NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

 
Title:
Commissioning the VLT interferometer: from first fringes toward a general user facility
Authors:
Schoeller, Markus; Gitton, Philippe B.; Argomedo, Javier; Ballester, Pascal; Bauvir, Bertrand; Van Boekel, Roy; Cantzler, Michael; Correia, Serge; Cotton, William D.; Delplancke, Francoise; Derie, Frederic; Duhoux, Philippe; Erm, Toomas; di Folco, Emmanuel; Coude du Foresto, Vincent; Gennai, Alberto; Gilli, Bruno; Giordano, Paul; Glindemann, Andreas; Guisard, Stephane; Gutierrez, Pablo; Housen, Nico; Huedepohl, Gerhard; Huxley, Alexis; Jackisch, S.; Jaffe, Walter; Kervella, Pierre; van Kesteren, Arno; Kiekebusch, Mario; Koehler, Bertrand; Leveque, Samuel A.; Longinotti, Antonio; Menardi, Serge; Morel, Sebastien; Noethe, Lothar; Paresce, Francesco; Percheron, Isabelle; Phan Duc, T.; Pino, A.; Rabeling, D.; Ramirez, A.; Robbe-Dubois, Sylvie; Richichi, Andrea; Rijo, A.; Sabet, Cyrus; Sandrock, Stefan; Segransan, Damien; Spyromilio, Jason; Tamai, Roberto; Tarenghi, Massimo; Wallander, Anders; Wilhelm, Rainer; Wittkowski, Markus
Affiliation:
AA(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AB(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AC(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AD(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AE(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AF(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AG(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AH(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AI(National Radio Astronomy Observatory (USA) and Leiden Observatory/Univ. Leiden (Netherlands)), AJ(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AK(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AL(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AM(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AN(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AO(Observatoire de Paris-Meudon (France)), AP(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AQ(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AR(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AS(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AT(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AU(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AV(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AW(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AX(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), AY(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), AZ(Leiden Observatory/Univ. Leiden (Netherlands)), BA(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BB(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BC(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BD(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BE(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BF(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BG(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BH(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BI(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BJ(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BK(Leiden Observatory/Univ. Leiden (Netherlands)), BL(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BM(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BN(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BO(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BP(Univ. de Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France)), BQ(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BR(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BS(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BT(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BU(Observatoire de Geneve (Switzerland)), BV(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BW(European Southern Observatory (Chile)), BX(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BY(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), BZ(European Southern Observatory (Germany)), CA(European Southern Observatory (Chile))
Journal:
Interferometry for Optical Astronomy II. Edited by Wesley A. Traub . Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 4838, pp. 870-880 (2003). (SPIE Homepage)
Publication Date:
02/2003
Origin:
SPIE
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2003: SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Bibliographic Code:
2003SPIE.4838..870S

Abstract

On March 17, 2001, the VLT interferometer saw for the first time interferometric fringes on sky with its two test siderostats on a 16m baseline. Seven months later, on October 29, 2001, fringes were found with two of the four 8.2m Unit Telescopes (UTs), named Antu and Melipal, spanning a baseline of 102m. First shared risk science operations with VLTI will start in October 2002. The time between these milestones is used for further integration as well as for commissioning of the interferometer with the goal to understand all its characteristics and to optimize performance and observing procedures. In this article we will describe the various commissioning tasks carried out and present some results of our work.