2011/07/15 by Guillermo Torres, Torres, Guillermo
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Developments in Astronomy #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1107.3088
13 pages, including one figure. To appear in proceedings of ASP, Resolving the Future of Astronomy with Long-Baseline Interferometry (March 28 -31, 2011)
arxiv created 2011/07/15 · openalex publication_date 2011/07/15 · arxiv updated 2011/07/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
For many decades the determination of accurate fundamental parameters for stars (masses, radii, temperatures, luminosities, etc.) has mostly been the domain of eclipsing binary systems. That has begun to change as long-baseline interferometric techniques have improved significantly, and powerful new instruments have come online. This paper will review the status of the field, and in particular how the knowledge of precise stellar properties helps us understand stars. Main-sequence stars similar to the Sun are by far the best studied, but much remains to be done for other kinds of objects such as early-type as well as late-type stars including brown dwarfs, evolved stars, metal-poor stars, and pre-main sequence stars. Progress is illustrated with several examples of how interferometry has contributed significantly in some of these areas.