Sparse aperture masking (SAM) at NAOS/CONICA on the VLT

Peter Tuthill; Sylvestre Lacour; Paola Amico; Michael Ireland; Barnaby Norris; Paul Stewart; Tom Evans; Adam Kraus; Christopher Lidman; Emanuela Pompei; Nicholas Kornweibel

doi:10.1117/12.856806

15 July 2010 Sparse aperture masking (SAM) at NAOS/CONICA on the VLT

Peter Tuthill, Sylvestre Lacour, Paola Amico, Michael Ireland, Barnaby Norris, Paul Stewart, Tom Evans, Adam Kraus, Christopher Lidman, Emanuela Pompei, Nicholas Kornweibel

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III; 77351O (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.856806
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The new operational mode of aperture masking interferometry has been added to the CONICA camera which lies downstream of the Adaptive Optics (AO) corrected focus provided by NAOS on the VLT-UT4 telescope. Masking has been shown to deliver superior PSF calibration, rejection of atmospheric noise and robust recovery of phase information through the use of closure phases. Over the resolution range from about half to several resolution elements, masking interferometry is presently unsurpassed in delivering high fidelity imaging and direct detection of faint companions. Here we present results from commissioning data using this powerful new operational mode, and discuss the utility for masking in a variety of scientific contexts. Of particular interest is the combination of the CONICA polarimetry capabilities together with SAM mode operation, which has revealed structures never seen before in the immediate circumstellar environments of dusty evolved stars.

Citation Download Citation

Peter Tuthill, Sylvestre Lacour, Paola Amico, Michael Ireland, Barnaby Norris, Paul Stewart, Tom Evans, Adam Kraus, Christopher Lidman, Emanuela Pompei, and Nicholas Kornweibel "Sparse aperture masking (SAM) at NAOS/CONICA on the VLT", Proc. SPIE 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III, 77351O (15 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.856806

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available