  We report the first use of Michelson interferometry on the Keck I telescope
for diffraction-limited imaging in the near infrared JHK and L bands. By using
an aperture mask located close to the f/25 secondary, the 10 m Keck primary
mirror was transformed into a separate-element, multiple aperture
interferometer. This has allowed diffraction-limited imaging of a large number
of bright astrophysical targets, including the geometrically complex dust
envelopes around a number of evolved stars. The successful restoration of these
images, with dynamic ranges in excess of 200:1, highlights the significant
capabilities of sparse aperture imaging as compared with more conventional
filled-pupil speckle imaging for the class of bright targets considered here.
In particular the enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio of the Fourier data,
precipitated by the reduction in atmospheric noise, allows high fidelity
imaging of complex sources with small numbers of short-exposure images relative
to speckle. Multi-epoch measurements confirm the reliability of this imaging
technique and our whole dataset provides a powerful demonstration of the
capabilities of aperture masking methods when utilized with the current
generation of large-aperture telescopes. The relationship between these new
results and recent advances in interferometry and adaptive optics is briefly
discussed.
