Abstract
The Chatterton Astronomy Department aims to apply interferometers with very high resolving power to optical astronomy. The programme of the stellar intensity interferometer at Narrabri Observatory was completed in 1972 and since then the work has been directed towards building a more sensitive instrument with higher resolving power. As a first step a much larger intensity interferometer was designed but was not built because it was large, expensive and not as sensitive as desired. Efforts are now being made to design a more sensitive and cheaper instrument. A version of Michelson’s stellar interferometer is being built using modern techniques. It is hoped that it will reach stars of magnitude +8 and will work reliably in the presence of atmospheric scintillation. It is expected to cost considerably less than an intensity interferometer of comparable performance. The pilot model of this new instrument is almost complete and should be ready for test in 1984.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Davis, J.1979, inIAU Coll. 50:High Angular Resolution Stellar Interferometry, Eds J. Davis and W. J. Tango, Chatterton Astronomy Department, University of Sydney, p. 14.1.
Evans, D. S. 1957,Astr. J.,62, 83.
Hanbury Brown, R. 1974,The Intensity Interferometer, Taylor & Francis, London.
Labeyrie, A. 1978,A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys.,16, 77.
Tango, W. J. 1979, inIAU Coll. 50:High Angular Resolution Stellar Interferometry, Eds J. Davis and W. J. Tango, Chatterton Astronomy Department, University of Sydney, p. 13.1.
Tango, W. J., Twiss, R. Q. 1980, inProgress in Optics XVII, Ed. E. Wolf, North-Holland, Amsterdam, p. 240.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Text of an Academy Lecture delivered at the Raman Research Institute, Bangalore on January 27, 1984.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brown, R.H. Measuring the sizes of stars. J. Astrophys. Astr. 5, 19–30 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714969
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714969