Title: Interferometry with VLTI in the mid-infrared windows with MATISSE

Abstract: The Very Large Telescope Interferometer located on Cerro Paranal in Chile is one of the largest astronomical optical interferometer. The VLTI is part of the facility of the European Southern Observatory and consists of the array combination of the four 8.2 meters Unit Telescopes and of the four 1.8 meters Auxilary Telescopes. The european institutes are involved in the development and in the conceptual evolution of the focal instruments of the VLTI. The first generation instruments were operated in the 2000 years and several astrophysical results of importance were achieved thanks to them. An ongoing current development is the PRIMA facility and two second-generation instruments called GRAVITY and MATISSE, after their design study, are now entering in the manufacturing phase.

I will focus my talk on the MATISSE science cases and concept. The Final Design Review of the project was held at ESO the 25-26-27 of April. The review has gone successfully and would probably be closed officially within 2-3 months from now after the Instrument Division from ESO gives a green light to pursue based on the board review recommandation. The MATISSE Consortium gathers several institutes : The Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (Nice) and INSU-CNRS as Principal Investigator Institute and Agency, The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Heidelberg), The Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy (Bonn), The NOVA-ASTRON (Dwingeloo) Agency and Leiden Observatory (Leiden), The University of Kiel, The University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, The University of Vienna, The Observatory of Konkoly.