Note that technical observations using test sources (rather than starlight) are NOT included among the current observation set. Observations taken using the IONIC beam-combiner (July 2002) are not included in this database.

TEXT FILE
Index of 18025 observations, arranged chronologically.

FORMAT:
• Flag character. Blank if no problems. "F" indicates that not all 4 of the files are present in proper form (however the interference file is always present, which may be sufficient). "T" means that there is strong evidence that the target pointed to is not the one listed or that the baseline was incorrectly recorded; such observations should probably never be used as data points for the stated target. "?" means that there is no confirmation that the target pointed to is indeed the one listed (although we believe that it is in most cases), and this uncertainty should be taken into account. This includes most observations performed before JD2158 (6 September 2001). Note that alf Cen A and alf Cen B are so close to each other that the indicators in use cannot differentiate between these two pointings. A mix-up between these two targets is thus undetectable and not reported with a "?" (however analysis of the visibilities has not suggested any cases of confusion between them).
• Sequential index of observation from 1 to 18025.
• Modified Julian Date (UT) of observation (0 = JD 2450000.5).
• Number of scans recorded in interferometric file.
• Framerate of camera in Hertz.
• Number of frames recorded per scan.
• Name of target (standard name, regardless of how it was listed in the data file).
• "Observation name" according to the interferometric file. Do NOT use this in lieu of the target name in the previous field.
• Projected baseline (in meters) and position angle (degrees east of north)*.
• Baseline stations according to VLTI terminology.
• Altitude of object during observation (in degrees) above horizon.

TEXT FILE
Index of 18025 observations, arranged by target.
Same as above, but arranged according to target, and then sorted chronologically.

TEXT FILE
Index of observations with filenames.
Same as above, but includes on successive lines, the names of files which may be used to compose an observation.

FORMAT:
• Modified Julian Date (UT) of file (0 = JD 2450000.5).
• Type of file. A "**" indicates that this file is not appropriate for the observation, but nevertheless might be employed to obtain the kappa coefficients.
• Number of frames composing this file.
• Filename.

Table of observations received with incorrect targets listed.
List of 140 observations in which the target, according to the information in the interferometric file, was found to be incorrect. The corrected target is listed, as is reflected in the observation indices for each of these observations.

Targets observed by VINCI and name crossreferences:
Crossreference from HD number
Crossreference from HR number
Crossreference from constellation designation

Summary information for each night of observation of each target.
For each target and for each night on which it was observed, we list the number of attempted observations, the number of "successful" observations obtained, and the range of projected baselines (and position angles) over which the successful observations were obtained.

Tip: If you are interested in observations on a particular source, it is easiest to find the star on the Targets Table and click on the number of times the star was observed, which that takes you to the nightly table for that star. For more detail on thse observations, you may consult the text files of the 18025 observations.

Julian Dates

Times for observations are expressed as Modified Julian Date defined as the Julian Date in Greenwich (NOT local time) minus 2450000.5. Observations are classified as to the Julian Date for the night on which they were taken. However some of the earlier observations in an evening will often have a Modified Julian Date which is one day earlier than the Julian Date of the observation (if they occurred before midnight UT). This will also be reflected in the filename, which specifies the UT date/time of the actual observation. Also note that the normal ESO directory classification of these files specifies that previous date on which the night began. However the date on each individual file is the actual UT date when it was recorded.

Example:
JD 2026 is 27 April 2001. The previous date was 26 April 2001 (JD 2025).
Early in the evening, an observation of Sirius took place, which was before midnight UT. Its MJD is listed as 2025.99951, and the interference file for this observation was called VINCI.2001-04-26T23:59:17.953.fits. The next observation, also of Sirius, occurred after midnight UT (but still long before midnight in Chile!) at MJD 2026.00250. Its interference file is called VINCI.2001-04-27T00:03:35.610.fits.
I classify both of these observations as being part of "JD 2026" and I keep the files in a directory with that name. However the ESO archive probably has it in a directory whose name refers to 26 April 2001 (JD 2025), the date on which the evening started in Chile.

Here is a table of Julian Dates for the first of each month during the years 2001 - 2004.

