Abstract

Invited Talk - Plenary

Photonics in Astronomy

Aashia Rahman
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)

Technological advances in astronomical instruments have significantly expanded our ability to observe distant and faint objects in the universe at very high resolution. One key development in astronomical instruments for ground-based telescopes is the progress in extreme adaptive optics (exAO). As exAO systems approach the diffraction limit, the corrected light from the telescopes can be efficiently coupled into photonic components using optical fibers. Unlike traditional instruments, which rely on bulk optics, next-generation instruments are increasingly adopting photonic components to process starlight. Photonic components are already being used in major instruments covering the entire U to K bands, such as ESO’s GRAVITY(+), CHARA’s SPICA, and many more are currently in testing phases. This talk will highlight some of the ongoing efforts at AIP, such as Multi-Array of Combined Telescopes (MARCOT), CHARA Array Integrated Optics Testbench (CHARIOT), and Potsdam Arrayed Waveguide Spectrograph (PAWS).