Reaching New Heights in Astronomy — ESO Long Term Perspectives

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Tim de Zeeuw1 in science, are of enormous interest to costs and place the main contracts. the general public, and are instrumental Phase A design studies for ESO’s OWL in stimulating young people to consider concept and the competing EURO50 1 ESO a career in science or engineering, which concept for extremely large optical- is important for our society. infrared telescopes were under development. Other giant telescope projects A comprehensive description of ESO The construction of a major astronomical were gaining momentum elsewhere in the in the current global astronomical con- facility typically takes a decade or longer. world. The ESO Council realised the need text, and its plans for the next decade ESO has built three such observatories to develop a policy for the near future, and beyond, are presented. This survey (on La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor in which led to the Resolution on Scientific covers all aspects of the Organisation, Chile) since its founding in 1962 and is Strategy. The Resolution is included in full including the optical-infrared pro- now constructing the European Extremely in the Appendix. gramme at the La Silla Paranal Obser- Large Telescope (ELT) on Armazones vatory, the submillimetre facilities ALMA near Paranal. They take advantage of At the time of writing, twelve years later, and APEX, the construction of the developments in technology and in turn ESO’s programme at visual/infrared 39-metre European Extremely Large stimulate further technology development. wavelengths has Paranal as its flagship, Telescope and the science operation ESO’s observatories make key contribu- and the well-instrumented system com- of these facilities. An extension of the tions to all aspects of astrophysics and prising the VLT and VLTI, supplemented current optical/infrared/submillimetre are the main ground-based observational by VISTA and VST, is world-leading. facilities into multi-messenger astron- resource for astronomers in most of the Following extensive design studies, the omy has been made with the decision Member States. 39-metre ELT is under construction on to host the southern Cherenkov Tele- Armazones, as an integral part of the scope Array at Paranal. The structure Paranal system, and is on track for first of the Organisation is presented and 1.1 The 2004 Council Resolution on light in 2024. It has a good chance of the further development of the staff is Scientific Strategy being the first of the next generation of described within the scope of the long- giant telescopes to go into operation. range financial planning. The role of ESO’s current programme is guided by The venerable 3.6-metre telescope and Chile is highlighted and expansion of the the Council Resolution on Scientific the New Technology Telescope (NTT) number of Member States beyond the Strategy, which was formulated in 2004 on La Silla continue to produce excellent current 15 is discussed. The strengths when ESO had 11 Member States. science. In the submillimetre regime, the of the ESO model, together with chal- The Very Large Telescope (VLT) had Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) lenges as well as possible new opportu- entered full operations with all four Unit came on line in 2006 and the ALMA Part- nities and initiatives, are examined Telescopes (UTs), but not all of the first- nership has completed the construction and a strategy for the future of ESO is generation instruments had been com- of the transformational array which is now outlined. pleted. An additional instrument, the operational on Chajnantor. In addition, High Acuity Wide fieldK -band Imager ESO will host the Cherenkov Telescope (HAWK-I), was in development, and four Array (CTA) South in the Paranal area, 1. Introduction second-generation instruments had and will operate it for the CTA Partnership been selected (X-shooter, the K-band on a cost-reimbursement basis. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences Multi Object Spectrograph [KMOS], the and can be defined as the study of the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exo- ESO’s internal organisation has been Universe and everything in it. Advances planet REsearch instrument [SPHERE] adapted to carry out this challenging in technology during the past half-century and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer portfolio of major programmes. Many have made it possible to build increas- [MUSE]). The VLT Interferometer (VLTI) internal processes have been stream- ingly powerful facilities on the ground and was operational with the two-beam mid- lined and harmonised. Since early 2014 in space to study the Universe across infrared instrument MIDI. The VLT Survey all staff at Headquarters work in a single the entire electromagnetic spectrum and Telescope (VST) was under construction set of interconnected buildings on the to detect particles and gravitational waves but had experienced delays. The Visible ESO premises and are no longer spread from celestial sources. This has resulted and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astron- over multiple buildings on the Garching in tremendous advances, including: the omy (VISTA) had been agreed under the research campus. A world-leading out- discovery of the mysterious dark energy; UK accession to ESO, and construction reach and education centre, the ESO probing the extreme physics of black had started. ESO was operating three Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, holes, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts; telescopes on La Silla and hosted a num- donated by the Klaus Tschira Foundation, understanding the formation and evolu- ber of independent telescope projects will be inaugurated in 2018. tion of stars and galaxies; and the direct there. The Atacama Large Millimeter/sub- detection and study of planets around millimeter Array (ALMA) was under con- In this same period, the accession of other stars, which may have the potential struction by the partnership between Spain (2006), the Czech Republic (2007), to harbour life. These discoveries address East Asia, ESO and North America, but Austria (2009) and Poland (2015) some of the most fundamental questions re-baselining was required to contain increased the number of ESO Member

2 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 States to 15. The Brazilian accession agreement, signed in December 2010, )/ESO was ratified by the Brazilian Congress and Senate in 2015, but still awaits the final signature by the President. Formal and informal discussions with a number atacamaphoto.com of other countries regarding membership are ongoing.

The entire programme is under significant financial pressure caused by factors beyond ESO’s control. These include rapidly increasing costs for labour in Chile, J. L. Dauvergne & G. Hüdepohl ( unfavourable exchange rates and special organisational contributions to the CERN Pension Fund.

1.2 Global context

State-of-the-art fully steerable optical/ infrared telescopes with primary mirrors will provide very accurate positions and Figure 1. Aerial view of the Paranal Observatory. 8 metres, or larger, in diameter are opera- motions for more than a billion stars in tional at various locations around the the Milky Way by 2020. ESA’s Euclid construction into two phases. The first world, supported by different organisa- mission expects to provide an infrared phase comprises 90 % of the project. tions or partnerships. The main centre in map of the entire extragalactic sky by It has been authorised, is independent the northern hemisphere is Mauna Kea, the middle of the next decade. The Large of the timing of the completion of the which hosts the two Keck telescopes, the Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) on Brazilian accession, and was enabled by Subaru telescope and the Gemini North Cerro Pachón will start mapping the entire the accession of Poland. A significant telescope. The Large Binocular Tele- accessible sky twice per week in 2023, uncertainty in the planning for the future scope on Mount Graham and the Gran sensitive to new transient phenomena. was removed in June 2016 when Council Telescopio Canarias on La Palma provide At that time, the northern and southern gave approval to place the Phase 1 ELT northern access to astronomers from components of the Cherenkov Telescope contracts in accordance with first light in (some of) the ESO Member States. The Array (CTA), designed to detect optical 2024, even if this might require making Gemini South telescope on Pachón in flashes in the atmosphere caused by high- use of the credit facility in place with the Chile and the VLT on Paranal cover the energy gamma-rays from the Universe, European Investment Bank. It is therefore southern hemisphere. Two independent should be operational as well. Ground- timely to present ESO’s Long Term Per- international partnerships aim to build based facilities in the design phase, or spectives, setting out the planned devel- the 25-metre Giant Magellan Telescope on the drawing board, include the Square opment of ESO’s programme over the (GMT) on Las Campanas in Chile and the Kilometre Array, to be built in stages in next fifteen years, and including the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The latter South Africa and Australia, a large single organisational perspective, financial plan- was initially planned to be on Mauna Kea, submillimetre dish on Chajnantor, a large ning and risks, options for funding of but the location is presently in doubt. In wide-field telescope for highly multiplexed ELT Phase 2, opportunities beyond the the submillimetre radio regime ALMA has spectroscopic surveys, new facilities to baseline programme over a longer period, no competition (thanks to its sensitivity, measure cosmic rays and a world-wide and an assessment of the ESO model. baseline range, size and global character), network of gravitational wave detectors except for the upgraded Plateau de Bure with sufficient angular resolution to allow NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array electromagnetic telescopes to locate and 2. Optical-infrared programmes (NOEMA), which can access the entire characterise the sources. northern hemisphere. ESO’s programme started with the construction and operation of optical and Several new facilities will provide informa- 1.3 Long Term Perspectives infrared telescopes on La Silla, followed tion complementary to that which ESO by the VLT system on Paranal, which is offers. The James Webb Space Tele- The approval of the ELT construction the current flagship, and will remain so scope (JWST) will be launched in 2018, programme in December 2012, to which for at least a decade beyond the period and will follow the Hubble, Spitzer and all Member States have committed sig already foreseen in the Resolution on Herschel Space Telescopes as the new nificant additional funding despite the Scientific Strategy (Appendix). The next workhorse telescope in space. The Euro- financial crisis of 2008, was followed two step in this wavelength regime is the con- pean Space Agency (ESA) Gaia mission years later by the approval to split ELT struction of the ELT on nearby Armazones.

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 3 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

is summarised below, and is described in more detail in the Paranal Instrumentation Programme Plan1.

2.1.1 Very Large Telescope The mean lifetime of VLT instruments, set by technical and/or scientific obso lescence, was expected to be about ten years. In practice they have performed well for much longer, as upgrades have expanded their capabilities. The first generation of instruments was completed with the CRyogenic InfraRed Echelle Spectrometer (CRIRES) and HAWK-I in 2007. The four second-generation instruments, selected in 2002, are all operational, with X-shooter commissioned in 2009, KMOS in 2013, and SPHERE and MUSE in 2014. Figure 3 shows, for those VLT and VLTI instruments with spectroscopic capabilities, the plane of spectral resolving power and wavelength. Figure 4 displays the range of angular resolution vs. wavelength for the imaging modes of VLT and VLTI instruments. Figure 2. The Paranal system of telescopes and in the coherent combined focus labora- current instruments is shown, with the replacement tory. VISTA and VST, each with a single In 2013 the PARSEC laser guide star instruments planned for 2017–2018 indicated (in italics). dedicated camera, add wide-field imag- was replaced by PARLA, which uses a ing survey capabilities. A recent image of fibre laser developed by ESO in collabo- the VLT on Paranal is shown in Figure 1, ration with industry and provides a large It will be an integral part of the Paranal with an annotated version of the tele- increase in operational efficiency. The Observatory and will start observations scopes and instruments in Figure 2. The Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) equips UT4 by the middle of the next decade. complete system is unique among astro- with four powerful sodium lasers (the nomical facilities world-wide. 4 Laser Guide Star Facility, or 4LGSF) and a 1170-actuator deformable second- 2.1 Paranal — the VLT system The comprehensive coverage of parame- ary mirror to enable diffraction-limited ter space in high-angular-resolution imag- imaging and spectroscopy. In addition, The VLT was designed from the outset ing and spectroscopy has led to: the the AOF contains two wavefront-sensor as an integrated system of four 8.2-metre detection and characterisation of planets systems (the Ground Atmospheric Layer UTs, including the possibility of combin- and planetary systems orbiting other Adaptive optiCs for Spectroscopic Imag- ing the light collected by individual tele- stars; the characterisation of circumstellar ing [GALACSI] and the GRound layer scopes for optical interferometry (VLTI), environments, protoplanetary discs, and Adaptive optics Assisted by Lasers either with the four UTs or with the four stellar surfaces; high-resolution studies [GRAAL]) to provide users with optimised 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs), pro- of the black hole in the Galactic Centre adaptive optics (AO) modes with the viding superb high-angular-resolution and of nearby galactic nuclei; measure- MUSE and HAWK-I instruments, respec- capabilities. Most of the VLT and VLTI ments of the properties of the oldest tively. GRAAL was installed and tested instruments are built in collaboration with stars; studies of interstellar and interga- at the telescope in 2015. The 4LGSF was consortia of scientific and technical insti- lactic matter; and exploration of the commissioned on UT4 in April 2016 (see tutes in the Member States, where ESO high-redshift Universe and early phases Figure 5), and the deformable secondary normally provides the hardware from its of galaxy formation. saw first light in October 2016. GALACSI budget and the consortia provide the will follow in early 2017. staff effort, for which they are compen- The long-term instrumentation budget sated by an allocation of guaranteed time includes funding for a strategic pro- The VLT Imager and Spectrometer for observations (GTO) with the instrument. gramme of upgrades and new instru- mid-InfraRed (VISIR) was upgraded in ments every few years, maintaining the 2015/16 with new detectors and instru- The VLT is currently equipped with 12 scientific capability of the Paranal system ment modes and is now back in science facility instruments mounted on the UTs at the forefront by capitalising on devel- operation with imaging and spectros- and three VLTI facility instruments located opments in technology. This programme copy, coronagraphy, burst mode and

4 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 Committee (STC) and its sub-committees, at scientific conferences, or directly by ESPRESSO 100 000 the community. The emphasis is on UVES CRIRES+ 8-metre telescope science, rather than (2018) on technological concepts. Two recent workshops of scientists and AO experts HR focused on the definition of a new AO r HR instrument in order to achieve the best

owe 10 000 possible scientific impact in an era of FLAMES X-shooter MOONS

g p continuing adaptive optics developments LR VISIR on other telescopes and the expected availability of the James Webb Space

