In the GRAVITY+ project, GRAVITY is presently undergoing a series of upgrades to enhance its performance, add wide field capability and thereby expand its sky coverage. Some aspects of these improvements have already been implemented and commissioned by the end of 2021, making them accessible to the community. The augmentation of sky coverage involves increasing the maximum angular separation between the celestial science object and the fringe tracking object from the previous 2 arcseconds (limited by the field of view of the VLTI) to 20 – 30 arcseconds (constrained by atmospheric conditions during observation). Phase 1 of GRAVITY+ Wide utilizes the earlier PRIMA Differential Delay Lines to compensate for the optical path length variation between the science and fringe tracking beams throughout an observation. In phase 2, we are upgrading the existing beam compressors (BC) to integrate optical path length difference compensation directly into the BC. This modification eliminates five optical reflections per beam, thereby enhancing the optical throughput of the VLTI–GRAVITY system and the bandwidth of the vibrational control. We will present the implementation of phase 2 and share preliminary results from our testing activities for GRAVITY+ Wide.
We present in this proceeding the results of the test phase of the GRAVITY+ adaptive optics. This extreme AO will enable both high-dynamic range observations of faint companions (including exoplanets) thanks to a 40×40 sub-apertures wavefront control, and sensitive observations (including AGNs) thanks to the addition of a laser guide star to each UT of the VLT. This leap forward is made thanks to a mostly automated setup of the AO, including calibration of the NCPAs, that we tested in Europe on the UT+atmosphere simulator we built in Nice. We managed to reproduce in laboratory the expected performances of all the modes of the AO, including under non-optimal atmospheric or telescope alignment conditions, giving us the green light to proceed with the Assembly, Integration and Verification phase in Paranal.
The GRAVITY+ project consists of instrumental upgrades to the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) for faint-science, high-contrast, milliarcsecond interferometric imaging. As an integral part of the GRAVITY+ Adaptive Optics (AO) architecture, the Wavefront Sensor (WFS) subsystem corrects image distortions caused by the turbulence of Earth's atmosphere. We present the opto-mechanical design of the WFS subsystem and the design strategies used to implement two payloads positioned diagonally opposite each other - Natural Guide Star (NGS) and Laser Guide Star (LGS) - within a single compact design structure. We discuss the implementation of relative motions of the two payloads covering their respective patrol fields and a nested motion within the LGS Payload covering the complete Sodium layer profile in the Earth's atmosphere.
We present the Wavefront Sensor units of the Gravity Plus Adaptive Optics (GPAO) system, which will equip all 8m class telescopes of the VLTI and is an instrumental part of the GRAVITY+ project. It includes two modules for each Wavefront Sensor unit: a Natural Guide Star sensor with high-order 40×40 Shack-Hartmann and a Laser Guide Star 30×30 sensor. The state-of-the-art AO correction will considerably improve the performance for interferometry, in particular high-contrast observations for NGS observations and all-sky coverage with LGS, which will be implemented for the first time on VLTI instruments. In the following, we give an overview of the Wavefront Sensor units system after completion of their integration and characterization.
The GRAVITY instrument has transformed the field of near-infrared interferometry and is redefining the limits of ground-based observations. In Galactic Center observations, this is shown by routinely achieving below 50 μas uncertainty on astrometric measurements within a 5-minute exposure and detecting stars fainter than 19th magnitude. Nevertheless, systematic effects are still limiting the instrument's performance. In this talk, I will introduce two observing modes to overcome these limitations: Pupil modulation to improve the astrometry and metrology attenuation to overcome SNR limitations. I will detail these two modes and show how significant the improvements are on examples of on-sky data.
We present latest results and further development of the image reconstruction tool GRAVITY-RESOLVE (G^R), which is specifically designed for Galactic Center observations with the near-infrared phase-referencing VLTI instrument GRAVITY. We show deep images of the Galactic Center in recent years and movies in which the stellar motion around the central massive black hole SgrA* becomes apparent on yet unmatched scales. Moreover, we present a first result of the newly implemented mosaicing method in G^R to jointly reconstruct multiple datasets which have been separately recorded on sky.
