Events

NASA Keck Observations Help To Find Evidence for Earth-Like Planet Formation

Supported by the W. M. Keck Observatory Principal Investigator's Fund and NASA's Origins of Solar System program, Prof. William Herbst (Wesleyan University) and his team observed the early formation of an earth-like planet. The discovery, highlighted in the March 13, 2008 issue of Nature, used observations from the Keck telescopes taken over several years. More ...

Detection of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 by the Keck Interferometer

The Keck Interferometer has made the first infrared interferometry observations of an object outside our galaxy (press release) . Observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 are discussed in a paper to appear in the Oct 10, 2003 issue of the Astrophysical Journal, Letters and find that the majority of the 2 micron emission arises from a region less than 0.1 parsec across.

2003 Michelson Fellowship Solicitations

Proposals for the 2003 Michelson Fellowship Program are being accepted now throught 14 Nov 2003. In addition to the availability of Michelson graduate student and postdoctoral fellowships, new in this solicitation cycle is the availability of Michelson Education Awards, to further the educational goals of the Navigator Program. Interested parties please see our Michelson Fellowship page.

First science results from the Keck Interferometer

The first science results from the Keck Interferometer, observations of the young stellar object DG Tau, have been announced (press release). The team of authors, including members of the MSC, found a resolved component with a radius of 0.12 to 0.24 AU, depending on the stellar properties (preprint).

2003 Michelson Summer School

The 2003 Michelson Summer School was held at Caltech from 7 -- 11 July 2003. More information is available at the MSC's Michelson Summer School page.

NPOI Direct Six-Beam Combination

Scientists at the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) at Anderson Mesa (near Flagstaff) Az have recently demonstrated the first six-way optical interferometric beam combination, and used this capability to synthesize an image of the triple stellar system Eta Virginis (HD 107259). Details of and results from this important accomplishment can be found in the Navy's public announcement page. Congratulations to the NPOI team.

IOTA Three-Beam Combination Commissioning

On 23 February 2002, a team at the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA) interferometer at Mt. Hopkins (near Tucson) Az demonstrated three-way beam combination on the variable star Alpha Lyncis (HD 80493). A description of the measurements is available on the IOTA webpage. Congratulations to the IOTA team.

KI Shared-Risk Observations

NASA has selected four external teams to collaborate with the Keck Interferometer (KI) Development Team in KI commissioning science: PI's Danchi, Kulkarni, Monnier, Traub lead the external teams collaborating with the KI development team on KI commissioning science (more details can be found here. Shared-risk science observation operations commenced in June, and were continued in October and November.

VLTI Operations

On 17 March 2001, the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) Development Team obtained first fringes with a pair of small telescopes and the VINCI fiber beam combiner, followed closely by pairwise fringes using all four 8.2-m Unit Telescopes (UTs). More details on initial fringes can be found at the official first-fringe announcement from ESO and first UT-fringe announcement. Proposals for observations with VLTI using the test siderostats were solicited as part of VLT period 71 (covering Apr -- Sept 2003). The next VLT/VLTI proposal solicitation is expected in March 2003 (more information).