Resolvin IR MUSE KMOS & Telescope (see Leibundgut et al. p. 62 SINFONI and the Report to the STC2). One such 1000 idea foresees a relatively wide-field multi- conjugate AO (MCAO) imager, pushing FORS2 & bluewards of the traditional near-infrared SPHERE VIMOS LR MCAO regime, towards the peak of most stellar blackbodies in the optical. 100 0.1 1.0 10.0 The Breakthrough Foundation is inter- Wavelength (μm) ested in expediting the search for exoplanets through support of innovative Figure 3. The spectral resolving power versus wavelength range and a higher-resolution approaches. It will support an experiment length charted for current and planned VLT and VLTI mode which gives ~ 9000 in the I-band to search in the mid-infrared for planets spectroscopic instruments (brown areas designate higher resolution modes). and ~ 20 000 in a region of the H-band. orbiting in the Alpha Centauri system, First light is planned for 2020. by using VISIR in conjunction with the sparse aperture mask modes all com AOF. This is envisaged for 2019, and will missioned. In 2013 a Phase A study was completed also allow the testing of promising tech- for the Cassegrain U-band Brazil-ESO nologies that will benefit instruments on The next instrument to reach Paranal spectrograph (CUBES), with a strong role the ELT. will be the Echelle SPectrograph for for Brazilian institutions. CUBES will go Rocky Exoplanet and Stable Spectro- into development once the Brazilian Other ideas are being developed in the scopic Observations (ESPRESSO). ratification procedure is complete. If this community, including, for example, using It will take high-stability high-resolution should fail, other avenues could be SPHERE coupled with ESPRESSO for spectroscopy to a new level and will be explored. exoplanet characterisation. Other possi- able to use any of the four UTs, or com- bilities for the future are described in the bine the light collected by all UTs simul NAOS-CONICA (NACO) was moved to STC report Paranal in the Era of the ELT 3. taneously to observe an object with a UT1 in 2013 to make room for MUSE 16-metre-equivalent telescope. This on UT4. NACO is aging and steps have requires the commissioning of the four been taken to allow it to continue in oper- 2.1.2 VLT Interferometer coudé trains, which is nearly completed, ation until it can be replaced by ERIS The VLTI offers a unique and world-lead- followed by commissioning of the instru- (the Enhanced Resolution Imaging Spec- ing capability for high-angular-resolution ment itself in 2017. trometer). ERIS is a new instrument for observations in the near- and mid-infrared, the Cassegrain focus of UT4, consisting using either the UTs or the ATs (see Fig- The upgrade of CRIRES to a cross- of a diffraction-limited infrared imager, ures 3 and 4). The contribution of the dispersed high-resolution near-infrared an AO wavefront-sensor module, which VLTI to specific areas of stellar and extra- spectrograph (CRIRES+) covering the uses the AOF deformable secondary mir- galactic astronomy dominates the sci- entire 1–5 μm wavelength range is on ror and any one of the four AOF lasers ence output of all optical/infrared interfer- track for completion in 2018. (for single-conjugate adaptive optics), and ometers worldwide. an upgraded version of the SPectrometer The Multi Object Optical and Near-infrared for Infrared Faint Field Imaging (SPIFFI), The Phase Referenced Imaging and Spectrograph (MOONS), with wide-field part of the Spectrograph for INtegral Micro-arcsecond Astrometry facility and 0.8–1.8 μm coverage, is in develop- Field Observations in the Near Infrared (PRIMA), intended to enable astrometry ment. It will be fibre-fed, and will have (SINFONI), adapted to the new AO mod- at 10-micro-arcsecond accuracy with at least 800 (with a goal of 1000) fibres ule. First light is planned for 2020. the VLTI, was cancelled in 2015 owing to over a total field of 25 arcminutes in continued delays and the prospect that diameter. There will be two spectral reso- Input for the selection of new instruments completion was still at least three years lutions: ~ 4000 spanning the full wave- is provided via the Scientific Technical away. This meant that the opportunity

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 5 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

had been lost to carry out the foreseen 4! 51 (8)'*+ ,-0 Figure 4. The angular science application in a timely way, given resolution versus wave- 6%, length plane of the cur- the successful launch of the Gaia mis- ' 6* ( 5(2(1 rent and planned VLT sion. After an external review, the STC and VLTI imaging instru- endorsed the proposal to cease activities $1(2 ments. ,42$ on PRIMA and concentrate future efforts @QBRDBNM on ensuring the success of the second 2/'$1$ RDDHMF C (1#(2 generation VLTI instruments. The lessons -%, of PRIMA were formally reviewed and are being fed back to all ESO projects. BRDBNMCR @Q

M 2/'$1$ , 3(22$ The VLTI was taken off line for seven 9(,/.+ M HN months in 2015 in order to put in place 8 RNKTSHN all the infrastructure upgrades and DRNKTS (3 1

QQ 5 new infrastructure needed to support

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the second-generation four-beam instru- .-($ RNKTSHNM MFTK@ QQD 3@ /( ments GRAVITY and the Multi AperTure 4 QQD mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment MFTK@ 3(@ (MATISSE). This has resulted in a new 5+ AT maintenance station on the VLT platform, a comprehensive upgrade of the VLTI laboratory, installation of star sepa- rators on all ATs and UTs and global 6@UDKDMFSGƅL performance improvements targeted at achieving the full performance of GRAVITY could be done either with a combination instrument. With a field-of-view of more (Woillez et al., 2015). The ATs will be of ATs and UTs, or by adding two fixed ATs. than three square degrees, 4MOST will equipped with the New Adaptive Optics host up to 2400 fibres, working in the Module for Interferometry (NAOMI) in optical (0.3–0.9 μm) regime. The goal is the near future, and use of the GRAVITY 2.1.3 Survey telescopes to have 1600 fibres that feed two lower- fringe tracker for MATISSE will be a pre- VISTA, equipped with the infrared camera resolution (R ~ 5000) spectrographs, and cursor to the possible development of a VIRCAM, started scientific operation in 800 fibres feeding one higher-resolution second-generation fringe tracker. early 2010. Six public survey imaging (R ~ 18 000) spectrograph. programmes, together requiring at least The Precision Integrated Optics Near- five years of observing time, are currently The competitiveness of the VST will need infrared Imaging ExpeRiment (PIONIER) nearing completion and are already to be monitored over the coming years. was originally a visitor instrument and is highly cited. Seven new imaging surveys, There are several optical surveys planned now available to the community. GRAVITY selected following peer review, are due to or ongoing on more powerful telescopes is close to the end of commissioning, and commence in 2017. elsewhere, which will cover larger sky has already made the first observations areas and will go to greater depth than is of the Galactic Centre with an astrometric VST, equipped with OmegaCAM, started possible with the VST. The strengths of precision which equals that achieved scientific operation in October 2011 and the VST that could be exploited in the by classical AO techniques. MATISSE is public and guaranteed-time surveys are future are the image quality achievable scheduled to arrive on Paranal in 2017. being carried out. VST will be operational at Paranal and the blue sensitivity of at least through 2021 with an increasing OmegaCAM. A further potentially inter- Looking further ahead, the VLTI will con- fraction of GTO time. esting area would be narrow-band imag- tinue to provide the highest angular reso- ing. The VST agreement runs for ten lution, even in the ELT era. The rising The public imaging surveys include years, and concludes in 2021. At present, demand for very high-resolution imaging studies of the entire sky accessible to there are no funds in the ESO budget of stellar surfaces, close circumstellar Paranal, as well as more focused studies for VST activities beyond 2021. This does environments and extragalactic sources of the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds not, however, preclude its becoming a suggests a path forward which includes and deep extragalactic fields. These non-ESO-operated hosted telescope. completing GRAVITY, MATISSE and the surveys are conducted by international second-generation fringe tracker, contin- teams, together with data centres in the Building on the public imaging surveys uing to offer a visitor focus on the VLTI Member States, coordinated by ESO. with VISTA and VST, teams of astrono- (once the Astronomical Multi-BEam com- mers have recently been undertaking bineR [AMBER] is decommissioned), and VISTA is the ESO telescope with the four extremely ambitious public spectro- exploring six-telescope imaging capabili- largest field-of-view. In 2020/21 VIRCAM scopic surveys. The first of these exploits ties with the existing infrastructure (if the will be replaced by the 4-metre Multi- synergies with the ESA Gaia mission to required funding can be identified). This Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) provide the first homogeneous overview

6 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 of the kinematics and elemental abun- Figure 5. The four laser dances throughout the Milky Way. guide stars of the Adap- tive Optics Facility on Another, the Public ESO Spectroscopic VLT Unit Telescope 4. Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO), is building a more comprehensive under- ESO/ G. Hüdepohl standing of the exotic, explosive Universe. The most recent surveys, VANDELS and the Large Early GAlaxy Census (LEGA-C), are using the wide-field VIsible Multi- Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) on UT3 to probe the physics in many thousands of galaxies, connecting galaxies in the early Universe with those in the present day. It is likely that even more ambitious spectroscopic surveys of stars and galaxies will be undertaken from the early 2020s in support of ESA’s PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) and Euclid missions.

2.1.4 Hosted telescopes Since 2015 Paranal has hosted the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), a small university-led robotic experiment with an array of twelve 20-cm telescopes coupled to large-format, deep-depletion CCD cameras with the prime objective of detecting transiting Neptune-size planets orbiting K and M stars. A second hosted telescope project, SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars), is complementary to NGTS and will carry out a photometric survey designed to discover Earth-size planets transiting the brightest southern ultra-cool stars. SPECULOOS consists of 2.1.5 Obsolescence cence project was initiated in 2012 to four 1-metre robotic telescopes equipped The VLT started operations in 1999 and replace the custom-made M1 cell elec- with CCD cameras. The hosting of NGTS many of its sub-systems are ageing. The tronics with commercial off-the-shelf and SPECULOOS at Paranal is cost- obsolescence of devices and compo- electronics that ensures the long-term neutral to ESO since all construction and nents in these sub-systems puts at risk availability of spares. The first upgraded running costs are reimbursed to ESO by the availability of the telescope systems, systems were installed and tested on the consortia. In return for hosting these scientific instruments and other opera- UT1 in 2014 and deployment at the other projects, the ESO community receives tional equipment. VLT technology UTs followed in 2015 and 2016. high-level data products produced by upgrades are carried out only after care- NGTS and SPECULOOS that are availa- ful evaluation, and aim to use industrial In parallel, an obsolescence project to ble through the ESO Science Archive standards and technologies with guaran- align the VLT emergency-stop and Facility (SAF). teed long-term upgrade paths and maxi- safety-chain system with evolved safety mum independence from control soft- standards required upgrading existing Hosting NGTS and SPECULOOS on ware choices. An additional consideration installations with Siemens Safety pro- Paranal is an exception justified by the is to maximise common technologies grammable logic controllers (PLCs). UT2 low water vapour content of the atmos- between VLT and ELT in view of the inte- was upgraded in 2013, followed by the phere, which allows these experiments gration of the ELT into the existing Paranal other UTs from 2014 to 2016. The new to achieve the very high photometric pre- system. PLC-based safety-chain system allowed cision required for characterising exo- seamless integration of the critical safety planet transits. Otherwise the location of The unavailability of electronics spares for systems of the 4LGSF on UT4. An choice for robotic experiments and small the primary mirror (M1) cells of the UTs upgrade of the safety-chain system of telescope projects remains La Silla with was identified early on as one of the high- VISTA is planned for 2017. its well-developed support infrastructure. est risks for VLT operations. An obsoles-

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 7 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

