DAG: A New Observatory And A Prospective Observing Site For Other Potential Telescopes

Cahit Yeşilyaprak1(a,b), Sinan K. Yerli(c), Onur Keskin(d), B. Bülent Güçsav(a) (a) Atatürk Univ., Astrophysics Research and Application Center (ATASAM), , ; (b) Atatürk Univ. Science Faculty, Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Erzurum, Turkey; (c) Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi (METU), Physics Department, , Turkey; (d) FMV Işık Univ., Engineering Faculty, Dept. of Mechanical Eng., , Turkey.

ABSTRACT

DAG (Eastern Anatolia Observatory is read as “Doğu Anadolu Gözlemevi” in Turkish) is the newest and largest observatory of Turkey, constructed at an altitude of 3170 m in Konaklı/, with an optical and near- infrared telescope (4 m in diameter) and its robust observing site infrastructure. This national project consists of three main phases: DAG (Telescope, Enclosure, Buildings and Infrastructures), FPI (Focal Plane Instruments and Adaptive Optics) and MCP (Mirror Coating Plant). All these three phases are supported by the Ministry of Development of Turkey and funding is awarded to Atatürk University. Telescope, enclosure and building tenders were completed in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. The final design of telescope, enclosure and building and almost all main infrastructure components of DAG site have been completed; mainly: road work, geological and atmospheric surveys, electric and fiber cabling, water line, generator system, cable car to summit. This poster explains recent developments of DAG project and talks about the future possible collaborations for various telescopes which can be constructed at the site. Keywords: DAG, observatory, telescope, site, infrastructure, observatory project

1. DAG PROJECT DAG (Eastern Anatolia Observatory in Turkish) Project is about construction of the newest and largest observatory of Turkey with its robust observatory site. The project which is supported by the Ministry of Development of Turkey and awarded to Atatürk University, consists of three main phases: DAG, FPI (Focal Plane Instruments and Adaptive Optics) and MCP (Mirror Coating Plant). The first phase consists of a 4 m telescope, its enclosure and buildings, and site infrastructure. The fundamental details of these phases are given in several following tables. Table 1. Details of the first phase. Item Details Timeline / Dates Main Phases (I) DAG (Eastern Anatolia Observatory) 2012-2019 (II) FPI (Focal Plane Instrumentations and AO) 2016-2019 (III) MCP (Mirror Coating Plant) 2020-2021 Expected First Light Late 2019 Expected Total Budget @ 2019 ~28 M€ Administration, Personnel, Tech. & Sci. Organizations 2012 Astrophysics Research and App. Center (ATASAM) @ Atatürk University 2012 Land Allocation of The Site Karakaya Peaks/Konaklı/Erzurum 2012 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASA) @ Atatürk University 2013 Telescope and Enclosure Specifications 2013 Infrastructure of The Site 2014-2016 Tenders Telescope (AMOS / Belgium) 2014 Enclosure (EIE / Italy) 2015 Building (designed by GÜNARDA / Turkey) 2016

1 C.Y: [email protected]

Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI, edited by Alison B. Peck, Robert L. Seaman, Chris R. Benn, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 9910, 99102U · © 2016 SPIE · CCC code: 0277-786X/16/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.2234383

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2. SITE AND ITS INFRASTRUCTURE Geographic place of the site is given in Figure 1. The main properties of the Site are summarized in Table 2. Table 2. Main Properties of The Site Item Notes Value Region Erzurum City Eastern Anatolia Turkey Geographic Location Karakaya Peaks Konaklı Erzurum Geographic Coordinates 39 47 N 41 14 E Altitude 3170 m Site Location with its 4m class telescope fills in both Eastern Longitude and Northern Hemisphere gap Acreage can hold several similar or larger sized telescopes 2500 decare Weather Conditions Clear Nights: clear > 250 Humidity: low and dry 2-10% Prevailing Wind: stable North-East Wind Speed: calm - Temperature: cold -35 C (lowest in winter) Inversion Layer: low ~2600 m Iced Thin Snow Cover: dust-free < 100 cm Snow Season: consistent November to April

All infrastructure of the DAG site has been completed between 2014 and 2016: land excavation, road improvement, seismic and geological analysis, atmospheric surveys, electricity and power line, fiber optics cabling, cable car to the summit, water line, generator system, security handling, transportation vehicles, main and service buildings. The details of these items are given in Table 3. The final design of DAG building is given in Figure 2. Table 3. Main properties of the site Item Notes Value Buildings ATASAM Building in Atatürk University Campus 2013 Technical Operation Center 1000 m2 Remote Observation Control Room 60 kW UPS Guest Rooms Laboratories Service Building @ summit (two separate) 2012 100 m2 + 40 m2 30 kW UPS Atmospheric Measurement Systems & DIMM tower @ summit 2013 7 m height 10 kW UPS Energy Unit & Garage for Snow Vehicles @ near summit 2015 Generators 300 m2 Transformers 20 tons tank (gasoline) Observatory & Service Buildings @ summit 2017-2018 see 9911-106 1500 m2 Transportation Erzurum Airport Æ University Campus (open in winter) 12 km – asphalt University Campus Æ Konaklı Ski Resort (open in winter) 25 km – asphalt Konaklı Ski Resort Æ The summit (closed in winter period) 7 km – stabilized Electricity Main Line 2014 3 phases, medium voltage Undergrounded for 3.6 km with a spare line Power UPS – 3 phase (@ summit) 10 kW – mobile 2013 30 kW + 10 kW 2014 Transformer (@ near summit) 2 x 630 kW 2016

