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Progress in astronomy has been driven by successive breakthroughs in angular resolution. From Galileo's first telescopic observations to modern optical interferometry, each leap in resolving power has transformed our view of the Universe. Over the past decades, ESO has led this pursuit through facilities such as the VLTI and, soon, the ELT.

ESO is now considering the next flagship facility for the 2040s: an observatory capable of opening entirely new discovery space as astronomy enters the middle of the 21st century. In response, the European high-angular-resolution astronomy community is developing new concepts for the next generation of interferometers, including reaching a better coverage of the uv plane at Paranal and building a Kilometric Baseline Interferometer (KBI). Building on two decades of technological advances achieved with the VLTI, these concepts would extend interferometric capabilities by orders of magnitude, providing an unprecedented leap in angular resolution and accuracy of image reconstruction. At near-infrared wavelengths, KBI would deliver near-Event Horizon Telescope-like resolving power while probing stars, planets, black holes, and galaxies in thermal light.

This five-day workshop will bring together the community to refine both the scientific case and the technical concept for new interferometric instruments, covering its interferometric architecture as well as its single-aperture capabilities. We warmly welcome not only experts in optical interferometry, but also researchers from across astronomy interested in this future facility. 

To encourage broad participation, one day of the workshop will be dedicated to introductory lectures on optical interferometry, hands-on sessions demonstrating the capabilities of the VLTI, and discussions aimed at helping newcomers incorporate high-angular-resolution techniques into their own research. We particularly encourage participation from the Italian astronomical community as we take this important step toward defining ESO's next major facility.

Program:

• Monday Feb 15th - Thursday Feb 18th: international workshop

• Friday Feb 19th: one-day introduction to optical interferometry for students and young researchers

Main Scientific Topics:

1. Galactic center

2. Protoplanetary disks 

3. Exoplanets

4. compact binary stellar systems (WD, NS, BH…)

5. Stellar systems + IMBHs 

6. AGN and Binary SMBHs 

7. Galaxy and AGN formation and evolution

8. Fundamental physics and cosmology

Main Technological Topics:

9. Interferometric light combination

10. Adaptive-optics solutions

11. Quantum technologies

12. Experience from GRAVITY(+)

13. Current and future relevant ESO instrumentation