|
|||||
|
|
Imaging the heart of astrophysical objects with optical long-baseline interferometry |
|
| Authors: | J-P Berger F Malbet F Baron A Chiavassa G Duvert M Elitzur B Freytag F Gueth S H?nig J Hron H Jang-Condell J-B Le Bouquin J-L Monin J D Monnier G Perrin B Plez T Ratzka S Renard S Stefl E Thiébaut K R W Tristram T Verhoelst S Wolf J Young |
| Institution: | 1. CNRS, UMR?5571, Institut de Plan??tologie et d??Astrophysique de Grenoble, Universit?? J. Fourier (Grenoble 1), B.P. 53, 38041, Grenoble cedex 9, France 2. European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile 3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA 4. Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 19. Institut d??Astronomie et d??Astrophysique, Universit?? Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium 5. Max-Planck-Institut f??r Astrophysik, Garching bei M??nchen, Germany 6. Jean Marie Mariotti Center, Grenoble, France 7. University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA 8. Centre de Recherche en Astrophysique de Lyon, UMR?5574, Universit?? de Lyon/??cole Normale Sup??rieure de Lyon/CNRS, Lyon, France 9. Institut de Radioastronomie Millim??trique, Grenoble, France 10. Max-Planck-Institut f??r Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany 11. Department of Physics, University of California in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA 12. Institut f??r Astronomie, Universit?t Wien, Wien, Austria 13. Department of Physics & Astronomy 1000 E., University of Wyoming, 3905, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA 14. Laboratoire d??Etudes Spatiales et d??Instrumentation en Astrophysique, UMR?8109, Observatoire de Paris/CNRS, Meudon, France 15. Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, UMR 5299, CNRS, Universit?? Montpellier 2, 34095, Montpellier, France 16. Universit?ts-Sternwarte M??nchen, M??nchen, Germany 17. Institute of Astronomy, KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium 18. University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany |
| Abstract: | The number of publications of aperture-synthesis images based on optical long-baseline interferometry measurements has recently increased due to easier access to visible and infrared interferometers. The interferometry technique has now reached a technical maturity level that opens new avenues for numerous astrophysical topics requiring milli-arcsecond model-independent imaging. In writing this paper our motivation was twofold: (1) review and publicize emblematic excerpts of the impressive corpus accumulated in the field of optical interferometry image reconstruction; (2) discuss future prospects for this technique by selecting four representative astrophysical science cases in order to review the potential benefits of using optical long-baseline interferometers. For this second goal we have simulated interferometric data from those selected astrophysical environments and used state-of-the-art codes to provide the reconstructed images that are reachable with current or soon-to-be facilities. The image-reconstruction process was ??blind?? in the sense that reconstructors had no knowledge of the input brightness distributions. We discuss the impact of optical interferometry in those four astrophysical fields. We show that image-reconstruction software successfully provides accurate morphological information on a variety of astrophysical topics and review the current strengths and weaknesses of such reconstructions. We investigate how to improve image reconstruction and the quality of the image possibly by upgrading the current facilities. We finally argue that optical interferometers and their corresponding instrumentation, existing or to come, with six to ten telescopes, should be well suited to provide images of complex sceneries. |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ | |