The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) optical interferometer will be modified to accommodate a spectroscopic capability in wavebands R through H. This interferometer/spectrometer will allow direct separation of the photospheric spectra of binaries with separatrons of 0.2 to 10 milli-arc seconds, including interacting binaries and will enable measurements of the physical properties of interacting binaries to compare with evolutionary models. It is also proposed to observe a number of Be disks to begin the process of understanding the kinematics.
The current group delay tracking will be upgraded to fringe tracking which will provide the opportunity to do Fourier Transform Spectrosopy (FTS) in the visible bands. ***
