Oct 28, 2024 · With GRAVITY at the VLT interferometer, we can now spatially resolve not just the hot dust continuum on milliarcsecond ‘torus’ scales through imaging but also the broad-line region (BLR) on microarcsecond scales through spectro-astrometry.

3 days ago · Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are one of the most energetic and mysterious phenomena in the universe. In some galaxies indeed, the core generates huge amounts of energy which are orders of magnitudes higher than for normal galaxies, such as the Milky Way.

Simple hot dust sizes (rather than maps with detection over several resolution elements) have been obtained for up to now 17 local AGN (GRAVITY Collaboration 2020b, 2023a), indicating a radius-luminosity relation that is flatter than R L0.5. Such observations ∝

Jan 15, 2024 · By using the GRAVITY instrument with the near-infrared (NIR) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), the structure of the broad (emission-)line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be spatially resolved, allowing …

These reconstructed images have chal-lenged a number of established theories in the field of stellar physics and active galactic nuclei (AGN). With these images, the VLTI can now reveal the true under-lying complexity of these objects.

We present new Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI)GRAVITY near-infrared interferometric measurements of the angular size of the / innermost hot dust continuum for 14 type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs).

Starting from the current state of infrared interferometry, this contribution outlines the scientific challenges in AGN research for the next decade. The instrumental requirements in terms of resolution and sensitivity are compared with current and 2nd generation VLTI instruments.

Here we report the design and first optical bench tests of integrated optics HFT chips for a 4 telescopes interferometer such as the VLTI.

Jan 1, 2009 · Starting from the current state of infrared interferometry, this contribution outlines the scientific challenges in AGN research for the next decade. The instrumental requirements in terms of...

The central parsec of AGN is a key region for the launching of winds, and near-infrared interferometry is a unique tool for its study. With GRAVITY at the VLT interferometer, we can now spatially resolve not just the hot dust continuum on milliarcsecond `torus' scales through imaging but also the broad-line region (BLR) on microarcsecond scales ...