The Power of Optical/IR Interferometry: Recent Scientific Results and 2nd Generation Instrumentation: Proceedings of the ESO Workshop held in Garching, Germany, 4-8 April 2005

582 Pages·2008·28.98 MB·English

by  F. Delplancke

ESO ASTROPHYSICS SYMPOSIA
European Southern Observatory
———————————————————
Series Editor: Bruno Leibundgut
A. Richichi F. Delplancke F. Paresce
A. Chelli (Eds.)
The Power of Optical/IR
Interferometry: Recent
Scientific Results
and 2nd Generation
Instrumentation

Proceedings of the ESO Workshop held
in Garching, Germany, 4-8 April 2005

BA C
Volume Editors
Andrea Richichi Alain Chelli
Francoise Delplancke Observatoire de Grenoble
European Southern Observatory Lab. d’Astrophysique
Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2 Grenoble CX 38041
85748 Garching France
Germany

Francesco Paresce
IASF Bologna
Area Ricerca di Bologna
Via Piero Gobetti 101
Bologna 40129
Italy
Series Editor
Bruno Leibundgut
European Southern Observatory
Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2
85748 Garching
Germany
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007936613
ISBN 978-3-540-74253-1 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
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Preface
In the ancient times the Romans had an expression, Per Aspera ad Astra. It
is not clear whether they already experimented with interferometry at those
times or whether they enjoyed clairvoyant abilities. Certainly, this expres-
sion captures the essence of modern optical and near-infrared long-baseline
interferometry, where technical challenges and engineering problems are the
necessary ingredients of each single day of work. It is, then, only natural that
so many of the workshops and meetings dedicated to interferometry until
now have incorporated large fractions of technical and engineering papers.
Back in 2003, when we started the preparations for what was to become
the workshop published in this book, it was clear that the situation was
changing. Alas, the technical and engineering problems were not finished,
but by then interferometry had reached a status of scientific maturity that
warranted a workshop fully dedicated to results, and many of them absolutely
ground-breaking. If a whole generation of interferometers such as the GI2T,
Mark III, PTI, SUSI, IOTA, NPOI and others had attracted attention and
shown the way forward with convincing results, new powerful facilities such
as the VLTI, the Keck-I and CHARA were finally making heads turn, paper
after paper and press release after press release.
These new interferometers along with their sophisticated instrumentation
have provided new levels of accuracy, spectral resolution and access to var-
ious spectral bands from the optical to the thermal infrared. Investigations
are now enabled on a wealth of astrophysical sources with unprecedented
levels of angular resolution and sensitivity, producing a considerable body of
new, exciting scientific results. The ESO VLTI stands among the most pow-
erful of such facilities. In celebrating the completion of the first phase of the
VLTI development, we saw an opportunity to invite the community to come
together to review and discuss not just interferometers, but science with in-
terferometers and its impact on astronomy as a whole. This workshop was
thus a celebration not just of the VLTI, of which Garching is the European
home, but of the scientific success of interferometry. The workshop was also
intended to showcase ideas and concepts for the future of interferometry, and
in particular for the second generation of VLTI instrumentation. This sec-
ond part of the workshop was organized in collaboration with the European
Interferometry Initiative (EII).
VI Preface
With about 170 registered participants from 14 countries in addition to
ESO and with a programme that was bulging at the seams with excellent
presentations, it is perhaps not too indulgent of us to consider the workshop,
which took place in Garching on 4–8 April, 2005, a success. For this, we have
to thank also the excellent organizational support at ESO, and at the Max-
Planck-Institut for Extraterrestrial Physics that kindly provided the large
room required for this oversized audience.
Looking back to that week of some years ago, we feel a deep satisfaction
with the outcome of the workshop, with the overwhelming participation, with
the richness of results presented and above all with the fertile exchange of
ideas and discussions which took place. The only regret is that, due to a
number of technical problems, the publication of so many important contri-
butions has been delayed for such a long time. We can only hope for your
indulgence, while looking forward to the next occasion to celebrate the sci-
entific achievements of astronomical interferometry.
