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arXiv · 2609.24567

Pushing high angular resolution and high contrast observations on the VLTI from Y to L band with the Asgard instrumental suite: integration status and plans

Marc-Antoine Martinod·Michael J. Ireland·Denis Defrère·Stefan Kraus·Frantz Martinache·Peter G. Tuthill·Emilie Bouzerand·Julia Bryant·Sorabh Chhabra·Peter Chingaipe·Benjamin Courtney-Barrer·Fred Crous·Nick Cvetojevic·Daniel S. Dahl·Colin Dandumont·Steve Ertel·Germain Garreau·Adrian M. Glauser·Xavier Haubois·Lucas Labadie·Stéphane Lagarde·Daniel Lancaster·Romain Laugier·Roxanne Ligi·Nathan Long·Alexandra Mazzoli·Thomas Mattheussen·György Medgyesi·Kwinten Missiaen·Sébastien Morel·Daniel J. Ahrer·Barnaby Norris·Jyotirmay Paul·Romain Petrov·Gert Raskin·Sylvie Robbe-Dubois·Gordon Robertson·Muhammad Salman·Ahmed Sanny·Nicolas Schuhler·Owain Snaith·Adam K. Taras
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Abstract

ESO's VLTI has a history of record-breaking discoveries in astrophysics using high-angular resolution instrumentation. Its latest visitor instrument, the Asgard instrumental suite, is one key to further enhance the potential of the facility, particularly in the very near-infrared. It comprises four natively collaborating instruments: HEIMDALLR, a K-band fringe tracker, wavefront corrector and stellar interferometer in K band, with the same optics; Baldr, an H-band Zernike wavefront sensor; BIFROST, an Y-J-H-band photonic combiner whose main science case is studying the formation processes and properties of stellar and planetary systems; and NOTT, an L-band nulling interferometer for imaging young planetary systems. Each of these instruments promise significant advances in their respective science goals that scale with their technical challenges and technology innovations. The integration of Asgard is planned in three phases. The first one (integration, commissioning of HEIMDALLR and Baldr) is successfully done. In this paper, we show an overview of the current progress of the integration of Asgard, the first results of the on-sky commissioning of HEIMDALLR and the future steps and observing policies for Asgard to serve the broader community.

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Marc-Antoine Martinod, Michael J. Ireland, Denis Defrère, Stefan Kraus, Frantz Martinache, Peter G. Tuthill, Emilie Bouzerand, Julia Bryant, Sorabh Chhabra, Peter Chingaipe, Benjamin Courtney-Barrer, Fred Crous, Nick Cvetojevic, Daniel S. Dahl, Colin Dandumont, Steve Ertel, Germain Garreau, Adrian M. Glauser, Xavier Haubois, Lucas Labadie, Stéphane Lagarde, Daniel Lancaster, Romain Laugier, Roxanne Ligi, Nathan Long, Alexandra Mazzoli, Thomas Mattheussen, György Medgyesi, Kwinten Missiaen, Sébastien Morel, Daniel J. Ahrer, Barnaby Norris, Jyotirmay Paul, Romain Petrov, Gert Raskin, Sylvie Robbe-Dubois, Gordon Robertson, Muhammad Salman, Ahmed Sanny, Nicolas Schuhler, Owain Snaith, Adam K. Taras. 2026-09-21. Pushing high angular resolution and high contrast observations on the VLTI from Y to L band with the Asgard instrumental suite: integration status and plans. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3103686

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