CHARA array
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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.
When completed, it will be an interferometer formed from six 1 m (40-inch) 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 will have an interferometric imaging resolution of 0.0005 arcseconds. As of 2005 four of the six telescopes have been commissioned for interferometric observations.
The final configuration of six 1-metre diameter telescopes with separations up to 330 m will make it one of the most powerful imaging interferometers in the world. It is located at the Mount Wilson Observatory, near Los Angeles, California.
[edit] External links
- CHARA website
- First 4-Telescope Fringes at the CHARA Array
- Vega Mystery Solved; Red Dwarf Mystery Grows, Sky and Telescope article about CHARA.
[edit] References
[edit] Related pages
Similar imaging interferometers include COAST, NPOI and more recently VLTI/AMBER and IOTA. The ten telescope MRO interferometer will come online in a few years. A complete list of interferometers can be seen here
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