Regular operations of the 8-metre coat- 2.1.7 Science operations – Integration of improvements in the ing unit were stopped in 2013 because ESO offers facilities for projects ranging reliability of weather forecasting into of the steadily decreasing quality of the from a few hours of observing time to the short-term observing scheduling aluminium coatings produced. After a surveys encompassing several hundred system. year of intensive testing and analysis of nights. The Paranal operational model the root cause of the problems, a con- has enabled new observing modes and An ESO-led community working group tract was placed for the complete refur- opened monitoring and time-domain pro- on time allocation will report in 2017. This bishment of the coating unit. This was grammes that are hard to carry out in working group has explored potential completed in 2016 with the recommis- classical visitor mode. Service observing new approaches to proposal submission sioning of the coating unit and the estab- enables users to request rare observing and peer review, including a critical look lishment of a rigorous long-term mainte- conditions, with the rapid response mode at the existing submission channels and nance programme. The first production allowing very swift access to an 8-metre response times, with a view to improving coating on a UT mirror in August 2016 telescope, while visitor mode allows the the synergies with other astronomical was entirely successful. astronomer to make real-time decisions facilities, present and future, looking based on the data they have just acquired. towards the ELT era. Service mode is used approximately 2.1.6 Paranal infrastructure 70 % of the time, yet the fraction of time All astronomical data obtained are rou- A significant infrastructure upgrade that requested in this mode continues to grow, tinely processed and rapidly made availa- is being undertaken with the support reaching 85 % in 2016. Thanks to the ble to the user community through the of the Chilean government is the connec- evolution of network bandwidth, reliability SAF after quality control. Certified pipe- tion of the Paranal area to the Chilean and security, additional possibilities can lines process the data stream for many of electrical grid, via a 66 kV line. This runs be envisioned, for instance remote par the instruments in unattended mode, from Paposo, 50 km to the south, to a ticipation in complex observations requir- removing the instrument signature, scal- new substation (see Figure 7), from which ing real-time decisions. Such remote ing to physical units and providing well- 23 kV distribution lines will connect to observing options are being studied, and defined errors. A complementary stream Paranal and Armazones. The connection could be deployed for some programmes of scientific data products is also pro- will provide substantial savings in opera- and/or some telescopes. They would be duced by the community which greatly tional costs and allows ESO to take introduced carefully, taking into account enhances the science archive via the advantage of future developments in the operational and financial constraints. An Phase 3 submission process. provision of green energy to northern analysis of performance metrics collected Chile. Completion is expected in the first since the start of VLT operations allows Managing multi-messenger, multi-wave- half of 2017, perfectly timed for the major the linking of science operations and pro- length, multi-facility data is an increasing ramp-up of ELT construction activities on gramme implementation to science return challenge, yet is critical for tackling ever Armazones. (Sterzik et al., 2015), which provides input more complex science questions. ESO is for further fine-tuning of future integrated ideally placed to meet these challenges, The arrival of the 23 kV line at Paranal VLT and ELT operations. where open access to data is now widely requires an adaptation to the existing recognised as an essential research infra- Paranal power distribution system at 10 kV The following key activities are being structure. A recent ESO-led community and an upgrade of the Paranal power pursued with high priority: working group report on science data conditioning system to the expected – A comprehensive overhaul of the management (STC Report 5804) outlines characteristics of the grid power. Accord- Phase 1 proposal submission and how ESO should foster, coordinate and ingly, a project was initiated in 2015 to handling tools to remedy shortcomings lead such collaborations, with activities install a combined flywheel/diesel gener- revealed by the increased capabilities directed internally and towards the com- ator system to provide simultaneously of the observing facilities and the munity. The report recommends that both power conditioning and backup complexity of proposed observing ESO should maintain an active presence power by early 2017, in time for the programmes; in activities relating to scientific data at expected arrival of the grid connection. – Provision of web-based Phase 2 a global level, and must also harness the Operation and maintenance of the cur- observation preparation and execution expertise in its Member States, perhaps rent multi-fuel turbine generator and pro- tools for service and visitor mode pro- entering into collaborative arrangements curement of liquified petroleum gas will grammes; with external parties for the delivery of be discontinued shortly thereafter. – Enhancements of the services offered specific data management functions. by the SAF enabling users to compre- No further major infrastructure upgrades hensively exploit ESO’s data holdings are expected in Paranal in support of the so as to increase science return; 2.2 Armazones — the ELT VLT. All necessary additional infrastruc- – Further optimisation of the allocation ture upgrades are driven by and financed and scheduling of observations to The science enabled by the ELT focuses through the Paranal Instrumentation Pro- ensure efficient operation of the AOF on three prominent areas: 1) detection gramme and the ELT Programme. and of ESPRESSO using any, or all, and characterisation of exoplanets, with incoherent UT foci; Earth-like planets directly accessible for

8 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 ESO/L. Calçada/ACe Consortium Calçada/ACe ESO/L.

the first time; 2) probing the formation will provide not only for on-site operations, Figure 6. Artist’s rendering of the European and evolution of galaxies by enabling the but also for the ongoing instrumentation Extremely Large Telescope on Cerro Armazones in 2024. study of resolved stellar populations in programme and major refurbishments of the full range of galaxies out to Virgo the telescope. design and fabrication of the mirror shell cluster distances, and in integrated light and support unit of the adaptive quarter- to high redshift; and 3) fundamental con- In June 2016 Council authorised placing nary M4 mirror, as well as for the polish- tributions to cosmology by measuring the remaining contracts for the Phase 1 ing of the 4.2-metre secondary mirror M2, the properties of the first stars and galax- ELT on a schedule that leads to first light are running. The very large contract for ies, the nature of dark matter and dark in 2024, even if this might require borrow- the Dome and Telescope Structure was energy, and a direct measurement of the ing from the European Investment Bank signed in May 2016 and final design work acceleration of the Universe. These sci- during the peak of construction activities. is under way (Figure 6). The first stone is ence cases require a 40-metre-class This decision lowers cost and risk, and expected to be laid in mid 2017. telescope, yielding higher sensitivity and significantly increases the likelihood that angular resolution than GMT and TMT, the ELT will achieve first light before GMT Since December 2014, much work has and they benefit from a specific instrument and TMT, and be on sky simultaneously been done towards the procurement of suite and operational model. with JWST. the opto-mechanics (for example, blanks, polishing and supports for mirrors M1 Council set the following constraints on the to M5). The M1 polishing contract was 2.2.1 Construction in two phases cost of ELT construction (in 2016 prices): approved by Finance Committee in In December 2014 Council authorised – The Phase 1 cost-to-completion is November 2016 (the second-largest ELT splitting the construction of the ELT into 1033 MEUR for first light in 2024, contract after the Dome and Telescope two phases. Phase 1 is for the 39-metre including 93 MEUR allocated for contin- Structure) together with the contracts ELT with three instruments and an adap- gency and 124 MEUR for FTE (full time for the M2 and M3 cells, and the edge tive optics module, but without the laser equivalent) costs; sensors as well as the M2 and M3 blanks tomography adaptive optics (LTAO) sys- – The Phase 2 cost-to-completion is and M3 polishing. This brings the total tem and the five inner rings of segments 110 MEUR. material budget committed through of the primary mirror M1. It is affordable external contracts and agreements to without Brazil as a Member State and about 80 % of the ELT Phase 1 cost-to- Council has authorised the construction 2.2.2 Phase 1 completion, while leaving appropriate of this phase. Phase 2 will complete the All activities are on track for first light in contingency. Other calls for tender are baseline ELT by providing the missing 2024. A new road to Armazones and the being prepared to allow contract signature LTAO module, the five inner rings of seg- mountaintop platform for the telescope in the next two years for the remaining ments, additional segments for M1 have been completed. Contracts for the equipment, including the blanks and coating and maintenance, and a second final design and qualification of the M1 polishing for M5, the blanks and the posi- pre-focal station needed for additional segment support (two parallel contracts tion actuators for the M1 segments, the instruments. The ELT operations budget for selection of the best design), for the serial manufacturing of the M1 segment

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 9 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

supports, the laser guide star units, the pre-focal station, and the mirror washing (623DUDQDOSURSHUW\ $UPD]RQHVFRQFHVVLRQ and coating units.

% (62$UPD]RQHVSURSHUW\ The Phase 1 instruments are: the Multi- KLJKZD\ AO Imaging CAmera for Deep Obser vations (MICADO), a high-spatial-resolution multi-conjugate adaptive-optics- $UPD]RQHV assisted camera/spectrograph; the High $UPD]RQHV DFFHVVURDG Angular Resolution Monolithic Optical and Near-infrared Integral field spectro- 3DUDQDO N9OLQHWR $UPD]RQHV graph (HARMONI), an adaptive-optics- %DVHFDPS Mapdata: Google Earth; Image CNES/Astrium; © 2016 Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO; Image DigitalGlobe; © 2016 CNES/Spot © 2016 Image assisted integral field spectrograph; and N9OLQHWR the Mid-infrared ELT Imager and Spectro- 3DUDQDO &7$ graph (METIS). These instruments, and 6RXWK the Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics N9JULG RelaY (MAORY) coupled to MICADO, FRQQHFWLRQ will be mounted on the Nasmyth A platform of the ELT. In accordance with the 1 successful VLT model (section 2.1), agree- WR3DSRVR ments with consortia were put in place NP in 2015 for the design, fabrication and on-site installation of the instruments and iv. Supporting systems, including power Figure 7. Map of the Paranal Armazones area. The the MAORY module. These commit ESO conditioning, additional buildings, new access road to Armazones is indicated (in green), together with the tracks of the grid connection from funding for the instrument hardware the second M1 segment coating unit Paposo to the south, the distribution lines to Paranal and secure significant additional expendi- and equipment for astronomical site and Armazones, and the location of CTA South. ture for staff effort in the Member State monitoring. institutions involved, compensated by the award of GTO to the consortia. The LTAO module is crucial for bringing the option, and ordering the missing seg- HARMONI to its full potential. Adding ments and their supports later through Phase A studies for the Multi-Object the inner rings would increase the col- new contracts, would lead to a significant Spectrograph for Astrophysics, Interga- lecting area of M1 by 26 % and hence cost increase, and would heavily impact lactic-medium studies and Cosmology significantly increase the sensitivity of the the initial science capabilities and opera- (MOSAIC) and the HIgh RESolution spec- ELT, thus decreasing the observing time tions of the ELT. trograph (HIRES) started in 2016. ESO’s required for a number of programmes contribution to their construction is in while enabling others. The inner rings The Phase A studies of MOSAIC and principle funded from the ELT operations also impact the point spread function, HIRES will be completed in 2018 and by budget line. The pivotal ExoPlanet Imag- with immediate consequences for instru- that time finalisation is required on the ing Camera and Spectrograph (EPICS) ment design and performance (for exam- timing of their development and the way requires extensive research and devel ple, coronagraphy). It is therefore highly forward for the second pre-focal station opment (R&D), carried out in collabora- desirable to have all M1 segments in which is needed for the deployment of tion with institutes in the Member States. place before first light in 2024, and to both instruments. have the additional seventh sector of segments in hand soon after. This also The supporting systems, deferred to 2.2.3 Phase 2 avoids interleaving (early) operations with Phase 2, are needed to achieve the full Phase 2 for the ELT is currently unfunded additional construction activities, and performance of the ELT. These include: but components can be proposed for simplifies the regular cleaning and coat- filtering out grid power cuts (needed from Council approval if additional funding is ing of the M1 segments, thereby lowering 2017); providing meteorological informa- identified. The prioritised list, established costs. Adding the inner rings before tion to optimally schedule the observa- in mid-2014, of those components first light also increases the value of the tions and to assist in adaptive optics use divides naturally into four groups: GTO nights for the instrument teams. The cases; and reduction of the maintenance i. The LTAO module; Phase 1 contracts related to M1 (blanks, time to achieve the required mirror reflec- ii. The five inner rings of segments for M1 polishing, segment support) therefore tivity. All these systems are aimed at mini- as well as the seventh sector needed have an option for the provision of the mising the technical downtime of the ELT. for re-coating and efficient M1 mainte- missing segments and their support. The nance; decision to exercise the option can be iii. The second pre-focal station, needed delayed to late 2019 without impacting 2.2.4 Operations for the fourth, fifth and sixth instru- the first light date, which provides time to The ELT will be operated as an integral ments, and beyond; find additional funding. Not exercising part of the Paranal Observatory. The

10 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 successful VLT end-to-end science oper- The existing on-site operation capacity struction and will be dismantled when ations model will continue to evolve to and capabilities, including the external the ELT comes into operation. Therefore, accommodate the needs of the commu- service contracts, will be expanded and most additional infrastructure will be nity and the requirements of the ELT to developed according to the projected implemented as extensions to the exist- ensure its efficient scientific exploitation. needs of the ELT. While aiming at a fully ing Paranal base camp. The majority On-site science operations of the VLT integrated operation of the VLT and of these new installations will already be and ELT will be fully integrated in the ELT to maximally exploit synergies, the required during the ELT assembly, inte- back- and front-end off-site support pro- accounting of operation cost and effort gration and verification (AIV) phase, and vided at Headquarters. will remain separated for both pro- will need to be maintained for ELT opera- grammes to prevent cross-subsidisation. tions. After the end of AIV, the available General operations support will be pro- temporary accommodation will allow vided through the Paranal Director’s VLT and ELT operation staff to be hosted, Office and the Logistics and Facilities 2.2.5 Paranal—Armazones infrastructure while the existing Residencia and the Department, with administrative support In 2011, the original Paranal property contractor’s camp are being expanded from the ESO Vitacura Office. This donated to ESO by the Chilean govern- and renewed to serve the increased support includes site management, per- ment in 1995 was extended towards the need for accommodation, office space, sonnel, purchasing, finance, board and east by the addition of a tract of land meeting rooms and work places. This lodging, cleaning, transportation and containing Cerro Armazones and a sur- expansion would also take into account commuting services, facilities, building rounding area given in concession for the needs of CTA South. and road maintenance, medical services, 50 years. Figure 7 provides a map of this and the safety and security of the Obser- area. A new access road connecting vatory. Technical operations support is Armazones to the public road B-710 has 2.3 La Silla provided by the Maintenance, Support & been constructed, cutting the driving Engineering Department and includes time from the Paranal base camp to the The La Silla Observatory (Figure 8) preventive and predictive maintenance of Armazones platform to about 40 minutes. successfully operates according to the telescopes, instruments and supporting The road is asphalted and 11 metres streamlined and lean operations model equipment, troubleshooting, corrective wide, allowing heavy construction trucks endorsed by Council in June 2007. The maintenance, refurbishments, provision to pass each other. Part of the original La Silla 2010+ model supports the con- of technical materials, consumables and access track up to the top of Armazones tinued operations of the 3.6-metre and spare parts, and project support. These is now a service road running next to the NTT telescopes, and their instrumenta- tasks are carried out by a dedicated high-voltage cable trench. tion, by ESO. Both telescopes continue workforce, consisting of international staff to be highly oversubscribed. and local staff members recruited in Chile. The construction and operation of the Many activities that are not considered ELT require additional infrastructure, The High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet ESO core competences are outsourced including technical buildings, storage Searcher (HARPS) on the 3.6-metre as service contracts to specialised com- areas and accommodation facilities. The telescope leads the world in exoplanet panies. In addition, Headquarters provides telescope building on the Armazones hunting by means of radial velocity personnel effort and support for regular platform will host only operationally criti- and specialist maintenance and repair of cal facilities. The nearby Armazones base telescopes, instruments and facilities. camp is dedicated to the needs of con- Figure 8. A view of the La Silla Observatory. ) josefrancisco.org ESO/José Francisco Salgado (

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 11 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

measurements and continues to be maintained and upgraded in collaboration with external institutes. The NTT operates EGP/ESO with the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera 2 (EFOSC2) and the Son of ISAAC infrared camera (SOFI), and the telescope is still much in demand by the community. It is currently used for the PESSTO survey (Smartt et al., 2013) and also provides opportunities for novel instrumentation by offering a visitor focus.

