VSI: a milli-arcsec spectro-imager for the VLTI

Author(s)
Fabien Malbet, Pierre Kern, Laurent Jocou, Paulo Garcia, David Buscher, Karine Rousselet-Perraut, Gerd Weigelt, Mario Gai, Jean Surdej, Josef Hron, Ralph Neuhäuser, Etienne Le Coarer, Pierre Labeye, Jean-Baptitste Le Bouquin, Myriam Benisty, Emilie Herwats
Abstract

VLTi Spectro-Imager (VSI) is a proposition for a second generation VLTI instrument which is aimed at providing the ESO community with the capability of performing image synthesis at milli-arcsecond angular resolution. VSI provides the VLTI with an instrument able to combine 4 telescopes in a baseline version and optionally up to 6 telescopes in the near-infrared spectral domain with moderate to high spectral resolution. The instrument contains its own fringe tracker in order to relax the constraints onto the VLTI infrastructure. VSI will do imaging at the milli-arcsecond scale with spectral resolution of: a) the close environments of young stars probing the initial conditions for planet formation; b) the surfaces of stars; c) the environment of evolved stars, stellar remnants and stellar winds, and d) the central region of active galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes. The science cases allowed us to specify the astrophysical requirements of the instrument and to define the necessary studies of the science group for phase A.

Organisation(s)
Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s)
Observatoire des sciences de l'univers de Grenoble, Universidade do Porto, University of Cambridge, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Université de Liège, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Laboratoire d'Electronique de Technologie de l'Information
Journal
Proceedings of SPIE
Volume
6268
ISSN
0277-786X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.673098
Publication date
2006
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103004 Astrophysics, 103003 Astronomy
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/f5f63b09-6b78-4305-8427-f2be3b5e4259