Astrometry with the Keck-Interferometer: the ASTRA project and its science
Jorg-Uwe Pott, Julien Woillez, Rachel L. Akeson, Ben Berkey, Mark M., Colavita, Andrew Cooper, Josh A. Eisner, Andrea M. Ghez, James R. Graham,, Lynne Hillenbrand, Michael Hrynewych, Drew Medeiros, Rafael Millan-Gabet,, John Monnier, Douglas Morrison, Tatyana Panteleeva
TL;DR
The ASTRA upgrade to the Keck Interferometer enhances its sensitivity and astrometric precision, enabling simultaneous dual-object observations with sub-100 microarcsecond accuracy for diverse astrophysical research.
Contribution
Introduction of the ASTRA upgrade's technology and its capability for high-precision dual-field astrometry with the Keck Interferometer.
Findings
Achieved astrometric precision better than 100 microarcseconds.
Enabled simultaneous observation of two objects.
Supported diverse astrophysical research applications.
Abstract
The sensitivity and astrometry upgrade ASTRA of the Keck Interferometer is introduced. After a brief overview of the underlying interferometric principles, the technology and concepts of the upgrade are presented. The interferometric dual-field technology of ASTRA will provide the KI with the means to observe two objects simultaneously, and measure the distance between them with a precision eventually better than 100 uas. This astrometric functionality of ASTRA will add a unique observing tool to fields of astrophysical research as diverse as exo-planetary kinematics, binary astrometry, and the investigation of stars accelerated by the massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way as discussed in this contribution.
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.