Toward an imaging capability with the Southern Connecticut Stellar Interferometer

Klaucke, Paul M.; Pellegrino, Richard A.; Weiss, Samuel A.; Horch, Elliott

doi:10.1117/12.2576346

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Yet, modern detector technology has considerably advanced efficiencies, timing capabilities, data processing, and synchronisation, and thus has enabled a new resurgence of HBT experiments with the goal of achieving improved resolution in astronomy. Recently, photon bunching, i.e., the temporal auto-correlation of photons, was measured with good signal-to-noise ratio for light from an artificial black body and the Sun [17,18], from well-controlled laboratory sources [19,20], as well as from distant stars [21][22][23][24][25][26], and first small baseline HBT experiments were carried out aiming to resolve true stars by use of spatial single photon [27,28] or intensity [29,30] cross-correlations. For a recent review of stellar intensity interferometry, see Dravins [31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantitative comparison of amplitude versus intensity interferometry for astronomy

et al. 2022

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Astronomical imaging can be broadly classified into two types. The first type is amplitude interferometry, which includes conventional optical telescopes and Very Large Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). The second type is intensity interferometry, which relies on Hanbury Brown and Twiss-type measurements. At optical frequencies, where direct phase measurements are impossible, amplitude interferometry has an effective numerical aperture that is limited by the distance from which photons can coherently interfere. Intensity interferometry, on the other hand, correlates only photon fluxes and can thus support much larger numerical apertures, but suffers from a reduced signal due to the low average photon number per mode in thermal light. It has hitherto not been clear which method is superior under realistic conditions. Here, we give a comparative analysis of the performance of amplitude and intensity interferometry, and we relate this to the fundamental resolution limit that can be achieved in any physical measurement. Using the benchmark problem of determining the separation between two distant thermal point sources, e.g., two adjacent stars, we give a short tutorial on optimal estimation theory and apply it to stellar interferometry. We find that for very small angular separations the large baseline achievable in intensity interferometry can more than compensate for the reduced signal strength. We also explore options for practical implementations of Very Large Baseline Intensity Interferometry (VLBII).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantitative comparison of amplitude versus intensity interferometry for astronomy

et al. 2022

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Observations with the Southern Connecticut Stellar Interferometer. I. Instrument Description and First Results

Horch

Weiss

Klaucke

et al. 2022

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We discuss the design, construction, and operation of a new intensity interferometer, based on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. While this paper will focus on observations taken with an original two-telescope configuration, the current instrumentation consists of three portable 0.6 m Dobsonian telescopes with single-photon avalanche diode detectors located at the Newtonian focus of each telescope. Photons detected at each station are time stamped and read out with timing correlators that can give cross-correlations in timing to a precision of 48 ps. We detail our observations to date with the system, which has now been successfully used at our university in 16 nights of observing. Components of the instrument were also deployed on one occasion at Lowell Observatory, where the Perkins and Hall telescopes were made to function as an intensity interferometer. We characterize the performance of the instrument in detail. In total, the observations indicate the detection of a correlation peak at the level of 6.76σ when observing unresolved stars, and consistency with partial or no detection when observing at a baseline sufficient to resolve the star. Using these measurements, we conclude that the angular diameter of Arcturus is larger than 15 mas and that of Vega is between 0.8 and 17 mas. While the uncertainties are large at this point, both results are consistent with measures from amplitude-based long baseline optical interferometers.

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Toward an imaging capability with the Southern Connecticut Stellar Interferometer

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

A quantitative comparison of amplitude versus intensity interferometry for astronomy

A quantitative comparison of amplitude versus intensity interferometry for astronomy

Observations with the Southern Connecticut Stellar Interferometer. I. Instrument Description and First Results

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