CHARA array

CHARA array
Organisation Mount Wilson Observatory
Telescope style optical telescope
Website www.chara.gsu.edu

The CHARA array is an optical astronomical interferometer operated by The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) of the Georgia State University (GSU). CHARA is the World's highest angular resolution telescope at near-infrared wavelengths. It is located at the Mount Wilson Observatory, near Los Angeles, California.

The CHARA array is an interferometer formed from six 1 meter telescopes arranged along three axes with a maximum separation length of 330 m. The light beams travel through vacuum tubes and are combined optically, requiring a building 100 meters long with movable mirrors to keep the light in phase as the earth rotates. CHARA began scientific use in 2002 and began "routine operations" in early 2004. In the infrared, the array has an interferometric imaging resolution of 0.0005 arcseconds. All six telescopes are in regular use for scientific observations and as of late 2005 imaging results are routinely acquired. The array captured the first image of the surface of a main sequence star other than the sun published in early 2007.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ U-M astronomers capture the first image of surface features on a sun-like star, University of Michigan, 2007-05-31


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