Linked telescopes find star system like our own
By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press
Using two linked telescopes that act as a single, high-powered lens, scientists have observed a young star surrounded by a swirling disk of particles like those believed to be the source of planets.
The star, known as DG Tau, is thought to be more like our own solar system than similar celestial bodies observed in the past, researchers say.
Observations of DG Tau were made Oct. 23, 2002, and Feb. 13 this year and will appear in an upcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The observations are the first published findings resulting from the use of the linked 10-meter telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island, said Gerard van Belle, a scientist at the Michelson Science Center at the California Institute of Technology who took part in the observations.
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The linked telescopes, known as the Keck Interferometer, form the equivalent of an 85-meter (279-foot) telescope and comprise the world's largest optical telescope system. Each telescope gathers light waves and then combines them so they interact, or "interfere" with each other. Interferometry combines the light from two or more telescopes to simulate a much larger, more powerful device.
"It's a new era in astronomy that we can use these two very big Keck telescopes as an interferometer," said Bo Reipurth, a professor at the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy.
