26,026 research outputs found
VSI: the VLTI spectro-imager
The VLTI Spectro Imager (VSI) was proposed as a second-generation instrument
of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer providing the ESO community with
spectrally-resolved, near-infrared images at angular resolutions down to 1.1
milliarcsecond and spectral resolutions up to R=12000. Targets as faint as K=13
will be imaged without requiring a brighter nearby reference object. The unique
combination of high-dynamic-range imaging at high angular resolution and high
spectral resolution enables a scientific program which serves a broad user
community and at the same time provides the opportunity for breakthroughs in
many areas of astrophysic including: probing the initial conditions for planet
formation in the AU-scale environments of young stars; imaging convective cells
and other phenomena on the surfaces of stars; mapping the chemical and physical
environments of evolved stars, stellar remnants, and stellar winds; and
disentangling the central regions of active galactic nuclei and supermassive
black holes. VSI will provide these new capabilities using technologies which
have been extensively tested in the past and VSI requires little in terms of
new infrastructure on the VLTI. At the same time, VSI will be able to make
maximum use of new infrastructure as it becomes available; for example, by
combining 4, 6 and eventually 8 telescopes, enabling rapid imaging through the
measurement of up to 28 visibilities in every wavelength channel within a few
minutes. The current studies are focused on a 4-telescope version with an
upgrade to a 6-telescope one. The instrument contains its own fringe tracker
and tip-tilt control in order to reduce the constraints on the VLTI
infrastructure and maximize the scientific return.Comment: 12 pages, to be published in Proc. SPIE conference 7013 "Optical and
Infrared Interferometry", Schoeller, Danchi, and Delplancke, F. (eds.). See
also http://vsi.obs.ujf-grenoble.f
Micro Fourier Transform Profilometry (FTP): 3D shape measurement at 10,000 frames per second
Recent advances in imaging sensors and digital light projection technology
have facilitated a rapid progress in 3D optical sensing, enabling 3D surfaces
of complex-shaped objects to be captured with improved resolution and accuracy.
However, due to the large number of projection patterns required for phase
recovery and disambiguation, the maximum fame rates of current 3D shape
measurement techniques are still limited to the range of hundreds of frames per
second (fps). Here, we demonstrate a new 3D dynamic imaging technique, Micro
Fourier Transform Profilometry (FTP), which can capture 3D surfaces of
transient events at up to 10,000 fps based on our newly developed high-speed
fringe projection system. Compared with existing techniques, FTP has the
prominent advantage of recovering an accurate, unambiguous, and dense 3D point
cloud with only two projected patterns. Furthermore, the phase information is
encoded within a single high-frequency fringe image, thereby allowing
motion-artifact-free reconstruction of transient events with temporal
resolution of 50 microseconds. To show FTP's broad utility, we use it to
reconstruct 3D videos of 4 transient scenes: vibrating cantilevers, rotating
fan blades, bullet fired from a toy gun, and balloon's explosion triggered by a
flying dart, which were previously difficult or even unable to be captured with
conventional approaches.Comment: This manuscript was originally submitted on 30th January 1
The Wide Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed
We are developing a Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed (WIIT) in
support of design studies for NASA's future space interferometry missions, in
particular the SPIRIT and SPECS far-infrared/submillimeter interferometers.
WIIT operates at optical wavelengths and uses Michelson beam combination to
achieve both wide-field imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy. It will be
used chiefly to test the feasibility of using a large-format detector array at
the image plane of the sky to obtain wide-field interferometry images through
mosaicing techniques. In this setup each detector pixel records interferograms
corresponding to averaging a particular pointing range on the sky as the
optical path length is scanned and as the baseline separation and orientation
is varied. The final image is constructed through spatial and spectral Fourier
transforms of the recorded interferograms for each pixel, followed by a
mosaic/joint-deconvolution procedure of all the pixels. In this manner the
image within the pointing range of each detector pixel is further resolved to
an angular resolution corresponding to the maximum baseline separation for
fringe measurements.
We present the motivation for building the testbed, show the optical,
mechanical, control, and data system design, and describe the image processing
requirements and algorithms. WIIT is presently under construction at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, IEEE Aerospace Conference 200
Milli-arcsecond astrophysics with VSI, the VLTI spectro-imager in the ELT era
Nowadays, compact sources like surfaces of nearby stars, circumstellar
environments of stars from early stages to the most evolved ones and
surroundings of active galactic nuclei can be investigated at milli-arcsecond
scales only with the VLT in its interferometric mode. We propose a
spectro-imager, named VSI (VLTI spectro-imager), which is capable to probe
these sources both over spatial and spectral scales in the near-infrared
domain. This instrument will provide information complementary to what is
obtained at the same time with ALMA at different wavelengths and the extreme
large telescopes.Comment: 8 pages. To be published in the proceedings of the ESO workshop
"Science with the VLT in the ELT Era", held in Garching (Germany) on 8-12
October 2007, A. Moorwood edito
- …