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ESO 16 Metre Very Large Telescope: The Linear Array Concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Daniel Enard
Daniel Enard*
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-8046 Garching

Extract

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VLT preliminary studies were initiated at ESO as early as 1978 (1). After ESO's move from Geneva to Munich (1980) a study group chaired first by R. Wilson, then by J.P. Swings was set up and among a number of conceptual ideas that were analysed, the concept of a “limited array” emerged as the most attractive (2). A significant driver was then, interferometry; however after a theoretical analysis performed by F. Roddier and P. Lena (3), it became clear that interferometry with large telescopes would not be cost-effective in the visible range. In the IR, the situation would be more favorable but the overall efficiency would depend on factors that are not reliably known at present. The conclusion was that it might be difficult to justify a huge investment too exclusively oriented towards interferometry, such as an array of movable large telescopes, but on the other hand the possibility of a coherent coupling in the IR should be maintained as a prime requirement since new developments in detectors and in adaptive optics could make it effective and scientifically very rewarding.

Type
VI. Very Large Telescope Projects
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 79: Very Large Telescopes, their Instrumentation and Programs , 1984 , pp. 767 - 787
Copyright
Copyright © ESO 1984

References

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