Performances of an adaptive optics (AO) system are directly linked with the quality of its alignment. During the instrument calibration, having open loop fast tools with a large capture range are necessary to quickly assess the system misalignment and to drive it towards a state allowing to close the AO loop. During operation, complex systems are prone to misalignments (mechanical flexions, rotation of optical elements, etc.) that potentially degrade the AO performances, creating a need for a monitoring tool to tackle their driftage. In this work, we first present an improved perturbative method to quickly assess large lateral errors in open loop. It uses the spatial correlation of the measured interaction matrix of a limited number of 2D spatial modes with a synthetic model. Then, we introduce a novel solution to finely measure and correct these lateral errors via the closed loop telemetry. Non-perturbative, this method consequently does not impact the science output of the instrument. It is based on the temporal correlation of 2D spatial frequencies in the deformable mirror commands. It is model-free (no need of an interaction matrix model) and sparse in the Fourier space, making it fast and easily scalable to complex systems such as future extremely large telescopes. Finally, we present some results obtained on the development bench of the GRAVITY+ extreme AO system (Cartesian grid, 1432 actuators). In addition, we show with on-sky results gathered with CHARA and GRAVITY/CIAO that the method is adaptable to non-conventional AO geometries (hexagonal grids, 60 actuators).
In the context of the GRAVITY+ upgrade, the adaptive optics (AO) systems of the GRAVITY interferometer are undergoing a major lifting. The current CILAS deformable mirrors (DM, 90 actuators) will be replaced by ALPAO kilo-DMs (43×43, 1432 actuators). On top of the already existing 9×9 Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (SH-WFS) for infrared (IR) natural guide star (NGS), new 40×40 SH-WFSs for visible (VIS) NGS will be deployed. Lasers will also be installed on the four units of the Very Large Telescope to provide a laser guide star (LGS) option with 30×30 SH-WFSs and with the choice to either use the 9×9 IR-WFSs or 2×2 VIS-WFSs for low order sensing. Thus, four modes will be available for the GRAVITY+ AO system (GPAO): IR-NGS, IR-LGS, VIS-NGS and VIS-LGS. To prepare the instrument commissioning and help the observers to plan their observations, a tool is needed to predict the performances of the different modes and for different observing conditions (NGS magnitude, science object magnitude, turbulence conditions...) We developed models based on a Maréchal approximation to predict the Strehl ratio of the four GPAO modes in order to feed the already existing tool that simulates the GRAVITY performances. Waiting for commissioning data, our model was validated and calibrated using the TIPTOP toolbox, a Point Spread Function simulator based on the computation of Power Spectrum Densities. In this work, we present our models of the NGS modes of GPAO and their calibration with TIPTOP.
Initially designed to detect and characterize exoplanets, extreme adaptive optics systems (AO) open a new window on the solar system by resolving its small bodies. Nonetheless, despite the always increasing performances of AO systems, the correction is not perfect, degrading their image and producing a bright halo that can hide faint and close moons. Using a reference point spread function (PSF) is not always sufficient due to the random nature of the turbulence. In this work, we present our method to overcome this limitation. It blindly reconstructs the AO-PSF directly in the data of interest, without any prior on the instrument nor the asteroid’s shape. This is done by first estimating the PSF core parameters under the assumption of a sharp-edge and flat object, allowing the image of the main body to be deconvolved. Then, the PSF faint extensions are reconstructed with a robust penalization optimization, discarding outliers on-the-fly such as cosmic rays, defective pixels and moons. This allows to properly model and remove the asteroid’s halo. Finally, moons can be detected in the residuals, using the reconstructed PSF and the knowledge of the outliers learned with the robust method. We show that our method can be easily applied to different instruments (VLT/SPHERE, Keck/NIRC2), efficiently retrieving the features of AO-PSFs. Compared with state-of-the-art moon enhancement algorithms, moon signal is greatly improved and our robust detection method manages to discriminate faint moons from outliers.
The tremendous costs and complexity of instruments for the next generation of telescopes (ELT, GMT, TMT) has led to increasing research into photonic devices as cheaper and compact alternatives to bulk optic components. The widespread availability of adaptive optics and diffraction-limited image quality of telescopes in the infrared enables the use of single-mode photonic devices. A possible single-mode counterpart to conventional, bulk optic spectrographs are photonic spectrographs, based e.g. on arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG). AWGs are widely used in the telecommunication industries for wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing. As a result, commercial AWGs are typically operated around the 1550nm communication window and their potential application as an astrophotonic spectrograph has been studied mainly in the astronomical H band (1500-1700 nm). In order to extend the wavelength range, we developed an AWG for the astronomical J band (center wavelength 1250 nm). The device was ordered for fabrication and was characterized using a test bench built in-house. The AWG chip is found to exhibit spectral resolutions close to the design resolution (R∼12500) over a large wavelength range from at least 1150nm to 1500 nm, with an intrinsic peak transmission close to 80% at the center wavelength. Our results demonstrate the potential to use AWG’s in astronomical spectrographs in future instruments.
Standard digital correlators, which rely on the acquisition of signals and their processing, are intrinsically limited by the clock jitter of the analog-to-digital converters, and by the processing capabilities in real time of digital electronics. Here, we demonstrate a novel analog correlator architecture based on a simple photonic platform, suitable for wideband RF signal processing. The system gives access in real time to the entire correlation function of two signals by computing the cross correlation coefficients for 200 values of their relative delay simultaneously. The time-delay step can be adjusted from a few ns down to a few ps, enabling us to process signals with MHz to multi-GHz bandwidth. The system, based on a frequency shifting loop, can find applications in radar, electronic warfare, imaging, and radio-astronomy.
The recombination of a large number of telescopes in an imaging array represents a major long-term challenge of infrared astronomy, which motivates active instrumental research. In the mid-infrared, as initiated in the early 1980s by the group of C.H. Townes at Berkeley, heterodyne interferometry offers a potential path in complement to classical interferometry, being scalable more easily to a large number of telescopes and by relaxing the requirement on a complex infrastructure, but at the cost of a sensitivity penalty. In this review, we present the current status of heterodyne interferometry and its prospects in light of recent technological developments in this technique. We start by recalling the basic working principles of heterodyne interferometry and the sensitivity budget of this technique. We then present the impact of current technological developments — detectors, local oscillators, correlators, phase synchronization — on the building blocks of a heterodyne interferometer. In the last part, we focus on the interest of developing pathfinders of imaging interferometric instruments, and the synergies with classical interferometry. In particular, the dimensioning of pathfinder instruments highlights the trade-off between angular resolution and sensitivity in the design of large imaging interferometers.
A near-IR high-resolution, R≈80000 spectrometer has been developed at IPAG to directly characterize the atmosphere of exoplanets using adaptive optics (AO) assisted telescopes, and a single-mode fiber-injection unit. A first technical test with the 200’ Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory occurred in March 2022 using the PALM3000 AO system offered by this telescope. Observations have also been made at the same time with the PARVI spectrometer so that a direct comparison can be made between the two instruments. This spectrometer uses a virtually imaged phased array (VIPA) instead of an echelle grating, resulting in a very compact optical layout that fits in a 0.25m3 cryostat. Using a quarter of an H2RG detector, the spectrometer analyses the middle part of the H-band, from 1.57 to 1.7 microns for 2 sources whose light is transferred from the telescope to the spectrometer using single-mode fibers. By design, the transmission of the spectrometer is expected to be 40-50%, which is 2-3 times higher than the transmission of current high-resolution spectrometers such as CRIRES+ and NIRSPEC. A damaged cross-disperser limited it to 21%, however. A replacement grating with a correct, twice as high efficiency has been procured after the on-sky demonstration. In addition to recalling the main specifications of the VIPA spectrometer, this paper presents the control software, the calibration process, and the reduction pipeline that have been developed for the instrument. It also presents the results of the on-sky technical test with the Hale telescope, as well as measurements of the effective resolution and transmission, along with a comparison of a spectrum of the sun obtained with the spectrometer with the BASS2000 reference spectrum. Planned modifications are also discussed. That includes the integration of a new dedicated H2RG detector, and of K-band optics.
