The CHARA Array is one of the world's leading facilities for high-resolution astronomy and consists of six telescopes that can be linked together to study celestial objects in extraordinary detail. To make this possible, the light collected by each telescope must be combined with extreme precision.
The photonic chip – which guided light through thin glass channels in the manner of integrated circuits guiding electrons – has been successfully used for the first time in on-sky observations at the CHARA Array in California. The results show that the technology, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, can perform a task that has traditionally required much larger and more complex optical systems.
The achievement could help transform the way future astronomical instruments are designed, making them smaller, more robust and easier to upgrade while still delivering the precision needed to study distant stars and planetary systems.
The study appears in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ("Stellar interferometry with a K-band integrated optics beam combiner instrument at the CHARA Array – I. First on-sky fringes for CHARIOT").
To read more, click here.