Related papers: Improving the diameters of interferometric calibra…
Backscatter limits many interferometric measurements, including gravitational wave detectors, by creating spurious interference. We describe an experimental method to directly and quantitatively measure the backscatter interference. We…
The Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) mode of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) Space Telescope provides low-spectral resolution (R ~ 15-25) spectroscopy in the far infrared using the MIPS 70 um detector. A reflective…
Aims. The X-shooter archive of several thousand telluric star spectra was skimmed for Be and Be-shell stars to derive the stellar fundamental parameters and statistical properties, in particular for the less investigated late type Be stars,…
Astrometric calibration of images with a small field of view is often inferior to the internal accuracy of the source detections due to the small number of accessible guide stars. One important experiment with such challenges is the Hubble…
Grid stars and reference stars provide the fundamental global and local astrometric reference frames for observations by the Space Interferometry Mission. They must therefore be astrometrically stable at the ~1 uas level. I present simple…
Laser guide stars with adaptive optics allow astronomical image correction in the absence of a natural guide star. Single guide star systems with a star created in the earth's sodium layer can be used to correct the wavefront in the near…
We investigate the limits of ground-based astrometry with adaptive optics using the core of the Galactic globular cluster M5. Adaptive optics systems provide near diffraction-limit imaging with the world's largest telescopes. The…
Residual calibration errors are difficult to predict in interferometric radio polarimetry because they depend on the employed observational calibration strategy, encompassing the Stokes vector of the calibrator and parallactic angle…
We have executed a survey of nearby, main sequence A, F, and G-type stars with the CHARA Array, successfully measuring the angular diameters of fortyfour stars with an average precision of ~ 1.5%. We present new measures of the bolometric…
Using the adaptive optics facilities at the 200-in Hale and 10-m Keck II, we observed in the near infrared a sample of 12 binary and multiple stars and one open cluster. We used the near diffraction limited images of these systems to…
Giant stars, and especially C-rich giants, contribute significantly to the chemical enrichment of galaxies. The determination of precise parameters for these stars is a necessary prerequisite for a proper implementation of this evolutionary…
We report on the active stabilization of a Michelson interferometer at an arbitrary phase angle with a precision better than one degree at $\lambda = 632.8$ nm, which corresponds to an optical path difference between the two arms of less…
The development of sensitive large format imaging arrays for the infrared promises to provide revolutionary capabilities for space astronomy. For example, the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on SIRTF will use four 256 x 256 arrays to provide…
We have observed Centaurus A with the MID-infrared Interferometric instrument (MIDI) at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at resolutions of 7 - 15 mas (at 12.5 micron) and filled gaps in the (u,v) coverage in comparison to…
Context: Extended circumstellar emission has been detected within a few 100 milli-arcsec around > 10% of nearby main sequence stars using near-infrared interferometry. Follow-up observations using other techniques, should they yield similar…
The precise measurement of the masses and radii of stars in eclipsing binary systems provides a window into uncertain processes in stellar evolution, especially mixing at convective boundaries. Recently, these data have been used to…
We present spectroscopic and interferometric measurements for a sample of nine K giant stars. These targets are of particular interest because they are slated for stellar oscillation observations. Our improved parameters will directly…
Atmospheric turbulence is an important limit to high angular resolution in astronomy. Interferometry resolved this issue by filtering the incoming light with single-mode fibers. Thanks to this technique, we obtained with the IOTA…
Knowledge of late K and M dwarf metallicities can be used to guide planet searches and constrain planet formation models. However, the determination of metallicities of late-type stars is difficult because visible wavelength spectra of…
Construction of silicon neutron interferometers requires a perfect crystal silicon ingot (5 cm to 30 cm long) be machined such that Bragg diffracting "blades" protrude from a common base. Leaving the interferometer blades connected to the…