A call for new instruments was made in 2014, aimed primarily at replacing the ageing instrumentation at the NTT. The medium-resolution (R = 5000) optical and near-infrared (0.4–1.8 μm) spectrograph SOXS (Son of X-shooter) was selected as the future workhorse instrument at the NTT. SOXS addresses in particular — but eight years and operation was discontin- Figure 9. The new solar photovoltaic plant at not exclusively — the needs of the time- ued as planned at the end of March La Silla. domain research community. Further- 2016. Recently, the Universidad Católica more, the high-speed, triple-beam imager Norte in collaboration with the Pontificia ULTRACAM, a visitor instrument, was Universidad Católica de Chile has The science operations model for La Silla offered for up to 25 % of NTT time in upgraded the ESO 1-metre telescope — and the corresponding infrastructure exchange for cash contributions to NTT and installed the FIber Dual Echelle support — are being evolved to maintain operations. In addition, the Near Infra-Red Optical Spectrograph (FIDEOS). basic compatibility with its Paranal coun- Planet Searcher (NIRPS) was selected as terpart, so that the overall ESO end-to- the near-infrared extension of HARPS on Two new projects, ExTrA (Exoplanets end operations also encompass the the 3.6-metre telescope, creating the most in Transit and their Atmospheres) and ESO-operated facilities at La Silla. This powerful optical to near-infrared precision MASCARA (Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA), support includes the tools and methods radial velocity machine for exoplanet are currently being added to the suite used by the community to prepare and research in the southern hemisphere. of hosted telescopes. All these projects execute observations at La Silla, or to can be kept cost-neutral to ESO through exploit the data in the SAF. An increasing number of small-telescope financial contributions by the project projects are hosted at La Silla. These teams to the site operations costs, as The availability of SOXS on the NTT (and scientific projects are developed by long as the NTT and the 3.6-metre tele- X-shooter on the VLT) will put the ESO teams in the community; they are funded scope are operated by ESO. An increas- community in an excellent position to fol- by national institutes or by the European ing fraction of the projects offer access low up the most interesting transients to Research Council or via private dona- to their high-level data products via the be discovered by the LSST from 2023 tions, and take advantage of the excellent SAF in return for lowered hosting fees. onwards. The combination of HARPS and atmospheric conditions, the available NIRPS on the 3.6-metre telescope is cru- infrastructure and the lean operation- The La Silla 2010+ plan was envisaged cial for providing critical ground-based support model. for an initial period of five years without complementary data for the ESA/Swiss major re-investment into the site infra- mission CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satel- La Silla hosts the the Max Planck structure. Modest re-investment is now lite (CHEOPS) and for PLATO. Gesellschaft MPG/ESO 2.2-metre tele- needed to maintain the site infrastructure scope, the Danish 1.54-metre, the Swiss at the level required by the continued The extension of La Silla operations 1.2-metre Leonard Euler, the ESO operation of the 3.6-metre, the NTT and beyond 2020 as described above 1-metre, the Rapid Eye Mount (REM), the the hosted telescopes. Operation-critical requires both NIRPS and SOXS to be Télescope à Action Rapide pour les information technology (IT) infrastructure successful. If NIRPS were to fail for some Objets Transitoires (TAROT-S) and the has been renewed during 2016. Savings unforeseen reason, then the 3.6-metre TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals have been made on electrical power telescope with HARPS would still be Small Telescope (TRAPPIST), all with costs, as La Silla became a regulated valuable for exoplanet research, but it dedicated instruments. An increasing client in June 2015 in return for support- would be reasonable for ESO to require number of these telescopes are operated ing the installation of a photovoltaic solar external contributions to the operation remotely. The QUEST survey project power plant on the premises. The plant costs. If SOXS were to fail, then the future on the 1-metre ESO Schmidt telescope started producing power in mid-2016 of the NTT would be in serious doubt. (Baltay et al., 2012) was completed after (Figure 9). This would threaten the viability of the

12 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 entire La Silla operations model, as it is The availability of state-of-the-art detec- and the Operations Support Facility (OSF) not cost-effective for ESO to run the tors is critical for ESO. Infrared devices at 2950 metres formally ended in Decem- complete site for a single medium-sized have traditionally been single-source pro- ber 2013, except for, as regards ESO, telescope. External funding or support curements from US companies who the ALMA Residence and a site-security could come from (consortia of) institutes serve the defence market and are under surveillance system. NAOJ completed in the Member States, or from partners significant ITAR (International Traffic in delivery of the Band 4, 8 and 10 receivers elsewhere including the Host State Chile. Arms Regulations) restrictions. The next- soon after this date. NRAO continued generation devices are extremely expen- after 2013 with the investigation of the sive and start to dominate the budgets astigmatism affecting the North American 2.4 Technology development programme and limit the scope of new instruments. In antenna performance and a number of the optical, the situation is less urgent, other activities. Commissioning activities It is critical to develop and secure key but the traditional charge-coupled device of the array are continuing and extend technologies which will maintain the (CCD) technology is now being replaced into the operations phase for more Observatories at the cutting edge of with Complementary Metal Oxide Semi- advanced observing modes, including astronomy and so contribute to achieving conductor (CMOS) technology. This repre- solar observations and participation in ESO’s mission. In practice, this means sents a viable alternative for commercial global very long baseline interferometry taking those that are at low levels of tech- applications and in principle also for (VLBI) experiments. nology readiness and developing them to astronomy, but currently no such devices a level sufficient to be incorporated within meet ESO’s needs. A first step in mitigat- The ALMA Residence will be completed new projects with manageable risk. The ing these risks is participation in the and handed over to ALMA in early 2017, requirement to not only develop but also ATTRACT initiative, which aims to obtain and procurement of the site-security secure technology for the future means funding from the European Commission surveillance system will follow. The per- that only rarely will a technology develop- for developing imaging and detection manent power system started operations ment project take the form of a conven- technologies in Europe. in November 2012 and is now in reliable tional procurement from industry or insti- 24/7 operation, after some initial techni- tutes. Usually a collaborative approach cal and operational difficulties in 2013. is required to ensure that the intellectual 3. Submillimetre Programmes Previous ESO infrastructure deliveries property developed in the project is either include the Technical Building for the transferred to ESO, or another scheme ESO’s activities in the submillimetre OSF, the Santiago Central Office (SCO) at is used to ensure that the technology will wavelength regime, traditionally associ- the ESO Vitacura premises, 192 antenna be available and further developed over ated with radio-astronomy, started with foundations, and the access road to the the period of time that it is needed. This the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Tele- OSF and AOS. approach requires long-term planning to scope (SEST) on La Silla (1987–2003). address risks such as obsolescence, loss This led to participation in ALMA and Front End and Back End deliveries were of external manufacturers, and uncertain APEX (Figure 10). complete by the end of 2013. These requirements for future development. included 73 receiver cartridges each for Band 7 and Band 9, 58 water vapour In addition to enabling ESO’s mission, 3.1 Chajnantor — ALMA radiometers, 83 Front End power supplies, technology development also has a role 26 fully integrated and tested Front End in enhancing the skills, and increasing the ALMA evolved from separate regional assemblies, 70 cryostats, more than 500 motivation, of staff within ESO. Although plans to a global partnership between cartridge bodies, more than 600 photo this aspect will not drive the selection of ESO (37.5 %), the US National Science mixers, the complete fibre management specific projects, it will be considered Foundation (NSF, representing USA, system, 550 tuneable filter boards, and when deciding where and how the devel- Canada and Taiwan; 37.5 %) and the 58 sets of cryogenic helium lines. Two opment will be carried out. National Institutes of Natural Sciences in custom-made antenna transporters have Japan (NINS, representing Japan, South been in routine operation since 2008. The The funding for technology development Korea and Taiwan; 25 %). The host state contract with the AEM Consortium for the has been consolidated from a variety Chile receives 10 % of the observing antennas provided by ESO was formally of small R&D budgets across the Directo- time. ESO’s counterparts at the executive closed in early 2016, when the warranty rates of Programmes and Engineering, level are the US National Radio Astronomy period of the twenty-fifth antenna expired. from the enabling technology budget for Observatory (NRAO), managed by the All AEM antennas are within specification the VLT and from the enabling technology Association of Universities Inc. (AUI), and and operating reliably. programme formerly planned for the ELT. the National Astronomical Observatory of Current projects include the development Japan (NAOJ). Council set the cost-to-completion for of deformable mirrors for future ESO ESO’s ALMA construction in 2005, at an projects, detector development, laser amount equal to 489.5 MEUR in 2014 R&D, ELT real-time computing and wave- 3.1.1 Construction prices. The entire programme was deliv- front-sensor camera development, and ALMA construction on the Array Opera- ered over the next nine years with only R&D for the ELT EPICS instrument. tions Site (AOS) at 5050 metres altitude a 1.5 % cost increase. A workshop on

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 13 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) and J. Guarda (ALMA)

Figure 10. The ALMA antennas on the Chajnantor by ESO, the US National Science ALMA science operations adopted an plateau, with APEX visible on the right. The Licancabur Foundation (NSF) and the Japanese annual cycle starting with Cycle 3 in volcano towers in the background. National Institutes of Natural Sciences October 2015. Cycle 4 has configurations (NINS). It supersedes previous bilateral comprising at least forty 12-metre anten- Lessons Learned from ALMA Construc- agreements between the ALMA partners. nas, as well as the 7-metre antennas tion5 took place in 2015, and the results For the daily interactions and manage- of the Morita Array (previously known as are being applied in the ELT programme. ment of ALMA, a structure of Integrated the Atacama Compact Array), extended Teams across all ALMA partners and baselines and seven (of the final ten) The AEM prototype antenna, which was JAO has been established. These Inte- receiver bands. The oversubscription con- tested at the NRAO site near Socorro, grated Teams operate for Management, tinues to be highest for the ESO Member New Mexico in the period 2006–2009, Science, Science Operations, Engineer- State astronomers and they have had was transferred by ESO to Steward ing, Computing, and Outreach, replacing involvement in around three quarters of Observatory in Tucson, to be part of the the construction-oriented Integrated the ALMA papers already published. The Arizona Radio Observatory. It has Product Teams (IPTs). ARC is engaged in helping ALMA users replaced the venerable 12-metre antenna to prepare their observations and reduce on Kitt Peak. In return, the ESO commu- ALMA operations support at ESO for- the resulting data, and in testing of nity receives a total of 3600 hours of mally started in early 2008 with the observation preparation and data pro- guaranteed time on the refurbished pro- establishment of the European ALMA cessing software. totype and on the 10-metre Heinrich Regional Centre (ARC). The ESO ALMA Hertz Submillimeter Telescope on Mount Support Centre (EASC) was created in The distributed model for the ESO ARC, Graham. 2009 to centrally coordinate the overall with the central hub at ESO and a net- ESO off-site operation support. It pro- work of locally funded nodes in several vides user support, data processing, Member States, has proven to work very 3.1.2 Operations technical hardware and software support well (Hatzminaoglou et al., 2015). It pro- ALMA on-site operations are carried out and maintenance, a development study vides ALMA users with high-quality data by the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO), programme and upgrades for ALMA, and products in a timely manner, in addition whose personnel comprises both inter the delivery and archiving of data. The to face-to-face support. An external national and local staff, and are com EASC also supports ALMA Science and review in January 2015 confirmed the plemented by off-site operations activities Outreach activities. value of this model while also outlining at the three executives. The scientific some risks and challenges for the future. results are transformational but there is ALMA Early Science observations started One of these is the potential closing of still further to go to reach ALMA’s full with Cycle 0 in September 2011 using an ARC node and the corresponding scientific potential and activities continue 16 antennas, leading to a number of high- reduction in data processing effort. to test advanced modes of observation. profile discoveries including the detection Improvements in observing and data of interstellar sugar, planet-forming discs, In the area of data reduction, the calibra- reduction efficiency are needed to and water in star-forming galaxies at tion pipeline has been in use since late achieve a long-term sustainable opera- redshift 5.7. During the long-baseline 2014, but, contrary to initial plans, the tions model. campaign in late 2014, an iconic image imaging pipeline is not yet available. This was obtained which reveals unprece- poses a significant challenge for the The ALMA-wide governance for the dented fine detail in a planet-forming disc ARCs. It is essential that more than 75 % operations phase has been agreed and around the young star HL Tauri (see Fig- of the data can be efficiently pipeline established. In December 2015, the ure, p.27). It attracted tremendous public processed in the near future to ensure ALMA Trilateral Agreement was signed interest worldwide. that the workload of the ARC staff remains

