Solar Physics within OPTICON O. von der Lühe Kiepenheuer-Institut für Sonnenphysik Freiburg,...

Solar Physics within

OPTICON

O. von der Lühe

Kiepenheuer-Institut für Sonnenphysik

Freiburg, Germany

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Solar Physics activities in the current OPTICON Programme

• Networking

• NA2: Coordination and Integration of ENO Facilities

• WP 2 Site Characterisation

• WP 3 Solar JIS

• NA6: Telescope Directors Forum

• Access Programme

• Four solar telescope facilities: DOT, SST, THEMIS, VTT

• No solar participation in JRAs

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Solar Telescopes participating in OPTICON Transnational Access

Programme

• Diameters 0.45 … 1.0 m – large solar telescopes!• Most productive groundbased telescopes with high spatial

and spectral resolution worldwide• Informal collaboration at European and international level

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Other FP6 activities funded by the EC

• European Helio- and Asteroseismology Network

• Coordination Action involving 10 institutes

• 2.26 M€

• Four years starting April 2006

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Recent development of groundbased solar physics

community• European solar physics is struggling with finding a

common position with respect to ATST since siting decision in 2004 (Haleakala and not La Palma)

• Meeting of European solar physicists with ATST project and EU representatives (Villa Mondragone, April 12-14, 2006) – Mondragone Resolution

• Meeting of European solar physics community representatives from 12 nations (Freiburg, June 13-14, 2006) – forming of EAST

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Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

4m aperture solar telescope

American project led by NSO

Site Haleakala / Hawaii or La Palma / Canaries

CTC ca. US$ 175M

Start of construction 2008 (?)

Ready by mid next decade

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European Solar Physics Position

• Mondragone Resolution• Establish an organisation to define and coordinate EU solar physics

access to world leading groundbased facilities• Seek funding for active partnership in ATST• Develop own facilities• Open own facilities to ATST community

• European Association for Solar Telescopes (EAST)• Consortium to evolve into a non-profit legal entity • Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy,

Netherlands, Norway, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland• Develop, construct and operate a large European Solar Telescope

(EST) in the Canaries• Coordinate operation of solar facilities in Europe• Coordinate and facilitate participation in ATST• Encourage new members to join

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Solar Physics Position towards OPTICON

• Remain a partner of OPTICON

• Don‘t develop a competing I3 proposal

• Propose EAST as own Network Activitiy

• Participate more actively in other networks

• Site testing

• Directors Forum

• Continue SolarJIS

• Continue participation in Transnational Access Programme

• Propose JRAs in collaboration with general OPTICON community

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Solar Telescopes participating in an FP7 Transnational Access

Programme

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JRA proposal 1: high throughput etalons

• Tunable FP etalons are used in integrated field spectroscopy (1 arcmin fields)

• Large aperture telescopes require FPIs with large étendue

• Develop 200mm dia airgap FPIs or smaller oil-filled or solid state FPIs

• 3 years, 465 k€

telecentric

collimated

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JRA proposal 2: demodulating imaging detectors (DID)

• DIDs are needed for high precision photometry

• Polarimetry with I/I 10-5

• Several storage areas per pixel

• Detected charges are shifted between buffers at ~ 100 kHz rates

• 4 years, 500 k€

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JRA proposal 3: adaptive optics

• Solar adaptive optics offer unique capabilities to study technologies advanced adaptive optics, in particular MCAO

AO off conventional AO MCAO

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Conclusions

• European solar physics community comparable to US community

• Theory community considerably stronger

• Groundbased experimental („optical“) community has more recent experience with new facilities

• Space community except UK considerably weaker

• Optical solar physics in Europe is NOT a large community and should remain with OPTICON

• Solar physics should become more visible

• Benefit from better interaction with optical community at large

• Facilitate management/reporting with EAST as sole contractor

• Definition of a large European solar facility