Extended baselines for the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer: First results
The IRAM interferometer, located on the Plateau de Bure at 2500 meters
altitude in the French Alps, has entered a new era since the beginning
of 2006. The tracks, on which the six 15-meter diameter antennas move,
have been extended, nearly doubling the east-west and north-south baselines. The largest separation of the antennas is now 760 meters, enabling sub-arcsecond angular resolution at millimeter wavelengths.
This special issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters presents first results with the extended baselines of the Plateau de Bure interferometer. Eleven Letters report observations done at sub-arcsecond resolution of objects ranging from nearby star-forming regions and evolved stars to starburst galaxies.