A team of astronomers from Yale University led by Rachel Rettenbacher, Sam Cabot and Deborah Fisher
“We have combined three different types of observations into one method that allows us to study the surface of stars,” Rettenbacher said.
The new technique is based on a combination of dataground and orbital telescopes. The Yale scientists are using the High-Precision Spectrograph (EXPRES), the Transiting Exoplanet Research Satellite (TESS) and the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Interferometric Telescope Array.
"Interferometric imaging has never been applied to the study of stars until now, but this method brings the stars closer to us, makes them brighter and closer," Rettenbacher said.
For decades, astronomers have useda method based on calculating the radial velocity of a star in the search for exoplanets in other solar systems. Astronomers are looking for changes in the speed of a star that could be caused by the gravitational pull of a rotating planet. This data comes from spectrometers - devices that "look" at the light emitted by a star and decompose it into a spectrum of frequencies that can be analyzed.
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