Science with the re-baselined European Extremely Large Telescope

J. Liske; P. Padovani; M. Kissler-Patig

doi:10.1117/12.926087

17 September 2012 Science with the re-baselined European Extremely Large Telescope

J. Liske, P. Padovani, M. Kissler-Patig

Proceedings Volume 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV; 84441I (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926087
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The modifications to the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) baseline design were accompanied by an evaluation of their impact on science. We will present the conclusions of this evaluation. The Design Reference Mission served as the benchmark for the evaluation. None of the modifications critically affect the Science Case. In particular, the full instrumentation suite can still be implemented allowing for the full foreseen suite of science cases. The largest impact is induced by the reduced diameter. For a large fraction of the science cases this can be offset by increasing the exposure times by ~20% to 34%. Where spatial resolution is the limiting factor, the limits have to be reduced by 9%. The exoplanet case deserves a special mention: two of the three components of this case (detection of Earth twins by the radial velocity method, and characterisation of the atmospheres of transiting planets) are unaffected; for the third component (direct imaging of Earth-like planets) the same results as for the original baseline can be achieved, but only at 20% smaller distances. Overall, all of the major science cases of the E-ELT can essentially be maintained.

Citation Download Citation

J. Liske, P. Padovani, and M. Kissler-Patig "Science with the re-baselined European Extremely Large Telescope", Proc. SPIE 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, 84441I (17 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926087

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