![[COAST is a stellar interferometer
comprising five 0.4m telescopes]](coast04.jpg)
This website consists of a set of pages giving information about COAST, including astronomical results obtained with the telescope. The COAST pages are included in the Cavendish Optical Interferometry Site Map, which may be used to assist with navigation.
COAST is currently used mainly as a testbed for subsystems and components intended for MROI, VLTI, and future optical interferometer arrays, although limited astrophysical programmes are performed from time-to-time.
The team who built COAST are collaborating with New Mexico Tech and the MRO Consortium on the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI), which will employ the principles pioneered at COAST to image faint and complex astronomical targets. The MROI will provide new insights into the physics of star and planet formation, stellar accretion and mass loss, and Active Galactic Nuclei.
For more details on the full range of research performed by members of the Cavendish optical interferometry group, please refer to our optical interferometry front page.
Information about C.O.A.S.T.
- "Building the world's largest optical telescope", a gentle introduction to COAST for non-experts
- An introduction to COAST
- The history and current status of COAST (updated 2006/11/23)
- Astronomical results from COAST (updated 2004/06/11)
- Details of the telescope construction
- Fringes and power spectra
- Downloadable files, including images
Links to Elsewhere
- Magdalena Ridge Observatory
- JPL's Optical Long Baseline Interferometry News including interferometry links
- Lucky Imaging web site
For users in Cambridge only: