Sub-astronomical unit structure of the near-infrared emission from AB Aurigae

We present near-infrared, long-baseline, interferometric observations of AB Aurigae, a well-known Herbig Ae/ Be star, obtained with the Infrared Optic al Telescope Array. The near-infrared emission from this source has been sp atially resolved for the first time, and the observations indicate a charac teristic diameter of 5 mas for the emission, corresponding to 0.7 AU at the distance of AB Aur. The data appear to be most consistent with models in w hich the circumstellar material around AB Aurigae lies in a Battened struct ure with a central large hole or optically thin region of radius about 0.3 AU.