OHANA phase II: a prototype demonstrator of fiber-linked interferometry between very large telescopes

2003 
The 'OHANA (Optical Hawaiian Array for Nanoradian Astronomy, means "family" in Hawaiian) aims at making a large and sensitive optical/IR array with the Mauna Kea 3 to 10 meter telescopes. Telescopes will be linked with single-mode fibers to carry the coherence of the beams from the output of the telescopes adaptive optics systems to the beam combination units. The project has been divided into three phases. The first phase is dedicated to the injection of light into single-mode fibers and to the building of the injection module. The third phase is the realization of the complete array and its use by a wide community of astronomers. In the second phase, a prototype 'OHANA will be built and the "shortest" baselines will be explored. The baselines will be located in the South-East and West parts of the observatory. An extra baseline will possibly link the two groups of telescopes if infrastructure comply with it. This phase II 'OHANA will already be the longest and most sensitive optical/IR interferometer built. Scientific targets will span young stellar objects, extragalactic sources and other types of astronomical topics which require both high angular resolution and sensitivity. This paper reviews the main characteristics of the phase II interferometer.
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