The unique astrometric capability of GRAVITY has already resulted in a serie of transformational results, from the study of the Galactic Center to the characterization of exoplanets. Nonetheless, these breakthroughs have not yet reached the ultimate noise limits of interferometric astrometry, and are currently limited by the systematics of the instrument. As part of the GRAVITY+ project, a major goal is to keep pushing the performances down to the precision of 10-30µas. In this talk, we present the on-going analysis of the precision limits of GRAVITY astrometry, and the potential solutions envisioned to overcome its systematics.
We present a characterization bench of a complete photonics correlation scheme for mid-infrared heterodyne interferometry. The bench can handle very high bandwidths RF signals generated by the heterodyne beating of celestial light with a local oscillator on future generation mid-infrared detectors. The bench is composed of a first two-beam stage allowing the mixing of the "science" source with the local oscillator and a second photonics correlation stage made with telecom components. We present the first experimental proof of concept. Two possible photonics correlation concepts including a patented double loop correlation are introduced.
With the upgrade from GRAVITY to GRAVITY+ the instrument will evolve to an all-sky interferometer that can observe faint targets, such as high redshift AGN. Observing the faintest targets requires reducing the noise sources in GRAVITY as much as possible. The dominant noise source, especially in the blue part of the spectrum, is the backscattering of the metrology laser light onto the detector. To reduce this noise we introduce two new metrology modes. With a combination of small hardware changes and software adaptations, we can dim the metrology laser during the observation without losing the phase referencing. For single beam targets, we can even turn off the metrology laser for the maximum SNR on the detector. These changes lead to a SNR improvement of over a factor of two averaged over the whole spectrum and up to a factor of eight in the part of the spectrum currently dominated by laser noise.
As part of the GRAVITY+ project, the near-infrared beam combiner GRAVITY and the VLTI are currently undergoing a series of significant upgrades to further improve the performance and sky coverage. The instrumental changes will be transformational, and for instance uniquely position GRAVITY to observe the broad line region of hundreds of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) at a redshift of two and higher. The increased sky coverage is achieved by enlarging the maximum angular separation between the celestial science object (SC) and the off-axis fringe tracking (FT) star from currently 2 arcseconds (arcsec) up to unprecedented 30 arcsec, limited by the atmospheric conditions. This was successfully demonstrated at the VLTI for the first time.
KEYWORDS: Signal processing, Optical correlators, Analog electronics, Picosecond phenomena, Digital signal processing, Transmitters, Standards development, Signal detection, Signal analyzers, Physics
We demonstrate a novel architecture enabling the correlation in real-time of broadband RF signals (> GHz). Contrary to conventional digital correlators, our technique is analog: no digitization nor digital signal processing is required. The correlation is performed in the optical domain, enabling the processing of multi GHz signals. Moreover, the proposed architecture calculates in real-time the correlation function for more than 200 values of the delay simultaneously. Applications of the technique range from radio-astronomy, to transmitter localization by Time Difference of Arrival.
The extension of infrared interferometry to an array with a large number of telescopes and kilometric baselines such as the Planet Formation Imager represents an exciting but formidable challenge. Such an infrastructure will require major technological developments, with several key aspects still to be solved on a mid and long term horizon. Mid-infrared heterodyne interferometry is considered as one potential technology despite its well documented lower sensitivity but its stronger scalability and lower hard infrastructure requirements. Exploring pathfinder instruments is a way to increase the maturity of interferometric technologies. In this study we propose to use the 8 VLTI telescopes (Unit and Auxiliary) as a coherent array using infrared heterodyne interferometry by exploiting the potential of state of the art technology in the field of high bandwidth detectors, laser frequency combs, fiber links and innovative photonics correlator. We analyze the sensitivity of an eight beam combining heterodyne instrument called V8 and present a possible sub-system breakdown. By comparing its performances with the ones advertised by ESO for MATISSE we conclude that V8, despite its lower sensitivity, has an interesting science potential since it allows to trade a higher limiting magnitude with an incomparable better mapping capability. As such it should be a formidable tool to explore evolved stars complex mass-loss processes. Moreover, it should allow the interferometry community to explore pathways for future long-baseline arrays, combining or not, direct and heterodyne interferometry.
The path toward a large imaging interferometer in the infrared, as proposed within the framework of the Planet Formation Imager initiative, represents an incredibly exciting and complex challenge of future infrared interferometry. In this context, heterodyne detection has been proposed as a potential alternative in order to recombine a large number of telescopes, with kilometric baselines, in a practical infrastructure, despite a poorer sensitivity compared to classical interferometry. Among the different building blocks necessary to an infrared heterodyne interferometer, the detection and correlation of wide-bandwidth signals remains a big obstacle, in particular to gain further in sensitivity. Here, we propose to address the problem of transport and correlation of wide- bandwidth signals over kilometric distances by presenting the concept of a photonic correlation dedicated to infrared heterodyne interferometry. We present the concept, the implementation and the experimental results for the correlation of two signals with a phase modulation implementation, its possible extrapolation to a larger number of telescopes and spectral channels, and an alternative correlation scheme based on amplitude modulation.
Current high-resolution spectrometers have been designed for seeing-limited sources. Designing a spectrometer for diffraction-limited sources makes it possible to significantly improves its compacity and cost, but it also opens up new concepts, including better efficiency, and adaptability to various spectral domains, and up to very high resolution (several 10^5). A novel, near-IR, R~80000 spectrometer has been developed at IPAG to characterize two sources at once in the H or K bands. Its design is based on a virtually imaged phased array instead of an échelle grating, which allows the spectrometer to fit inside a 0.2m3 cryostat, and results in a gain in throughput with respect to usual échelle spectrographs. One specific science case that can benefit from this new type of design is the characterization of exoplanets' atmosphere. This paper presents the results of its test in the laboratory, as well as the preparation for an on-sky demonstration tentatively scheduled for summer 2020.
We present a ground-to-space quantum key distribution (QKD) mission concept and the accompanying feasibility study for the development of the low earth orbit CubeSat payload. The quantum information is carried by single photons with the binary codes represented by polarization states of the photons. Distribution of entangled photons between the ground and the satellite can be used to certify the quantum nature of the link: a guarantee that no eavesdropping can take place. The versatile space segment is compatible with a multiple of QKD protocols, as well as quantum physics experiments.
Direct imaging systems are now designed for specific telescope apertures and specific high-contrast diffraction 2D patterns. Current coronagraphic masks are not adaptive components, and different apertures and science requirements must result in different masks, which always come in a small number in a real-life instrument. Adaptive components would make it possible to adapt to changes in the aperture transmission (which will likely happen on a daily basis with the near future highly segmented telescopes, such as ESO's ELT), as well as to reconfigure at will the high-contrast area for different observation modes. In particular, the prospect of characterizing planets with a known position at a high spectral resolution pushes for adaptive coronagraphs capable of creating high-contrast in a small area of the image plane. Micro-mirror arrays are commercially available MOEMS that may be used as binary adaptive amplitude mask. They adaptively redirect light in either one of two directions using millions of micron-sized, bi-stable mirrors. Their spatial resolutions is compatible with 2D binary apodization patterns, in addition to Lyot stops. We have conducted a series of laboratory tests to assess the compatibility of an off-the-shelf micro-mirror array with high-contrast imaging requirements. This communication first presents the context and the scope of the project. It then details the results of our initial characterization of the device, in particular a measurement of the wavefront aberrations and of the level of scattered light that it introduces. Finally, it presents high-contrast point-spread functions obtained with this device, and summarizes the limitations of current components to derive a possible roadmap for the development of scientific-grade adaptive pupil masks.
