Abstract
Context. eta Car is one of the most intriguing luminous blue variables in the Galaxy. Observations and models of the X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, and infrared emission suggest a central binary in a highly eccentric orbit with a 5.54 yr period residing in its core. 2D and 3D radiative transfer and hydrodynamic simulations predict a primary with a dense and slow stellar wind that interacts with the faster and lower density wind of the secondary. The wind-wind collision scenario suggests that the secondary's wind penetrates the primary's wind creating a low-density cavity in it, with dense walls where the two winds interact. However, the morphology of the cavity and its physical properties are not yet fully constrained. Aims. We aim to trace the inner similar to 5-50 au structure of eta Car's wind-wind interaction, as seen through Br gamma and, for the first time, through the He i 2s-2p line. Methods. We have used spectro-interferometric observations with the K-band beam-combiner GRAVITY at the VLTI. The analyses of the data include (i) parametrical model-fitting to the interferometric observables, (ii) a CMFGEN model of the source's spectrum, and (iii) interferometric image reconstruction. Results. Our geometrical modeling of the continuum data allows us to estimate its FWHM angular size close to 2 mas and an elongation ratio epsilon = 1.06 +/- 0.05 over a PA = 130 degrees +/- 20 degrees. Our CMFGEN modeling of the spectrum helped us to confirm that the role of the secondary should be taken into account to properly reproduce the observed Br gamma and He i lines. Chromatic images across the Br gamma line reveal a southeast arc-like feature, possibly associated to the hot post-shocked winds flowing along the cavity wall. The images of the He i 2s-2p line served to constrain the 20 mas (similar to 50 au) structure of the line-emitting region. The observed morphology of He i suggests that the secondary is responsible for the ionized material that produces the line profile. Both the Br gamma and the He i 2s-2p maps are consistent with previous hydrodynamical models of the colliding wind scenario. Future dedicated simulations together with an extensive interferometric campaign are necessary to refine our constraints on the wind and stellar parameters of the binary, which finally will help us predict the evolutionary path of eta Car.

Abstract
We present a solution to the challenges of interfacing the ELT's METIS to the telescope using a steerable hexapod structure. To guide the architectural choices, lumped physical models were derived from inverse kinematics in order to address the load distribution in each arm. Complete FE Analysis is carried on the optimal solutions of these models. The hexapod arms, which are high precision heavy duty linear actuators enduring forces in the excess of 30 tons, are designed using standard components whenever possible. An overall fully functional support structure design, satisfying the ESO/ELT and METIS requirements, is described.

Abstract
During the last two decades, the first generation of beam combiners at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer has proved the importance of optical interferometry for high-angular resolution astrophysical studies in the near- and mid-infrared. With the advent of 4-beam combiners at the VLTI, the u - v coverage per pointing increases significantly, providing an opportunity to use reconstructed images as powerful scientific tools. Therefore, interferometric imaging is already a key feature of the new generation of VLTI instruments, as well as for other interferometric facilities like CHARA and JWST. It is thus imperative to account for the current image reconstruction capabilities and their expected evolutions in the coming years. Here, we present a general overview of the current situation of optical interferometric image reconstruction with a focus on new wavelength-dependent information, highlighting its main advantages and limitations. As an Appendix we include several cookbooks describing the usage and installation of several state-of-the art image reconstruction packages. To illustrate the current capabilities of the software available to the community, we recovered chromatic images, from simulated MATISSE data, using the MCMC software SQUEEZE. With these images, we aim at showing the importance of selecting good regularization functions and their impact on the reconstruction.

Abstract
The broadening of atomic emission lines by high-velocity motion of gas near accreting supermassive black holes is an observational hallmark of quasars(1). Observations of broad emission lines could potentially constrain the mechanism for transporting gas inwards through accretion disks or outwards through winds(2). The size of regions for which broad emission lines are observed (broad-line regions) has been estimated by measuring the delay in light travel time between the variable brightness of the accretion disk continuum and the emission lines(3)-a method known as reverberation mapping. In some models the emission lines arise from a continuous outflow(4), whereas in others they arise from orbiting gas clouds(5). Directly imaging such regions has not hitherto been possible because of their small angular size (less than 10(-4) arcseconds(3,6)). Here we report a spatial offset (with a spatial resolution of 10(-5) arcseconds, or about 0.03 parsecs for a distance of 550 million parsecs) between the red and blue photo-centres of the broad Paschen-alpha line of the quasar 3C 273 perpendicular to the direction of its radio jet. This spatial offset corresponds to a gradient in the velocity of the gas and thus implies that the gas is orbiting the central supermassive black hole. The data are well fitted by a broad-line-region model of a thick disk of gravitationally bound material orbiting a black hole of 3 x 10(8) solar masses. We infer a disk radius of 150 light days; a radius of 100-400 light days was found previously using reverberation mapping(7-9). The rotation axis of the disk aligns in inclination and position angle with the radio jet. Our results support the methods that are often used to estimate the masses of accreting supermassive black holes and to study their evolution over cosmic time.

Abstract
This work presents an interferometric study of the massive-binary fraction in the Orion Trapezium cluster with the recently comissioned GRAVITY instrument. We observed a total of 16 stars of mainly OB spectral type. We find three previously unknown companions for theta(1) Ori B, theta(2) Ori B, and theta(2) Ori C. We determined a separation for the previously suspected companion of NU Ori. We confirm four companions for theta(1) Ori A, theta(1) Ori C, theta(1) Ori D, and theta(2) Ori A, all with substantially improved astrometry and photometric mass estimates. We refined the orbit of the eccentric high-mass binary theta(1) Ori C and we are able to derive a new orbit for theta(1) Ori D. We find a system mass of 21.7 M-circle dot and a period of 53 days. Together with other previously detected companions seen in spectroscopy or direct imaging, eleven of the 16 high-mass stars are multiple systems. We obtain a total number of 22 companions with separations up to 600 AU. The companion fraction of the early B and O stars in our sample is about two, significantly higher than in earlier studies of mostly OB associations. The separation distribution hints toward a bimodality. Such a bimodality has been previously found in A stars, but rarely in OB binaries, which up to this point have been assumed to be mostly compact with a tail of wider companions. We also do not find a substantial population of equal-mass binaries. The observed distribution of mass ratios declines steeply with mass, and like the direct star counts, indicates that our companions follow a standard power law initial mass function. Again, this is in contrast to earlier findings of flat mass ratio distributions in OB associations. We excluded collision as a dominant formation mechanism but find no clear preference for core accretion or competitive accretion.

Abstract
We report the detection of continuous positional and polarization changes of the compact source SgrA* in high states ("flares") of its variable near-infrared emission with the near-infrared GRAVITY-Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) beam-combining instrument. In three prominent bright flares, the position centroids exhibit clockwise looped motion on the sky, on scales of typically 150 mu as over a few tens of minutes, corresponding to about 30% the speed of light. At the same time, the flares exhibit continuous rotation of the polarization angle, with about the same 45(+/- 15) min period as that of the centroid motions. Modelling with relativistic ray tracing shows that these findings are all consistent with a near face-on, circular orbit of a compact polarized "hot spot" of infrared synchrotron emission at approximately six to ten times the gravitational radius of a black hole of 4 million solar masses. This corresponds to the region just outside the innermost, stable, prograde circular orbit (ISCO) of a Schwarzschild-Kerr black hole, or near the retrograde ISCO of a highly spun-up Kerr hole. The polarization signature is consistent with orbital motion in a strong poloidal magnetic field.