AMBER (Very Large Telescope)
{{Short description|Instrument mounted on the Very Large Telescope}}
AMBER, the Astronomical Multi-Beam Recombiner,{{cite web |url=http://amber.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr/ |title=[AMBER, focal instrument of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer ] Page d'accueil |publisher=Amber.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr |date= |accessdate=2014-08-19 |archive-date=2011-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109130300/http://amber.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0706/ |title=The Sky Through Three Giant Eyes |publisher=ESO |date=2007-02-23 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} is an instrument mounted on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), combining the light of the three Unit Telescopes in the near-infrared of the VLT-Interferometer (VLTI). It is at the source of a considerable number of publications{{cite web|url=http://apps.jmmc.fr/bibdb/plots/tag_pies.php?catid=4 |title=Instrument |accessdate=July 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215610/http://apps.jmmc.fr/bibdb/plots/tag_pies.php?catid=4 |archivedate=October 4, 2013 }} in the field of optical long-baseline interferometry.
It combines three out of the four telescopes of the VLTI, through a spectrograph, making it a unique instrument, combining spectroscopy and interferometry. These properties, and the fact that AMBER is an open-community instrument, made it a successful instrument. It can be compared to its fellow in the mid-infrared, the MIDI instrument in terms of the number of publications.
Highlights from the AMBER instrument{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/?search=amber |title=Press Releases |publisher=ESO |date= |accessdate=2014-08-19}} include the first detection of a Keplerian-rotating disk around a Be star,{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0635/ |title=To Be or Not to Be: Is It All About Spinning? |publisher=ESO |date=2006-09-20 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} the discovery of disks around evolved stars,{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0742/ |title=The Frugal Cosmic Ant |publisher=ESO |date=2007-09-27 |accessdate=2014-08-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0743/ |title=Into the Chrysalis |publisher=ESO |date=2007-09-27 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} the characterization of the disks of young stars,{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0803/ |title=The Growing-up of a Star |publisher=ESO |date=2008-01-29 |accessdate=2014-08-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1029/ |title=Unravelling the Mystery of Massive Star Birth |publisher=ESO |date=2010-07-14 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} the observations of novae,{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0822/ |title=Watching a 'New Star' Make the Universe Dusty |publisher=ESO |date=2008-07-24 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} the sharpest images of evolved stars {{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0906/ |title=Hundred metre virtual telescope captures unique detailed colour image |publisher=ESO |date=2009-02-18 |accessdate=2014-08-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0928/ |title=Double Engine for a Nebula |publisher=ESO |date=2009-08-05 |accessdate=2014-08-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1409/ |title=VLT Spots Largest Yellow Hypergiant Star |publisher=ESO |date=2014-03-12 |accessdate=2014-08-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann11002/ |title=First "3D View" from the VLT Interferometer |publisher=ESO |date=2011-01-26 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} and the characterization of the central dusty torus of active galactic nuclei.{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1327/ |title=Dusty Surprise Around Giant Black Hole |publisher=ESO |date=2013-06-20 |accessdate=2014-08-19}} As of the end of 2017, 150 refereed papers had been published using AMBER data.{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/sci/libraries/edocs/ESO/ESOstats.pdf| title = ESO Publication Statistics| accessdate = 2018-08-06}}