Angular diameters by the lunar occultation techniques. VI - Limb darkening of alpha Tauri

Abstract

Fourteen angular diameter measurements of alpha Tauri at six wavelengths in the range 0.4-3.8 microns are reported. Lunar occulation data are presented and the relative intensity is plotted against milliseconds of arc. It is concluded that the data support an angular diameter variation with wavelength at least as strong as predicted by computations; corrected for limb-darkening, the value is 20.88 + or - 0.10. The wavelength dependence of the diameter confirms theoretical predictions for the wavelength dependence of limb darkening.