Science Case

European Extremely Large Telescope 

Science Case 

Markus Kissler-Patig 

E-ELT Project Scientist 

Markus Kissler-Patig - ELT Science Case

GMT 

TMT 

E-ELT

E-ELT Overview

• A project lead by ESO on behalf of 14 member states 

• Segmented mirror, adaptive telescope of 42m 

diameter with a 5 mirror design 

• Schedule: 

• Detail design phase until mid-2010 

• Start of construction by end of 2010 

• End of construction 2017 

The E-ELT in a Nutshell 

• Cost (Telescope + Instruments): ~1 billion Euros

The E-ELT Dome

BRD v1 

The E-ELT Structure 

Azimuth track Altitude cradle 

Two industrial studies: cost & schedule check 

BRD v2 

Baseline for updating requirements

$ 

N?G7J8$:$$$.A6OD>I$$6=;>%L?AGJAO6$;K$@7JH8L$J8IB$/A>?;$A6$A$?;K$;8L$ED$L?;G$ 

$ 

.183 MM 

The BRD v2 Optical Design 

G 

49390$ #=>?@AB$C7AB?>D$ 

M4 (AO): 2.6m 

G 

G 

!%!&'$#(')*+&$,!")-.$/!(#/'$ 

M1 (seg): 42m 

M2: 5.7m 

M3: 4m 

G 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$>P;2$ 

$ 19 

>?@7A8$4$*

The E-ELT Emphasis 

• Active optics to phase up the large mirror surfaces 

• Adaptive optics is being designed into the telescope 

and first-generation instruments 

to give maximum gains in resolution and sensitivity 

priority for diffraction-limited instruments

Adaptive Optics 

• The Telescope delivers: 

• seeing limited mode 

• Ground Layer AO (w/ and w/o LGS) [GLAO] 

• Post-Focal AO facilities: 

• Single Conjugated AO (no LGS) [SCAO] 

• Laser Tomography AO [LTAO] 

• Multi-conjugated AO [MCAO] 

• AO included in instruments: 

• Extreme AO [XAO] 

• Single Conjugated AO [SCAO]

Laser Guide Stars 

Baseline: 

•Six Continuous Wave lasers of 50 W (TBC) each at 589 nm 

•Gravity invariant laser clean room(s) 

•Launch from behind secondary mirror 

•Mirror relay to launch telescope 

•Rotate laser with the field (not with the pupil) 

LLT 

Sodium 

layer 

~5” elongation

Instrument Suite

E-ELT Instrumentation: Background 

E-ELT Proposal to ESO Council (Dec 2006) 

• High Priority Instruments 

• Policy of studies and instrument procurement 

• “5-6 first generation instruments” at an estimated hardware 

construction cost to ESO of 86 M€ 

Instrument and AO modules Study Plan (April 2007) 

• Plan presented and discussed with STC foresees: 

8 instruments and 2 post-focal AO module preparatory 

studies 

• 2.3 M€ Study Budget 2007-2009 (now 90% committed) + 

30 ESO FTE for Study Phase 

• For the most demanding instruments and AO modules 

additional funding provided by EC Framework programs

Foreseen first generation of instruments 

Name Instrument type 

Wavelength 

range 

MICADO Diffraction limited NIR Imager 0.8-2.4 μm 

HARMONI Single-field NIR spectrograph 0.8-2.4 μm 

EAGLE 

CODEX 

Wide-field multi-object NIR 

spectrograph 

High-resolution visual 

spectrograph 

0.8-2.4 μm 

0.35-0.72 

μm 

METIS Mid-IR imager and spectrograph 3.5-20 μm 

FoV and 

sampling 

30” 

4 mas/pix 

~1”-10” 

20-50 mas/pix 

patrol field ≥5' 

10-50 mas/pix 

Spectral 

resolution 

~4000 

(~20.000) 

~5000 

(R>15.000) 

AO support 

envisaged 

SCAO/MCAO 

SCAO/LTAO 

point source >120.000 Tip-Tilt? 

