Keck Interferometer status and plans
- Other:
- Traub, Wesley A.
Abstract
Keck Interferometer is a NASA-funded project to combine the two 10 m Keck telescopes for high sensitivity near-infrared fringe visibility measurements, nulling interferometry at 10 μm to measure the quantity of exozodiacal emission around nearby stars, and differential-phase measurements to detect "hot-Jupiters" by their direct emission. It is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the Michelson Science Center. Recent activity has included formal visibility mode commissioning, as well as science observations, and we briefly review some of the significant technical aspects and updates to the system. We have also completed laboratory development of the nuller. The nuller uses two modified Mach-Zehnder input nullers, a Michelson cross combiner, and a 10 μm array camera to produce background-limited null measurements. To provide required temporal stability for the nuller, the system incorporates end-to-end laser metrology with phase referencing from two 2.2 μm fringe trackers. The nuller recently completed its pre-ship review and is being installed on the summit. After nuller integration and test, the differential phase mode will be deployed, which will use a 2-5 μm fringe detector in combination with a precision path length modulator and a vacuum delay line for dispersion control.
Additional Information
© 2004 Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). The Keck Interferometer is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Part of this work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and at the Michelson Science Center, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA.Attached Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 92317
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20190116-105510421
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2019-01-18Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- Proceedings of SPIE
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 5491