LEINERT , Ch.

Aims. We aim at using the long baselines of the VLT Interferometer and the mid-IR combiner MIDI (8-13 μm) to derive the morphology of the protoplanetary disk surrounding the Herbig Ae star AB Aurigae Methods: We present the first N-band analysis of AB Aur performed with a maximum angular resolution of 17 mas (2.5 AU at the Taurus-Auriga...

Aims: We present high spatial resolution observations in the mid-infrared of the dusty core of the binary system HR 4049. Methods: We used the mid-infrared interferometer MIDI/VLTI with 40 m projected baselines. These observations provided two spectrally dispersed visibility curves at a spatial resolution of ~10 mas. Acquisition images and...

The core of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae has recently been observed with VLT/NACO, VLTI/VINCI, VLTI/MIDI and VLTI/AMBER in order to spatially and spectrally constrain the warm dusty environment and the central object. Narrow-band images at 3.74 and 4.05 micron reveal the structured butterfly-shaped dusty environment close to the central...

We present observations of the famous OH/IR star OH 26.5+0.6 obtained using the Mid-Infrared Interferometric Instrument MIDI at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer VLTI. Emission of the dusty envelope, spectrally dispersed at a resolution of 30 from 8 μm to 13.5 μm, appears resolved by a single dish UT...

The mid-infrared interferometric instrument MIDI has performed its first scientific observations on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in June 2003. It allows interferometric observations over the 8--13 mu m wavelength range, with a spatial resolution up to 20 milliarcsec, a spectral resolution of 30 and 250, and an expected point...

When at the beginning of November 2002 the MIDI containers were opened up in Paranal and the team members together with ESO personnel started to assemble the instrument in the VLTI interferometric laboratory, nobody could be completely sure that their ambitious goal could actually be achieved: to bring together for the first time two beams of...

Aims: The emission of warm dust dominates the mid-infrared spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Only interferometric observations provide the necessary angular resolution to resolve the nuclear dust and to study its distribution and properties. The investigation of dust in AGN cores is hence one of the main science goals for the...

Context: To reveal the origin of mid-infrared radiation from the core of Centaurus A, we carried out interferometric observations with the MID-infrared Interferometer (MIDI) at ESO's VLTI telescope array. Aims: Observations were obtained with four baselines between unit telescopes of the VLTI, two of them roughly along the radio axis and two...

Aims:To test the dust torus model for active galactic nuclei directly, we study the extent and morphology of the nuclear dust distribution in the Circinus galaxy using high resolution interferometric observations in the mid-infrared. Methods: Observations were obtained with the MIDI instrument at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. The 21...

Our Solar System was formed from a cloud of gas and dust. Most of the dust mass is contained in amorphous silicates1, yet crystalline silicates are abundant throughout the Solar System, reflecting the thermal and chemical alteration of solids during planet formation. (Even primitive bodies such as comets contain crystalline silicates2.) Little...