30” 

15-30 mas/pix 

5-200 

~100.000 

Notes 

MOAO multiplex >20 

SCAO/LTAO 

stability < 2 cm/s 

over 30 years 

EPICS Planet finder 0.6-1.8 μm ~2”-4” >50 XAO Polarimetry 

?? Optical MOS 0.3-1.8 μm 5’-10’ FoV 1000-10.000 GLAO multiplex >100 

?? NIR high-resolution spectrograph 0.8-2.4 μm slit >100.000 GLAO 

MAORY Multi-conjugated AO module 0.6-2.4 μm 2’ FoV 

2 DMs + M4, 

6 LGS 

?? Laser tomography AO module 0.6-2.4 μm 1’ FoV M4, 6 LGS

Markus Kissler-Patig E-ELT Status GSMT Workshop, Chicago, 16 June 2008 15



TEST INSTRUMENT DISTRIBUTION (NASMYTH PLATFORMS) 

MCAO & LTAO modules, MICADO, HARMONI, EPICS, METIS , one WF INSTRUMENT 

Test 

Camera 

WIDE FIELD 

INSTRUMENT 

MICADO 

MCAO module 

P 

M6 

units, 

Adaptors 

P 

HARMONI 

LTAO 

modules 

METIS 

EPICS+ 

XAO

EAGLE 

+MOAO 

TEST INSTRUMENT DISTRIBUTION (GI and COUDE foci) 

CODEX

PRELIMINARY 

NIRSpec 

E-ELT Instrumentation Project Office 

WAVELENGTH vs. SPECTRAL RESOLUTION 

Wavelength (nm) 

MET 

IS

PRELIMINARY 

JWST MIRI 

Strehl 

0 0.5 1 


PIXEL SAMPLING vs.STREHL for diffraction limited E-ELT INSTRUMENTS 

Pixel size 

0.90(N) 

0.72 (K) 

JWST NIRCam 

0.5 (K) 

30” field 

20

PRELIMINARY 

WF, visual-red camera or 

spectrograph with GLAO 


PIXEL SAMPLING, EE within 2x2 spaxels of Wide Field E-ELT INSTRUMENTS 

EE 

0 100 

Pixel size (mas) 

EE 30% at I 

5’ 

EAGLE, NIR 

MIFU with 

MOAO

Science Case

The Science Case for Giant Telescope builds on three pillars: 

Discovery / the unknown 

Synergy with large facilities (VLT/I, JWST, ALMA, LSST, SKA, ...) 

Contemporary Science 


The Unknown 



Enabling discovery by opening parameter space 


Synergy with Large Facilities 


The main synergy is expected with: 

The 8-10m class Telescopes (VLT/I, ...) 

The JWST 

ALMA 

LSST 

SKA / SKA Pathfinders 

... 


JWST key science 

The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization 

Assembly of Galaxies 

➱ suite of optical/NIR sensitive multi-object spectrographs 

The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems 

Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life 

➱ METIS: mid-IR instrument (high spatial/spectral resolution at 

3-15 μm) 

➱ EPICS: planet-finder (incl. low-resolution spectroscopy and 

polarimetry) 


ALMA key science 

Detect spectral line emission from CO or CII in a normal 

galaxy like the Milky Way at a redshift of z = 3, in less than 24 

hours of observation. 

➱ NIR sensitive integral spectrograph and imager 

Image the gas kinematics in protostars and in protoplanetary 

disks around young Sun-like stars at a distance of the nearest 

star-forming clouds. 

➱ NIR and mid-IR high-spectral resolution instruments 

Provide precise images at an angular resolution of 0.1 arcsec. 


Contemporary Science 

The Design Reference Mission 



Planets & Stars 





Stars & Galaxies 







Galaxies & Cosmology 




From giant to terrestrial exo-planets: 

detection, characterisation and evolution 

Circumstellar disks 

Young clusters and the Initial Mass Function 







Today, we can detect Jupiter-mass planets indirectly. 

What the ELT would allow us to do: 

1- detect Earth-mass planets indirectly 

2- perform direct imaging of planets 

Markus Kissler-Patig - ELT Science Case 

To date: 270 extra-solar planets 

have been detected

Derived key requirements: 

• measure radial velocities with






Evolution of planetary systems in Orion 

Transition from disks to planetary systems 

McCaughrean, Stapelfeldt, & Close PPIV, 2000 


McCaughrean

Circumstellar disks are the birthplaces of planets 

How is material assembled? 