JD 1910 = 1 Jan 2001
JD 1941 = 1 Feb 2001
JD 1969 = 1 Mar 2001
JD 2000 = 1 Apr 2001
JD 2030 = 1 May 2001
JD 2061 = 1 Jun 2001
JD 2091 = 1 Jul 2001
JD 2122 = 1 Aug 2001
JD 2153 = 1 Sep 2001
JD 2183 = 1 Oct 2001
JD 2214 = 1 Nov 2001
JD 2244 = 1 Dec 2001
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
JD 2275 = 1 Jan 2002
JD 2306 = 1 Feb 2002
JD 2334 = 1 Mar 2002
JD 2365 = 1 Apr 2002
JD 2395 = 1 May 2002
JD 2426 = 1 Jun 2002
JD 2456 = 1 Jul 2002
JD 2487 = 1 Aug 2002
JD 2518 = 1 Sep 2002
JD 2548 = 1 Oct 2002
JD 2579 = 1 Nov 2002
JD 2609 = 1 Dec 2002
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
JD 2640 = 1 Jan 2003
JD 2671 = 1 Feb 2003
JD 2699 = 1 Mar 2003
JD 2730 = 1 Apr 2003
JD 2760 = 1 May 2003
JD 2791 = 1 Jun 2003
JD 2821 = 1 Jul 2003
JD 2852 = 1 Aug 2003
JD 2883 = 1 Sep 2003
JD 2913 = 1 Oct 2003
JD 2944 = 1 Nov 2003
JD 2974 = 1 Dec 2003
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
JD 3005 = 1 Jan 2004
JD 3036 = 1 Feb 2004
JD 3065 = 1 Mar 2004
JD 3096 = 1 Apr 2004
JD 3126 = 1 May 2004
JD 3157 = 1 Jun 2004
JD 3187 = 1 Jul 2004
JD 3218 = 1 Aug 2004
JD 3249 = 1 Sep 2004
JD 3279 = 1 Oct 2004
JD 3310 = 1 Nov 2004
JD 3340 = 1 Dec 2004

Physical baselines used for VINCI observations.
The following table indicates reconfigurations of the physical baseline used for VINCI. The baselines using two Unit Telescopes are marked "UT" whereas the remainder used the 40cm siderostats.

	Baseline		Interval		Interval			Number of
	meters	Stations	Start JD	Ending JD	Start Date	Ending Date		Observations
	16.0	E0-G0	1987	2180	18 Mar 2001	28 Sep 2001		1871
UT	102.5	U1-U3	2184	2190	1 Oct 2001	8 Oct 2001		67
	16.0	E0-G0	2191.18	2211.86	8 Oct 2001	30 Oct 2001		476
UT	102.5	U1-U3	2212.10	2216.39	29 Oct 2001	3 Nov 2001		227
	16.0	E0-G0	2218	2242	4 Nov 2001	29 Nov 2001		669
UT	102.5	U1-U3	2244	2247	30 Nov 2001	4 Dec 2001		60
	16.0	E0-G0	2249	2302	5 Dec 2001	28 Jan 2002		752
UT	102.5	U1-U3	2303	2308	28 Jan 2002	3 Feb 2002		111
	66.0	G1-E0	2309	2443	3 Feb 2002	18 Jun 2002		1384
UT	89.4	U4-U2	2444.34	2445.18	18 Jun 2002	20 Jun 2002		14
UT	46.6	U3-U2	2445.32	2445.44	19 Jun 2002	20 Jun 2002		38
	66.0	G1-E0	2446	2532	20 Jun 2002	15 Sep 2002		1346
UT	130.2	U4-U1	2533.13	2533.22	15 Sep 2002	16 Sep 2002		19
UT	89.4	U4-U2	2533.28	2533.42	15 Sep 2002	16 Sep 2002		22
UT	46.6	U3-U2	2534.07	2534.25	16 Sep 2002	17 Sep 2002		32
UT	56.6	U2-U1	2534.32	2534.41	16 Sep 2002	17 Sep 2002		15
	66.0	G1-E0	2535	2540	17 Sep 2002	23 Sep 2002		210
	139.7	M0-B3	2544	2574	26 Sep 2002	27 Oct 2002		536
UT	102.5	U3-U1	2575	2576	27 Oct 2002	29 Oct 2002		60
	139.7	M0-B3	2577	2604	29 Oct 2002	26 Nov 2002		184
	8.0	B3-C3	2607	2620	28 Nov 2002	12 Dec 2002		41
UT	102.5	U3-U1	2623	2623	14 Dec 2002	15 Dec 2002		1
	8.0	B3-C3	2624	2660	15 Dec 2002	21 Jan 2003		850
	24.0	D1-B3	2661	2734	21 Jan 2003	5 Apr 2003		2678
	139.7	M0-B3	2735	2787	5 Apr 2003	28 May 2003		1098
	16.0	G0-E0	2788	2863	28 May 2003	12 Aug 2003		1779
UT	46.6	U3-U2	2864	2866	12 Aug 2003	15 Aug 2003		21
	16.0	G0-E0	2880	2946	28 Aug 2003	3 Nov 2003		912
UT	46.6	U3-U2	2947	2949	3 Nov 2003	6 Nov 2003		82
	16.0	G0-E0	2958	2988	14 Nov 2003	15 Dec 2003		639
	64.0	H0-D0	2991	3112	17 Dec 2003	17 Apr 2004		739
UT	46.6	U3-U2	3154	3154	28 May 2004	29 May 2004		3
	64.0	H0-D0	3165	3209	8 Jun 2004	23 Jul 2004		87

If you find any mistakes or problems on this page, please send me an email. You may also send questions which I may or may not be able to help you with.