, giving proper credits to aerial views of the buildings. The at the Astronomical Observatory of the authors and institutions that kindly videos will appear on the EST social the University of Wrocklaw, Lomnický contributed their photographs. The media over the course of the next Štít Observatory, Observatoire de gallery is open to improvements, so weeks. We invite you to watch them Paris-Meudon, Observatoire du Pic du the EST Communication Office will be and share them as much as possible. Midi, Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, Observatorio del Teide, Ondřejov Observatory, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Solar Orbiter, SUNRISE, the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, THÉMIS, and the German Vacuum Tower Telescope. All the pictures can be downloaded from the EST website at https://est- east.eu/telescopes-gallery. They are accompanied by a short description and appropiate credits. The Solar Telescope Gallery has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the institutions running the facilities, who have selected the best images and provided detailed descriptions. The collection testifies to the strength of the European solar community and the diversity of facilites that support it. From the Einstein Tower to Solar Orbiter, the gallery goes through a century of state-of-the-art infrastructures devoted to solar physics research in Europe. The Solar Telescope Gallery is conceived as a tool for education, dissemination, and outreach. The images can be used for presentations,
16 EST NEWS
STATUS OF "SOLAR MISSION EST" –
THE VIDEOGAME
The EST videogame is making good progress. All characters and scenarios have already been
implemented. Now the solar puzzles are being programmed, for a release in the first half of 2021
Spot getting ready to perform observations in his telescope, as part of Solar Mission EST.
The EST videogame is making good team of solar astronomers will be in the use of adaptive optics systems, the
progress. The development has charge of completing the construction need to control local seeing, etc.
reached a point where the first tests of the European Solar Telescope. EST
of the gameplay will begin soon. The is the last hope of finding out what is Following the current test phase,
tasks to be accomplished by the happening on the Sun. The team will several beta versions will be produced
players in the different scenarios have have to build or test devices and pieces over the next few months. The idea
for EST in different observatories. The is to release the final version of the
been defined, along with the general
videogame in the first half of 2021
script and structure of the whole story. scenarios are inspired by real locations.
and distribute it through the App Store
In that way we want to make solar
Now is the time to turn the words into and Google Play. The videogame will
telescopes known among a broad
an adventure. All the programming be offered in English and Spanish,
audience, to the highest degree of
elements have been compiled for one with the possibility of adding other
realism possible. However, for the sake
of the scenarios to check different languages depending on the availability
of a funny and entertaining dynamics,
aspects: menus, movements, dyna- of resources.
players will come across situations
mics, dialogue systems, combats, that would never happen in any real The EST videogame has a dedicated
puzzles... This phase will allow us to telescope (or any other place on Earth, section on the EST website at https://
detect errors, helping us improve the for that matter!). est-east.eu/solar-mission-est.
gameplay through the user experience.
The results of these tests will be applied But beyond the fantasy licenses, Between July and August 2020, the
to the other scenarios. science is also present all over the game, characters of “Solar Mission EST” have
especially in the puzzles that players been introduced to the public through
“Solar Mission EST” is based on a will have to solve. They cover a wide a series of 7 short posts on the EST
fantasy story where solar magnetic range of concepts of solar research social media channels, to raise interest
fields go crazy and affect all electronic and observations: the features that can on the videogame. They have been very
systems on Earth (such that the be observed in the Sun, the importance well received, reaching a total audience
machines rise against humans). A of multi-wavelength measurements, of 31,883 people so far.You can also read
