First four telescopes large-separation off-axis fringe-tracking interferometry with GRAVITY at the VLTI

Feng Gao; Frank Eisenhauer; Julien Woillez; Pierre Bourget; Bruno Chazelas; Roderick Dembet; Frédéric Gonté; Jürgen Ott; Nicolas Schuhler; Gérard Zins; Frank Haussmann; Michael Hartl; Stefan Gillessen; Reinhard Genzel; Guy S. Perrin; Wolfgang Brandner; Thibaut Paumard; Karine Perraut; Paulo J. V. Garcia; Christian Straubmeier; António Amorim; Thomas Ott; Felix Widmann; Jinyi Shangguan; Odèle Straub; Sebastiano von Fellenberg; Eckhard Sturm; Oliver Pfuhl; Michi Bauboeck; Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales; Matthew Horrobin; Julia Stadler; Dieter Lutz; Taro Shimizu; Antonia Drescher; Mari Lena Bolzer

doi:10.1117/12.2561408

13 December 2020 First four telescopes large-separation off-axis fringe-tracking interferometry with GRAVITY at the VLTI

Feng Gao, Frank Eisenhauer, Julien Woillez, Pierre Bourget, Bruno Chazelas, Roderick Dembet, Frédéric Gonté, Jürgen Ott, Nicolas Schuhler, Gérard Zins, Frank Haussmann, Michael Hartl, Stefan Gillessen, Reinhard Genzel, Guy S. Perrin, Wolfgang Brandner, Thibaut Paumard, Karine Perraut, Paulo J. V. Garcia, Christian Straubmeier, António Amorim, Thomas Ott, Felix Widmann, Jinyi Shangguan, Odèle Straub, Sebastiano von Fellenberg, Eckhard Sturm, Oliver Pfuhl, Michi Bauboeck, Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales, Matthew Horrobin, Julia Stadler, Dieter Lutz, Taro Shimizu, Antonia Drescher, Mari Lena Bolzer

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Proceedings Volume 11446, Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VII; 114461I (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561408
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

We present the successful demonstration of world's first large-separation ~30" off-axis fringe tracking with four telescopes in October 2019. With this technique we increase the sky-coverage for optical interferometry by orders of magnitude compared to current technology. Following the early work at the Palomar Testbed Interferometer, the first demonstration of off-axis fringe tracking at the Keck Interferometer and with PRIMA at the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, and the breakthrough with the GRAVITY Galactic Center observations, we enhanced the VLTI infrastructure for GRAVITY to take advantage of the PRIMA Star separators and Differential Delay Lines for off-axis fringe tracking. In our presentation we give an introduction to the subject, present the enhancements of the VLTI, and present our results from the first on-sky operation in October 2019, with observations of the Orion Trapezium Cluster, a field brown dwarf, and a high redshift quasar.

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Feng Gao, Frank Eisenhauer, Julien Woillez, Pierre Bourget, Bruno Chazelas, Roderick Dembet, Frédéric Gonté, Jürgen Ott, Nicolas Schuhler, Gérard Zins, Frank Haussmann, Michael Hartl, Stefan Gillessen, Reinhard Genzel, Guy S. Perrin, Wolfgang Brandner, Thibaut Paumard, Karine Perraut, Paulo J. V. Garcia, Christian Straubmeier, António Amorim, Thomas Ott, Felix Widmann, Jinyi Shangguan, Odèle Straub, Sebastiano von Fellenberg, Eckhard Sturm, Oliver Pfuhl, Michi Bauboeck, Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales, Matthew Horrobin, Julia Stadler, Dieter Lutz, Taro Shimizu, Antonia Drescher, and Mari Lena Bolzer "First four telescopes large-separation off-axis fringe-tracking interferometry with GRAVITY at the VLTI", Proc. SPIE 11446, Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VII, 114461I (13 December 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561408

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KEYWORDS

Telescopes

Interferometry

Interferometers

Atmospheric turbulence

Large telescopes

Optical interferometry

Stars

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