Interferometry with the ESO Very Large Telescope

Oskar von der Luehe; Frederic Derie; Didier Ferrand; Bertrand Koehler; Samuel A. Leveque; Francesco Paresce; Luigi D'Arcio

doi:10.1117/12.217366

23 August 1995 Interferometry with the ESO Very Large Telescope

Oskar von der Luehe, Frederic Derie, Didier Ferrand, Bertrand Koehler, Samuel A. Leveque, Francesco Paresce, Luigi D'Arcio

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2566, Advanced Imaging Technologies and Commercial Applications; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.217366
Event: SPIE's 1995 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1995, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The interferometric mode of the ESO very large telescope (VLT) permits coherent combination of stellar light beams collected by four telescopes with 8m diameter and by several auxiliary telescopes of the 2m class. While the position of the 8m telescopes is fixed, auxiliary telescopes can be moved on rails, and can operate from 30 stations distributed on the top of the observatory site for efficient UV coverage. Coherent beam combination can be achieved with the 8m telescopes alone, with the auxiliary telescopes alone, or with any combination, up to eight telescopes in total. A distinct feature of the interferrometric mode is the high sensitivity due to the 8m pupil of the main telescopes which will be compensated by adaptive optics in the near-infrared spectral regime. The VLT interferometer (VLTI) part of the VLT program is conceived as an evolutionary program where a significant fraction of the interferometer's functionality is initially funded, and more capability may be added later while experience is gained and further funding becomes available. Major subsystems of the present baseline VLTI include: three auxiliary telescopes, three delay lines which permit combining the light from up to four telescopes, and a laboratory which contains an imaging beam combiner telescope, and enough space to accomodate a number of experimental setups. This paper presents a general overview of the recent evolution of the project and its future development.

Citation Download Citation

Oskar von der Luehe, Frederic Derie, Didier Ferrand, Bertrand Koehler, Samuel A. Leveque, Francesco Paresce, and Luigi D'Arcio "Interferometry with the ESO Very Large Telescope", Proc. SPIE 2566, Advanced Imaging Technologies and Commercial Applications, (23 August 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.217366

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