Silmaril: final design and on-sky performance

Cyprien Lanthermann; Theo ten Brummelaar; Peter Tuthill; Narsireddy Anugu; E. Robert Ligon; Gail Schaefer; Douglas Gies; Shashank Dholakia; Adam Taras

doi:10.1117/12.3012543

28 August 2024 Silmaril: final design and on-sky performance

Cyprien Lanthermann, Theo ten Brummelaar, Peter Tuthill, Narsireddy Anugu, E. Robert Ligon, Gail Schaefer, Douglas Gies, Shashank Dholakia, Adam Taras

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13095, Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging IX; 1309505 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3012543
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

Silmaril is a new 3-telescope beam combiner at the CHARA Array. In this presentation, we present the current design of the instrument, its on-sky measured and theoretical best performance, and its future development. Its design is specifically made to push for sensitivity. It combines 3 beams of the CHARA Array, allowing closure phase measurement but limiting the loss in sensitivity. It limits the number of optical elements to the minimum needed for combining the 3 beams. Using a CRED ONE camera allows for sub-electron readout noise, which means that our sensitivity is limited by the thermal background. Long focal-length cylindrical mirrors limit the thermal background by using an f/20 cold stop in front of the camera. We use a low spectral resolution prism to allow fringe tracking without compromising the instrument’s sensitivity. Thanks to an ingenious edge filter design, we can observe both H- and K-band simultaneously, with a low thermal background on the H-band side of the detector. In the future, we intend to extend the instrument with a second set of 3 beams and add a Narcissus mirror to lower the thermal background and improve the sensitivity even more.

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Cyprien Lanthermann, Theo ten Brummelaar, Peter Tuthill, Narsireddy Anugu, E. Robert Ligon, Gail Schaefer, Douglas Gies, Shashank Dholakia, and Adam Taras "Silmaril: final design and on-sky performance", Proc. SPIE 13095, Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging IX, 1309505 (28 August 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3012543

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