C. Bailet

Long baseline interferometry in the visible: the FRIEND project

In the next 2 or 3 years, the two major interferometric arrays, VLTI and CHARA, will equip their telescopes of 1.8m and 1m respectively with Adaptive Optics (AO hereafter) systems. This improvement will permit to apply with a reasonable e_ciency in the visible domain, the principle of spatial filtering with single mode fibers demonstrated in the near-infrared. It will clearly open new astrophysical fields by taking benefit of an improved sensitivity and state-of-the-art precision and accuracy on interferometric observables. To prepare this future possibility, we started the development of a demonstrator called FRIEND (Fibered and spectrally Resolved Interferometric Experiment - New Design). FRIEND combines the beams coming from 3 telescopes after injection in single mode optical fibers and provides some spectral capabilities for characterization purposes as well as photometric channels. It operates in the R spectral band (from 600nm to 750nm) and uses the worlds fastest and more sensitive analogic detector OCAM2. Tests on sky at the focus of the CHARA interferometer are scheduled for December 2014. In this paper, we present the first interferometric tests of the OCAM2 detector performed on CHARA in November 2012 and the concept, the expected performance and the opto-mechanical design of FRIEND.

Long baseline interferometry in the visible: first results of the FRIEND project

In the coming year, the CHARA 1-meter telescopes will be equipped with Adaptive Optics (AO) systems. This improvement opens the possibility to apply, in the visible domain, the principle of spatial filtering with single mode fibers well demonstrated in the near-infrared. It will clearly open new astrophysical fields by taking benefit of an improved sensitivity and state-of-the-art precision and accuracy on interferometric observables. A demonstrator called FRIEND (Fibered and spectrally Resolved Interferometric Experiment - New Design) has been developed. FRIEND combines the beams coming from 3 telescopes after injection in single mode optical fibers and provides photometric channels as well as some spectral capabilities for characterization purposes. It operates around the R spectral band (from 600nm to 750nm) and uses the fast and sensitive analog detector OCAM2. On sky tests at the focus of the CHARA interferometer have been performed during the last year to get the optimal DIT or an estimation of the stability of the instrumental visibility. Complementary lab tests have permitted to characterize the birefringence of the fibers, and the characteristics of the detector. In this paper, we present the results of these tests.

Perspective of imaging in the mid-infrared at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer

MATISSE is a mid-infrared spectro-interferometer combining the beams of up to four Unit Telescopes or Auxiliary Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) of the European Southern Observatory. MATISSE will constitute an evolution of the two-beam interferometric instrument MIDI. New characteristics present in MATISSE will give access to the mapping and the distribution of the material, the gas and essentially the dust, in the circumstellar environments by using the mid-infrared band coverage extended to L, M and N spectral bands. The four beam combination of MATISSE provides an efficient uv-coverage: 6 visibility points are measured in one set and 4 closure phase relations which can provide aperture synthesis images in the mid-infrared spectral regime. We give an overview of the instrument including the expected performances and a view of the Science Case. We present how the instrument would be operated. The project involves the collaborations of several agencies and institutes: the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur of Nice and the INSU-CNRS in Paris, the Max Planck Institut für Astronomie of Heidelberg; the University of Leiden and the NOVA-ASTRON Institute of Dwingeloo, the Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie of Bonn, the Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik of Kiel, the Vienna University and the Konkoly Observatory.

SPICA, a new 6T visible beam combiner for CHARA: science, design and interfaces

We present the recent developments preparing the construction of a new visible 6T beam combiner for the CHARA Array, called SPICA. This instrument is designed to achieve a large survey of stellar parameters and to image surface of stars. We first detail the science justification and the general idea governing the establishment of the sample of stars and the main guidance for the optimization of the observations. After a description of the concept of the instrument, we focus our attention on the first important aspect: optimizing and stabilizing the injection of light into single mode fibers in the visible under partial adaptive optics correction. Then we present the main requirements and the preliminary design of a 6T-ABCD integrated optics phase sensor in the H-band to achieve long exposures and reach fainter magnitudes in the visible.

