GRAVITY+ atmospheric simulations and adaptive optics

Applications featuring experience in adaptive optics and/or atmospheric simulations are solicited for a post-doctoral fellowship at Paris Observatory/LESIA in collaboration with the GRAVITY+ consortium. The post-doctoral research assistant will simulate the effect of atmospheric turbulence residuals on interferometric observables after adaptive optics (AO) and fringe-tracking (FT) correction, and participate in the integration of the new GRAVITY+ extreme adaptive optics system in Europe (Nice, France) and on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. He/she will be member of the consortium and be given the opportunity to participate in GRAVITY-wide early science. This contract is funded by the European OPTICON-RadioNet Pilot program (ORP). The successful candidate will be appointed initially for one year, with possibility for a second year on the basis of satisfactory performance assuming a monthly net salary of 2400€, giving access to full health insurance. Further extension will depend on actively sought additional funding.

Paris Observatory-PSL is one of the largest astronomical centers in the world with 650 permanent staff out of a total of 1000 personnel, hosting LESIA (the Laboratory for Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astronomy, member of the GRAVITY/GRAVITY+ consortium). GRAVITY and the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) have transformed optical interferometry with groundbreaking results on the Galactic Center (see Nobel Prize in Physics 2020), active galactic nuclei, and exoplanets. Through its upgrades – off-axis fringe-tracking, extreme adaptive optics (AO) and laser guide stars for the four 8-m unit telescopes (UTs) – GRAVITY+ will open up the extragalactic sky for milli-arcsec resolution interferometric imaging, and give access to targets as faint as K = 22 mag. GRAVITY+ will measure the black hole masses of active galactic nuclei across cosmic time, and obtain high quality exoplanet spectra and orbits.