In 2025, ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) completes its sensitivity upgrade with improved Adaptive Optics (AO) and Laser Guide Stars (LGS) (https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2519/).

These breakthroughs push the guiding limiting magnitude down to Grp=17 / K~20. The new sensitivity unlocks new science cases but also revitalizes classic programs. This lunch session will highlights/showcase the possibilities of sub-milliarcseconds astronomy in the near and thermal infrared, and will provide hands-on experience from a practical observation simulation, to proposal preparation, data reduction and interpretation etc.    Interferometry remains a demanding technique, but it is no longer a closed domain for experts. ESO and the VLTI Expertise Centres, (originally established thanks to the European Interferometry Initiative), offer hands-on guidance, training, and tools. Together with the wider community, they form a strong, collaborative network that lowers the barriers to entry.  

Programme

The lunch session will showcase science cases and recent results, guiding participants through each stage of using the VLTI, showcasing the support structure, tools, and actors with concrete examples. The session will also provide opportunity for open discussion and exchange with the community.

• What is optical interferometry and VLTI in particular
• Convert your idea into a proposal
• Prepare your proposal: using ESO phase 1
• Prepare your observations: using ESO phase 2
• Reduce your data, by yourself or with the help of the VLTI expertise centres
• Analyse your data with open tools

Invited speakers

Scientific organisers

Antoine Mérand (ESO, Germany) and the European Interferometry Initiative bureau: Claudia Paladini (ESO, Chile); Guillaume Bourdarot (MPE, Germany); Foteyni Claire Lykou (Konkoly, Hungary); Denis Defrère (Leuven, Belgium)

Contact

Antoine Mérand: amerand *at* eso.org