Objectives been 2014
- Get the first fringes on Vega with two small mirrors (without adaptive optics to start).
- Gradually increase the number of mirrors.
- Test the new gondola.
Perspectives
The team met and coordinated by Antoine Labeyrie and Denis Mourard wish
- to develop a fast and reliable method to adjust and stabilize the position of the mirrors on the theoretical sphere of the diluted mirror,
- get "first fringes" with two small mirrors (without adaptive optics to start)
- gradually increase the number of mirrors.
The first objects observed by the terrestrial high Ubaye hypertelescope will not exoplanets, but bright stars, including the star Vega, easy to observe the summer. Once completed the technical steps, the first scientific studies will concern "resolved" stars. The observations of these stars will evolve depending on the technical development of the installation.
Just like the radio interferometers, the Ubaye hypertelescope lends itself to a scalable modular installation. It therefore has the same advantage: to produce scientific results before the completion of the installation. Scalability of installation particularly dependent on the results of preliminary tests, it is difficult to predict in advance the pace and timing.
Also the programming of the implementation phase of the mirrors by Adaptive Optics and laser guide star, and the extension of the meta-ouverture at 200 m, will depend both
- experience gained during the first trials,
- scientific perspectives
- funding and human resources.
The duration of the scientific exploitation of the hypertelescope implanted in Ubaye will depend on both the initial results in-situ and interest that could express the European or international astronomical institutions for another project planned with Indian astronomers: the construction in a valley of the Himalayas or the Andes for a larger version of the hypertelescope of Ubaye. If this Extremely wide Hypertelescope project (ELHyT) was established, the scientific exploitation of the Ubaye hypertelescope should however be continued for a few years necessary for the study and the construction of the new instrument.
Souces-> LISE OCA