14 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 manageable and they can continue to 66 ALMA antennas with Band 5 receivers in 2006. It is operated by ESO from a provide a high level of support to users. should be finished in late 2017. The inte- base in Sequitor near San Pedro de grated alarm system to be developed by Atacama, as part of the La Silla Paranal ESO has undertaken (with support of the ESO will be operational by the end of Observatory. ALMA partners) the planning for, and 2018, improving the overall reliability and construction of, a pipeline to connect the safety of the Observatory. APEX celebrated its tenth year of science OSF turbines to the nearby North Andino operations in January 2016. It is an ideal gas pipeline. This will provide natural In the coming decade, ALMA will begin wide-field mapping facility, complemen- gas at a competitive price, reducing upgrading the receivers and signal tary to ALMA, and allows testing of inno- operational costs. It will also reduce the transport and processing chain. ESO’s vative instrumentation. It has an impor- traffic of heavy trucks on the road to the ALMA development studies are already tant role as source finder for ALMA and OSF (which lowers maintenance needs addressing the possibilities of building also enables fast spectroscopic follow-up and increases safety), improves the work- a next-generation receiver for the of ALMA discoveries. APEX continues to ing efficiency of the multi-fuel turbines 67–116 GHz range (Band 2+3), as well be highly oversubscribed and produces and limits pollution. as upgrades to Bands 7 and 9. The a steady output of scientific publications. development of a new digitiser system is APEX is operated in service mode and also well advanced. Studies of possible employs support astronomers from the 3.1.3 Further developments upgrades to the software systems are partners and Chile; it has consequently The current ALMA operations plan con- also being carried out. become an important facility to train a tains off-site development funding of new generation of astronomers in sub which ESO’s 37.5 % share ramped up to ALMA-wide activities are under way to millimetre-wavelength expertise. approximately 3.2 MEUR/year in 2015. define a coordinated long-term devel The use of this budget for development opment plan across the ALMA Partner- The APEX Partnership is currently agreed efforts in the software and hardware ship to ensure maximum gain for the until the end of 2017. The partners have areas follows the agreed principles for available funding. The ALMA Scientific reviewed the possibility of extending the ALMA Development Programme, Advisory Committee (ASAC) and ALMA the agreement for five years from 2018 to which include an ALMA-wide approval programme scientists have elaborated 2022. An external critical review was process and governance. The EASC development paths in the ALMA 2030 carried out in early 2016 to assess the plays a key role in representing the inter- process resulting in three documents, scientific and technical competitiveness ests of the ESO Member State communi- covering: 1) the major science themes of APEX beyond 2017. With the positive ties and managing the ESO part of the in the 2020–2030 decade; 2) the land- feedback from the review, the ESO Coun- development programme. scape of major facilities by 2030; and 3) cil has just approved a new agreement the pathways to developing ALMA. In for a further extension through to 2022. ESO issued calls for ALMA development 2015, the ALMA Board created an ALMA As part of this agreement, the APEX Part- studies to the technical and scientific Development Vision Working Group to nership plans for additional investments community in the Member States in 2010, translate these plans into a realistic path in antennas, instrumentation and infra- 2013 and 2016. These studies include for ALMA development. A draft report is structure to ensure the scientific and science investigations (such as the scien- expected in April 2017. technical competitiveness of the facility. tific value of a possible Band 11), design The aim is to offer a state-of-the-art suite studies for new hardware and software, On ESO’s side no major upgrade of of heterodyne receivers across the acces- and preparations for series production ALMA (other than those funded in the sible submillimetre window, together with of components. Similar initiatives were development plan) is foreseen until the kilopixel continuum multi-colour wide- taken in North America and East Asia. ELT construction is completed, unless field cameras. The partnership will adjust The first resulting full-scale projects are an additional partner joins ALMA. It is the partner shares of MPG/ESO/OSO to underway or already completed (for noted that this would further increase the 55 %/32 %/13 % as of 2018. The cost to example, the fibre link from the OSF to oversubscription for observing time. ESO of the APEX extension is included in SCO). ESO has taken the lead on the the financial planning (see Figure 16). Band 5 project following the successful development and pre-production of six 3.2 Chajnantor — APEX If the APEX Partnership decided to cease receivers funded over the period 2008 operations after 2022, the facility could to 2012 by the European Union Sixth The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment either be decommissioned and removed Framework Programme for the ALMA (APEX) is a 12-metre antenna for submilli- from the site or could transition to a new Enhancement. Within the ALMA Devel metre astronomy located at an altitude initiative that builds on the existing APEX opment Programme, ESO provides of 5065 metres on Llano Chajnantor in infrastructure at Chajnantor and Sequitor 73 Band 5 cartridges and NRAO provides northern Chile. APEX is a partnership and on the available expertise in operat- the local oscillator (as in the ALMA con- between the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft ing such a facility. A large single-dish struction phase). The Band 5 cartridge (MPG), the Onsala Space Observatory submillimetre antenna with massive wide- work is contracted to a European consor- (OSO) and ESO, with 50, 23 and 27 % field continuum imaging capabilities could tium and started in 2012. Equipping all shares respectively, and it saw first light be such a future initiative.

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 15 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

4. Participation in a high-energy programme

Very high energy gamma radiation from celestial objects can be studied from G. Pérez, IAC, SMM the ground by observing the optical Cherenkov flashes generated when the gamma rays interact with the Earth’s atmosphere. Pioneering work in this area was done by the High Energy Stereo- scopic System (HESS), the Major Atmos- pheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) and the Very Energetic Radia- tion Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) experiments. The CTA project The CTA project carried out a world- Figure 11. Artist’s impression of the Cherenkov Tele- aims to take the next step in energy range, wide site selection process in 2013–2014 scope Array South at Paranal. sensitivity and resolution by means of which resulted in the identification of a northern and a southern array of many La Palma as the preferred northern site exciting science by increasing the expo- simple, but large, open-air optical tele- and the Paranal area as the ideal south- sure time. scopes with segmented mirrors. ern site (the location is shown in Fig- ure 7). In the baseline plan, the southern array will cover approximately ten square 4.2 Role for ESO 4.1 CTA project kilometres, and will consist of telescopes of three sizes: 70 small (4-metre), 25 The ESO financial plan does not include The scientific goals of CTA are extremely medium (12-metre) and 4 large (23-metre). funding for construction and operation of broad, ranging from understanding the The northern array will have 15 medium- new facilities on the timescale planned role of relativistic cosmic particles to the sized and 4 large telescopes. Construc- for CTA. However, ESO has tremendous search for dark matter and probing envi- tion is expected to take approximately experience in maintaining and operating ronments from the immediate neighbour- four years. optical telescopes in remote areas, which hood of black holes to the cosmic voids is valuable for the CTA project, and will on the largest scales. Covering a huge Unlike the precursor experiments, both enhance the science return on the invest- range in photon energy from 20 GeV to arrays will be operated as a proposal- ment in CTA. 300 TeV, CTA will improve on all aspects driven facility, with all data available in a of performance with respect to the pre- public archive after a one-year proprie- Following the identification of the Paranal cursor experiments. Wider field-of-view tary period. A core programme of key area as the preferred southern site, and improved sensitivity will enable CTA science projects will use about 40 % of detailed discussions took place with the to survey hundreds of times faster than the available observing time in the initial CTA Partnership to clarify the practi previous TeV instruments. The angular years to provide legacy data products. calities of hosting the southern array on resolution of CTA will approach one arc- With 99 telescopes on the southern site, the Paranal property, and to develop a minute at high energies — the best reso- very flexible operation will be possible, formal agreement between ESO and lution of any space or ground instrument with sub-arrays available for specific tasks. CTA. The agreement stipulates that ESO operating above the X-ray band — allow- joins the CTA Partnership with an 8 % ing detailed imaging of a large number The CTA Partnership consists of a Govern- voting share, and operates the southern of gamma-ray sources. An improvement ing Council, a Consortium and a Project array on behalf of the partnership on a in collecting area of between one and Office. The CTA Consortium comprises cost-neutral basis, with funding provided two orders of magnitude also makes CTA over 1200 scientists working in 200 insti- by the CTA Partners. In return, 10 % of a powerful instrument for time-domain tutes from 32 countries, among which the observing time on both the southern astrophysics, and three orders of mag are 12 ESO Member States as well as and the northern array on La Palma nitude more sensitive on hourly time- Brazil and Chile. In mid-2016, the Istituto would be made available to scientists in scales than the Large Area Telescope on Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) centre in the ESO Member States (in addition to the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Bologna was selected as the site for the the CTA partner shares that 12 of the at 30 GeV. The two arrays will provide CTAO Headquarters and the Deutsches 15 Member States have), and 10 % of the full sky coverage, and hence maximise Elektronen-SYnchrotron (DESY) centre observing time on the southern array the potential for observing rare phenom- at Zeuthen (Germany) as the site for the would be reserved for Chilean scientists. ena including the nearest supernovae, Science Data Management Centre. The The agreement was ratified by the ESO gamma-ray bursts or gravitational wave Partnership is making progress in secur- Council in its December 2016 meeting. If transients. ing funding for construction, and expects ESO were to further cover the cost of site to start with partial arrays in each loca- operations (estimated at about 4 MEUR tion. These will already be able to do per year), this could add approximately

16 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 10 % of observing time to the ESO share, ) Figure 12. Map of but no such funding is identified at pre- ESO Headquarters in Garching. Building E is sent. the original Headquar- www.bp-da.de ters building, connected by bridge to the exten- The operation and technical facilities of Building E CTA will be located close to the telescope sion Buildings ABC (containing offices, a array itself unless clear synergies with Building D larger auditorium, and ELT and VLT facilities at the Paranal base a new Council Room) camp can be identified. Provision of and D (the Technical accommodation to CTA staff in the Building, containing a new, larger integration expanded Paranal facilities is one of the Architekten Bernhardt + Partner ( hall). most obvious possibilities.

Operating CTA South provides an exciting expansion of the overall programme, opening a new window on the Universe for astronomers in the Member States. ESO Supernova CTA South will be integrated into the Paranal Observatory, which will guaran- tee its sustainability and control any risks of conflict for ESO resources during ELT Building ABC construction. It is also fully in line with ESO’s mission of building and operating world-class facilities for astronomy and fostering collaboration in astronomy. and laboratories for the development of handles all La Silla Paranal Observatory key technologies as well as state-of- needs, from user support for execution the-art integration halls and equipment of science observations to delivery of 5. The Organisation to test instruments before shipping to the pipeline-reduced science data, as well as Observatories. A map of the Headquar- the ESO support of ALMA operations. Since its foundation in 1962, ESO has ters buildings is shown in Figure 12. The Programmes Directorate contains established the structure required to programme and project management to conceive, develop, build and operate Approximately 275 personnel work in define and execute major telescope and advanced ground-based astronomical Chile, distributed over the three sites of instrument projects in collaboration with observatories. It has created a close the La Silla Paranal Observatory (La Silla, the communities and industries in the collaboration with the Member States in Paranal and Sequitor), the ALMA sites, Member States. The Engineering Direc respect of the supporting astronomical and the ESO premises in Vitacura (Fig- torate provides resources and services and technical research and development ure 14). The latter covers administrative for the design, manufacturing, installation, work, modelling, systems engineering, activities, human resources, public out- corrective maintenance, upgrades and etc. necessary to deliver not only the reach and official representation in Chile, support of the telescopes, instruments hardware but also software and pipeline- together with the ALMA Santiago Central and utility systems, and provides IT ser- reduced data to its community. The Office, and provides an environment for vices across the Organisation. The Direc- 15 Member States with Brazil and Chile the fostering of science for staff astrono- torate of Administration includes human account for about one third of the world’s mers and visitors. The ESO Guesthouse resources, finance, contracts & procure- astronomical community. hosts visitors and Garching staff on their ments and facility, logistics & transport. way to and from the sites and provides The Cabinet of the Director General, the an additional channel for interaction with Internal Audit Office and the Office for 5.1 Organisational structure the community (Figure 15). Representation in Chile provide support for the ESO Council and Finance Com- ESO Headquarters is the focus for inter- ESO’s organisational structure consists mittee and to the Director General. action between the Member States and of five Directorates: Science, Operations, A more detailed description can be found the Organisation and provides support Programmes, Engineering, and Admin in the ESO High Level Organisational for the governing and advisory bodies. istration. The Science Directorate pro- Structure document6. It hosts approximately 420 personnel and vides scientific oversight across all pro- is the centre for development of tele- grammes in the Organisation, handles Staff astronomers at ESO are required scopes and instruments, operations sup- observing proposal selection and tele- to maintain an active research profile to port, archives, scientific and technical scope time allocation, education and be able to fulfil their functional duties. research, education and public outreach, public outreach and provides a research The studentship, fellowship, visitor and human resources, financial management environment for interaction with the workshop programmes provide oppor and procurement. It includes data centres community. The Operations Directorate tunities for close interaction with the

