Altair surface imaged

[Colin_hutcheson]

this is rather interesting, not only in the information, but the method in which the data was collected. Seems Altair is a fast spinner!

* Secrets of Sun-like star probed *
The surface of one of the brightest stars in the night sky is imaged by scientists.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/6709345.stm

[t00fri]

Well, while the facts are interesting that quoted BBC news article is unfortunately the usual superficial bla bla style that one should better stay away from...

-- lots of phrases without real hard scientific content
-- no serious sources of the information cited
-- no mention that Altair has by far not been the first evidence of a non-spherical star.
-- no specification of the reached angular resolution in the CHARA array such that one may judge oneself the significance of the statements made

So here is some far more serious info.
-----------------------------------

--the original paper in Science
http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~monnier ... _final.pdf

--links to press releases from the places that have something to say about the issue first hand:

1) The CHARA long-baseline optical/near-infrared interferometric array of 4-6 telescopes on Mt Wilson,
http://www.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/array.html
operated by the team from Georgia State University:

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwexa/news/archiv ... altair.htm

2) The press release from University of Michigan, where (assistant professor ) John Monnier works. He is a coauthor of the paper.

http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~monnier ... r2007.html

3) Press release of the National Science foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=109612

See also this instructive figure, concerning the resolution which is as small as 1 Milliarcsecond!!

http://www.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/Slides/Fig3.jpg

Previous arrays of 3 infrared interferometers (IOTA array) already observed asymmetries of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars with resolutions of 5-10 milliarcseconds.

See e.g.
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0607156

Bye Fridger

[Hungry4info]

Thank you t00fri for those sources.