Following the arrival of MATISSE, the second-generation of VLTI instrumentation is now complete and was simultaneously enhanced by a major facility upgrade including the NAOMI Adaptive Optics on the Auxiliary Telescopes. On the Unit Telescopes, significant efforts were also made to improve the injection stability into VLTI instruments. On top of GRAVITY's own evolution, its fringe tracker is now being used to allow coherent integrations on MATISSE (the so-called GRA4MAT project). Meanwhile, operations also evolved to be more flexible and make the most of an extended observing parameter space. In this context, we present an overview of the current VLTI performances. Finally, we will report on on-going improvements such as the extension of the longest baselines.
MATISSE (Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment) is the spectro-interferometer for the VLTI of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), operating in the L-, M- and N- spectral bands, and combining up to four beams from the unit or the auxiliary telescopes (UTs or ATs). MATISSE will offer new breakthroughs in the study of circumstellar environments by allowing the mapping of the material distribution, the gas and essentially the dust. The instrument consists in a warm optical system (WOP) accepting four beams from the VLTI and relaying them after a spectral splitting to cold optical benches (COB) located in two separate cryostats, one in L-M- band, and one in N-band. The test plan of the complete instrument has been conducted at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in order to confirm the compliance of the performance with the high-level requirements. MATISSE has successfully passed the Preliminary Acceptance in Europe the 12th September 2017. Following this result, ESO gave approval for the instrument to be shipped to Paranal. The Alignment, Integration and Verification phase was conducted until end of February 2018, at the end of which first observations on sky have been performed to test the operations with the VLTI and to obtain first stellar light. The two first runs of the commissioning followed, respectively in March and in May 2018. It has the goal to optimize the MATISSE-VLTI communication, the acquisition procedures and the interface parameters. The observations were performed on bright L-M- and N- stars, with four ATs located on short baselines and UTs. The limit magnitudes will be deduced.
This paper reports on the performance of the instrument measured in laboratory (results of test plan in Nice and AIV in Paranal) in terms of spectral coverage, dispersion laws and spectral resolutions, and transfer function analysis: instrumental contrast, visibility accuracy, accuracy of the differential phase, of the closure-phase and of the differential visibility. It also provides results of the first tests on sky and the planning of the on-going commissioning.
The near-infrared GRAVITY instrument has become a fully operational spectro-imager, while expanding its capability to support astrometry of the key Galactic Centre science. The mid-infrared MATISSE instrument has just arrived on Paranal and is starting its commissioning phase. NAOMI, the new adaptive optics for the Auxiliary Telescopes, is about to leave Europe for an installation in the fall of 2018. Meanwhile, the interferometer infrastructure has continuously improved in performance, in term of transmission and vibrations, when used with both the Unit Telescopes and Auxiliary Telescopes. These are the highlights of the last two years of the VLTI 2nd generation upgrade started in 2015.
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