Zooming in on the Stars with Astronomical Interferometry
Astronomical interferometry involves linking two or more telescopes separated by tens or hundreds of meters to mimic a huge telescope capable of achieving extraordinary angular resolution. Carried out at optical and near-infrared wavelengths, interferometry is providing unprecedented views of stars, allowing us to zoom in and, for the first time, image their surfaces in sufficient detail to detect features that have been inferred from techniques such as spectroscopy but never before seen directly. This talk will give an overview of the world's highest resolution interferometer - Georgia State University's six-telescope CHARA Array, located on Mount Wilson, California. The facility is making measurements such as the diameters of the smallest and coolest normal stars, determining whether or not exoplanets are orbiting within the so-called habitable zones of their host stars, imaging disks of gas and dusk surrounding the equatorial planes of certain stars, imaging the companions in binary star systems that are so close that their mutual gravity distorts their shapes, and measuring
shape distortions for very rapidly rotating single stars. In almost every case, interferometry is showing us some way in which our understanding of stars is incorrect or too simple.
Cette conférence s'adresse à tous, y compris les professeurs, les chercheurs et les étudiants des trois cycles.
Le café est servi à partir de 11h20.
