First visible-light measurements from the IOTA interferometer

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Abstract
We present the result of the first stellar diameter measurements done in visible light(λ = 665 nm) at the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA) located on Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona. The data for these measurements were acquired using IOTA's 'rapid scanning piezo mirror' which allows us to acquire complete interferograms at a rate of about two per second. The resulting frequency distribution of visibilities matches the theoretical statistical distribution from radio astronomy when on a priori criterion is used to select 'good' scans. The interpretation of this result is difficult, however, due to the differences between the distribution of radio and optical fringe visibilities. Therefore, a very simple-minded selection criterion for 'good' fringes is used in the final analysis, and the resulting diameter measurements are in close agreement with other published results.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

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