| Popis: |
We report observations of the nova RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) using the Keck Interferometer Nuller (KIN), approximately 3.8 days following the most recent outburst of 2006 February 12. These observations represent the first scientific results from the KIN, which operates in N‐band from 8 to 12.5 μm in a nulling mode. In this mode the stellar light itself is suppressed by a destructive fringe, effectively enhancing the contrast of any nearby (constructive fringe) source, which in this case is the circumstellar material located near the star. By fitting the unique KIN data, we have obtained an angular size of the mid‐infrared continuum of 6.2±0.6, 4.0±0.4, or 5.4±0.6 mas for disk, gaussian (FWHM), and shell profiles, respectively. The data show evidence of enhanced neutral atomic hydrogen emission and atomic metals including silicon located in the inner spatial regime ( |
