This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A tiny glass chip developed by researchers at Heriot-Watt University has linked two telescopes together to enable them to act as a single powerful instrument, marking an important step toward a new generation of astronomical technology. 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. Researchers believe the technology could eventually support some of astronomy's most ambitious goals, including studying how planetary systems form and evolve while helping scientists directly detect and characterize planets around other stars.
The international project brought together researchers from the U.K. (Heriot-Watt University), Germany (Cologne and Potsdam universities) and the United States (the CHARA Array of Georgia State University). The photonic chip at the heart of the instrument was developed at Heriot-Watt University's Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences by professor Robert Thomson and Dr. The team also played a central role in the observing campaigns that demonstrated the technology on the telescope array.
Thomson said, "This is a significant milestone for a research program that began more than 15 years ago. Astronomers can achieve much sharper views of the universe by combining observations from several telescopes at the same time. Doing this allows the telescopes to work together as though they were one much larger telescope.
"Traditionally, combining the light from multiple telescopes requires bulky instruments with complex arrangements of mirrors and lenses. We have shown that much of that work can instead be carried out by a glass chip only a couple of centimeters in size. "Seeing this technology progress from fundamental research and early laboratory demonstrations to successful operation at one of the world's leading facilities is a particularly significant outcome and a demonstration of the power of international collaboration." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly.
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