The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is made up of four separate optical telescopes (the Antu telescope, the Kueyen telescope, the Melipal telescope, and the Yepun telescope) organized in an array formation, built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) at the Paranal Observatory on Cerro Paranal, a 2,635 m high mountain in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Each telescope has an 8.2 m aperture. The array is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. Working together in interferometric mode, the telescopes can achieve an angular resolution of around 1 milliarcsecond, equivalent to the gap between the headlights of a car as observed from the same distance as between the Earth to the Moon.
above the VLT.]] and VLT sizes compared with Brandenburger Tor.]]
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is made up of four separate optical telescopes (the Antu telescope, the Kueyen telescope, the Melipal telescope, and the Yepun telescope) organized in an array formation, built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) at the Paranal Observatory on Cerro Paranal, a 2,635 m high mountain in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Each telescope has an 8.2 m aperture. The array is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. Working together in interferometric mode, the telescopes can achieve an angular resolution of around 1 milliarcsecond, equivalent to the gap between the headlights of a car as observed from the same distance as between the Earth to the Moon.
The VLT consists of an arrangement of four large (8.2 meter diameter) telescopes, and optical elements which can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI) which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer also includes a set of four 1.8 meter diameter movable telescopes dedicated to interferometric observations. The 8.2 meter telescopes have been named after some astronomical objects in the local Mapuche language: Antu (The Sun), Kueyen (The Moon), Melipal (The Southern Cross), and Yepun (Venus).
The VLT 8.2 meter telescopes was originally designed to be operated in three modes:
The VLTs are equipped with a large set of instruments permitting observations to be performed from the near-UV to the mid-IR (ie a large fraction of the light wavelengths accessible from the surface of the Earth), with the full range of techniques including high-resolution spectroscopy, multi-object spectroscopy, imaging, and high-resolution imaging. In particular, the VLT has several Adaptive optics systems, which at infrared wavelengths correct for the effects of the atmospheric turbulence, providing images almost as sharp as if the telescope were in space. In the near-IR, the Adaptive Optics images of the VLT are up to three times sharper than those of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the spectroscopic resolution is many times better than Hubble. The VLTs are noted for their high level of observing efficiency and automation.
The principal role of the main VLT telescopes is to operate as four independent telescopes. The interferometry (combining light from multiple telescopes) is used about 20 percent of the time for very high-resolution on bright objects e.g. Betelgeuse.
Additionally, the four 8.2 m telescopes are accompanied by four smaller Auxiliary Telescopes of 1.8 m each (two operational in 2005, the other two in 2006), which can be placed on different positions around the four big telescopes in order to provide better interferometric observations.
The VLT is operated by the European Southern Observatory.
In 2004, VLT telescopes produced some of the first infrared images of extrasolar planets GQ Lupi b and 2M1207b. Among the more recent discoveries is the discovery of the farthest gamma-ray burst and the evidence for a black hole at the centre of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. The VLT has also discovered the candidate farthest galaxy ever seen by humans, Abell 1835 IR1916.
sets (3D)]]
Instruments on the VLT:
Instruments on the VLTTelescope | Cassegrain-Focus | Nasmyth-Focus A | Nasmyth-Focus B |
---|---|---|---|
Antu (UT1) | FORS 2 | CRIRES | Guest focus |
Kueyen (UT2) | X-Shooter | FLAMES | UVES |
Melipal (UT3) | VISIR | ISAAC | VIMOS |
Yepun (UT4) | SINFONI | HAWK-I | NACO |
Several second-generation VLT instruments are now under development:
In its interferometric operating mode, the light from the telescopes is reflected off mirrors and directed through tunnels to a central beam combining laboratory. The VLTI is intended to achieve an effective angular resolution of 0.002 arcsecond at a wavelength of 2 µm. This is comparable to the resolution achieved using other arrays such as the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer and the CHARA array. Using the big telescopes the faintest object the VLTI can observe is magnitude 7 in the near infrared for broadband observations, similar to many other near infrared / optical interferometers without fringe tracking2. At more challenging mid-infrared wavelengths, the VLTI can reach magnitude 4.5, significantly fainter than the Infrared Spatial Interferometer. When fringe tracking is introduced, the limiting magnitude of the VLTI is expected to improve by a factor of almost 1000, reaching a magnitude of about 14. This is similar to what is expected for other fringe tracking interferometers. In spectroscopic mode, the VLTI can currently reach a magnitude of 1.5. The VLTI can work in a fully integrated way, so that interferometric observations are actually quite simple to prepare and execute. The VLTI has become worldwide the first general user optical/infrared interferometric facility offered with this kind of service to the astronomical community.
Because of the many mirrors involved in the VLTI system, about 99 percent of the light is lost before reaching the detector.[] Additionally, the interferometric technique is such that it is very efficient only of objects that are small enough that all their light is concentrated. For instance, an object with a relatively low surface brightness such as the moon cannot be observed, because its light is too diluted. Only targets which are at temperatures of more than 1,000°C have a surface brightness high enough to be observed in the mid-infrared, and objects must be at several thousands of degrees Celsius for near-infrared observations using the VLTI. This includes most of the stars in the solar neighborhood and many extragalactic objects such as bright active galactic nuclei, but this sensitivity limit rules out interferometric observations of most solar-system objects. Although the use of large telescope diameters and adaptive optics correction can improve the sensitivity a small amount, this cannot extend the reach of optical interferometry beyond nearby stars and the brightest active galactic nuclei.
Because the Unit Telescopes are used most of the time independently, they are used in the interferometric mode mostly during bright time (that is, close to Full Moon). At other times, interferometry is done using 1.8 meter Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs), which are dedicated to full-time interferometric measurements. The first observations using a pair of ATs were conducted in February 2005, and all the four ATs have now been commissioned. For interferometric observations on the brightest objects, there is little benefit in using 8 meter telescopes rather than 1.8 meter telescopes.
The first two instruments at the VLTI were VINCI (a test instrument used to set-up the system) and MIDI, which only allowed two telescopes to be used at any one time. With the installation of the three-telescope AMBER closure-phase instrument in 2005, the first imaging observations from the VLTI are expected soon. In 2008 the Phase Referenced Imaging and Microarcsecond Astrometry (PRIMA) instrument further enhanced the imaging capabilities of the VLTI by allowing phase-referenced imaging, although PRIMA is not expected to be available for use by the astronomic community until at least April 2009.
After falling drastically behind schedule and failing to meet some specifications, in December 2004 the VLT Interferometer became the target of a second ESO "recovery plan". This involves additional effort concentrated on more rapid improvements to fringe tracking and the performance of the main delay lines. Note that this only applies to the interferometer and not other instruments on Paranal. In 2005, the VLTI was routinely producing observations, although with a brighter limiting magnitude and poorer observing efficiency than expected.
As of March 2008[update], the VLTI had already led to the publication of 89 peer-reviewed publications.
One of the large mirrors of the telescopes was the subject of an episode of the National Geographic Channel's reality series World's Toughest Fixes, where a crew of engineers removed and transported the mirror to be cleaned and re-coated with aluminum.