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Optical Interferometry Continuation of Cavendish Astrophysics Rolling Grant

卡文迪什天体物理学滚动资助的光学干涉测量延续

基本信息

批准号：
ST/I006099/1
负责人：
Christopher Haniff
金额：
$ 12.93万
依托单位：
University of Cambridge
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2011
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2011 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FI006099%2F1
关键词：
Optical Interferometry Continuation Cavendish Astrophysics

项目摘要

The success of the Hubble Space Telescope and the motivation for its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, have been largely driven by the desire for images with resolutions an order of magnitude better than routinely achieved by ground-based telescopes. However, even this may be inadequate for understanding the physics underlying many important astrophysical phenomena and in many cases resolutions 10-100 times better than these flagship missions are required. Such milli- and sub-milli-arcsecond resolutions can only be delivered by optical/infrared interferometers which synthesize effective telescope diameters of 100s of meters using arrays of smaller telescopes. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) is an optical/IR imaging interferometer currently under construction in New Mexico in a partnership between New Mexico Tech (NMT) and the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. Its Phase 1 implementation will combine light from six 1.4 m telescopes, separated by up to 350m, to permit imaging in the near-infrared with an angular resolution of 0.7 milli-arcseconds, i.e. 10 times better than a diffraction-limited 30 m-class telescope. The MROI builds on the success of other interferometers such as Georgia State's CHARA Array, the Keck Interferometer and the VLTI, which are now routinely used to tackle important astrophysical questions and which have demonstrated that interferometry can be a valuable tool for astronomers who are not interferometric specialists. By optimizing its design for the imaging of faint astrophysical targets, the MROI is expected to have a limiting sensitivity 10-100 times greater than has been realized by any optical/IR interferometer to date. It is the MROI's unique capability to deliver model-independent images at ultra-high resolution, efficiently, and at much higher sensitivity than has been previously realised that offers the most exciting potential for new science. The scope of this research will be very broad. Studies with first-generation IR-arrays have spanned topics as diverse as fundamental parameter estimation of stars, the molecular envelopes of evolved giants, the geometrical extension and evolution of novae ejecta, and the structure of AGN cores. All of these will be accessible at the MROI, though with much higher efficiency, sensitivity and completeness than has hitherto been available with the VLTI and similar current-generation arrays. The MROI is a joint activity of NMT and the Cavendish Laboratory. NMT are providing the majority of the capital funds, while Cavendish researchers - who pioneered interferometry at optical/IR wavelengths - are providing technical leadership and oversight of the array deployment. The proposed research reflects this partnership and will involve staff at the Cavendish completing three key tasks related to the commissioning of the MROI. These will be: * The development and delivery of the real-time control algorithms for the first-light instrument, a fringe tracking beam combiner. Here the goals will be to deliver the critical algorithms necessary to detect and track fringes on the faintest sources with high precision. * The design and coding of the first-light data reduction pipeline for the MROI. This software will be used to produce diagnostic measures critical for optimising the performance of the interferometer as well as producing the first science results from the MROI. * To lead the technical and scientific commissioning effort to deliver first fringes with the MROI. This activity will be led by two of the senior staff at the Cavendish who have had considerable experience of the alignment, integration and commissioning of a number of other interferometric arrays. These activities will form a significant contribution towards the completion of the array and put the UK in a leading position to exploit the science which will result from its operation.

哈勃太空望远镜的成功及其继任者詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的动机，在很大程度上是由对图像分辨率比地面望远镜常规分辨率高一个数量级的渴望所驱动的。然而，即使这样也可能不足以理解许多重要天体物理现象背后的物理学，在许多情况下，需要比这些旗舰任务高10-100倍的分辨率。这种毫角秒和亚毫角秒的分辨率只能由光学/红外干涉仪提供，这些干涉仪使用较小的望远镜阵列合成100米的有效望远镜直径。Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer（MROI）是一种光学/红外成像干涉仪，目前正在新墨西哥州建造，由新墨西哥州Tech（NMT）和剑桥卡文迪什实验室合作。其第一阶段的实施将联合收割机的光从六个1.4米的望远镜，分开高达350米，允许在近红外成像的角分辨率为0.7毫弧秒，即10倍，比衍射限制的30米级望远镜。MROI建立在其他干涉仪的成功基础上，如格鲁吉亚州的CHARA阵列，凯克干涉仪和VLTI，这些干涉仪现在经常用于解决重要的天体物理问题，并已证明干涉测量可以成为非干涉测量专家的天文学家的宝贵工具。通过优化其对微弱天体物理目标成像的设计，MROI的极限灵敏度预计将比迄今为止任何光学/红外干涉仪所实现的灵敏度高10-100倍。MROI的独特能力是以超高分辨率、高效和比以前更高的灵敏度提供与模型无关的图像，这为新科学提供了最令人兴奋的潜力。这项研究的范围将非常广泛。第一代红外线阵列的研究涵盖了各种各样的主题，如恒星的基本参数估计、演化巨星的分子包层、新星喷出物的几何扩展和演化以及活动星系核的结构。所有这些都可以在MROI上获得，尽管其效率、灵敏度和完整性比迄今为止VLTI和类似的电流生成阵列高得多。MROI是NMT和卡文迪什实验室的联合活动。NMT提供了大部分的资本资金，而卡文迪什的研究人员-他们是光学/红外波长干涉测量的先驱-正在提供阵列部署的技术领导和监督。拟议的研究反映了这种伙伴关系，并将涉及卡文迪什的工作人员完成与MROI调试有关的三项关键任务。这些将是：* 第一光仪器，条纹跟踪光束组合器的实时控制算法的开发和交付。这里的目标将是提供必要的关键算法，以高精度检测和跟踪最微弱的光源上的条纹。* 用于MROI的第一光数据缩减流水线的设计和编码。该软件将用于产生对优化干涉仪性能至关重要的诊断措施，以及从MROI产生第一个科学结果。* 领导技术和科学的调试工作，以提供第一个边缘与MROI。这项活动将由卡文迪什的两名高级工作人员领导，他们在其他一些干涉仪阵列的校准、集成和调试方面具有丰富的经验。这些活动将对完成阵列作出重大贡献，并使联合王国处于领先地位，以利用其运作所产生的科学。