Michigan Infrared Combiner (MIRC): commissioning results at the CHARA Array

John D. Monnier; Ettore Pedretti; Nathalie Thureau; Jean-Philippe Berger; Rafael Millan-Gabet; Theo ten Brummelaar; Harold McAlister; Judit Sturmann; Lazlo Sturmann; Phil Muirhead; Ajay Tannirkulam; Scott Webster; Ming Zhao

doi:10.1117/12.671982

28 June 2006 Michigan Infrared Combiner (MIRC): commissioning results at the CHARA Array

John D. Monnier, Ettore Pedretti, Nathalie Thureau, Jean-Philippe Berger, Rafael Millan-Gabet, Theo ten Brummelaar, Harold McAlister, Judit Sturmann, Lazlo Sturmann, Phil Muirhead, Ajay Tannirkulam, Scott Webster, Ming Zhao

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6268, Advances in Stellar Interferometry; 62681P (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671982
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

The Michigan Infrared Combiner (MIRC) has been designed for two primary goals: 1) imaging with all six CHARA telescopes simultaneously in the near-infrared, 2) direct detection of "hot Jupiter" exoplanets using precision closure phases. In September 2005, MIRC was commissioned on-sky at the CHARA Array on Mt. Wilson, CA, successfully combining light from 4 telescopes simultaneously. After a brief overview of MIRC features and design philosophy, we provide detailed description of key components and present results of laboratory tests. Lastly, we present first results from the commissioning run, focusing on engineering performance. We also present remarkable on-sky closure phase results from the first night of recorded data with the best-ever demonstrated closure phase stability and precision (ΔΦ = 0.03 degrees).

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John D. Monnier, Ettore Pedretti, Nathalie Thureau, Jean-Philippe Berger, Rafael Millan-Gabet, Theo ten Brummelaar, Harold McAlister, Judit Sturmann, Lazlo Sturmann, Phil Muirhead, Ajay Tannirkulam, Scott Webster, and Ming Zhao "Michigan Infrared Combiner (MIRC): commissioning results at the CHARA Array", Proc. SPIE 6268, Advances in Stellar Interferometry, 62681P (28 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671982

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