Commissioning and first scientific results of the LOCNES solar telescope.

LOCNES (LOw-Cost NIR Extended Solar telescope) is a solar telescope installed at the TNG (Telescopio Nazionale Galileo). It feeds the NIR spectrograph GIANO-B with light from the Sun. LOCNES has been designed to obtain high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of the Sun as a star with precise wavelength calibration using molecular-band cells. This is a completely new area of investigation that will provide timely results to improve the search for telluric planets. We will extract several disk integrated activity indicators and mean magnetic field measurements for the Sun in the NIR. This spectral region will sample different layers of the solar atmosphere down to the lowest accessible level at 1600 nm, where continuum opacity is at its minimum. Molecular features should correlate with sunspots passing across the solar disk, while the chromosphere would be monitored by the He I 1083 nm line. Such an approach will allow a better understanding of the origin of activity-induced RV variations and will help to improve the techniques for their correction. With this communication we outline the scientific drivers for the LOCNES project and its first commissioning and scientific results.