First light for GRAVITY: Phase referencing optical interferometry for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer
European Southern Observatory · University of Lisbon · +14 more institutions
Abstract
GRAVITY is a new instrument to coherently combine the light of the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope Interferometer to form a telescope with an equivalent 130 m diameter angular resolution and a collecting area of 200 m 2 . The instrument comprises fiber fed integrated optics beam combination, high resolution spectroscopy, built-in beam analysis and control, near-infrared wavefront sensing, phase-tracking, dual-beam operation, and laser metrology. GRAVITY opens up to optical/infrared interferometry the techniques of phase referenced imaging and narrow angle astrometry, in many aspects following the concepts of radio interferometry. This article gives an overview of GRAVITY and reports on the…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 35.31
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 133
Authors
133Topics & keywords
- Physics
- Interferometry
- Astrometry
- Optics
- Telescope
- Very Large Telescope
- Astronomical interferometer
- Metrology