Optical interferometry
2012; Cambridge University Press; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1017/cbo9781139023443.012
Autores Tópico(s)Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
ResumoLess than 300 years after Galilei's first telescope observations of celestial objects, Fizeau (1868) suggested a way to improve the measurement of stellar diameters by masking the telescope aperture with two small sub-apertures. Light passing through these sub-apertures would then interfere in the telescope focal plane. The first successful measurement using this principle was performed on Mt. Wilson in 1920 by Michelson and Pease (1921) who determined the diameter of α Orionis to be 0.047 arcsec. This was at a time when the smallest diameter that could be measured with a full aperture was about 1 arcsec, equivalent to the angular resolution of the telescope when observing through atmospheric turbulence.
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