Garching Alain Chelli
June 2007 Fran¸coise Delplancke
Francesco Paresce
Andrea Richichi
Contents
The Power of Optical/IR Interferometry
Francesco Paresce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Early Days of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer
Pierre L´ena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1988–1993: The Final Definition of the Very Large Telescope
Interferometer, its Site and Configuration
Jacques M. Beckers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Part I Science: Stars — stellar diameters, limb darkening,
flattening, surface structures
Stellar Diameters: Breaking the Barriers
A. Richichi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Imaging the Effects of Rotation in Altair and Vega
D. M. Peterson, C. A. Hummel, T. A. Pauls, J. T. Armstrong,
J. A. Benson, C. G. Gilbreath, R. B. Hindsley, D. J. Hutter,
K. J. Johnston, D. Mozurkewich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Rapid Rotation across the HR Diagram with VLTI: Achernar
and Altair
A. Domiciano de Souza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Multi-Wavelength Interferometry of Evolved Stars Using
VLTI and VLBA
M. Wittkowski, D. A. Boboltz, T. Driebe, K. Ohnaka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Limb Darkening: Getting Warmer
J. P. Aufdenberg, H.-G. Ludwig, P. Kervella, A. M´erand,
S. T. Ridgway, V. Coud´e du Foresto, T. A. ten Brummelaar,
D. H. Berger, J. Sturmann, N. H. Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
VIII Contents
Cepheid Distances from Interferometry
P. Kervella, N. Nardetto, D. Bersier, D. Mourard, P. Fouqu´e,
V. Coud´e du Foresto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
The K-Band Intensity Profile of R Leonis Probed by
VLTI/VINCI
D. Fedele, M. Wittkowski, F. Paresce, M. Scholz, P. R. Wood, S. Ciroi 95
Cepheids Observations Using CHARA/FLUOR : α UMi and
δ Cep
Antoine M´erand, Pierre Kervella, Vincent Coud´e du Foresto,
Stephen T. Ridgway, Jason Aufdenberg, Theo ten Brummelaar,
David Berger, Judit Sturmann, Lazlo Sturmann, Nils Turner,
Harold A. McAlister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Cepheid Observations with the Sydney University Stellar
Interferometer: ℓ Carinae and β Doradus
J. Davis, M. J. Ireland, A. P. Jacob, J. R. North, S. M. Owens,
J. G. Robertson, W. J. Tango, P. G. Tuthill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The Circumstellar Environment of Evolved Stars as seen by
VLTI/MIDI
K. Ohnaka, J. Bergeat, T. Driebe, U. Graser, K.-H. Hofmann,
R. K¨ohler, Ch. Leinert, B. Lopez, F. Malbet, S. Morel, F. Paresce,
G. Perrin, Th. Preibisch, A. Richichi, D. Schertl, M. Scho¨ller, H. Sol,
G. Weigelt, M. Wittkowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Part II Science: Stars — circumstellar matter, IR objects
Evolved Stars: Interferometer Baby Food or Staple Diet?
Peter Tuthill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Eta Car through the Eyes of Interferometers
O. Chesneau, R. van Boekel, T. Herbst, P. Kervella, M. Min,
L.B.F.M. Waters, Ch. Leinert, R. Petrov, G. Weigelt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The Ejecta of Eta Carinae: What we have Learned from
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Ultraviolet
Echelle Spectrograph
Theodore R. Gull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
First AMBER/VLTI Observations of Hot Massive Stars
R.G. Petrov, F.Millour, O.Chesneau, G.Weigelt, D.Bonneau,
Ph. Stee, S.Kraus, D.Mourard, A.Meilland, M.Vannier, F.Malbet,
F. Lisi, P. Antonelli, P.Kern, U.Beckmann, S. Lagarde, K. Perraut,
S.Gennari, E. Le Coarer, Th. Driebe, M. Accardo, S.Robbe-Dubois,
Contents IX
K.Ohnaka, S.Busoni, A.Roussel, G. Zins, J. Behrend, D. Ferruzi,
Y.Bresson, G.Duvert, E. Nussbaum, A.Marconi, Ph. Feautrier,
M.Dugu´e, A.Chelli, E. Tatulli, M.Heininger, A.Delboulbe,
S.Bonhomme, D. Schertl, L. Testi, Ph.Mathias, J. -L.Monin,
L.Gluck, K.H.Hofmann, P. Salinari, P. Puget, J. -M.Clausse,
D.Fraix-Burnet, R. Foy, A. Isella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Mineralogy of Circumstellar Dust
L.B.F.M. Waters, Ch. Leinert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
First Evidence for a Spatially Resolved Disk Structure
around the Herbig Ae Star R CrA
S. Correia, R. Ko¨hler, G. Meeus, H. Zinnecker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
The Chaotic Winds of AGB Stars: Observation Meets Theory
Peter Woitke, Andreas Quirrenbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Observations of 51 Ophiuchi with MIDI at the VLTI
C. Gil, F. Malbet, M. Scho¨ller, O. Chesneau, Ch. Leinert . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Mid-Infrared Spectrally-Dispersed Visibilities of Massive
Stars Observed with the MIDI Instrument on the VLTI
D. J. Wallace, J. Rajagopal, R. Barry, L. J. Richardson, B. Lopez,
