Toward 10-milliarcsecond infrared astrometry

Robert N. Treuhaft; Stephen T. Lowe; Manfred Bester; William C. Danchi; Charles H. Townes

doi:10.1117/12.177249

9 June 1994 Toward 10-milliarcsecond infrared astrometry

Robert N. Treuhaft, Stephen T. Lowe, Manfred Bester, William C. Danchi, Charles H. Townes

Proceedings Volume 2200, Amplitude and Intensity Spatial Interferometry II; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177249
Event: 1994 Symposium on Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation for the 21st Century, 1994, Kailua, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

Infrared astrometry at the 10-milliarcsecond (mas) level is applicable to experiments in stellar evolution astronomy, solar system dynamics, relativistic gravitation, and deep space laser tracking. We are pursing astrometry with the U. C. Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) on Mt. Wilson to demonstrate a 10-mas capability for tracking stellar and solar system objects. Astrometric data from the ISI, taken and analyzed over the last 5 years, have shown that instrumental and atmospheric effects limit current demonstrations. The ISI data show that point-to-point interferometric phase fluctuations due to tropospheric and quantum noise, for optimal integration times of 0.2 seconds, are approaching the 0.1-cycle level needed to reliably connect the phase. Modeling the ISI data suggests that atmospheric fluctuations on Mt. Wilson, during the best seeing, are dominated by a low-lying component, within the first 25 meters above the ISI, which, in the future, may be minimized with in situ calibration. A calculation of atmosphere-limited astrometric accuracy shows that the ISI will soon be able to achieve 10-mas astrometry, on a 13-m baseline in a single observing session, employing current ground-based laser distance interferometer calibrations to minimize atmospheric effects.

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Robert N. Treuhaft, Stephen T. Lowe, Manfred Bester, William C. Danchi, and Charles H. Townes "Toward 10-milliarcsecond infrared astrometry", Proc. SPIE 2200, Amplitude and Intensity Spatial Interferometry II, (9 June 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177249

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KEYWORDS

Infrared radiation

Interferometry

Atmospheric modeling

Telescopes

Calibration

Data modeling

Infrared telescopes

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