ESO 3.6m Telescope
Encyclopedia
The ESO 3.6 m Telescope is an optical reflecting telescope
run by the European Southern Observatory
at La Silla Observatory
, Chile
since 1977, with a clear aperture of about 3.6 meters (140 in.) and 8.6 m2 area. It received an overhaul in 1999 and a new secondary in 2004. It was one of the largest optical telescopes in the world when it was completed in the late 1970s, and has supported many advanced optical and scientific achievements. It presented one of the first Adaptive Optics system available to the astronomical community, ADONIS: ADaptive Optics Near Infrared System
in the 1980s. By 2009, the telescope was used to discover 75 possible exoplanets.
. HARPS is a fibre-fed high resolution echelle spectrograph dedicated to the discovery of extrasolar planets. Other instruments on the telescope, now decommissioned, include:
The telescope was also involved in solving a decades-old mystery regarding the mass of Cepheid variable stars. By using the HARPS instrument, astronomers detected for the first time a double star where a pulsating Cepheid variable and another star pass in front of one another, which allows to measure the mass of the Cepheid. The study concluded that the mass prediction coming from the theory of stellar pulsation was correct while the value calculated was at odds with the theory of stellar evolution.
The discovery of the extrasolar planet Gliese 581 c
by the team of Stéphane Udry
at University of Geneva
's Observatory in Switzerland
was announced on April 24, 2007. The team used the HARPS
instrument (an echelle spectrograph
) on the European Southern Observatory
ESO 3.6 m Telescope in La Silla, Chile
, and employed the radial velocity
technique to identify the planet's influence on the star.
Largest telescopes in 1977:
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
run by the European Southern Observatory
European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
at La Silla Observatory
La Silla Observatory
La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory organisation, and several others are partly maintained by ESO...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
since 1977, with a clear aperture of about 3.6 meters (140 in.) and 8.6 m2 area. It received an overhaul in 1999 and a new secondary in 2004. It was one of the largest optical telescopes in the world when it was completed in the late 1970s, and has supported many advanced optical and scientific achievements. It presented one of the first Adaptive Optics system available to the astronomical community, ADONIS: ADaptive Optics Near Infrared System
ADONIS: ADaptive Optics Near Infrared System
ADONIS was a second-generation adaptive optics system for the astronomical community. It was mounted on the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory...
in the 1980s. By 2009, the telescope was used to discover 75 possible exoplanets.
Instruments
Since April 2008, the only instrument on the ESO 3.6m telescope is HARPS, the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet SearcherHigh Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher
The High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher is a high-precision echelle spectrograph installed in 2002 on ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The first light was achieved in February 2003...
. HARPS is a fibre-fed high resolution echelle spectrograph dedicated to the discovery of extrasolar planets. Other instruments on the telescope, now decommissioned, include:
- CES: A spectrograph providing a resolving power of up to 235,000 in the 346 - 1028 nm region.
- EFOSC2: The ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (v.2) to give its full name, is a very versatile instrument for low resolution spectroscopy and imaging.
- TIMMI-2 Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument dedicated to the 3 micron to 25 micron
Recent scientific achievements
The ESO 3.6m telescope has made several scientific discoveries since it saw first light. Recent astronomical achievements were made possible by HARPS, a "top-class" instrument. This include finding the lightest exoplanet known at the time of discovery in, Gliese 581e, with only twice the mass of the Earth, and the richest planetary system known at the time, with up to seven planets orbiting a Sun-like star.The telescope was also involved in solving a decades-old mystery regarding the mass of Cepheid variable stars. By using the HARPS instrument, astronomers detected for the first time a double star where a pulsating Cepheid variable and another star pass in front of one another, which allows to measure the mass of the Cepheid. The study concluded that the mass prediction coming from the theory of stellar pulsation was correct while the value calculated was at odds with the theory of stellar evolution.
The discovery of the extrasolar planet Gliese 581 c
Gliese 581 c
Gliese 581 c or Gl 581 c is a planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. It is the second planet discovered in the system and the third in order from the star. With a mass at least 5.6 times that of the Earth, it is classified as a super-Earth...
by the team of Stéphane Udry
Stéphane Udry
Stéphane Udry is an astronomer at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, whose current work is primarily the search for extra-solar planets. He and his team, in 2007, discovered a possibly terrestrial planet in the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 581, approximately 20 light years...
at University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
's Observatory in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
was announced on April 24, 2007. The team used the HARPS
High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher
The High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher is a high-precision echelle spectrograph installed in 2002 on ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The first light was achieved in February 2003...
instrument (an echelle spectrograph
Echelle grating
An echelle grating is a type of diffraction grating which is characterised by a relatively low groove density but is optimized for high diffraction orders. Echelle gratings are, like other types of diffraction grating, used in spectrometers and similar instruments, such as HARPS, and numerous...
