Seminars and Colloquia at ESO Garching and on the campus

Combining telescopes (or antenna) has been a staple of observatory design and operations. The technique, known as interferometry, is rooted in the nature of the light we are seeking to observe: because of light’s wave nature, interferometry provides high angular resolution without having to build prohibitively large collecting areas. Our own Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) is one of the very few interferometers operating in the optical regime, and arguably the most ambitious one with the largest telescopes, most advanced adaptive optics and laser guide stars.

The recent first light of the 4 UTs with laser guide stars is an opportunity to retell the story of VLTI, which started in the late 1970’s with extraordinary scientific vision and perceptive technical foresight. What kind of observations are carried out by VLTI? how unique are its contributions? What will the recent upgrade (GRAVITY+) yield? After introducing a brief history of the VLTI (and the VLT), I will showcase the recent and prospective astrophysical results of this unique facility.