GREGOR - the new German solar telescope

GREGOR is a new open solar telescope with a diameter of 1.5m. It replaces the former 45cm Gregory Coud'e telescope on the Canary island Tenerife. The optical concept is that of a double Gregorian system. The main and the elliptical mirrors are made from a silicon-carbide material with low specific weight and high thermal conductivity. The latter is important to keep the mirrors on the ambient temperature avoiding local turbulence. GREGOR will be equipped with an adaptive optics system.

The new telescope will be ready for operation in 2007. Post-focus instruments in the first stage will be a spectrograph for polarimetry in the near Infrared and a 2-dimensional spectrometer based on Fabry-Perot interferometers for the visible.