) on the European Southern Observatory
European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
ESO 3.6 m Telescope in La Silla, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, and employed the radial velocity
Radial velocity
Radial velocity is the velocity of an object in the direction of the line of sight . In astronomy, radial velocity most commonly refers to the spectroscopic radial velocity...
technique to identify the planet's influence on the star.
Contemporaries on commissioning
In the heat of a Cold War, the ESO 3.6 m took its place among giant eyes old and new.Largest telescopes in 1977:
| # | Name / Observatory |
Image | Aperture | M1 Area |
Altitude | First Light |
Special advocate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTA-6 Special Astrophysical Obs |
238 inch 605 cm |
26 m2 | 2070 m (6791 ft) |
1975 | Mstislav Keldysh Mstislav Keldysh Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh was a Soviet scientist in the field of mathematics and mechanics, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences , President of the USSR Academy of Sciences , three times Hero of Socialist Labor , fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . He was one of the key figures... |
|
| 2 | Hale Telescope Hale telescope The Hale Telescope is a , 3.3 reflecting telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California, named after astronomer George Ellery Hale. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, he orchestrated the planning, design, and construction of the observatory, but did not live to see its commissioning... Palomar Obs. Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology... |
 |
200 inch 508 cm |
20 m2 | 1713 m (5620 ft) |
1949 | George Ellery Hale George Ellery Hale George Ellery Hale was an American solar astronomer.-Biography:Hale was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was educated at MIT, at the Observatory of Harvard College, , and at Berlin . As an undergraduate at MIT, he is known for inventing the spectroheliograph, with which he made his discovery of... |
| 3 | Mayall Telescope Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope is a four meter reflector telescope located at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and named after Nicholas U. Mayall. It saw first light on February 27, 1973. Initial observers included: D. Crawford, Nicholas Mayall, and Arthur Hoag. It was dedicated on June 20,... Kitt Peak National Obs. Kitt Peak National Observatory The Kitt Peak National Observatory is a United States astronomical observatory located on 2,096 m Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation, southwest of Tucson... |
158 inch 401 cm |
10 m2 | 2120 m (6955 ft) |
1973 | Nicholas Mayall Nicholas Mayall Nicholas Ulrich Mayall was an American observational astronomer. After obtaining his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, Mayall worked at the Lick Observatory, where he remained from 1934–1960, except for a brief period at MIT's Radiation Laboratory during World War II.During... |
|
| 4 | CTIO 4m/Blanco Telescope Victor M. Blanco Telescope The Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, also known as the Blanco 4m, is a 4m telescope located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. Commissioned in 1974 and completed in 1976, this telescope is similar to the Mayall 4m telescope located on Kitt Peak. In 1995 it was dedicated and named in... CTIO Obs. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a complex of astronomical telescopes and instruments located at 30.169 S, 70.804 W, approximately 80 km to the East of La Serena, Chile at an altitude of 2200 metres. The complex is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory along with Kitt... |
158 inch 401 cm |
10 m2 | 2200 m 7217 feet |
1976 | Nicholas Mayall Nicholas Mayall Nicholas Ulrich Mayall was an American observational astronomer. After obtaining his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, Mayall worked at the Lick Observatory, where he remained from 1934–1960, except for a brief period at MIT's Radiation Laboratory during World War II.During... |
|
| 5 | Anglo-Australian Telescope Anglo-Australian Telescope The Anglo-Australian Telescope is a 3.9 m equatorially mounted telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory and situated at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia at an altitude of a little over 1100 m... Siding Spring Obs. Siding Spring Observatory Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Australian National University , incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National... |
 |
153 inch 389 cm |
m2 | 1742 m (5715 ft) |
1974 | Prince Charles Charles, Prince of Wales Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay... |
| 6 | ESO 3.6 Telescope ESO European Southern Observatory The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries... La Silla Obs. La Silla Observatory La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory organisation, and several others are partly maintained by ESO... |
140 inch 357 cm |
8.8 m2 | 2400 m (7874 ft) |
1977 | Adriaan Blaauw | |
| 7 | Shane Telescope C. Donald Shane telescope The C. Donald Shane telescope is a reflecting telescope located at the Lick Observatory in California. It was named after astronomer C. Donald Shane in 1978, who led the effort to acquire the necessary funds from the California Legislature, and who then oversaw the telescope's construction... Lick Observatory Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA... |
 |
120 inch 305 cm |
m2 | 1283 m (4209 ft) |
1959 | Nicholas Mayall Nicholas Mayall Nicholas Ulrich Mayall was an American observational astronomer. After obtaining his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, Mayall worked at the Lick Observatory, where he remained from 1934–1960, except for a brief period at MIT's Radiation Laboratory during World War II.During... |