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 17 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

Figure 13. A 360-degree panorama of the ESO the Chilean governmental, regional and competences depend on the top-level Headquarters, Garching, Germany. local authorities, as well as with the diplo- requirements of the ESO projects, on matic legations of the Member States in the strategic share of work between ESO astronomical community. The fellowship Chile. A newsletter for foreign missions in and industry or technical and scientific programme has been in place for 40 Chile keeps the legations up-to-date with institutions in the Member States, and years and has trained many young scien- scientific, strategic and organisational on technical developments worldwide. tists who return to institutions in the developments and builds knowledge ESO’s overall core competence is the Member States. The support of VLT and about ESO. ability to design, build and operate state- ALMA operations by ESO fellows pro- of-the-art astronomical facilities that provides them with valuable experience for The Cabinet of the Director General duce front-line science. As a large part of their careers. A pilot engineering fellow- works on a broad range of projects the work is done by the community and ship scheme will start in 2017 and is including legal and international affairs, by industry, the ESO scientists and engi- expected to similarly increase the interac- internal communication, corporate risks neers must have the system knowledge tion with the engineering community in and intellectual property management, and the experience required to initiate, the Member States. and protocol. The Cabinet also produces and effectively manage, the procurement the Annual Report, the quarterly journal of telescopes, instruments and associated Much work was done in the past decade The Messenger, and the ESO Science equipment. Engineers must be capable to define and further develop internal pro- Newsletter. Established over 40 years of carrying out specialised design and cesses and policies. These include, for ago, The Messenger continues to provide analysis in telescopes and instrumenta- example, the ESO People Policy, the ESO news of ESO’s telescopes and instru- tion, while scientists must be available to Code of Conduct, new Financial Rules mentation, a selection of recent scientific provide cradle-to-grave operational sup- and Regulations, Rules of Procedure for work carried out with ESO facilities, and port to the Observatories. Finally, the all governing bodies, a Technology Trans- reports on workshops, along with profiles community relies on ESO to procure spe- fer policy, a Data Classification policy, of ESO fellows. More rapid communica- cific items such as detector systems. a new ESO Safety Policy with associated tions on all scientific activities are pro- safety manuals for Headquarters and the vided by the Science Newsletter7, which Developing and maintaining these core Observatory sites, translations of the collects announcements on the science skills requires training as well as increased Basic Texts into the languages of all the webpage into a newsletter mailed approx- internal mobility. This has the added Member States, and a Protocol Manual. imately monthly to about 9000 subscrib- advantage of further increasing the moti- To optimise the structure of the Organisa- ers with ESO User Portal accounts. The vation and drive of the staff. Areas of tion in order to efficiently develop concur- internal communication office supports attention include adaptive optics technol- rent projects in a resource-constrained and coordinates communication flow ogies, real-time computing, laser devel- framework, the matrixing of engineering across ESO, including ESO-wide internal opment, wavefront control, phasing & services was implemented. This devel announcements. metrology, ultra-high-contrast imaging, as opment led to clarification of the role of well as expertise in project management programme and project management, and instrument systems engineering. one of the results of which was the ESO 5.2 Evolution of staff skills Project Management Framework, defin- ESO will continue to participate in the ing how ESO carries out projects in the In the past three years the core compe- development of instrumentation and era of ELT construction. tences required to carry out ESO’s pro- other facilities, delivering major subsys- gramme were identified, looking forward tems as a consortium partner. The goal The Representation in Chile represents 15 years and involving extensive consul- is to lead at least one project at any time. the Director General in all matters with tation with the community. These core This aim depends on available resources,

18 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 ) djulik.com ESO/J. GirardESO/J. (

Figure 14. The Santiago site, located in Vitacura, had not yet started (see Figure 17). This partnerships, including those for instru- houses the ESO offices and the ALMA Santiago meant a reduced influx of junior staff, mentation development and for ALMA Central Office. with, as a net result, an increase in the support, as well as for cross-allocation of median age of ESO’s international staff observing time with ESA, education, out- but is key to the long-term retention and and a significant increase in the ratio of reach and other activities. development of ESO staff, and the ability indefinite to fixed-term contracts. This to work effectively with the community. will need attention in the years to come, ESO is a member of EIROforum, a part- as it is important to ensure an appropri- nership of eight of Europe’s premier ESO built the VLT test camera, the Infra- ate mix of junior and senior staff and to intergovernmental scientific organisations red Spectrometer And Array Camera have the ability to react in a timely fashion (the European Organisation for Nuclear (ISAAC), the UV-Visual Echelle Spectro- to changes in qualifications and skills Research [CERN], the European Molecu- graph (UVES) and HAWK-I for the VLT required by operations and projects, tak- lar Biology Laboratory [EMBL], ESA, ESO, in-house, and was a consortium partner ing into account the required evolution of the European Synchrotron Radiation in X-shooter. The Organisation has been the skill mix previously described. Facility [ESRF], the European Consortium a partner on every instrument built for for the Development of Fusion Energy the VLT, delivering the detector systems Gender balance is good in the adminis- [EUROfusion], Institut Laue–Langevin [ILL] and often also key cryo-vacuum and AO tration area. It is also good amongst and the European XFEL Free-Electron subsystems. ESO staff have led the AOF the population of students and fellows, Laser Facility). These organisations have project for UT4 from its start in 2004, but decreases amongst the more senior similar governance structures and serve including the development of the 4LGSF, science and Observatory support staff. a huge scientific community. As EIRO and carried out the VLTI facility upgrade It is poor in the engineering and project forum, they support European science by project in 2015 to prepare for the arrival management areas, and in senior man- sharing their experience, resources and of GRAVITY and MATISSE. Once these agement. This depends on a number of facilities. Together, they interact with the are completed, the test camera for the factors, some of which are beyond ESO’s European Commission, national govern- ELT will be built in-house and will require control. Work continues on improving ments, industry, science teachers, stu- the full suite of core competences. Fur- gender balance, in particular within the dents and journalists. ESO chairs EIRO thermore, the technology development technical and scientific professions as forum from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. programme, as well as prototyping activi- well as in the management of the Organi- ties, will provide ESO staff with additional sation. A gender diversity and inclusion ESO has a considerable overlap of inter- means to develop their hands-on experi- plan is being prepared around three pil- ests with ESA, Europe’s leader in space ence. For instance, it is natural for ESO to lars, namely the recruitment and career research and technology, and with coordinate the technology development development process, an enabling envi- CERN, the pre-eminent centre for particle needed to bring the EPICS concept, with ronment for women, and an improvement physics research. CERN and ESO share its technology readiness, to the level in the working conditions. A gender common interests in many technologies, needed to start construction in 2020. steering committee has been created and and the potential for fruitful scientific the existing participation in gender net- collaboration is growing as the astro- works will be intensified. particle and fundamental physics com- 5.3 Age distribution and gender balance munities draw closer to astronomy. Joint ESO–ESA activities have been in place A long period of sustained increases in 5.4 Collaborations for a long time, including cross-allocation staff complement ended in 2011, when of observing time between the XMM/ ALMA construction activities ramped ESO works closely with its communities Newton X-ray observatory and the VLT, down at a time when ELT construction and has a number of collaborations and nightly VST monitoring of the position of

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 19 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

Figure 15. The garden of the Santiago Guesthouse. nation of services, tools and resources, in the Optical Infrared Co-ordination Net- in addition to the sharing of best practice work for astronomy (OPTICON), Radio- the Gaia spacecraft, as well as ambitious in many areas. The organisation of joint Net, ASTRONET and the Astroparticle public spectroscopic surveys such as seminars and workshops is another area Physics European Consortium (APPEC) Gaia-ESO, which have enhanced the tre- of coordination, along with possible networks. Several ESO staff hold Euro- mendous impact of both Gaia and VLT. exchange of staff. pean Research Council grants.

From 1981 to 2010, ESO hosted the The Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) Space Telescope European Coordinating Journal is one of the leading astronomy 5.5 Outreach Facility, with which the ESO Science publications. It was created in 1969 by Archive Facility was jointly developed, combining a number of national journals. ESO plays an important role in stimulat- and ESO continues to generate outreach From the start, ESO has acted on behalf ing astronomical awareness through its material in support of the Hubble Space of the A&A Board of Directors in con education and outreach programme, Telescope. The next generation of tractual matters and provides legal and which is coordinated closely with similar L(arge)- and M(edium)-class ESA missions administrative services, with the restric- activities in the Member States. Outreach will require even closer cooperation, since tion that ESO does not commit itself to to the media and general public increases provision of supporting ground-based any direct financial sponsorship of the the visibility of, and support for, ESO and data is evolving from desirable to essen- Journal, nor does it interfere in the scien- astronomy in the Member States and tial. An example is the crucial role of tific policy of the Journal. In return, ESO beyond. Harnessing the enduring appeal ground-based radial velocities for the has one representative on the A&A Board of astronomical discoveries can also transiting exoplanets that will be found by of Directors. In view of the accession draw young people into science and PLATO. The organisations also share a of numerous sponsoring bodies to the technology and contribute further to the number of technology development goals, Journal, a renewal of the initial agreement efforts of the Member States in develop- such as curved optical detectors, and between ESO and the sponsoring bodies ing a technologically literate workforce, high-speed, low-noise infrared detectors. became necessary in order to establish capable of meeting their future skill needs ESO concluded two cooperation agree- new terms and conditions for the contin- in a high-tech environment. ments, one with ESA in August 2015, ued publication of the Journal; the new which includes the exchange of observ- agreement entered into force on 1 March Public outreach tuned to the interests ers for the relevant advisory bodies, and 2016. of the Chilean public and authorities is another one with CERN in December an essential component in the relation- 2015, providing a framework for closer ESO collaborates with the International ship between ESO and its Host State, bilateral cooperation and exchange of Astronomical Union (IAU) on topics related giving visibility to the benefits that Chile’s information. ESA and CERN had previ- to outreach and supports the IAU web partnership with ESO has brought to ously concluded a bilateral agreement in site. ESO is an observer on the United the country’s scientific development. It is March 2014. Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses also necessary to maintain ESO’s identity of Outer Space and is a member of the among the major projects (for example, The ESO–ESA and ESO–CERN agree- International Asteroid Warning Network LSST and GMT) being built in Chile by ments address scientific research, tech- which coordinates monitoring of poten- other organisations. nology, and education and public out- tially hazardous near-Earth objects. reach activities and promote the strategic The outreach activities will acquire an coordination of the three organisations’ ESO is also involved in various activities additional dimension in 2018 when the long-term plans, as well as the coordina- that aim to coordinate long-term plan- ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor tion of scientific and training programmes. ning of European astronomy and astro- Centre — a cutting-edge astronomy centre Both agreements encourage the coordi- particle physics through participation for the public, with free access — opens

20 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 its doors. The heart of the ESO Supernova centre in the near future. Activities are period 2013–2022, spread over the ten- is a planetarium with state-of-the-art pro- in train aimed at interesting (Chilean) year period. This baseline plan does not jection technology and a scientifically philanthropists in this opportunity. Some include any contribution from Brazil or accurate three-dimensional astronomical of the content developed for the ESO from new Member States. database, ensuring a unique and authen- Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre tic immersive experience. A large exhibi- could be re-used here. The planning assumes the following tion space and seminar rooms for inter- boundary conditions on the overall pro- active workshops provide the opportunity In the late 1990s, ESO and the munici gramme: for ESO to become a leader in supporting pality of Vitacura agreed to build an – Only the construction of the Phase 1 and enhancing science education and astronomy museum in the future Parque ELT and its instruments is included; literacy. Training workshops at the ESO Bicentenario, close to the ESO premises. – Paranal operations and instrumentation Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre The park was established in 2007–11 are fully protected; will inspire, and engage directly with, pri- and has become a popular recreational – The ALMA contribution remains at the mary and secondary teachers from the area for eastern Santiago. External fund- 2016 level (including development); Member States. ESO will provide key ing to build and operate the museum – La Silla income includes a stable resources, encouraging teachers to inter- would help ESO to honour its commit- contribution from partners for hosted act with ESO’s scientists and engineers, ment and would provide the opportunity telescopes; thereby fully exploiting the educational to promote astronomy and ESO at this – APEX participation continues through multiplier where teachers bring back their optimal location. 2022; enthusiasm and knowledge to the class- – Participation in CTA is cost-neutral for room and thence to the tens to hundreds ESO. of pupils they teach each year. 6. Financial planning In addition, the following assumptions are The number of public weekend visitors The baseline plan for the next 15 years made: to Paranal is approximately 8000 per assumes that ESO’s income is provided – The cost of the Phase 1 ELT, including year, and is expected to grow further by the 15 Member States, contributing contingency, is 1033 MEUR (2016 prices) when ELT construction activities ramp up according to the principles for funding with first light in 2024; on Armazones (and for CTA South). The the ELT programme approved by Council: – The special organisational contribution current visitor centre is inadequate for a year-on-year 2 % increase in the contri- to the CERN Pension Fund is set at this influx, and a new centre has been butions by the Member States, on top 1.3 MCHF per annum for the entire designed. There is no provision for con- of normal indexation, starting in 2013 period considered; struction funds in the long-term financial and continuing through 2022; an addi- plan, but the hope is that external fund- tional contribution of 268.5 MEUR (2017 Figure 16. Expenditure and overall income for the ing can be raised to realise this visitor prices) by the Member States in the period 2016–2040 in graphical form.

