Interferometric Coupling of the Keck Telescopes with Single-Mode Fibers
G. Perrin,1*
J. Woillez,2
O. Lai,3
J. Guérin,1
T. Kotani,1
P. L. Wizinowich,2
D. Le Mignant,2
M. Hrynevych,2
J. Gathright,2
P. Léna,1
F. Chaffee,2
S. Vergnole,4
L. Delage,4
F. Reynaud,4
A. J. Adamson,5
C. Berthod,6
B. Brient,6
C. Collin,1
J. Crétenet,7
F. Dauny,1
C. Deléglise,6
P. Fédou,1
T. Goeltzenlichter,1
O. Guyon,8
R. Hulin,1
C. Marlot,1
M. Marteaud,1,7
B.-T. Melse,1
J. Nishikawa,9
J.-M. Reess,1
S. T. Ridgway,10
F. Rigaut,11
K. Roth,11
A. T. Tokunaga,12
D. Ziegler1
Here we report successful interferometric coupling of two large telescopes with single-mode fibers. Interference fringes were obtained in the 2- to 2.3-micrometer wavelength range on the star 107 Herculis by using the two Keck 10-meter telescopes, each feeding their common interferometric focus with 300 meters of single-mode fibers. This experiment demonstrates the potential of fibers for future kilometric arrays of telescopes and is the first step toward the 'OHANA (Optical Hawaiian Array for Nanoradian Astronomy) interferometer at the Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii. It opens the way to sensitive optical imagers with resolutions below 1 milli-arc second. Our experimental setup can be directly extended to large telescopes separated by many hundreds of meters.
1 Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Unite Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 8109, Observatoire de Paris, 92190 Meudon, France.
2 W. M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela, HI 96743, USA.
3 Canada France Hawaii Telescope Corporation, Kamuela, HI 96743, USA.
4 Institut de Recherche en Communications Optiques et Microondes (IRCOM), UMR 6615, 87060 Limoges, France.
5 United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
6 Technical Division of Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers, 92195 Meudon, France.
7 Galaxies Etoiles Physique et Instrumentation (GEPI), UMR 8111, Observatoire de Paris, 92190 Meudon, France.
8 Subaru Telescope, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
9 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588, Japan.
10 National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
11 Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
12 Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: guy.perrin{at}obspm.fr
