Who are we ?

In September 2000, the Jean-Marie Mariotti Center (JMMC, also known as Mariotti Center) was formally appointed by the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (INSU). Its creation results from a ten years action by the Programme National de Haute Resolution Angulaire, supported by the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (LAOG) and the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA).

The JMMC is a network of French Partner Laboratories with inteferometric expertise, provided with a Coordination Center at LAOG.

• Since 2001, the JMMC is an Observing Service of INSU
• Since 2003, the JMMC is the GdR 2596 (Groupement de Recherche) of the CNRS
• Since 2004, the JMMC coordinates the software part of the OPTICON european project JRA4.

A non exhaustive list of the projects concerned by the center is:

• the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) with AMBER / VINCI / PRIMA / MIDI,
• the Center for High Angular Resolution in Astrophysics (CHARA), equipped with FLUOR and IONIC,
• the space interferometry mission DARWIN,
• the 'OHANA fiber coupling of the Mauna Kea large telescopes,
• the Palomar Testbed Interferometer.

Our mission

The JMMC coordinates the efforts of the Partner Laboratories to offer all the potential users of interferometric facilities the best operational environment. The mission of JMMC is threefold an consists in:

• develope, produce, document and maintain the software necessary for the exploitation and the follow-up of new interferometric equipments, especially the VLTI.
• stimulate and coordinate the academic formation of non specialists.
• participate to the prospective around new interferometric instruments.

The main activity of JMMC, besides prospective and training, is software oriented system analysis and software development.