Imaging the heart of astrophysical objects with optical long-baseline interferometry

The number of publications of aperture-synthesis images based on optical long-baseline interferometry measurements has recently increased due to easier access to visible and infrared interferometers. The interferometry technique has now reached a technical maturity level that opens new avenues for numerous astrophysical topics requiring milli-arcsecond model-independent imaging. In writing this paper our motivation was twofold: (1) review and publicize emblematic excerpts of the impressive corpus accumulated in the field of optical interferometry image reconstruction; (2) discuss future prospects for this technique by selecting four representative astrophysical science cases in order to review the potential benefits of using optical long-baseline interferometers.