High-resolution spectroscopy is a key element for present and future astronomical instrumentation. In particular, coupled to high contrast imagers and coronagraphs, high spectral resolution enables higher contrast and has been identified as a very powerful combination to characterise exoplanets, starting from giant planets now, up to Earth-like planet eventually for the future instruments. In this context, we propose the implementation of an innovative echelle spectrometer based on the use of VIPA (Virtually Imaged Phased Array, Shirasaki 1996). The VIPA itself is a particular kind of Fabry-P´erot interferometer, used as an angular disperser with much greater dispersive power than common diffraction grating. The VIPA is an efficient, small component (3 cm × 2.4 cm), that takes the very advantage of single mode injection in a versatile design. The overall instrument presented here is a proof-of-concept of a compact, high-resolution (R > 80 000) spectrometer, dedicated to the H and K bands, in the context of the project “High-Dispersion Coronograhy“ developed at IPAG. The optical bench has a foot-print of 40 cm × 26 cm ; it is fed by two Single-Mode Fibers (SMF), one dedicated to the companion, and one to the star and/or to a calibration channel, and is cooled down to 80 K. This communication first presents the scientific and instrumental context of the project, and the principal merit of single-mode operations in high-resolution spectrometry. After recalling the physical structure of the VIPA and its implementation in an echelle-spectrometer design, it then details the optical design of the spectrometer. In conclusion, further steps (integration, calibration, coupling with adaptive optics) and possible optimization are briefly presented.
The nanosatellite ATISE is a mission dedicated to the observation of the emission spectra of the upper atmosphere (i.e. Airglow and Auroras) mainly related to both the solar UV flux and the precipitation of suprathermal particles coming from the solar wind through the magnetosphere. ATISE will measure specifically the auroral emissions, and the airglow (day- and night) in the spectral range between 380 and 900 nm at altitudes between 100 and 350 km. The exposure time will be 1 second in auroral region and 20 s at low latitude regions. The 5 year expected lifetime of this mission should cover almost a half of solar cycle (2 years nominal). This instrument concept is based on an innovative miniaturized Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) allowing simultaneous 1 Rayleigh sensitivity detection along six 1.5°x1° limb lines of sight. This 1-2kg payload instrument is hosted in a 12U cubeSat where 6U are allocated to the payload and 6U to the plateform subsystems. This represents a miniaturisation by a factor of 500 on weight and volume compared to previous Arizona-GLO instrument for equivalent performances in the visible. The instrument is based on microSPOC concept developed by ONERA and IPAG using one Fizeau interferometer per line of sight directly glued on top of the half of a very sensitive CMOS Pyxalis HDPYX detector. Three detectors are necessary with a total electrical consumption compatible with a 6U nanoSat. Each interferometer occupies a 1.4 M pixel part of detector, each is placed on an image of the entrance pupil corresponding to a unique direction of the six lines of sight, this in order to have a uniform illumination permitting good spectral Fourier reconstruction from fringes created between the Fizeau plate and the detector itself. Despite a limited 8x6 cm telescope, this configuration takes advantage of FTS multiplex effect and permits us to maximize the throughput and to integrate very faint emission lines over a wide field of view even if the 1 second integrated signal is comparable to the detector noise.
We introduce to astrophysical instrumentation and space optics the use of Virtually Imaged Phased Array (VIPA) to shrink échelle spectrographs and/or increase their resolution.
In this communication we present the first experimental results obtained on the Crossed-cubes nuller (CCN), that is a new type of Achromatic phase shifter (APS) based on a pair of crossed beamsplitter cubes. We review the general principle of the CCN, now restricted to two interferometric outputs for achieving better performance, and describe the experimental apparatus developed in our laboratory. It is cheap, compact, and easy to align. The results demonstrate a high extinction rate in monochromatic light and confirm that the device is insensitive to its polarization state. Finally, the first lessons from the experiment are summarized and discussed in view of future space missions searching for extrasolar planets located in the habitable zone, either based on a coronagraphic telescope or a sparse-aperture nulling interferometer.
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