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Extra information on Btt modes and SAC. Moreover, a pseudocode of the training loop and additional RL hyperparameters is provided.

Thanks to the superb sensitivity and resolution of GRAVITY, ESO’s near-infrared beam combiner for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, our Large Programme study of the inner regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) has delivered several recent breakthroughs. We have spatially resolved the broad line region (BLR) for three nearby AGN, supporting the rotating disc model, directly measuring the masses of their supermassive black holes (SMBHs), and testing the BLR radius-luminosity (R-L) scaling relation. We have measured the hot dust sizes for eight AGN and fully imaged the hot dust structure for two AGN. Our dust sizes also test the hot dust R-L scaling relation, revealing the first evidence for luminosity-dependent deviations from the expected relation. The novel GRAVITY data provide unique insight into the physics around SMBHs. In addition, they test the basic assumptions behind mass measurements based on the R-L scaling relation and reverberation mapping, which is currently the only method for measuring black hole masses in large surveys and out to high redshift. Our observations provide an entirely new, independent method for measuring SMBH masses. With GRAVITY+, we will be able to vastly expand to both larger samples and higher redshifts with the ultimate goal of tracing black hole growth and galaxy coevolution through cosmic time., Published in The Messenger vol. 188, pp. 20-25, September 2022.

In this first research note of a series of two, we present a comparison between two Monte Carlo radiative transfer codes: MontAGN and STOKES. Both were developed in order to better understand the observed polarisation of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Our final aim is to use these radiative transfer codes to simulate the polarisation maps of a prototypical type-2 radio-quiet AGN on a wide range of wavelengths, from the infrared band with MontAGN to the X-ray energies with STOKES. Doing so, we aim to analyse in depth the recent SPHERE/IRDIS polarimetric observations conducted on NGC 1068. In order to validate the codes and obtain preliminary results, we set for both codes a common and simple AGN model, and compared their polaro-imaging results., Comment: Proceeding from conference SF2A 2016 - PNHE workshop

MOSAIC is the proposed multiple object spectrograph for the E-ELT that will eventually combine two AO observing modes within a single instrument. MOSAIC will contain up to 20 open-loop multiple object AO channels feeding NIR IFUs in addition to up to 200 seeing-limited (or GLAO corrected) VIS – NIR fibre pickoffs. Wavefront tomography will be implemented using a combination of LGS and a few high-order NGS distributed across the field with the wavefront correction applied in a split open/closed loop configuration. MOSAIC will be the only E-ELT instrument planned that can utilize the full 10 arcminute diameter field of view, enabling highly efficient observing modes for this workhorse instrument. Use of the full E-ELT field inevitably requires a closer integration between the telescope control system and the instrument AO systems, however this can bring several potential benefits to overall system performance. Here we present the initial design concept and baseline performance of the MOSAIC instrument and AO system(s) taking advantage of the CANARY on-sky results and inheriting from the previous Phase A study of EAGLE. Finally, we will highlight areas of system performance and calibration that will require further analysis and trade-off during the course of the upcoming Phase A study.

MICADO is the adaptive optics imaging camera for the E-ELT. It has been designed and optimised to be mounted to the LGS-MCAO system MAORY, and will provide diffraction limited imaging over a wide (about 1 arcmin) field of view. For initial operations, it can also be used with its own simpler AO module that provides on-axis diffraction limited performance using natural guide stars. We discuss the instrument's key capabilities and expected performance, and show how the science drivers have shaped its design. We outline the technical concept, from the opto-mechanical design to operations and data processing. We describe the AO module, summarise the instrument performance, and indicate some possible future developments., Comment: Contribution to "Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III', SPIE 7735-80 (June 2010). High resolution version can be found at http://spiedl.org

This White Paper presents the scientific motivations for a multi-object spectrograph (MOS) on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The MOS case draws on all fields of contemporary astronomy, from extra-solar planets, to the study of the halo of the Milky Way and its satellites, and from resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies out to observations of the earliest 'first-light' structures in the partially-reionised Universe. The material presented here results from thorough discussions within the community over the past four years, building on the past competitive studies to agree a common strategy toward realising a MOS capability on the E-ELT. The cases have been distilled to a set of common requirements which will be used to define the MOSAIC instrument, entailing two observational modes ('high multiplex' and 'high definition'). When combined with the unprecedented sensitivity of the E-ELT, MOSAIC will be the world's leading MOS facility. In analysing the requirements we also identify a high-multiplex MOS for the longer-term plans for the E-ELT, with an even greater multiplex (>1000 targets) to enable studies of large-scale structures in the high-redshift Universe. Following the green light for the construction of the E-ELT the MOS community, structured through the MOSAIC consortium, is eager to realise a MOS on the E-ELT as soon as possible. We argue that several of the most compelling cases for ELT science, in highly competitive areas of modern astronomy, demand such a capability. For example, MOS observations in the early stages of E-ELT operations will be essential for follow-up of sources identified by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In particular, multi-object adaptive optics and accurate sky subtraction with fibres have both recently been demonstrated on sky, making fast-track development of MOSAIC feasible., Significantly expanded and updated version of previous ELT-MOS White Paper, so there is some textual overlap with arXiv:1303.0029