[en] The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) houses two 8.4-meter mirrors separated by 14.4 meters on a common mount. Coherent combination of these two AO-corrected apertures via the LBT Interferometer (LBTI) produces Fizeau interferometric images with a spatial resolution equivalent to that of a 22.8-meter telescope and the light- gathering power of single 11.8-meter mirror. Capitalizing on these unique capabilities, we used LBTI/LMIRcam to image thermal radiation from volcanic activity on the surface of Io at M-Band (4.8 μm) over a range of parallactic angles. At the distance of Io, the M-Band resolution of the interferometric baseline corresponds to a physical distance of ~135 km, enabling high-resolution monitoring of Io volcanism such as ares and outbursts inaccessible from other ground-based telescopes operating in this wavelength regime. Two deconvolution routines are used to recover the full spatial resolution of the combined images, resolving at least sixteen known volcanic hot spots. Coupling these observations with advanced image reconstruction algorithms demonstrates the versatility of Fizeau interferometry and realizes the LBT as the first in a series of extremely large telescopes.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Leisenring, J. M.; Steward Observatory, The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Hinz, P. M.; Steward Observatory, The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Skrutskie, M.; Univ. of Virginia (United States)
Skemer, A.; Steward Observatory, The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Woodward, C. E.; Univ. of Minnesota (United States)
Veillet, C.; Large Binocular Telescope Observatory, The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Arcidiacono, C.; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna (Italy)
Bailey, V.; Steward Observatory, The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Bertero, M.; Univ. degli Studi di Genova (Italy)
Boccacci, P.; Univ. degli Studi di Genova (Italy)
Conrad, A.; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Germany)
de Kleer, K.; Univ. of California, Berkeley (United States)
de Pater, I.; Univ. of California, Berkeley (United States)
Defrere, Denis ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astroph. extragalactique et observations spatiales (AEOS)
Hill, J.; Large Binocular Telescope Observatory, The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Hofmann, K.-H.; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (Germany)
Kaltenegger, L.; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Germany)
La Camera, A.; Univ. degli Studi di Genova (Italy)
Nelson, M. J.; Univ. of Virginia (United States)
Schertl, D.; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (Germany)
Spencer, J.; Southwest Research Institute (United States)
Weigelt, G.; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (Germany)
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