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The Messenger 166 – December 2016 21 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

– The interest rates for borrowing Phase 2 of the ELT is not funded in the ESO’s share of ALMA Operations is and investment are at the European baseline plan. The required 110 MEUR expected to remain at a stable level. The Investment Bank levels. will have to come from new Member expenditure is no longer influenced States or collaborations with non-Member directly by the EUR/USD exchange rate The assumed values of the exchange States, or, if all this were to fail, from the as the JAO budget is now set in Chilean rates are based on long-term averages current Member States. Funding of the Pesos. This budget line includes on-site prior to the recent financial crisis. If the LTAO unit, which is the highest priority operations by the JAO, off-site opera- euro (EUR) does not recover as expected, item, could be done by a slight increase tions, the development programme and then this will increase the pressure on in the above mentioned borrowing. the ESO ALMA Support Centre. the overall programme. The risk on the US dollar (USD) exchange rate has The accession of a new Member State in The Paranal Instrumentation Programme dropped considerably, as from 2017 the near future is not unlikely. Should this is approaching a steady state in the onwards the ALMA on-site budget is no occur, it would provide extra resources coming years. The approved VLTI pro- longer prepared in USD but in Chilean and hence reduce the risk on the overall gramme is nearing completion. The peak pesos (CLP). Hedging action in June programme. It would also lower the of effort associated with the completion 2016 made it possible to remove the risk borrowing needs during the peak of ELT of the entire second-generation instru- on the CLP exchange rate for the ELT construction. Depending on the eco- mentation suite (including the AOF and Dome & Telescope Structure contract, as nomic size of the new Member State(s), ESPRESSO) will soon be over, allowing a well as for 50 % of the normal operations it might be possible to procure some ele- transfer of effort to support the ELT whilst costs in CLP through 2023. ments of ELT Phase 2. still providing cash and effort to support a healthy ongoing programme. The budget for the latter includes MOONS, ERIS and 6.1 Income and expenditure 6.2 Budget lines 4MOST, and will stay flat as of 2021.

Figure 16 provides a graphical overview The long-term development of the main The Technology Development Programme of the income and expenditure in the budget lines is summarised in Figure 16 is set to be flat and will allow continuation main budget lines to 2040 (in MEUR, and the items are summarised below. of some in-house activities, hopefully 2017 prices). The regular income consists matched by funding from external sources of the normal annual contributions, the Science activities continue at the current and by R&D activities in Member State remaining instalments of the special con- level with no major changes planned in institutions. tributions from the Austrian and Polish the coming decade. There is no room accessions, and extra income from third for an expansion of the student and fel- The Technical Infrastructure and Pro parties. lowship programmes. Education and duction line will also stay flat. This will outreach activities have been increased allow the effective maintenance of the The funding model for ELT construction in order to provide services for the ESO laboratories, workshops and integration was developed in 2008, and the specifics Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. halls required to carry out projects. were approved by Council in 2011. Since However, the increase will be partly offset Furthermore the budget will allow small that time, substantial additional costs by additional income to be generated R&D activities, prototyping and hands-on have been absorbed through a series of through fundraising, sponsorship and training required to align the skills of the measures, including staff reductions and sales. staff to the needs of the ESO programme. termination of activities, the reduction of This line includes the production of sys- the period to calculate the average Swiss The cost of La Silla Operations has stabi- tems (for example detector controllers) Franc (CHF) to EUR exchange rate for the lised owing to the connection to the funded from external sources. contributions to the Pension Fund, a new Chilean power grid and the construction Euro-based pension scheme for interna- of the photovoltaic plant. General activities will remain flat over the tional staff joining ESO after 1 January years despite the expansion of the overall 2014, the connection of both La Silla and The cost of Paranal Operations includes programme with ELT construction. They Paranal to the Chilean electricity grid, all operations effort in Chile and Garching are subdivided into: and securing the exchange rate of the for the VLT, VLTI, VISTA and VST. Site – Garching Headquarters and Santiago CLP. Nevertheless, in the baseline plan, operations includes expenditure for avoid- operations (maintenance of the various building Phase 1 of the ELT with first light ing obsolescence of critical components. sites, the buildings, electricity, water in 2024 will require taking up loans to The end-to-end operations remain stable. and heating); cover the peak expenditure. They will be – IT Support and Communication; repaid without having to increase the Concerning the cost of APEX Operations – Management and Administration (ser- regular contributions. Advance contribu- until the end of 2022, ESO’s share will vices provided by the departments of tions by the Member States would lower increase from 27 % to 32 % in 2018. Finance, Contracts & Procurements, the borrowing burden, and some Mem- Additional investments are being made to and by Human Resources as well as ber States have already made such con- enable APEX to continue through 2022 the support of the Director General); tributions. (section 3.2). – Governing Bodies and Committees;

22 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 750 Figure 17. Development of staff complement over the period 2004– ELT Design 700 2040 focusing on ALMA and ELT. Note that staff numbers begin at 450 FTE. 650 ALMA Construction ELT Phase 1ELT Operations

E 600 FT

550 ALMA Operations 500 Optical-Infrared Programme (without ELT) and all other Activities

450

04 06 08 10 12 14 16 18 24 30 32 34 36 38 40 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2020 2022 20 2026 2028 20 20 20 20 20 20

– Centralised Personnel Budget, contain- ciates in Garching and Chile support the ESO was reached on 14 May 2015, when ing personnel costs not allocated to programmes and their related science. the Brazilian Senate approved the ratifi- projects and activities. Figure 17 shows the evolution of staff cation proposal. The only remaining steps numbers over the period 2004–2040. to conclude the ratification procedure ELT Construction commenced in 2013 are the signature by the Brazilian Presi- with the start of work on the new road dent and the deposit of the instrument of to Armazones and the preparation of the 7. Looking ahead accession at the French Ministry of For- platform, together with the procurement eign Affairs. Owing to the political devel- of the adaptive M4 mirror. ELT Phase 1 ESO’s baseline programme supported opments in Brazil in 2016, progress on construction is proceeding consistent by the 15 Member States is financially the ratification has stalled. At the time of with first light in 2024 (section 2.2). The constrained, and does not allow delivery writing, the final signature by the Brazilian spending profile is matched to the pro- of the Phase 2 components of the ELT President is still pending. Efforts by curement schedule. Formally, construc- in a timely manner. It is therefore useful Brazilian astronomers and press, sup- tion is assumed to continue until 2027 to summarise developments regarding ported by ESO, continue in order to fur- to allow for final payments and the com- potential new Member States. This sec- ther the ratification process. pletion of warranty periods. tion also considers the relationship with Chile, and describes opportunities in the Informal expressions of interest in a closer ELT Operations on-site, including off-site longer term that are of interest to the association with ESO have been received support, will begin in 2022 and ramp up astronomical community, and that would in past years from many countries, includ- to full operations as of 2027. The upgrade be compatible with ESO’s mission. ing Armenia, Australia, Canada, China, paths, which include the fourth instru- Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Norway, ment and beyond, will start ramping up Russia and Turkey. Some of them appear from 2030. The slow ramp-up of opera- 7.1 Brazil and new Member States to be moving steadily towards a formal tions funding and the delayed start of application to join, in particular Hungary, the upgrade paths are required to main- The anticipated accession of Brazil has Ireland and Norway. A possible strategic tain the financing of Phase 1 with first had a major positive influence on ESO, cooperation with Australia is under discus- light in 2024 and to limit the total amount namely the approval of the ELT pro- sion. Accession of new Member States of borrowing. gramme, but the slow progress towards would provide additional funding and ratification has resulted in challenges could cover the cost of (part of) the ELT for the future, such as the funding of Phase 2, as long as the Council contin- 6.3 Staffing Phase 2 of the ELT, and the availability ued the long-standing tradition of adding of sufficient operational funding to allow the annual contribution and the special The staff requirement consists of 440 timely construction of MOSAIC, HIRES contribution of new Member States to the international staff members and 160 local and EPICS. Brazil’s membership would existing income. staff members. The former includes enable the ELT Phase 2 in toto, and approximately 20 ESO staff members would lower the amount of borrowing supporting ALMA on-site operations and during ELT construction. 7.2 Relation with and the role of Chile 19 for APEX (until 2022). Approximately 90 further positions for ESO Fellows, An important milestone for the ratification ESO decided in 1963 to place its PhD students, and paid and unpaid asso- of the Brazilian Accession Agreement to planned observatory in Chile, and the

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 23 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

Chilean government was immediately reserved share. In the past few years Galactic structures in key diagnostic supportive by donating land for the there has also been a push to become lines. A study, carried out in 2014–15 by Vitacura premises and for the La Silla involved in the more technical aspects of another ESO-led community working Observatory. This was followed by ESO’s activities, including instrument group, compared various alternatives9. donations for Paranal (1995), for ALMA development. It concluded that a 40-metre single dish (2004) and for Armazones (2011). The on the Chajnantor plateau, with a higher- continued support of the Chilean govern- ESO also has an important role in Chile accuracy surface in the inner 25 metres ment, together with the superb natural as a leading example of successful inter- of the dish to enable work at 450 μm, conditions and the commitment to pre- continental co-operation between Europe would be the ideal successor to APEX. It serve them, are the main reasons why all and Latin America. ESO’s activities in would be equipped with panoramic array ESO observing facilities up to the present Chile are a focus of interest for the diplo- detectors both for interferometry and are in Chile. The Chilean government has matic missions and visiting European for rapid wide-area raster imaging, possi- also provided very helpful infrastructure, government representatives, building fur- bly with a multiplexed direct-detection including paving the public B-710 road ther support in the current and potential spectrometer. Such a facility might cost that runs through the Paranal area (Fig- Member States. approximately 300 MEUR. Teaming up ure 7) and enabling the electrical grid with one or both of ESO’s ALMA Partners connection to Paranal, as well as placing The Council invited the Republic of Chile should be investigated. a photovoltaic plant on the La Silla land. It to become a Member State in 1995, but is committed to protect the extraordinary this invitation was declined. The topic The construction of the ELT will allow the treasure of its clear and dark skies and was raised again in 2012 by the Chilean Paranal Observatory to continue to be fosters public appreciation of the night President Piñera. Both ESO and Chile the centrepiece of ESO’s optical/infrared sky as a part of Chile’s cultural heritage. have developed considerably over the programme well into the 2030s. The STC past two decades, so it is timely to re- Paranal White Paper3 describes possible In return, ESO supports a number of examine the arguments. opportunities for instruments on the UTs activities in Chile, including reserving driven by technologies that are currently 10 % of the available observing time under development. Another area exam- for Chilean proposals*. ESO provides 7.3 New opportunities ined was potential new ways of operating funding for postdoctoral fellowships, the UTs, in the timeframe 2025+, taking technology development programmes, The ESO in the 2020s survey (Primas et into account the plans for the ELT and outreach and educational activities, al., 2015) demonstrated that the astro- its instrumentation. For example, pushing conferences and other initiatives which nomical community in the Member States high-order adaptive optics into the blue help the growth of Chilean astronomy. is very happy with what ESO offers, and wavelength regime on the UTs, or repli- In collaboration with Chilean government would like ESO to provide additional facil- cating instruments for the UTs to allow agencies and the other international ities. One of these is a large (12–15-metre) massive surveys on rapid timescales. observatories, ESO contributes to a joint optical/infrared telescope dedicated to Office for the Protection of the Quality wide-field spectroscopy which would pro- Any further expansion of ESO’s pro- of the Skies of Northern Chile. About vide a major step forward in the study of gramme can only come after a reduction 40 % of ESO’s annual budget is spent in the Milky Way, following up on the Gaia of risks on the baseline programme and Chile, and ESO employs approximately mission, and the deep Universe, comple- securing the funding for Phase 2 of the 160 Chilean nationals. menting imaging data obtained with LSST ELT. This expansion should be in line with and the Euclid mission. Innovative designs ESO’s mission, and could include par The Chilean astronomical community has are being developed. An ESO-led com- ticipation in one or more of the projects grown tremendously in size and quality munity working group analysed various mentioned above. It might also include a in the past two decades. There are now options in 2015–16 and the conclusions further strengthening of the VLTI, with, for astronomy departments at many univer are provided in their report8. Such a facil- example, additional (fixed) ATs and third- sities across the country. Reserved ity would cost approximately 400 MEUR generation instrumentation, or an ESO access to observing time at world-class and might be placed near Paranal, per- contribution to the cost of site operations facilities has attracted many foreign haps on La Montura, the mountain of CTA South, or a major upgrade of ALMA astronomers to Chilean universities. The behind VISTA. There is interest from vari- beyond the capacity of the development quality of proposals from Chilean institu- ous parts of the world, including Australia, line in the ALMA operations budget. tions is nowadays on a par with those Canada and China, in this project, so a from ESO Member States, to the extent partnership could be investigated. that they regularly win more than the 8. The ESO model There is also considerable community interest in a large single-dish telescope to ESO started with five Member States complement ALMA, which cannot effi- with the goal of building a 3-metre-class * For the VLT, at least half of the reserved 10 % ob ciently study sufficiently large samples of telescope in the southern hemisphere. serving time should be for meritorious proposals in collaboration with astronomers in the ESO Member galaxies across wide fields, and will not This became the La Silla Observatory States; for the ELT this fraction is three-quarters. be able to map degree-scale filamentary in Chile and put the fledgling Organisa-

