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ESO/Cou-1296 Conf. Date: 19.03.2010

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ESO/Cou-1296 Conf. Date: 19.03.2010 ESO/Cou-1296 conf. Date: 19.03.2010 EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE _______________________________________________ VOTING PROCEDURE: FOR Two-thirds Majority APPROVAL of all Member States Council (Extraordinary Meeting) 116th Council (Extraordinary) Meeting Garching, 26 April 2010 THE SITE FOR THE EUROPEAN EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPE Council is invited to select Cerro Armazones in Chile’s Region II as the baseline site for the construction of the E-ELT. European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere ESO/ Cou-1296 conf. Page 1 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2 2. Site characterization ........................................................................................... 2 3. Relative costs of construction and operations ............................................... 4 3.1 Construction ..................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Operations ........................................................................................................ 4 4. Conclusions of the Site Selection Advisory Committee ................................ 5 5. Chile ..................................................................................................................... 6 5.1 Offer .................................................................................................................. 6 5.2 Comments ........................................................................................................ 7 6. Spain .................................................................................................................... 9 6.1 Offer .................................................................................................................. 9 6.2 Comments ...................................................................................................... 10 7. Development of the Organisation ................................................................... 11 8. Global Perspective ............................................................................................ 12 8.1 Today .............................................................................................................. 12 8.2 Two competing projects ................................................................................. 12 8.3 North or South? .............................................................................................. 12 9. Funding .............................................................................................................. 13 10. Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 14 11. Council Action ................................................................................................... 14 Annex 1 Status Report by the SSAC Annex 2 Offer by the Chilean government Annex 3 Offer by the Spanish government European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere ESO/ Cou-1296 conf. Page 2 1. Introduction In 2004 Council adopted as its highest priority strategic goal for ESO the retention of leadership in the era of extremely large telescopes (Cou-991rev). The precursor studies on the 100m OWL telescope and other concepts were followed by a full Phase B design study for the E-ELT, with as baseline an adaptive telescope with a 42m segmented primary mirror, equipped with a powerful suite of instruments built in collaboration with institutes in the Member States. The Phase B study started in 2007, and will be completed in the course of 2010. It was understood from the start that the E-ELT will be the world’s largest, most advanced and most powerful optical/infrared telescope, and that it should therefore be constructed on the best site possible, as an integral part of ESO’s overall long- term program. An extensive site characterization effort was carried out with the support of a Site Selection Advisory Committee (SSAC), consisting of independent experts who agreed to treat all data and deliberations in confidence. The SSAC assisted ESO in assessing the atmospheric quality of the potential sites as well as the logistical requirements and relative costs of E-ELT construction and operations. 2. Site characterization The E-ELT site-testing campaign evolved from the FP6-supported collaborative program that was initiated in 2004 in the context of the OWL study, following earlier ESO efforts to find promising sites for astronomy. Four identical instruments for measuring the atmospheric turbulence profile were constructed and subsequently deployed on Aklim (Morocco), El Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma1 (Spain), Sierra de Macón (Argentina) and Cerro Ventarrones (Chile Region II). The instruments started taking data in late 2007. After the first year of measurements it became clear that the quality of the atmosphere above Aklim and Sierra de Macón is inferior to that above the other sites. Upon recommendation by the SSAC these two sites were therefore dropped from further consideration, although data-taking continued until the end of the FP6 activities in June 2009. An agreement between ESO and the Thirty Meter Telescope project (TMT) allowed inclusion of TMT’s measurements for Cerro Armazones and Cerro Tolonchar in Chile’s Region II. Data taken on Cerro Vizcachas on ESO’s La Silla property in Chile’s Region IV were also included. These data sets were carefully correlated with the FP6 measurements. The extensive historical records for Cerro Paranal and for several telescopes on La Palma were also used, as was data taken over a long period by weather satellites and atmospheric models that allow prediction of conditions until 2050. In the course of 2009 the SSAC asked for one more site in Chile to be studied, Cerro Vicuña MacKenna, also in Region II. The final site characterization effort therefore focused on four sites in Region II of Chile (Armazones, Ventarrones and Vicuña MacKenna near Paranal and Tolonchar south of Peine near the Salar de Atacama, see Figure 1), Vizcachas and La Palma. 1 Following the wording used in the SSAC Status Report, the phrase ‘El Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma’ is in nearly all occurrences abbreviated to ‘La Palma’ in this document. European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere ESO/ Cou-1296 conf. Page 3 Figure 1. Location of Armazones, Tolonchar, Ventarrones and Vicuña MacKenna in Chile’s Region II. Paranal and the ALMA site are also indicated. A full analysis of the measurements of atmospheric turbulence, weather statistics, temperature variations, humidity, and the presence of strong winds and/or dust was carried out by the E-ELT project and the SSAC. The main results, taken from the SSAC Status Report reproduced in Annex 1, are as follows: The three sites near Paranal all have clear skies usable for science with the E-ELT for about 90% of the time. For Vizcachas and Tolonchar this fraction drops to 84% and 80% respectively, while for La Palma it is 72%. These fractions take into account high humidity and strong winds, but not the presence of dust. The latter is of particular concern for the E-ELT with its ~1000 mirror segments which are not easily cleaned in a short time. Dust is not a factor for the sites near Paranal or for Vizcachas. It has a minor impact on Tolonchar, but is significant for La Palma (notably in the summer), lowering the fraction of usable time to well below 70%. Armazones and Tolonchar have the best seeing (median value ~0.″65), followed by La Palma and Vizcachas (~0.″8). The coherence time of atmospheric turbulence is longest on La Palma (during some months of the year), with Armazones coming in second. The sky background above La Palma is brighter than it is for the sites in Chile. The fraction of time usable for mid-infrared observations is correlated closely with the altitude of the site, and is highest on Tolonchar (62%) and Armazones (49%), and lowest on Vizcachas (24%) and La Palma (21%). Taking into account the planned instrumental capabilities of the E-ELT and the extensive design reference mission developed by the Science Working Group in 2008-2009, the E-ELT will produce ~60 nights more science time per year on the sites near Paranal than on La Palma, in better overall conditions. For Vizcachas and Tolonchar this difference reduces to ~45 and ~30 nights extra, respectively. European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere ESO/ Cou-1296 conf. Page 4 3. Relative costs of construction and operations The E-ELT project carefully analyzed the differences in cost of constructing and operating the E-ELT on the various sites, and the SSAC reviewed the results independently. Detailed estimates were done for all aspects, including the cost of electrical power, fuel, water, fire fighting (including relative risk), earthquake impact, snow and ice build-up on the dome, insurance, handling of materials, accessibility, needs during construction for accommodation and transport, accommodation for staff during operations, the number of staff, the optimal shift-work system, and various other local and off-site support needs. The cost differences between Armazones, Ventarrones and Vicuña MacKenna are fairly insignificant. As it was already becoming clear that Vizcachas would not be amongst the top sites, the detailed comparison was therefore done between Armazones, Tolonchar
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