Related papers: Practical study of optical stellar interferometry
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…
Betelgeuse has gone through a sudden shift in its brightness and dimmed mysteriously. This is likely caused by a hot blob of plasma ejected from Betelgeuse and then cooled to obscuring dust. If true, it is a remarkable opportunity to…
The current status of the high spatial resolution imaging interferometry in optical astronomy is reviewed in the light of theoretical explanation, as well as of experimental constraints that exist in the present day technology. The basic…
Long-baseline interferometry at optical and near-infrared wavelengths is an emerging technology which is quickly becoming a useful tool to investigate stellar atmospheres and to compare observations with models. Stellar atmosphere models…
Astronomers usually need the highest angular resolution possible, but the blurring effect of diffraction imposes a fundamental limit on the image quality from any single telescope. Interferometry allows light collected at widely-separated…
Optical interference is not only a fundamental phenomenon that has enabled new theories of light to be derived but it has also been used in interferometry for the measurement of small displacements, refractive index changes and surface…
The strength and vertical distribution of atmospheric turbulence is a key factor determining the performance of optical and infrared telescopes, with and without adaptive optics. Yet, this remains challenging to measure. We describe a new…
The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin, properties,…
After decades of efforts, optical long-baseline interferometry has become a mainstream observational technique in terms of operation robustness and user friendliness. Interferometry has opened a new observational window, enabling…
For many decades the determination of accurate fundamental parameters for stars (masses, radii, temperatures, luminosities, etc.) has mostly been the domain of eclipsing binary systems. That has begun to change as long-baseline…
We introduce an observational tool based on visibility nulls in optical spectro-interferometry fringe data to probe the structure of stellar atmospheres. In a preliminary demonstration, we use both Navy Precision Optical Interferometer…
Understanding the properties of interstellar turbulence is a great intellectual challenge and the urge to solve this problem is partially motivated by a necessity to explain the star formation mystery. This review deals with a recently…
Stars are not smooth. Their photosphere is covered by a granulation pattern associated with the heat transport by convection. The convection-related surface structures have different size, depth, and temporal variations with respect to the…
Optical interferometry provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Through direct observation of rotationally distorted photospheres at sub-milliarcsecond scales, we are now able to…
The study of fundamental properties (such as temperatures, radii, masses, and ages) and interior processes (such as convection and angular momentum transport) of stars has implications on various topics in astrophysics, ranging from the…
The dynamics of the surface and inner atmosphere of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse are the subject of numerous high angular resolution and spectroscopic studies. Here, we present three-telescope interferometric data obtained at 11.15…
Optical long baseline interferometry was recently established as a technique capable of resolving stars and their circumstellar environments at the milliarcsecond (mas) resolution level. This high-resolution opens an entire new window to…
Spatial phase-referencing in dual-field optical interferometry is reconsidered. Our analysis is based on the 2-sample variance of the differential phase between target and reference star. We show that averaging over time of the atmospheric…
Conventional ground-based optical telescopes, even those with large apertures, primarily observe stars, close binaries, and multiple systems as unresolved point sources through photometric measurements. Spectroscopy can identify multiple…
Conventional ground-based astronomical observations suffer from image distortion due to atmospheric turbulence. This can be minimized by choosing suitable geographic locations or adaptive optical techniques, and avoided altogether by using…