Pushing high angular resolution and high contrast observations on the VLTI from Y to L band with the Asgard instrumental suite: integration status and plans

TL;DR

The Asgard suite for ESO's VLTI aims to enhance high angular resolution and contrast observations across multiple bands, with detailed plans for integration, calibration, and operation scheduled for 2025.

Contribution

This paper details the design, integration, and operational plans for the new Asgard instrument suite on the VLTI, enabling advanced astrophysical observations.

Findings

Integration of four new instruments in progress

Operational plans and software architecture outlined

Expected deployment at Paranal in 2025

Abstract

ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer has a history of record-breaking discoveries in astrophysics and significant advances in instrumentation. The next leap forward is its new visitor instrument, called Asgard. It comprises four natively collaborating instruments: HEIMDALLR, an instrument performing both fringe tracking and stellar interferometry simultaneously with the same optics, operating in the K band; Baldr, a Strehl optimizer in the H band; BIFROST, a spectroscopic combiner to study the formation processes and properties of stellar and planetary systems in the Y-J-H bands; and NOTT, a nulling interferometer dedicated to imaging nearby young planetary systems in the L band. The suite is in its integration phase in Europe and should be shipped to Paranal in 2025. In this article, we present details of the alignment and calibration unit, the observing modes, the integration plan, the software architecture, and the roadmap to completion of the project.