UK ELT Programme

英国ELT项目

基本信息

批准号：
ST/S001409/1
负责人：
Niranjan Thatte
金额：
$ 627.41万
依托单位：
University of Oxford
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2019 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FS001409%2F1
关键词：
UK ELT Programme

项目摘要

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is now under construction in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). With a diameter of 39m and a greater collecting area than all current large telescopes combined, the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the ELT will dwarf those of existing facilities in the visible and infrared. With the first observations planned for 2024, the sheer sensitivity of the ELT is truly remarkable, with a collecting area over 18 times that of ESO's current largest telescopes. The telescope will also continuously correct the light from astronomical objects with a technique called adaptive optics, giving astronomers images with five times better resolution than possible today.This vast step forward in both collecting area and image resolution from the ELT will be transformative for nearly every aspect of contemporary astronomy, from searches for molecules potentially linked to life in nearby exoplanets, out to detection of the most distant galaxies at the edge of the observable Universe. It will give us our first detailed views of individual stars in galaxies which are millions of light-years beyond the Milky Way, and help to settle arguments as to whether some of the fundamental constants of physics vary in space and time. It will have the capabilities to directly detect mature planets similar to those in our Solar System around nearby stars, while also probing the distribution of elusive dark matter in galaxies when the Universe was just 10% of its current age. This is just a small subset of the diverse and profound scientific breakthroughs we expect from the ELT, and UK astronomers and engineers are playing leading roles in the development of the cameras and spectrographs that will take the valuable observations in the mid 2020s and beyond.Building on a decade of scientific and technical development, the UK ELT Programme coordinates the UK roles in ELT instrumentation. At the core of the programme is leadership of the design and construction of the HARMONI instrument, one of the two first-light instruments for the telescope, ensuring UK astronomers will be well prepared to reap the rewards from ELT observations as soon as possible and some of its first discoveries.The programme also includes smaller roles in future instruments, so that UK astronomers can exploit as much as possible of the tremendous new discovery space of the ELT. The UK is building the high-resolution spectrograph for METIS, the third instrument for the ELT, now in construction (led by the Netherlands). UK groups also have key roles in design studies of the next instruments, HIRES (led by Italy) and MOSAIC (led by France), both of which will be essential to exploit the huge scientific opportunities of the observatory. Lastly, the programme is investing in research and development of new technologies that will influence the design of future ELT instruments, particularly the development of the PCS instrument for studies of exoplanets.

欧洲南方天文台（ESO）目前正在智利北部的阿塔卡马沙漠建造极大望远镜（ELT）。 ELT的直径为39m，收集面积比目前所有大型望远镜的总和还要大，其灵敏度和空间分辨率将使现有的可见光和红外设施相形见绌。首次观测计划于 2024 年进行，ELT 的绝对灵敏度确实非常出色，其收集面积是 ESO 目前最大望远镜的 18 倍以上。该望远镜还将利用一种称为自适应光学的技术不断校正来自天文物体的光线，为天文学家提供比目前分辨率高五倍的图像。ELT 在收集面积和图像分辨率方面的这一巨大进步将对几乎所有领域产生变革。当代天文学的一个方面，从寻找可能与附近系外行星生命相关的分子，到探测可观测宇宙边缘最遥远的星系。它将为我们提供对距银河系数百万光年的星系中单个恒星的首次详细观察，并有助于解决有关物理的一些基本常数是否随空间和时间变化的争论。它将有能力直接探测与我们太阳系中附近恒星周围的成熟行星类似的成熟行星，同时还能探测当宇宙年龄仅为当前年龄的 10% 时星系中难以捉摸的暗物质的分布。这只是我们期望 ELT 取得的多样化和深刻的科学突破的一小部分，英国天文学家和工程师在相机和摄谱仪的开发中发挥着主导作用，这些相机和摄谱仪将在 2020 年代中期及以后获取有价值的观测结果。经过十年的科学和技术发展，英国 ELT 计划协调了英国在 ELT 仪器方面的角色。该计划的核心是领导 HARMONI 仪器的设计和建造，HARMONI 仪器是望远镜的两个第一光仪器之一，确保英国天文学家做好充分准备，尽快从 ELT 观测中获得回报，并且该计划还包括在未来仪器中发挥较小的作用，以便英国天文学家能够尽可能多地利用 ELT 巨大的新发现空间。英国正在为 METIS 建造高分辨率摄谱仪，这是 ELT 的第三台仪器，目前正在建设中（由荷兰牵头）。英国团体在下一代仪器 HIRES（由意大利领导）和 MOSAIC（由法国领导）的设计研究中也发挥着关键作用，这两者对于利用天文台的巨大科学机会至关重要。最后，该计划正在投资新技术的研发，这将影响未来 ELT 仪器的设计，特别是用于系外行星研究的 PCS 仪器的开发。