The development of integrated photonic instruments, and photonic nulling/interferometry in particular, is of great international interest and Australia is a world leader in this area.
The Heimdallr instrument is the core enabling fringe-tracking technology for the entire Asgard suite for the VLT. The Asgard instruments are a diverse suite of back-end beam combiners spanning different wavelength ranges and offering single mode interferometric spectrometer, high sensitivity science instrument with fringe tracker, single-mode Kernel-nuller and high-contrast imager in the mid-IR.
Heimdallr is now commissioned and in scientific operation at the Paranal Observatory. The core scientific components of the Asgard instrument suite are currently being commissioned (BIFROST and NOTT) with full scientific capabilities anticipated during 2027.