The installation and ongoing commissioning of the MATISSE mid-infrared interferometer at the ESO Very Large Telescope Observatory

MATISSE is the second-generation mid-infrared spectrograph and imager for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at Paranal. This new interferometric instrument will allow significant advances in various fundamental research fields: studying the planet-forming region of disks around young stellar objects, understanding the surface structures and mass loss phenomena affecting evolved stars, and probing the environments of black holes in active galactic nuclei. As a first breakthrough, MATISSE will enlarge the spectral domain of current optical interferometers by offering the L and M bands in addition to the N band. This will open a wide wavelength domain, ranging from 2.8 to 13 μm, exploring angular scales as small as 3 mas (L band) / 10 mas (N band). As a second breakthrough, MATISSE will allow mid-infrared imaging - closure-phase aperture-synthesis imaging - with the four Unit Telescopes (UT) or Auxiliary Telescopes (AT) of the VLTI. Moreover, MATISSE will offer a spectral resolution range from R ~ 30 to R ~ 5000. Here, we remind the concept, the instrumental design, and the main features of MATISSE. We also describe the last months of preparation, the status of the instrument, which was shipped to Cerro Paranal on the site of the ESO Very Large Telescope in October 2017, and the expected schedule for the opening to the community. The instrument is currently in its Commissioning phase. A complementary dedicated article details the Commissioning results, which include the first performance estimates on sky.

Fibered visible interferometry and adaptive optics: FRIEND at CHARA

Aims. In the context of the future developments of long baseline interferometry at visible wavelengths, we have built a prototype instrument called Fibered spectrally Resolved Interferometer – New Design (FRIEND) based on single mode fibers and a new generation detector called Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Device (EMCCD). Installed on the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array, it aims to estimate the performance of a fibered instrument in the visible when coupled with telescopes equipped with adaptive optics (AO) in partial correction. Methods. We observed different sequences of targets and reference stars to study the compensation of the birefringence of the fibers, the coupling efficiency in various conditions of correction, and to calibrate our numerical model of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). We also used a known binary star to demonstrate the reliability and the precision of our squared visibility and closure phase measurements. Results. We firstly present a reliable and stable solution for compensating the birefringence of the fibers with an improvement of a factor of 1.5 of the instrumental visibility. We then demonstrate an improvement by a factor of between 2.5 and 3 of the coupling efficiency when using the LABAO systems in closed loop. The third results of our paper is the demonstration of the correct calibration of the parameters of our S/N estimator provided the correct excess noise factor of EMCCD is correctly taken into account. Finally with the measurements of the angular separation, difference of magnitude and individual diameters of the two components of ζ Ori A, we demonstrate the reliability and precision of our interferometric estimators, and in particular a median residual on the closure phase of 1.2°.

MATISSE: alignment, integration, and test phase first results

MATISSE (Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment) is the spectro-interferometer for the VLTI of the European Southern Observatory, operating in near and mid-infrared, and combining up to four beams from the unit or the auxiliary telescopes. MATISSE will offer new breakthroughs in the study of circumstellar environments by allowing the multispectral mapping of the material distribution, the gas and essentially the dust. The instrument consists in a warm optical system (WOP) accepting four optical beams and relaying them after a dichroic splitting (for the L and M- and N- spectral bands) to cold optical benches (COB) located in two separate cryostats. The Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur is in charge of the WOP providing the spectral band separation, optical path equalization and modulation, pupil positioning, beam anamorphosis, beam commutation, and calibration. NOVA-ASTRON is in charge of the COB providing the functions of beam selection, reduction of thermal background emission, spatial filtering, pupil transfer, photometry and interferometry splitting, additional beam anamorphosis, spectral filtering, polarization selection, image dispersion, and image combination. The Max Planck Institut für Radio Astronomie is in charge of the operation and performance validation of the two detectors, a HAWAII-2RG from Teledyne for the L- and M- bands and a Raytheon AQUARIUS for the N-band. Both detectors are provided by ESO. The Max Planck Institut für Astronomie is in charge of the electronics and the cryostats for which the requirements on space limitations and vibration stability resulted on very specific and stringent decisions on the design. The integration and test of the COB: the two cryogenic systems, including the cold benches and the detectors, have been conducted at MPIA in parallel with the integration of the WOP at OCA. At the end of 2014, the complete instrument was integrated at OCA. Following this integration, a period of interface and alignment between the COB and the WOP took place resulting in the first interference fringes in the L-band during summer 2015 and the first interference fringes in the N-ban in March 2016. After a period of optimization of both the instrument reliability and the environmental working conditions, the test plan is presently being conducted in order to evaluate the complete performance of the instrument and its compliance with the high-level requirements. The present paper gives the first results of the alignment, integration and test phase of the MATISSE instrument.