O. Chesneau, W. C. Danchi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
The B[e] Star Hen 3-1191 Resolved with MIDI
R. Lachaume, Th. Preibisch, Th. Driebe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Part III Science: Stars — binaries and multiples
Binaries: A Main Staple of Interferometry
Christian A. Hummel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Protoplanetary Disks as seen by Interferometry
Anne Dutrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Pre-Main Sequence Binaries: The Promise of IR
Interferometry
Michal Simon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Observations of Young Stellar Objects with Infrared
Interferometry: Recent Results from PTI, KI and IOTA
Rachel Akeson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
FU Orionis - The MIDI Perspective
Sascha P. Quanz, Thomas Henning, Christoph Leinert,
Thorsten Ratzka, Sebastian Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
X Contents
VLTI MIDI Observations of the Herbig Ae Star HR 5999
Thomas Preibisch, Thomas Driebe, Stefan Kraus, Regis Lachaume,
Roy van Boekel, Gerd Weigelt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Disentangling the Wind and the Disk in the Close
Surrounding of the Young Stellar Object MWC 297 with
AMBER/VLTI
F. Malbet, M. Benisty, W. J. de Wit, S. Kraus, A. Meilland,
F. Millour, E. Tatulli, J.-P. Berger, O. Chesneau, K.-H. Hofmann,
A. Isella, R. Petrov, T. Preibisch, P. Stee, L. Testi, G. Weigelt,
the AMBER consortium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Interferometry of M8E-IR with MIDI - Resolving the Dust
Emission
M. Feldt, I. Pascucci, O. Chesneau, D. Apai, Th. Henning,
Ch. Leinert, H. Linz, A. Men’shchikov, B. Stecklum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Observing T Tauri Stars in the Mid-Infrared with MIDI
Th. Ratzka, Ch. Leinert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Keck Interferometer Observations of the Young Spectroscopic
Binary Haro 1-14c
Gail H. Schaefer, Michal Simon, L. Prato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Preliminary Physical Orbit of the HD 98800 B System
Andy Boden, Anneila Sargent, Rachel Akeson, John Carpenter . . . . . . . . 281
Part IV Science: Stars — Galactic centre, AGNs, astrometry,
exo-planets and future targets
Resolving the Dusty Tori in AGN with the VLT
Interferometer
Klaus Meisenheimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
A New Analysis of MIDI Observations of the Nucleus of
NGC 1068
Anne Poncelet, Guy Perrin, H´el`ene Sol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
IRS 3 - The Brightest Compact MIR Source in the Galactic
Center
A. Eckart, J.-U. Pott, A. Glindemann, T. Viehmann, R. Sch¨odel,
C. Straubmeier, C. Leinert, M. Feldt, R. Genzel, M. Robberto . . . . . . . . 307
Contents XI
Scientific Prospects for VLTI in the Galactic Centre: Getting
to the Schwarzschild Radius
T. Paumard, G. Perrin, A. Eckart, R. Genzel, P. L´ena, R. Sch¨odel,
F. Eisenhauer, T. Mu¨ller, S. Gillessen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Beyond the VLTI
Andreas Quirrenbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
The Power of Optical and Infrared Interferometry - From
Dreams to Reality
Thomas Henning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Part V Instrumentation: Concepts for future interferometric
fringe tracking
Multiple Beam Fringe Tracking at VLTI
M. Gai, D. Bonino, L. Corcione, D. Gardiol, M. G. Lattanzi,
D. Loreggia, G. Massone, S. Menardi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Multiple-beam Fringe Tracking for the VLTI
F. Cassaing, F. Baron, I. Mocoeur, L. M. Mugnier, G. Rousset,
B. Sorrente . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
nd
Part VI Instrumentation: 2 Generation Instrumentation
for the VLTI – Proposals
APerture Synthesis in the MID-Infrared with the VLTI
B. Lopez, S. Wolf, M. Dugu´e, U. Graser, Ph. Mathias, P. Antonelli,
J.-C. Augereau, J. Behrend, N. Berruyer, Y. Bresson, O. Chesneau,
C. Connot, K. Demyk, E. DiFolco, A. Dutrey, S. Flament, Ph. Gitton,
A. Glazenborg, A. Glindemann, M. Heininger, Th. Henning,
K.-H. Hofmann, Y. Hugues, W. Jaffe, S. Jankov, S. Kraus,
S. Lagarde, Ch. Leinert, H. Linz, K. Meisenheimer, L. Mosoni,
J.-L. Menut, U. Neumann, A. Niedzielski, F. Przygodda, F. Puech,
T. Ratzka, R. Rohloff, A. Roussel, D. Schertl, F.-X. Schmider,
B. Stecklum, E. Thi´ebaut, F. Vakili, K. Wagner, G. Weigelt . . . . . . . . . 345
VITRUV - Imaging Close Environments of Stars and
Galaxies with the VLTI at Milli-Arcsec Resolution
Fabien Malbet, Jean-Philippe Berger, Paulo Garcia, Pierre Kern,
Karine Perraut, Myriam Benisty, Laurent Jocou, Emilie Herwats,
Jean-Baptiste Lebouquin, Pierre Labeye, Etienne Le Coarer, Olivier
Preis, Eric Tatulli, Eric Thi´ebaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357