The VLTI Auxiliary Telescopes; commissioning of AT1

摘要

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) that currently combines the four VLT 8.2-m Unit Telescopes (UTs) is now being equipped with its dedicated array of Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs). This array includes four 1.8-m telescopes which can be relocated on thirty observing stations distributed on the top of the Paranal Observatory. This array, albeit less sensitive than the array of UTs, is a key element for the scientific operation of the VLTI. After more than five years of design, development, manufacturing and extensive testing in Europe by the company AMOS (Belgium), the first AT arrived on Paranal in October 2003 where it was re-assembled in two months. This was followed by the final testing on the sky, the so-called 'commissioning', that took place in January and February 2004. This paper describes the recent activities from the delivery of AT1 in Europe up to its commissioning at Paranal. It presents a few results from the commissioning and reports the achieved performance. The status of the other ATs is also briefly described.