AMBER, the Astronomical Multi-Beam Recombiner,[1][2] is an instrument mounted on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), combining the light of the three Unit Telescopes in the near-infrared of the VLT-Interferometer (VLTI). It is at the source of a considerable number of publications[3] in the field of optical long-baseline interferometry.
It combines three out of the four telescopes of the VLTI, through a spectrograph, making it a unique instrument, combining spectroscopy and interferometry. These properties, and the fact that AMBER is an open-community instrument, made it a successful instrument. It can be compared to its fellow in the mid-infrared, the MIDI instrument in terms of the number of publications.
Highlights from the AMBER instrument[4] include the first detection of a Keplerian-rotating disk around a Be star,[5] the discovery of disks around evolved stars,[6][7] the characterization of the disks of young stars,[8][9] the observations of novae,[10] the sharpest images of evolved stars [11][12][13][14] and the characterization of the central dusty torus of active galactic nuclei.[15] As of the end of 2017, 150 refereed papers had been published using AMBER data.[16]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "[AMBER, focal instrument of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer ] Page d'accueil". Amber.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr. Archived from the original on 2011-01-09. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "The Sky Through Three Giant Eyes". ESO. 2007-02-23. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Instrument". Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ^ "Press Releases". ESO. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "To Be or Not to Be: Is It All About Spinning?". ESO. 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "The Frugal Cosmic Ant". ESO. 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Into the Chrysalis". ESO. 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "The Growing-up of a Star". ESO. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Unravelling the Mystery of Massive Star Birth". ESO. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Watching a 'New Star' Make the Universe Dusty". ESO. 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Hundred metre virtual telescope captures unique detailed colour image". ESO. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Double Engine for a Nebula". ESO. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "VLT Spots Largest Yellow Hypergiant Star". ESO. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "First "3D View" from the VLT Interferometer". ESO. 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "Dusty Surprise Around Giant Black Hole". ESO. 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ "ESO Publication Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-08-06.