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Generator 110 kW + 2 x 400 kW 2016-2017 UPS – 3 phase (@ summit) 2 x 250 kW 2018 Network Radiolink 24 Mbit 2012 Fiber Line 48 cores – 100 Gbit 2014 Undergrounded for 26 km line Cable Car/Lift 2 separate lines 2011 Vehicle Park 1 Pickup (4x4) 2012 1 ATV (4x4) 2015 1 Snow Track 2015 1 Pickup (4x4) 2016 1 Snow Cabin Track 2016 Seismological and 5 Seismographs 2013 Geological Studies Geological - Geophysical Analysis Basalt ground 2013-2014 water source after 250 m depth Water 2 natural spring near the site (~1 km distance from summit) altitude: 3000 m an artificial lake @ ski resort (pumped to summit) altitude: 2200 m water tank @ summit 30 tons 2015 underground, heat and pump system, filtered Accommodation University Guest Houses 160 rooms, 300 persons ATASAM Building 2 rooms, 4 persons 2013 On site 6 rooms, 12 persons 2019 Security Current 4 personnel @ summit 2015 2 Night Vision Camera Final Configuration 6 personnel @ summit 2017-2018 10 Night Vision Camera

DAG Site: 3170 m, Konakli %Erzurum

Figure 1. Geographic place of the DAG Site.

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Make/Brand

ems before it is dislocated for summit management. summit for dislocated is it before ems ing System) ing System) Several Sensors A are and its enclosure telescope The rvice Building. Measurement systems on site systems Measurement Station DAVIS embedded to the design. the to embedded Proc. of SPIE Vol. 9910 99102U-4 Proc. of SPIE Vol. (Automatic Weather Observ (Automatic Weather Table 4. Type All Sky Camera ALCOR Artist impression of the design of DAG Main and Se and Main DAG of design the of impression Artist DIMM tower which contained all the measurement syst contained all the measurement which tower DIMM Figure 2. 2. Figure Figure 3. Figure 2016) operated in be MASS/DIMM telescope (will 2016-2017) SLODAR (planned for with SAI – Moscow State Uni. with Durham Uni. Simple Seeing Monitor SBIG Seeing Astronomical Measurements Simple Satellite Monitoring with Meteorological units) 4 (rotating Meter Sky Quality METEOSAT SQM Cloud Sensor BOLTWOOD Item Measurements Atmospheric Meteorological Cloud AWOS

occupying the instruments and MASS/DIMM device (dislocated for summit management) is given in Figure 3. 3. Figure in given is management) summit for (dislocated device MASS/DIMM and instruments the occupying The and atmospheric astronomical systemsmeasurement installed in the site is given in towerThe Table main 4.

3. DAG TELESCOPE AND ENCLOSURE The fundamental properties of DAG telescope and its enclosure are given in Table 5. Final and official design of the telescope is given in Figure 4. Table 5. The fundamental properties of DAG telescope and its enclosure Parameter Value Telescope Diameter 4 m Total focal length 56 m M1 f# 1.8 M1 Type Zerodur (SCHOTT) Spectral Coverage Visual + NIR (< 3 um) FoV 30 armin (vignetted) 10 arcmin (unvignetted) Optical Performance Ritchey - Chrétien (RC) Active Optics (aO) Adaptive Optics (AO) Adaptive Optics 3 arcsec (Classical) 5 arcmin (GLAO) Optical and AO Design Laurent Jolissaint (HEIG-VD, Switzerland) Onur Keskin (fmv Işık Univ., Turkey) Observing Platforms Nasmyth-1 Adaptive Optics 3 instruments derotator Nasmyth-2 Seeing Limited 3 instruments derotator Accuracy Pointing: < 2 arcsec (RMS) Tracking: < 0.1 arcsec (RMS) Manufacturers AMOS – Belgium (Main Contractor) EIE – Italy (Sub-contractor) Enclosure Type Rotating large slit door Diameter 16 m Properties Active environment control; Cooling system; Louvers and wind screen; Bridge Crane Manufacturer EIE – Italy

Figure 4. The DAG telescope and its enclosure.

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4. MAIN SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE TOPICS AND FUTURE COLLABORATIONS The main scientific rationale of the DAG telescope is studied among the DAG main team and announced in http://dag- tr.org. The main objective would firstly serve to Turkish astronomical community as well as to international collaborations with the current and hot topics of astronomy and astrophysics. A short list of topics would include the followings: • Stellar astrophysics • Galactic archeology • Structure and dynamics of the Milky Way • Dynamics of open and globular clusters • Transient objects • Follow-up programs for eROSITA, Euclid, LSST etc. • Studies of galaxy formation and evolution • Physics of galaxy clusters

The DAG project welcomes all kinds of scientific and technical collaborations. The DAG Site with its robust and powerful infrastructure on the Anatolian peak is ready to accommodate different size of telescopes and various instrumentations.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Authors would like to thank Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Development; Atatürk University, Erzurum/Turkey (Project No: 2011K120230); Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Ankara/Turkey; Işık University, Istanbul/Turkey; Atatürk University, Astrophysics Research and Application Center (ATASAM), Erzurum/Turkey; Işık University, Center of Optomechatronics Application and Research (OPAM), Istanbul/Turkey and ATASAM Technical Team for their support throughout the DAG project.

REFERENCES

[1] C. Yeşilyaprak, S.K. Yerli, O. Keskin, 2015, Poster, Fourth Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories, Torremolinos, Malaga, Spain, 28 Sep – 2 Oct 2015, The AstroRob2015 Proceedings will be published in a special issue of the Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica Conference Series in 2016. Editors: M. D. Caballero-García, D. Hiriart, S.B. Pandey and A. J. Castro-Tirado.

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