Yebes Observatory

The Yebes Observatory is an astrophysic turnkey project based on our capabilities of engineering, procurement and installation and maintenance.

The Yebes Observatory is a Spanish Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructure since 2013. Its integration into de current ICST map was confirmed in November 2018. It is considered a unique location infrastructure that is integrated into de ICTS Network “Astronomy Infrastructure Network”

The Yebes Observatory belongs to the Spanish Ministry of “Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana”, is part of the General Directorate of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and constitutes its Technological Development Center.

It is located in the province of Guadalajara, about 80 km east of Madrid, in a natural environment at 1000 meters altitude with typical weather conditions of the interior of the peninsula.

The Yebes Observatory runs two radio telescopes, 40 and 13.2 meters diameter, which give it its ICTS status since they are high technology instruments available to the scientific community through an evaluation committee for observation proposals.

During 2021, Yebes Observatory proposed the improvement of 40 m RT by homogenizing temperatures at the radiotelescope structure to minimize thermal deformations. In order to assess that possibility, it was needed to obtain an exact behavior of temperatures on the telescope structure. An intensive temperature monitoring system was needed to obtain data regarding the thermal solicitation.

ARQUIMEA was awarded to design and install this temperature sensors network in 2022.

Besides the needs of a proper design and installation able to gather a scientific-level quality data, the main priorities are:

• Avoid any possible interaction with normal operation of the 40-RT
• Optimize accuracy of the data acquisition chain
• Assure the equipment performance for a long monitoring survey (several years)

Prepare a friendly Interface User to gather and represent data.

ARQUIMEA proposed the use of Pt100 class 1/10 mineral insulated at their ends and s reliable data acquisition system. In order to improve data quality, special metal pieces were designed to house the sensors and put them in contact with the surfaces to be measured. In addition, several tools and procedures to install the sensors have been developed and tested.

135 sensors were installed during October 2022, mainly in the paraboloid structure but also in the tetrapod, counterweight blocks, and cabin. The sensors were routed along the RT structure and distributed in three small cabinets where they were multiplexed to the data acquisition devices.

A customized graphical interface was programmed to ease data gathering, visualization, graphical drawings and data downloading operations. The interface allows to separate visualization of the sensors by constructive blocks of the RT and the filtering of data by different parameters as maximal, minimal and average temperatures.

The project was finished in around 8 months, including problem solving and commissioning of the devices. Sensors mortality rate during installation was less than 2%.

The complete system is easily customizable to any other infrastructure with similar characteristics.