Although there was not a gathering of the CHARA Collaboration in 2008, we made up for that omission with a wonderful three-day meeting to review our fifth year of CHARA Array science at the Nice Observatory. The meeting was graciously hosted by the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur and the Laboratoire FIZEAU.
The scientific program was organized by Theo ten Brummelaar, CHARA's Associate Director. The local arrangements were beautifully and memorably managed by Denis Mourard and Phillipe Stee of OCA, and we thank them for making the Nice Observatory such a spectacular and hospitable venue for this meeting. We also gratefully acknowledge the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, the Laboratoire FIZEAU, the Université de Nice, and the CNRS (Programme National de Physique Stellaire et Action Spécifique Haute Résolution Angulaire) for their generous financial support that was critical for enabling this invigorating meeting.
Group photo
List of talks
Monday, March 16, 2009 | CHARA Instrumentation and Observing Updates:
| Topic | Speaker |
| Introductory Comments | Hal McAlister, GSU/CHARA, Atlanta |
| Observing Trends and Throughput | Theo ten Brummelaar, GSU/CHARA, Mount Wilson |
| News from the CHARA Array Beam Combination Lab | Judit Sturmann, GSU/CHARA, Mount Wilson |
| Improving Beam Quality: New Telescope Alignment Procedure | Laszlo Sturmann, GSU/CHARA, Mount Wilson |
| Site Report and Notes | Larry Webster, GSU/CHARA, Mount Wilson |
| MIRC/CHAMP Status and Updates | Ming Zhao, UM, Ann Arbor |
| FLUOR Status and Future Plans | Vincent Foresto, Paris Obs., Meudon |
| PAVO, SUSI and ROCS: Status and Future Plans | Michael Ireland, U. Sydney, Sydney |
| VEGA: Status and Future Plans | Denis Mourard, OCA, Nice |
| Weather and Seeing Statistics | Nils Turner, GSU/CHARA, Mount Wilson |
| 2008 Nightly Reports and Remote Observing | P.J. Goldfinger, GSU/CHARA, Mount Wilson |
| VEGA Remote Observing | Jean-Michel Clausse, GSU/CHARA, OCA, Nice |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | CHARA Instrumentation and Observing Updates (cont.):
| Topic | Speaker |
| Overview of CHARA AO: Planning and Concepts | Steve Ridgway, NOAO, Tucson |
| Calibration Tips | Tabetha Boyajian, GSU/CHARA, Atlanta |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | Science from the CHARA Array:
| Topic | Speaker |
| The Diameters of M Dwarfs | Gerard van Belle, ESO, Garching |
| A Survey of Stellar Families Multiplicity of Solar-Type Stars | Deepak Raghavan, GSU/CHARA, Atlanta |
| Hot Dust in Debris Disks | Rachel Akeson, NExScI, Pasadena |
| Masses and Radii of Young Stars | Russel White, GSU/CHARA, Atlanta |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | Science from the CHARA Array (cont):