24 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 tion on a par with a handful of similar projects in parallel. The presence of all 8.2 Challenges observatories in the world. This was fol- these activities in one organisation lowed by the development of the VLT, allows: engineering skills to be re-used, The health of the overall programme ALMA and the ELT, involvement in APEX benefiting from the lessons learned to requires full implementation of the and now also CTA, accompanied by an work effectively with industry and com- ELT funding principles as approved by expansion to 15 Member States, with munity partners; testing of new technolo- Council on 6 December 2011. This means more expected to join. The increased gies on ESO’s own telescopes before that the Member States need to provide programmatic scope has made the applying them to the next-generation the agreed additional contributions on Organisation attractive to countries and projects; and the maximisation of the sci- top of regular indexation. Any future non- user communities that would not have entific synergy between the facilities. It indexation of the income can only be considered ESO membership earlier. has led to significant cross-programme absorbed by taking a larger loan or by At the same time, ESO’s programmatic synergy and associated cost savings. cessation of core activities. Furthermore, expansion would not have been possible This multi-project capability is the result it is important to secure the funding for without the additional Member States. of long-term support by the Member Phase 2 of ELT construction in a timely The two trends — more Member States States and can be of value for other manner, to reduce the cost of both con- and programme expansion — are thus ground-based astronomy projects in a struction and operations, to increase the inter-related and mutually reinforcing, and cost-effective way, provided the neces- scientific return and to bring additional have enabled ESO and European astron- sary funding is available. instruments forward. omy to take the lead in many areas of astronomy. The VLT is the most advanced The intergovernmental structure of the There are two additional financial risks. optical/infrared ground-based facility in Organisation ensures support at the The first is that the steady-state opera- the world, ALMA is a transformational highest level in the Member States and tional model for ALMA becomes more radio interferometer and the ELT is on in Chile. This contributes to budget sta expensive than anticipated. The first miti- track to be the first and most powerful of bility and enables the long-term planning gation step would be to re-discuss with the next generation of giant telescopes. ability required for the development of the ALMA partners the level of the off-site world-leading telescopes. Having all development line, which is part of the Member States participating in all ESO’s overall budget line for ALMA. The second 8.1 The keys to success programmes is a key additional strength. risk is the possibility that CERN asks ESO to increase the special organisational The ESO programme is carried out in The annual contributions are in cash, contribution to the Pension Fund. It is strong partnership with the community. and set by simple principles. The Organi- assumed that the Member States would This includes joint development of instru- sation is trusted to run an effective indus- help ESO in resolving this situation, mentation, where ESO works closely with trial competition in the Member States should it arise. institutions in the Member States that for the procurement of the various com- provide most of the staff effort in return ponents of the telescope systems, to It is recognised that national budgets in for guaranteed-time observations. This agreed specifications enforced by ESO, the Member States are under pressure model was developed soon after 1987 for aiming at a fair distribution over the Mem- from many directions. Astronomy, and in the VLT instruments and has resulted in ber States. This avoids the significant particular the search for habitable exo- a strong and growing network of techni- additional cost and challenges of Juste- planets, excites many in the general pub- cal and scientific institutes capable of Retour** or of one-off projects with a lic, and is a good vehicle to attract young building very powerful instruments, not new governance structure and the strong people to engineering and the physical only for the VLT but also for the ELT. Fur- wish that every partner contributes sciences, which in turn is critical for the ther components of the partnership with mostly in kind, including for operations. continued well-being of our society. ESO’s the community are: an active and attrac- role in this may be considered an addi- tive student and fellowship programme; A further key factor for ESO’s develop- tional argument for continued support. a steady flow of small and innovative tele- ment over the past decades is the strong scopes and experiments on La Silla, motivation and commitment by all staff to The multi-project capability developed by supported by ESO’s infrastructure; strong deliver high-quality support and services the Organisation in the past years must user support of ALMA with a key role to ensure the Observatories continue to be used with care as it might be inter- for nodes in many of the Member States be world-leading. preted as the capability to do everything which are locally funded and provide at the cost of the quality of the delivera- much additional effort; and the Large bles as well as the motivation of the staff. Programmes and Public Surveys carried In addition, it is increasingly difficult to out by international teams who also pro- attract sufficiently qualified engineers and duce advanced data products adding to technicians from the Member States, the value of the SAF. as ESO is competing directly with very successful industries. This requires atten- ** Defined in the ESA Convention as: to ensure that Over the past decades, ESO has devel- all Member States participate in an equitable man- tion in terms of staff development and oped the capability to carry out multiple ner, having regard to their financial contribution. training and the evolution of the working

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 25 The Organisation de Zeeuw T., Reaching New Heights in Astronomy

conditions so as to ensure that ESO con- smaller stand-alone arrays. A partnership Acknowledgements tinues to be an attractive employer. may also be preferred when the partners Many people contributed in large and small measure each bring different critical expertise, to these perspectives. To name them all would be Finally, the growth in membership, which or when it is the only way to raise the to include a not-insubstantial fraction of ESO staff. In has enabled the expansion of the pro- required funding. This could apply to the particular the ESO Directors — Rob Ivison (Science), gramme including external partnerships, large single submillimetre dish or to the Andreas Kaufer (Operations), Adrian Russell (Pro- grammes), Michèle Peron (Engineering), Patrick has also increased the complexity of multi-object spectroscopic telescope Geeraert (Administration) — and the ELT Programme ESO’s governance. While national repre- mentioned earlier. In other cases, such as Manager, Roberto Tamai, provided the core of the sentation is mandatory for Council and a further development of the VLTI, it would document. Inputs by Renate Brunner, Mark Casali, Finance Committee, it might be reconsid- be natural to follow the “all-ESO” route. Laura Comendador Frutos, Fernando Comerón, Roberto Gilmozzi, Nikolaj Gube, Douglas Pierce- ered for other governing and advisory Price, Michael Sterzik, Ewine van Dishoeck, Andrew bodies. Williams and Wolfgang Wild were also vital. The 9. Conclusions Scientific Technical Committee provided helpful feedback on an earlier version. Mafalda Martins and Jeremy Walsh are thanked for layout and editing. 8.3 Strategy for the future In less than a decade from now, ESO will start operating the ELT, the world’s ESO’s mission is to (continue to) operate largest optical/infrared telescope and References and build world-class facilities enabling most likely the only one with the ability Baltay, C. et al. 2012, The Messenger, 150, 34 astronomical discoveries. This can be to image Earth-like exoplanets. The ELT Hatzminaoglou, E. et al. 2015, The Messenger, 162, 24 done from the ground at optical, infrared will be an integral part of the Paranal Primas, F. et al. 2015, The Messenger, 161, 6 and radio wavelengths, and by detection Observatory system, which includes the Smartt, S. J. et al. 2013, The Messenger, 154, 50 of other messengers from the Universe, VLT and VLTI together with a very power- Sterzik, M. et al. 2015, The Messenger, 162, 2 Woillez, J. et al. 2015, The Messenger, 162, 16 be they particles or gravitational waves. ful arsenal of instruments. ALMA will ESO’s optical/infrared observatories were continue to enable tremendous advances built by and are operated by ESO. The in our understanding of the birth of gal Links radio facilities APEX and ALMA are part- axies, stars and planets. Moreover, CTA 1 Paranal Instrumentation Programme Plan (Cou- nerships; ESO operates the former while will have opened a ground-based window 1681): https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/ ALMA is operated by a joint entity created on the high-energy Universe to regular committees/cou/cou-141st/external/Cou-1681_ by the ALMA Partnership. Potential new observations with ESO operating the PIP_6-Month-Report_Sep-2016.pdf 2 facilities can similarly be “all-ESO” or a southern array in the Paranal area. Report from the VLT AO Community Days (STC- 581): http://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/com- partnership. The participation in CTA is an mittees/stc/stc-88th/public/STC_581_VLT_AO_ example where ESO will operate the site This programme implements the Council Community_Days_Report_88th_STC_Meeting.pdf in Chile on behalf of the CTA Partnership. Resolution on Scientific Strategy of 2004, 3 Paranal in the Era of the ELT (STC-515): https:// and in fact goes beyond it by maintain- www.eso.org/public/about-eso/committees/stc/ stc-80th/public/STC-515.pdf It is clear that a moderate further growth ing the VLT as a world-leading instrument 4 Report of the ESO Working Group on Science in membership would secure Phase 2 of well into the next decade and adding Data Management (STC-580): https://www.eso. the ELT, and would be necessary for any CTA South to the programme. This is org/public/about-eso/committees/stc/stc-88th/ further increase of the scope of the entire perfectly in line with ESO’s mission, and public/STC_580_Data_management_working_ group_report_88th_STC_Meeting.pdf programme. Candidate Member States can be carried out with the support of the 5 Lessons Learned from ALMA Construction: would be countries with high-quality 15 Member States, as long as the fund- https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/ scientific communities that are keen to ing principles agreed by Council are committees/cou/cou-135th/external/ESO_ALMA_ join, provide added value, and have gov- implemented in full. While it may require Construction_Lessons_Learned_public.pdf 6 High Level Organisational Structure: https://www. ernment support. ESO currently serves borrowing during the peak of ELT con- eso.org/public/archives/static/about-eso/ about 30 % of the world’s astronomers struction, it will ensure ESO’s undisputed organisation/eso-high-level-structure-2016.pdf so there is room for a gradual expansion leadership in ground-based astronomy 7 ESO Science Newsletter: http://www.eso.org/sci/ while keeping a healthy scientific and into the next decades. publications/newsletter.html 8 Report of the Multi-Object Spectroscopy Working technical competition with other major Group (STC-579): https://www.eso.org/public/ observatories. Accession of additional Member States about-eso/committees/stc/stc-88th/public/STC_ will allow the timely completion of the ELT 579_MOS_WG_Report_88th_STC_Meeting.pdf 9 Whether a new facility would be “all-ESO” Phase 2, and with further instruments, ESO Sub-millimetre Single Dish Scientific Working Group Report (STC-567): https://www.eso.org/ or would be developed in a partnership which will enhance the scientific power of public/about-eso/committees/stc/stc-87th/public/ depends on a number of factors. For the ELT, lower its cost and so strengthen STC-567_ESO_Submm_Single_Dish_Scientific_ ALMA the partnership approach was the entire programme further. It may also Strategy_WG_Report_87th_STC_Mtg.pdf driven by the fact that the power of an allow ESO to take on another programme Public ESO Council and STC documents can be interferometer scales proportionally to the soon after ELT construction is completed, found at: https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/ square of the number of antennas. Build- and perhaps even a little earlier. committees/ ing a larger array with a partner is therefore more cost-effective than building two

26 The Messenger 166 – December 2016 The Organisation

Appendix

Resolution approved by Council on 07–08 December 2004

ESO Council, considering the report of – Only the continued investment in cut- – The VLT will continue to receive effec- its Working Group for Scientific Strategic ting edge technologies, telescopes, tive operational support, regular Planning (Cou 990), and its recommen- instruments and IT will enable such sci- upgrading (especially to keep it at the dations, agrees that: entific leadership and discoveries forefront in image quality through novel – ESO will continue to be open to new adaptive optics concepts) and efficient – Astronomy is in a golden age with new members and collaborations, following 2nd generation instrumentation in order technologies and telescopes enabling the principle of furthering scientific to maintain its world-leading position an impressive series of fundamental excellence for at least ten more years discoveries in physics (e.g., dark matter, – The unique capabilities of the VLTI will dark energy, supermassive black-holes, and accordingly adopts the following be exploited extrasolar planets) principles for its scientific strategy: – The construction of an Extremely Large – Over the last decade, the continued Telescope on a competitive time scale investment of ESO and its community – ESO’s highest priority strategic goal will be addressed by radical strategic into the improvement of ground-based must be the European retention of planning, especially with respect to the astronomical facilities has finally astronomical leadership and excellence development of enabling technologies allowed Europe to reach international into the era of Extremely Large Tele- and the exploration of all options, competitiveness and leadership in scopes by carefully balancing its invest- including seeking additional funds, for ground-based astronomical research ment in its most important programmes fast implementation. – The prime goal of ESO is to secure this and projects status by developing powerful facilities – The completion of ALMA is assured ESO and its community will continue their in order to enable important scientific and conditions for an efficient exploita- successful partnership and seek effective discoveries in the future tion of its superb scientific capabilities intercontinental collaborations in develop- will be established ing the most important and challenging technologies and facilities of the future. ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) ALMA ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. Cieza (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. ALMA ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) ALMA S. Andrews (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

Circumstellar discs with ALMA (left to right, top to bottom): V883 Oronis (1.4 mm); DoAr 44, (870 μm and 13CO emission); TW Hydrae (870 μm); HL Tauri (1.3 mm).

The Messenger 166 – December 2016 27