The Paranal solar ESPRESSO telescope

High resolution spectroscopy plays a key role in the effort to detect and characterise other Earths. This objective remains, however, challenged by astrophysical noise from the host stars, whose oscillations, granulation, and magnetic activity distort the observed spectra. A new approach to understand this problem is needed.

In this talk I will present PoET, the Paranal Solar Espresso Telescope. Expected to start observations in the end of 2024, PoET will connect to the "planet hunter" ESPRESSO spectrograph (ESO-VLT) and provide both disk resolved and disk integrated ("sun-as-a-star") observations of the Sun. This unique dataset will be obtained in the ultra-high resolution mode (R>200 000) and cover the full optical domain (380-780 nm) in one single shot.

Using the Sun as a proxy for other solar-type stars, data will allow to map our star and understand in unprecedented detail the contribution of each solar feature to spectral variability that affect the detection and characterisation of exoplanets (precise radial velocities and transmission/emission spectroscopy). The data will further allow to tackle problems in solar and stellar physics, including the derivation of stellar abundances in the presence of active regions.