Enabling Milliarcsecond Astrophysics: Open access for the CHARA Array

该计划将利用佐治亚州立大学高角度分辨率天文学中心(CHARA)向天文学社区提供观测时间，并开放获取CHARA档案数据。这项工作的更广泛影响涉及对本科生和研究生进行仪器开发方面的培训，包括为佐治亚州本科生提供参与Chara研究的重点研究机会。这项提案还将帮助为山上查拉展览馆的升级提供资金。通过展示历史设备和解释当前系统的工作原理，向普通公众演示了干涉测量。Chara在加利福尼亚州威尔逊山运营着光学/近红外(OIR)干涉阵列。查拉阵列有六个Y配置的1米口径望远镜，提供了从33米到331米的15条基线和10个独立的闭合相位三角形。由于其望远镜的数量和大小、成像能力、基线长度、波长范围和波束组合器覆盖的光谱分辨率，查拉阵列是一种独特的、功能强大的毫秒成像设备。这项提议定义了一条将光学干涉测量从一个相当小的实验小组转移到更广泛的用户社区的途径。

This program will provide observing time to the astronomical community using the Georgia State University Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA), as well as open access to archival CHARA data. Broader impacts of the work involve training of undergraduate and graduate students in instrumentation development, including a focused research opportunity for Georgia State undergraduates to participate in CHARA research. This proposal will also help fund upgrades to the CHARA Exhibit Hall on Mt. Wilson, which illustrates interferometry to the general public via displays of historical equipment and explanations of how the current system works. CHARA operates an optical/near infrared (OIR) interferometric array on Mount Wilson, CA. The CHARA Array has six 1-m aperture telescopes in a Y configuration providing 15 baselines from 33 to 331 meters and ten independent closure phase triangles. With the number and size of its telescopes, its imaging capabilities, the length of its baselines, the range of wavelength regimes and spectral resolutions covered by its beam combiners, the CHARA Array is a uniquely powerful facility for milliarcsecond imaging. This proposal defines a path to move optical interferometry from a rather small and experimental group to a broader user community.