MRI-R^2 Consortium: Development of VISION: The Next Generation Science Camera for the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)Studying the surface details of stars like our sun has been very limited because of their small angular sizes due to their great distances. Astronomers know that sunspots (or starspots) are common, but little detail is known except for the sun itself. Is our sun like other stars? Are we living in an unusual time in the sun's life or is it typical of that of other stars? Can we expect and even predict changes to the sun's surface that may affect our weather and climate? To try to answer these questions, astronomers must increase the resolution of telescopes to see fine details on the surfaces of other stars. Dr. Matthew Muterspaugh of Tennessee State University has designed a new optical camera that will improve the resolution of an interferometer, a special kind of telescope that is made up of several small telescopes spread apart over distances in excess of 100 meters. His camera will be put on the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer located near Flagstaff, Arizona and it will improve the Interferometer's ability to see fine detail by a factor of 10. This will enable astronomers, for the first time, to see the details on the surfaces of other stars like our sun Dr. Muterspaugh's work is funded by NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program through the Division of Astronomical Sciences.