And on which time scales? 

The ELT will allow us to study the morphology, dynamics 

and chemistry of the young disks. 

The ELT has ~10 the spatial resolution of the JWST in 

the mid-infrared 

Artist’s representation of a protoplanetary disk 


Hartmann


• diffraction limited imaging at 2-10 μm wavelength 

‣ efficient telescope and AO in the mid-infrared 

• diffraction limited spectroscopy at 2-20 μm wavelength 

‣ telescope transmitting all the way to 20 μm 

‣ spectrograph with high resolution (100.000) at 5 μm 







How do molecular clouds fragment? 

What is the mass spectrum of stars? 

(Extension of ALMA science) ! 


- 

0 

8


• “wide field” diffraction limited imaging at 2 μm wavelength 

‣ Multi-Conjugate AO over >30” FoV in the near 

infrared 




Imaging and spectroscopy of resolved stellar 

populations in galaxies 

Black holes and AGN 




Black holes and AGN 


Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies 

The goals with the ELT are: 

Leo A 

Deepest ever CMD (in 

absolute mag) for an 

isolated dwarf irregular. 

M814 ! +3.4 

M475 ! +4.2 

1- to obtain ultra-deep photometry of stars in nearby galaxies 

2- to understand the very first stars formed in our galaxy 


Cole et al. 2007 

Leo A: Deepest colourmagnitude 

diagram ever 

obtained for a galaxy


• “wide field” diffraction limited imaging down to visible 

wavelength 

‣ Multi-Conjugate AO over >60” FoV down to 0.6 μm 

• high-resolution spectrograph in the UV 

‣ telescope efficient down to the atmospheric cut-off 

(340 nm) 




Black holes and AGN (Active Galactic Nuclei) 


Probing closer to black holes: 

Is the black hole intimately connected with the 

evolution of the galaxy? 

With a combination of high spatial and spectral resolution, the 

ELT will be able to probe black hole over a large range of masses 

in all types of galaxies 


M87 hosts a 10 9 Mo black hole


• high spatial and spectral resolution spectroscopy 

‣ spectroscopy with resolution 5.000 to 10.000 at the 

diffraction limit in the near-infrared 


Galaxies & Cosmology 


The physics of high-redshift galaxies 

First light - the highest redshift galaxies 

Is the low-density intergalactic medium 

metal enriched? 

A dynamical measurement of the expansion 

history of the universe 









What did galaxies look like 10 billion years ago? 

The ELT will allow to measure the kinematics (masses/structure) 

of galaxies in the very early universe (redshifts between 2 and 6) 


V σ 

z ~ 4 50 mas pixels 

z=0 rotating disk simulations (M. Puech) 

42-m, 10-hr integration, MOAO (MCAO)


• spectroscopy at high spatial resolution for multiple sources 

in a large field 

‣ field of view of 5’ to 10’ 

‣ FoV corrected locally with Mutli-Object AO 

‣ gravity invariant focus 









Scanning the Inter-Galactic Medium back in time with Quasars: 

Where are the metals formed by the galaxies? 

To Earth 

The ELT with its large collecting area allows to probe the faintest 

lines in the IGM at high redshift 

QSO absorption lines 

Lyman limit Ly" 

Ly! 

Ly" em 

Ly! forest 

Quasar 

Ly! em 

SiII 

CII 

NV em 

SiIV 


SiIV em 

SiII CIV 

CIV em


• high spectral resolution spectrograph in the blue/UV 

‣ spectroscopy with resolution 50.000+ down to 380 nm 









For the very first time, a direct measurement of the dynamical 

evolution of the universe is possible. 

The experiment requires 4000h of observations over 20 years. 

The systematic errors must be kept below 1cm/s spectral 

resolution. 



• lifetime of the telescope > 20 years 

‣ reproducibility of the wavelength calibration over that 

time 

• Ultra-high resolution (i.e. stable) spectrograph 

‣ Coudé focus for the spectrograph 


Thank You

Science Case

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