GRAVITY+
GRAVITY and the VLTI have transformed optical interferometry with groundbreaking results on the Galactic Center, active galactic nuclei, and exoplanets.
The GRAVITY+ project will upgrade GRAVITY and the VLTI in order to open up the extragalactic sky for milliarcsecond-resolution interferometric imaging, and give access to targets as faint as K = 22 mag. GRAVITY+ will measure the black hole masses of active galactic nuclei across cosmic time, and obtain high-quality exoplanet spectra and orbits.
GRAVITY+ will provide wide-field off-axis fringe tracking, and improved sensitivity and contrast from new natural guide star and laser guide star adaptive optics for all VLT 8 m unit telescopes. The GRAVITY+ upgrades can start immediately, and can be implemented incrementally, keeping the impact on operation to a minimum. They will add new, globally unique science capabilities with every step. As an infrastructure upgrade of the VLTI, GRAVITY+ will serve all present and future VLTI instruments along with their communities.
Following a summer 2020 recommendation by ESO’s STC, GRAVITY+ went through a Phase A process, which was successfully concluded in summer 2021, in order to become ESO’s next VLT facility instrument. GRAVITY+ will be built by a consortium including MPE, INSU/CNRS, University of Cologne, MPIA, CENTRA, University of Southampton, and associated partner KU Leuven, in close collaboration with ESO.
This picture shows the upgrade of GRAVITY and the VLTI to GRAVITY+ for faint-science, all-sky, high-contrast, milliarcsecond interferometric imaging. The key elements are improved instrument throughput and vibration control, wide-field off-axis fringe tracking, state-of-the-art adaptive optics, and laser guide stars for all telescopes.
Science cases for GRAVITY+ include:
- The Galactic Center
- Galaxy AGN coevolution and the masses of supermassive Black Holes, including super-Eddington accretion, tidal disruption events, and supermassive Black Hole binaries
- Characterization of exoplanets
- Young suns and their planet-forming disks
- Microlenses
- Massive stars
- Intermediate-mass black holes
More information on the GRAVITY+ concept and science can be found in this document, which is based on the GRAVITY+ proposal to ESO.
Events
- GRAVITY+ Phase A Review, July 9 to 12, 2021
- EAS lunch session "Taking infrared interferometry to the next level with GRAVITY+", June 29, 2021
GRAVITY+ community workshop, February 24 to 25, 2021
Publications
Publications from GRAVITY and GRAVITY+ with MPE involvement can be found here:
Follow GRAVITY+ on twitter!
Code of Conduct
The GRAVITY + collaboration is committed to creating a safe and professional work environment free of all forms of discrimination, harassment and retaliation, where diversity and inclusion are valued and where everyone is entitled to be treated with courtesy and respect. Consequently, the GRAVITY+ collaboration will not tolerate any form of harassment. We follow the Code of Conduct for the Max Planck Society.
Our core values are
• We treat each other with respect.
• We act honestly, ethically and with integrity.
• We communicate transparently and respectfully both internally and externally.
We expect everyone in the GRAVITY+ collaboration to reflect the Core Values of the MPG in their actions.
Any of the GRAVITY+ Co-Is* can be contacted when concerns arise from a potential violation of Code of Conduct. We will treat any information as confidential, unless we are required by our institutions to report it. See also webpages of the GRAVITY+ partner institutes for additional contact points (for members of MPE: https://intranet.mpe.mpg.de/683879/konflikt-management).
*GRAVITY+ CoIs: Paulo Garcia, Sebastian Hönig, Laura Kreidberg, Jean-Baptiste Le Bouquin, Thibaut Paumard, Christian Straubmeier, Frank Eisenhauer (PI)