Infrared wavefront sensing for adaptive optics assisted galactic center observations with GRAVITY

Author(s):  
Stefan Hippler ◽  
Wolfgang Brandner ◽  
Silvia Scheithauer ◽  
Martin Kulas ◽  
Johana Panduro ◽  
...  
Instruments ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Stefan Hippler ◽  
Wolfgang Brandner ◽  
Silvia Scheithauer ◽  
Martin Kulas ◽  
Johana Panduro ◽  
...  

This article describes the operation of the near-infrared wavefront sensing based Adaptive Optics (AO) system CIAO. The Coudé Infrared Adaptive Optics (CIAO) system is a central auxiliary component of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) interferometer (VLTI). It enables in particular the observations of the Galactic Center (GC) using the GRAVITY instrument. GRAVITY is a highly specialized beam combiner, a device that coherently combines the light of the four 8-m telescopes and finally records interferometric measurements in the K-band on 6 baselines simultaneously. CIAO compensates for phase disturbances caused by atmospheric turbulence, which all four 8 m Unit Telescopes (UT) experience during observation. Each of the four CIAO units generates an almost diffraction-limited image quality at its UT, which ensures that maximum flux of the observed stellar object enters the fibers of the GRAVITY beam combiner. We present CIAO performance data obtained in the first 3 years of operation as a function of weather conditions. We describe how CIAO is configured and used for observations with GRAVITY. In addition, we focus on the outstanding features of the near-infrared sensitive Saphira detector, which is used for the first time on Paranal, and show how it works as a wavefront sensor detector.


2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Tao ◽  
Bautista Fernandez ◽  
Oscar Azucena ◽  
Min Fu ◽  
Denise Garcia ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
Vol 376 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Clénet ◽  
D. Rouan ◽  
E. Gendron ◽  
J. Montri ◽  
F. Rigaut ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 132-134
Author(s):  
Andrea Stolte ◽  
Eva K. Grebel ◽  
Wolfgang Brandner ◽  
Donald F. Figer

The Arches cluster - located only 11′ from the Galactic Center (GC) - is one of the densest and richest young star clusters in the Milky Way. With an age of only about 2 Myr, it is ideally suited to study massive cluster formation in an extreme environment. We find an IMF slope of Γ = −0.77 from 5 to 100 M⊙, in good agreement with the results from HST/NICMOS from Figer et al. (1999). The limiting factor in the dense cluster center is crowding. With the new AO systems, high resolution analysis of the dense cluster region combined with very deep infrared photometry is available. We have analysed deep H and K′ images of the cluster center obtained with the GEMINI/Hokupa'a adaptive optics system. Colour-magnitude diagrams and the IMF are constructed from these data. A comparison with isochrones yields the mass function.


2011 ◽  
Vol 534 ◽  
pp. A117 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Buchholz ◽  
G. Witzel ◽  
R. Schödel ◽  
A. Eckart ◽  
M. Bremer ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 390 ◽  
pp. L41 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lloyd-Hart ◽  
P. Wizinowich ◽  
B. McLeod ◽  
D. Wittman ◽  
D. Colucci ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 871 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhimat Krishna Gautam ◽  
Tuan Do ◽  
Andrea M. Ghez ◽  
Mark R. Morris ◽  
Gregory D. Martinez ◽  
...  

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