| Popis: |
When the coherent combination of the four telescopes of the VLT was first discussed during the design phase of the observatory, interferometry seemed to be a small field with very specialized applications. However, the reports issued by ESO’s successive advisory groups on interferometry (ESO 1986, 1989, 1992) already showed the large potential of the VLTI for a broad range of astronomical problems. This became even more apparent during the ESO Workshop on “Science with the VLT”, which took place in June 1994 (see Walsh and Danziger 1995). Several contributions to this workshop were dedicated to the interferometric mode of the VLT, and many others discussed the use of the VLTI in the context of larger multi-instrument programs. The strong interest in interferometry expressed by astronomers working in a wide variety of fields and the necessity to build the VLTI within tight financial constraints and optimized for the most promising scientific programs prompted ESO to form a new Interferometry Science Advisory Committee in April 1995. The ISAC was charged with updating the science case for the VLTI and prioritizing the technical options in order to maximize the astronomical return from the interferometer. A summary of this work has been published in a recent issue of the Messenger (Paresce et al. 1996). |
