Following the arrival of MATISSE, the second-generation of VLTI instrumentation is now complete and was simultaneously enhanced by a major facility upgrade including the NAOMI Adaptive Optics on the Auxiliary Telescopes. On the Unit Telescopes, significant efforts were also made to improve the injection stability into VLTI instruments. On top of GRAVITY's own evolution, its fringe tracker is now being used to allow coherent integrations on MATISSE (the so-called GRA4MAT project). Meanwhile, operations also evolved to be more flexible and make the most of an extended observing parameter space. In this context, we present an overview of the current VLTI performances. Finally, we will report on on-going improvements such as the extension of the longest baselines.
The New Adaptive Optics Module for Interferometry (NAOMI) is ready to be installed at the 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) at ESO Paranal. NAOMI will make the existing interferometer performance less dependent on the seeing conditions. Fed with higher and more stable Strehl, the fringe tracker will achieve the fringe stability necessary to reach the full performance of the second-generation instruments GRAVITY and MATISSE. All four ATs will be equipped between September and November 2018 with a Deformable mirror (ALPAO DM-241), a 4*4 Shack– Hartmann adaptive optics system operating in the visible and an RTC based on SPARTA Light. During the last 6 months thorough system test has been made in laboratory to demonstrate the Adaptive Optics and chopping capability of NAOMI.
The near-infrared GRAVITY instrument has become a fully operational spectro-imager, while expanding its capability to support astrometry of the key Galactic Centre science. The mid-infrared MATISSE instrument has just arrived on Paranal and is starting its commissioning phase. NAOMI, the new adaptive optics for the Auxiliary Telescopes, is about to leave Europe for an installation in the fall of 2018. Meanwhile, the interferometer infrastructure has continuously improved in performance, in term of transmission and vibrations, when used with both the Unit Telescopes and Auxiliary Telescopes. These are the highlights of the last two years of the VLTI 2nd generation upgrade started in 2015.
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