Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer: first fringes and next steps for the imaging facility

Abstract

The Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) is located in NM, USA in the Cibola National Forest at an altitude of 10,500 ft. MROI is the most ambitious imaging optical interferometer being built today, with an ultimate design capable of supporting 10 movable telescopes operating at optical/NIR wavelengths, and with baselines ranging from 8 to 347 meters. We have recently reached the milestone of first fringes on July 12, 2025, and within only a few nights of observing have attained 10.2 magnitudes at H-band. We present end-to-end technical performance of the system and discuss where we anticipate making improvements in the coming years. Ongoing work towards our Performance Verification Milestones (PVMs) are allowing us to assess MROI’s operational performance against our global error budget (e.g. throughput, tilt/shear, piston, jitter) for the facility in anticipation of proceeding to first science measurements with the first two telescopes. Additional milestones associated with studies of objects in geosynchronous orbit are being planned, and some discussion of this effort will also be presented. By the summer of 2027, MROI expects to begin work installing the third telescope and beamline for the array, all of which is currently funded via a cooperative agreement through the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Albuquerque, NM. Plans for new instrumentation and early scientific observations with two and three telescopes will also be presented. We are actively pursuing new funding avenues for future beamlines/telescopes and are open to partnering opportunities for instrumentation and operations of the facility.