EST Telescope: primary mirror, support, and cooling system

The solar telescope EST is currently in the conceptual design phase. It is planned to be build on the Canary Islands until end of the decade. It is specialized on polarimetric observations and will provide high spatial and spectral observations of the different solar atmospheric layers. The diameter of the primary mirror blank is 4.2m. Different types of mirror shapes were investigated with respect to thermal and mechanical characteristics. To remove the absorbed heat an air cooling system from the back side will be applied. Additional an air flushing system will remove remaining warm air from the front side. A major problem of a large open telescope will be the wind load. Results of the investigations will be shown. To achieve optimal optical performance an active support system is planned. The primary mirror cell needs to be stiff enough to support the primary mirror without deformation at strong wind in case of the open telescope option, but sufficient room for the active support system and cooling system below the backside of the mirror is also required. Preliminary designs and analysis results will be presented.