Investigations of Binary Star Properties and Evolutionary Processes with the CHARA Array Interferometer

长基线光学干涉测量法可以在比最大的地面望远镜所能获得的更小的尺度上测量(甚至成像)结构。调查人员将继续出色地利用佐治亚州高角分辨率天文中心(CHARA)在山上的干涉仪阵列。加州的威尔逊。这是唯一一台由大学运营的长基线光学干涉仪，因此它为学生提供了一个独特的机会，让他们在这项最先进的技术上进行培训。这一计划的结果将在佐治亚州的本科生班级和南加州山区的公共宣传活动中亮相。该计划将使用Chara光学长基线干涉仪阵列来确定近双星系统中恒星在相互作用和交换质量之前、期间和之后的基本恒星和星周性质。干涉测量提供的高角度分辨率将使它们能够测量200多个非相互作用光谱双星的轨道，这将使直接确定组件质量和间接确定其他物理参数成为可能。他们还将能够对目前正在交换物质的双星中的恒星周围物质进行成像。最后，他们将在精心挑选的已经经历了质量转移的系统样本中寻找研究不佳的捐赠星。

Long baseline optical interferometry allows measurement (and even imaging) of structure on smaller scales than can be obtained even with the largest ground-based telescopes. The investigators will continue to make excellent use of Georgia State's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) interferometer array on Mt. Wilson in California. This is the only long-baseline optical interferometer run by a university, so it provides a unique opportunity for student training in this state-of-the art technology. Results from this program will be featured in undergraduate classes at Georgia State and in the southern California public outreach efforts of the Mt. Wilson Institute.The proposal presents a three-part investigation that will use the CHARA optical long-baseline interferometer array to determine fundamental stellar and circumstellar properties of stars in close binary systems before, during, and after they interact and exchange mass. The high angular resolution provided by interferometry will permit them to measure the orbits of over 200 non-interacting spectroscopic binaries, which will allow direct determination of component masses and indirect determination of other physical parameters. They will also be able to image circumstellar material in binary stars that are currently exchanging material. Finally, they will search for the poorly-stuied donor stars in a carefully-selected sample of systems that have already undergone mass transfer.