OPTICAL INTERFEROMETRY AND THE SEARCH FOR EXTRA SOLAR PLANETS

July 14, 1996
Source: Millineum Matters
Ground was broken Saturday at the Mount Wilson Observatory, where a new, $11.4 million array of 5 telescopes will be built.

Hal McAlister, Director of the Center of High Angular Resolution Astronomy at Georgia State University said that the array will be used for, among other things, to locate planets orbiting other stars. The array will also be used to witness star formation.

"The magnification of detail will be great," said McAlister. "Someone from Mount Wilson could see an individual human hair of someone at Santa Anita Race Track" - 5 1/2 miles away.

The array acheives such high magnification through a process known as optical interferometry. This process involves using data collected from multiple sources to enhance the image.

Optical interferometry is an old idea, dating back 100 years, yet only now, using computer technology, are we able to effectively link multiple telescopes.

Optical interferometry has been attempted in multiple situations in both England and the U.S. However, perhaps the most innovative attempt is one to link the Keck I and Keck II telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. This attempt is different from others in that the Keck telescopes will use a 'guide star' to synchronize the telescopes (equalizing path lengths to compensate for atmospheric disturbances).

These new arrays of telescopes prove to provide resolutions much higher than the Hubble Space Telescope. But because arrays can only do this for small, bright objects, the Hubble is still useful for larger, more complex objects.

These arrays also prove to enhance the science of finding extrasolar planets, because of their high resolution which can detect small oscillations in stars, which is a result of planetary systems.

Their high resolution means that they can detect planets 1/30th the size of Jupiter, 30 light years away. Previous techniques could only detect planets the size of Jupiter or larger.

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