DIFFERENTIAL BINARY STAR PHOTOMETRY USING THE ADAPTIVE OPTICS SYSTEM AT STARFIRE OPTICAL-RANGE

As part of an NSF effort to make the Starfire Optical Range 1.5-m tele scope, equipped with laser guide star and adaptive optics, available t o the astronomical community, several nights in 1995 May and October w ere awarded to the CHARA group in order to perform differential photom etry on close binary stars. Images were acquired in two near-IR pass b ands of over twenty pairs and reduced by fitting both the point spread function (PSF) and the positions and intensities of the stars. The De lta m values were calibrated using ten stars for which combined I and R photometric data were available in the literature. Color indices hav e been calculated for the individual components of these stars, allowi ng for the determination of spectral classifications of both component s in seven of the systems. (C) 1996 American Astronomical Society.