PLANETES: a technology demonstrator for dual-field interferometry in the J-Band at the VLTI

M. Nowak Sylvestre Lacour R. Abuter P. Bourget Amira Bouikni Jean-Tristan Buey Thomas Carmignani F. Clop Luis Esteras Otal J. Gach M. Haug E. Huby J. Kammerer M. Lallement Samuel Lévêque Lucie Maillet D. Marqu'es A. M'erand Elias Nussbaumer Florian Rieutor Hugo Sakislian J. Sarrazin Y. Wanwanscappel S. Yazici Gérard Zins

Aug 2026 · Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation · Vol 14148, pp. 1414806 - 1414806-7 · 0 citations · 8 references

Engineering

Abstract

We present PLANETES, a technology development project that aims at demonstrating GRAVITY-style dualfield interferometry into the J band. Building on PIONIER’s legacy in short-wavelength interferometry and GRAVITY’s breakthroughs in dual-field operation, this demonstrator integrates dual-field injection, integratedoptics J-band beam-combination, as well as a new large-format low-noise APD camera and a new metrology system for the VLTI. The goal is to demonstrate very high-contrast on the VLTI, with potentital to study giant planets near the ice line, accretion processes traced by hydrogen lines in young planets, and open up the possibility of detecting more mature giant planets in reflected-light. These new developments could form the basis for the high-contrast mode of the proposed 3rd generation VLTI instrument SHARPS (Short-wavelength High-Angular Resolution Phase-referenced Spectrograph).

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