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H. McAlister (GSU)
Georgia State's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) has designed and built an O/IR interferometric array on Mt. Wilson, CA. The six one-meter aperture light-collecting telescopes are configured in a non-redundant Y-shaped array with two telescopes on each arm of the Y. The 15 available baselines range from 34 to 354 meters. The array will operate in the regime 0.5 to 2.4 microns. The scientific application of the instrument is broad, with an emphasis on the determination of fundamental stellar properties through combination (where necessary and available) of our measurements with complementary spectroscopic, photometric, and astrometric data to yield stellar radii, effective temperatures, masses, distances, and luminosities. Other phenomena such as limb darkening, rotationally-induced oblateness and stellar pulsations will also be measured. The array is anticipated to have sufficient sensitivity to permit coverage of much of the HR diagram, and our group has particular interests in stars at the extrema of the main sequence as well as evolved stars. In imaging mode, we plan to use the CHARA Array for imaging photospheric and circumstellar features, including disks associated with young stars. We anticipate the routine use of all six telescopes in early 2002. The CHARA Array has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Georgia State University, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.