Astronomy in EstoniaExpectations towards ESO

ESO Information Day21 June 2012

More than 200 years of history

Present-day observatory at Tõravere, about 20 kmout of Tartu

Tartu Observatory:

- state research institution under the Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia - staff about 80 (of them about 60 researchers and engineers) - about 35 researchers (including post-docs and advanced Ph.D. students) working directly in astronomy - three scientific departments: • cosmology • stellar physics • atmospheric physics (remote sensing) - major renovation and extension of the main building to be finished in August 2012

1.5-meter telescope AZT-12 for (stellar) spectroscopy

(control system, power drives and electronics modernized in 2011)

0.6-meter telescope Zeiss-600 for CCD photometry

0.3-meter robotic telescope to be installed during2012 (stellar photometry)

Buying observational time on the iTelescope.Netrobotic telescopes (stellar photometry)

Using opportunities to observe on bigger telescopesunder the OPTICON trans-national access scheme et al.

Using archival data, virtual observatories etc.

Two main research directions in astronomy:

• Galaxies and Cosmology

• Stellar Physics

Both use observational data (publicly availablesky surveys, virtual observatories, internationalcooperation, own observations at Tõravere),model calculations, analytical theory etc.

Centre of Excellence “Dark Matter and (Astro)particlePhysics” jointly with the National Institute ofChemical and Biological Physics

How could ESO facilities contribute into ourpresent and future research directions

Galaxies and Cosmology

• Visible and dark matter in galaxies – survey telescopes (VISTA near-IR, VST visible wavelengths), VLT/SINFONI 3D spectroscopy, APEX/ALMA (dust, far-IR)

• Structure of high-redshift galaxies – APEX/ALMA (dust, mm-wavelengths), VLT VISIR (imaging, spectroscopy, near-IR), E-ELT (near- and mid-IR)

• First stars, reionisation, first galaxies – E-ELT (imaging), ALMA

• Structure of galaxies in different environments – survey telescopes (VISTA near-IR; VST visible)

• Physics of dark matter and dark energy, dark matter clustering properties – E-ELT (imaging, spectroscopy, near- and mid-IR)

• Cosmic Microwave Background – ALMA

• Galaxy clusters, superclusters, filaments – survey telescopes (VISTA near-IR, VST visible), VIMOS (spectroscopic survey)

Stellar Physics

• Studies of interacting binary stars and stars in late stages of stellar evolution – NTT / EFOSC2 (spectroscopy), VLT / UVES (high-resolution spectroscopy)

• Model atmospheres and synthetic spectra of hot stars – VLT / UVES (high-resolution spectroscopy)

• Ground-based observations for Gaia – NTT / EFOSC2 (spectroscopy)

• High luminosity stars in stellar associations – VLT / NACO (near-IR imaging)

Other prospects

• Enhancing international cooperation (number of publications, citations, visibility)

• Opportunities for younger generation

• Participation in planning, coordinating, allocating observation time etc.

• Renovation of the main building of Tartu Observatory – new laboratories (optics, electronics etc.): opportunities for cooperation with ESO

• Access to ESO procurements – advancement of high-technology enterprises

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve (1793–1864):

- catalogue of visual binary stars - measurements of the parallax of Vega - Struve geodetic arc

Ernst Julius Öpik (1893–1985):

- distance to the Andromeda nebula - theory of stellar evolution - potentially hazardous asteroidsetc.

Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt (1879–1935):

- coma-free wide-field telescope system

I3 = (Rvz –zvR)2 + z2vθ2 +

+ z02(vz

2 - 2φ*)

Grigori Kusmin (1917–1988):

- third integral of motion in stellar dynamics

Jaan Einasto (b. 1929):

- discovery of Dark Matter (1974) - regular large scale structure of the Universe (1977/1997)

- Long historical traditions

- World-renown achievements

- Sufficient number of astronomers

- Experience in Soviet space research programmes

- Synergy of astronomy and atmospheric physics / remote sensing at Tartu Observatory

have created a solid scientific foundation to participate in the European high technology space projects through ESA.

Cooperation with ESA:

- first agreement signed on 20 June 2007 - PECS agreement on 10 November 2009

- PECS charter on 22 September 2010 12 projects, among them “Classification of Emission-line Stars in the Gaia Catalogue”

We expect a similar model to work with ESO,one of the objects in the Estonian Research Infrastructures Roadmap (2010)