This investigation focuses on observational measurements of the differential interferometric phase between spectral channels in the VLTI/MIDI instrument. Measurements of target stars are compared with theoretical predictions in order to investigate the effects of dispersion in humid air on differential phase measurements at N band (~10 micron wavelength). An accuracy of 1 degree RMS phase error is achieved after calibration during stable environmental conditions, but this accuracy is degraded if there are fluctuations in humidity between observations. Stabilisation and/or monitoring of the environmental conditions in the VLTI ducts and tunnels will be required in order to achieve the best differential phase performance with MIDI. The measured differential phases are found to be consistent with a model for the refractive index of air based on the HITRAN database.

Date Published: 20 October 2004
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 5491, New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry, (20 October 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.550315

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5491:
New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry
Wesley A. Traub, Editor(s)