Context. Optical long-baseline interferometry is moving a crucial step forward with the advent of general-user scientific instruments that equip large aperture and hectometric baseline facilities, such as the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Aims. AMBER is one of the VLTI instruments that combines up to three beams with low, moderate and high spectral resolutions in order to provide milli-arcsecond spatial resolution for compact astrophysical sources in the near-infrared wavelength domain. Its main specifications are based on three key programs on young stellar objects, active galactic nuclei central regions, masses, and spectra of hot extra-solar planets. Methods. These key science goals led to scientific specifications, which were used to propose and then validate the instrument concept. AMBER uses single-mode fibers to filter the entrance signal and to reach highly accurate, multiaxial three-beam combination, yielding three baselines and a closure phase, three spectral dispersive elements, and specific self-calibration procedures. Results. The AMBER measurements yield spectrally dispersed calibrated visibilities, color-differential complex visibilities, and a closure phase allows astronomers to contemplate rudimentary imaging and highly accurate visibility and phase differential measurements. AMBER was installed in 2004 at the Paranal Observatory. We describe here the present implementation of the instrument in the configuration with which the astronomical community can access it. Conclusions. After two years of commissioning tests and preliminary observations, AMBER has produced its first refereed publications, allowing assessment of its scientific potential.

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Context. Accretion and outflow processes are of fundamental importance for our understanding of the formation of stars and planetary systems. To trace these processes, diagnostic spectral lines such as the Brγ 2.166 μm line are widely used, although due to a lack of spatial resolution, the origin of the line emission is still unclear. Aims. Employing the AU-scale spatial resolution which can be achieved with infrared long-baseline interferometry, we aim to distinguish between theoretical models which associate the Brγ line emission with mass infall (magnetospheric accretion, gaseous inner disks) or mass outflow processes (stellar winds, X-winds, or disk winds). Methods. Using the VLTI/AMBER instrument, we spatially and spectrally (λ/Δλ = 1500) resolved the inner ( < ∼ 5 AU) environment of five Herbig Ae/Be stars (HD 163296, HD 104237, HD 98922, MWC 297, V921 Sco) in the Brγ emission line as well as in the adjacent continuum. From the measured wavelength-dependent visibilities, we derive the characteristic size of the continuum and Brγ lineemitting region. Additional information is provided by the closure phase, which we could measure both in the continuum wavelength regime (for four objects) as well as in the spectrally resolved Brγ emission line (for one object). The spectro-interferometric data is supplemented by archival and new VLT/ISAAC spectroscopy. Results. For all objects (except MWC 297), we measure an increase of visibility within the Brγ emission line, indicating that the Brγ-emitting region in these objects is more compact than the dust sublimation radius. For HD 98922, our quantitative analysis reveals that the line-emitting region is compact enough to be consistent with the magnetospheric accretion scenario. For HD 163296, HD 104237, MWC 297, and V921 Sco we identify an extended stellar wind or a disk wind as the most likely line-emitting mechanism. Since the stars in our sample cover a wide range of stellar parameters, we also search for general trends and find that the size of the Brγ-emitting region does not seem to depend on the basic stellar parameters (such as the stellar luminosity), but correlates with spectroscopic properties, in particular with the Hα line profile shape. Conclusions. By performing the first high-resolution spectro-interferometric survey on Herbig Ae/Be stars, we find evidence for at least two distinct Brγ line-formation mechanisms. Most significant, stars with a P-Cygni Hα line profile and a high mass-accretion rate seem to show particularly compact Brγ-emitting regions (R Brγ /R cont < 0.2), while stars with a double-peaked or single-peaked Hα-line profile show a significantly more extended Brγ-emitting region (0.6 < ∼ R Brγ /R cont < ∼ 1.4), possibly tracing a stellar wind or a disk wind.

Aims. In this paper, we present an innovative data reduction method for single-mode interferometry. It has been specifically developed for the AMBER instrument, the three-beam combiner of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, but it can be derived for any single-mode interferometer. Methods. The algorithm is based on a direct modelling of the fringes in the detector plane. As such, it requires a preliminary calibration of the instrument in order to obtain the calibration matrix that builds the linear relationship between the interferogram and the interferometric observable, which is the complex visibility. Once the calibration procedure has been performed, the signal processing appears to be a classical least-square determination of a linear inverse problem. From the estimated complex visibility, we derive the squared visibility, the closure phase, and the spectral differential phase. Results. The data reduction procedures have been gathered into the so-called amdlib software, now available for the community, and are presented in this paper. Furthermore, each step in this original algorithm is illustrated and discussed from various on-sky observations conducted with the VLTI, with a focus on the control of the data quality and the effective execution of the data reduction procedures. We point out the present limited performances of the instrument due to VLTI instrumental vibrations which are difficult to calibrate.

Abstract. New diffraction-limited speckle images of the Red Rectangle in the wavelength range 2.1-3.3 µm with angular resolutions of 44-68 mas (Tuthill et al. 2002) and previous speckle images at 0.7-2.2 µm (Osterbart et al. 1997;Men'shchikov et al. 1998) revealed well-resolved bright bipolar outflow lobes and long X-shaped spikes originating deep inside the outflow cavities. This set of high-resolution images stimulated us to reanalyze all infrared observations of the Red Rectangle using our two-dimensional radiative transfer code. The high-resolution images imply a geometrically and optically thick torus-like density distribution with bipolar conical cavities and are inconsistent with the flat disk geometry frequently used to visualize bipolar nebulae. The new detailed modeling, together with estimates of the interstellar extinction in the direction of the Red Rectangle enabled us to more accurately determine one of the key parameters, the distance D ≈ 710 pc with model uncertainties of 70 pc, which is twice as far as the commonly used estimate of 330 pc. The central binary is surrounded by a compact, massive (M ≈ 1.2 M ), very dense dusty torus with hydrogen densities reaching n H ≈ 2.5 × 10 12 cm −3 (dust-to-gas mass ratio ρ d /ρ ≈ 0.01). The model implies that most of the dust mass in the dense torus is in very large particles and, on scales of more than an arcsecond, the polar outflow regions are denser than the surrounding medium. The bright component of the spectroscopic binary HD 44179 is a post-AGB star with mass M ≈ 0.57 M , luminosity L ≈ 6000 L , and effective temperature T ≈ 7750 K. Based on the orbital elements of the binary, we identify its invisible component with a helium white dwarf with M WD ≈ 0.35 M , L WD ∼ 100 L , and T WD ∼ 6 × 10 4 K. The hot white dwarf ionizes the low-density bipolar outflow cavities inside the dense torus, producing a small H II region observed at radio wavelengths. We propose an evolutionary scenario for the formation of the Red Rectangle nebula, in which the binary initially had 2.3 and 1.9 M components at a separation of ∼130 R . The nebula was formed in the ejection of a common envelope after Roche lobe overflow by the present post-AGB star.