We report on K-band interferometric observations of the bright, rapidly rotating star Regulus (type B7 V) made with the CHARA Array on Mount Wilson, California. Through a combination of interferometric and spectroscopic measurements, we have determined for Regulus the equatorial and polar diameters and temperatures, the rotational velocity and period, the inclination and position angle of the spin axis, and the gravity darkening coefficient. These first results from the CHARA Array provide the first interferometric measurement of gravity darkening in a rapidly rotating star and represent the first detection of gravity darkening in a star that is not a member of an eclipsing binary system.
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0501261,
title = {First Results from the CHARA Array. I. An Interferometric and Spectroscopic Study of the Fast Rotator alpha Leonis (Regulus)},
author = {H. A. McAlister and T. A. ten Brummelaar and D. R. Gies and W. Huang and W. G. Bagnuolo, and M. A. Shure and J. Sturmann and L. Sturmann and N. H. Turner and S. F. Taylor and D. H. Berger and E. K. Baines and E. Grundstrom and C. Ogden and S. T. Ridgway and G. van Belle},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0501261},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 44 pages w/ 14 figures