Course Notes from the 2001 Michelson Interferometry Summer School

Peter Lawson, Editor (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

The Michelson Interferometry Summer School was held on the Campus of Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, from Monday May 21 through Friday May 25. The 2001 Summer School was intended to help train future users of ground and space-based optical/IR interferometers. The Summer School consisted of a series of tutorial lectures and laboratory experiments on aspects of long baseline stellar interferometry with a hands-on approach to understanding how observations are planned and how data are reduced and interpreted. The emphasis was on methods of synthesis imaging with ground-based interferometers. Examples were drawn from existing instruments, notably the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI). This school built on material described in previous summer schools, and a familiarity with the material of the 1999 Course Notes, "Principles of Long Baseline Stellar Interferometry" (JPL Pub 00-009), was assumed.

The Michelson Summer Schools are intended for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

Scientific Organizing Committee

Local Organizing Committee

Important Dates

March 2, 2001: Final announcement
March 9, 2001: Application deadline.
March 19, 2001: Decisions on financial support announced.

Table of Contents

Realaudio of Introduction.

OVERVIEW OF STELLAR INTERFEROMETRY

• Optical/Infrared Stellar Interferometry
  Hal McAlister (Georgia State Univ.)
• Optical Synthesis Imaging
  D.F. Buscher (University of Cambridge)

FLUOR AND R LEO

• Introduction to Mira Variables
  Lee Anne Willson(Iowa State Univ.)
• Interferometric Observations with IOTA and FLUOR
  Vincent Coude du Foresto(Observatoire de Paris)
• Introduction to Data Reduction
  Guy Perrin(Observatoire de Paris)
• Data Modeling and Interpretation
  Bertrand Mennesson(Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

KECK I AND WR 104

• Introduction to Wolf Rayet Stars
  Anthony Moffat (Univ. Montreal)
• Aperture Masking the Keck I Telescope
  Peter Tuthill (Univ. Sydney)
• Approach to Data Reduction
  John Monnier (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)
• Aperture Masking Lab Sessions
  Peter Tuthill (University of Sydney)

John Monnier (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)
• Results and Conclusions
  Moffat, Tuthill, and Monnier

NPOI AND MIZAR & MATAR

• Applied Binary Star Research
  C.A. Hummel (US Naval Observatory)
• The Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI)
  D.J. Hutter (USNO)
• Calibration
   David Mozurkewich (Naval Research Laboratory)
• Approach to Data Reduction
  C.A. Hummel(US Naval Observatory)

PTI AND EXTRA SOLAR PLANETS

• Extra Solar Planets
  Debra Fischer (UC Berkeley)
• Narrow Angle Astrometry
  Andy Boden (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
• PTI and Keck Interferometers
  M. Mark Colavita(Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
• Data Reduction for Narrow Angle Astrometry
  Andy Boden (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Links Relating to the 2001 Michelson Summer School:

• Selected photographs by P.R. Lawson
• Photographs (0) by P.R. Lawson
• Photographs (1) by P.R. Lawson
• Photographs (2) by P.R. Lawson
• Photographs (3) by P.R. Lawson
• Photographs by D.F. Buscher
• Photographs by V. Coude du Foresto
• Photographs by G. van Belle

Useful links for Lowell Observatory, NPOI, and the Flagstaff area:

• Lowell Observatory Home Page
• Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer
• US Naval Observatory
• USNO Astrometry Department
• Naval Research Laboratory
• NRL Remote Sensing Division, Code 7210
• Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
• Wupatki National Monument
• Grand Canyon National Park

Software related links:

• Software notes from the 2001 School
• National Instruments: makers of LabVIEW
• Research Systems: makers of IDL
• Redhat Linux
• Notes on the CDROM Proceedings