NASA NTRS · 20010088374
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer
Abstract
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) is a long-baseline infrared interferometer located at Palomar Observatory, California. It was built as a testbed for interferometric techniques applicable to the Keck Interferometer. First fringes were obtained in 1995 July. PTI implements a dual-star architecture, tracking two stars simultaneously for phase referencing and narrow-angle astrometry. The three fixed 40 cm apertures can be combined pairwise to provide baselines to 110 m. The interferometer actively tracks the white-light fringe using an array detector at 2.2 microns and active delay lines with a range of +/-38 m. Laser metrology of the delay lines allows for servo control, and laser metrology of the complete optical path enables narrow-angle astrometric measurements. The instrument is highly automated, using a multiprocessing computer system for instrument control and sequencing.
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Colavita, M. M., Wallace, J. K., Hines, B. E., Gursel, Y., Malbet, F., Palmer, D. L., Pan, X. P., Shao, M., Yu, J. W., Boden, A. F.. 1999-01-13. The Palomar Testbed Interferometer. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20010088374
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