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Next: G. Perrin 'OHANA Up: Session 3: Infrared Interferometry Previous: T. M. Herbst INTERFEROMETRY


Sebastian Wolf , Bruno López , and the MATISSE Consortium
MATISSE - INTERFEROMETRIC IMAGING IN THE MID-INFRARED

MATISSE - INTERFEROMETRIC IMAGING IN THE MID-INFRARED


Sebastian Wolf (1), Bruno López (2), and the MATISSE Consortium
(1) Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Koenigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg,
Germany [swolf@mpia.de]
(2) Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, BP 4229 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France


MATISSE, the Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment, is foreseen as a mid-infrared imaging spectro-interferometer combining up to four UT/AT beams at the VLTI. It will measure closure phase relations and thus offer an efficient capability for image reconstruction with the VLTI.

MATISSE will be the first instrument to allow imaging in the 8 - 13 micron wavelength range with a spatial resolution of up to 10 mas. This imaging capability will permit to extend the astrophysical potential of the VLTI by overcoming the ambiguities often existing in the interpretation of pure visibility measurements. We will present science programs for different classes of objects for which a qualitatively new level of understanding is predicted, based on previous indirect observational and theoretical constraints.


next up previous
Next: G. Perrin 'OHANA Up: Session 3: Infrared Interferometry Previous: T. M. Herbst INTERFEROMETRY
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris
2006-03-16