Imaging the Surface of Altair
Astrophysics
2009-11-13 v2
Abstract
Spatially resolving the surfaces of nearby stars promises to advance our knowledge of stellar physics. Using optical long-baseline interferometry, we present here a near-infrared image of the rapidly rotating hot star Altair with <1 milliarcsecond resolution. The image clearly reveals the strong effect of gravity darkening on the highly-distorted stellar photosphere. Standard models for a uniformly rotating star can not explain our results, requiring differential rotation, alternative gravity darkening laws, or both.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0706.0867,
title = {Imaging the Surface of Altair},
author = {John D. Monnier and M. Zhao and E. Pedretti and N. Thureau and M. Ireland and P. Muirhead and J. -P. Berger and R. Millan-Gabet and G. Van Belle and T. ten Brummelaar and H. McAlister and S. Ridgway and N. Turner and L. Sturmann and J. Sturmann and D. Berger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0706.0867},
year = {2009}
}