LINC-NIRVANA is a 1-2.5 micron interferometric imaging instrument for the Large Binocular Telescope. Operating in Fizeau beam combination mode, LINC-NIRVANA will deliver the sensitivity of a 12-meter telescope and the angular resolution of a 23-meter telescope. Unlike traditional interferometers, LINC-NIRVANA will be a true imaging device, with a field of view of ten arcseconds on a single HAWAII-2 detector array.
LINC-NIRVANA employs a number of state-of-the-art technologies, including
multi-conjugated adaptive optics (MCAO), innovative cooling systems, and
sophisticated computer control. The most up-to-date description of the design
and construction of LINC-NIRVANA appears in a recent paper presented at the
2004 SPIE conference in Glasgow:
The LINC-NIRVANA Interferometric Imager for the Large Binocular Telescope, [PDF - 2.8 MB]
by T. M. Herbst, R. Ragazzoni, A. Eckart, and G. Weigelt