<title>Infrared array camera for interferometry with the cophased Multiple Mirror Telescope</title>

Abstract

An infrared camera has been developed for interferometric imaging on large telescopes. Observations obtained with the 6.86 m aperture of the cophased Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) demonstrate the ease with which future 8 m telescopes can achieve diffraction-limited performance from 1 to 5.5 micron. With the MMT, the infrared camera has imaged astronomical sources at 3.5 micron with a diffraction-limited resolution of 0.10 arcsec. Adjustable exposures as short as 4 msec are obtained at a maximum rate of 10 Hz to freeze atmospheric turbulence.