Bonn 2020 – scientific programme

The DPG Spring Meeting in Bonn had to be cancelled! Read more ...

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 100: Gamma astronomy II

T 100.7: Talk

Friday, April 3, 2020, 12:30–12:45, H-HS XVI

Towards intensity interferometry with Air Cherenkov Telescopes — •Andreas Zmija, Adrian Zink, Dmitry Malyshev, Stefan Funk, Gisela Anton, Naomi Vogel, and Thilo Michel — Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, ECAP

Astronomical intensity interferometry - recording correlated intensity fluctuations of starlight in two or more telescopes - is a promising tool of measuring the star's diameters and geometries, first performed by Hanbury Brown and Twiss in the late 1950s. The insensitivity to atmospheric fluctuations and the fact that the photon streams at the telescopes can be recorded independently of each other allows interferometry baselines of several kilometres even in the optical regime resulting in extremely high angular resolution. Therefore Cherenkov telescopes such as the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) with large baselines and detection areas provide excellent conditions for these measurements. We recall the physics of thermal light intensity correlations that set the conditions on optics and electronics. In this context we show the development of a setup for intensity interferometry with Cherenkov Telescopes and present results of laboratory tests which demonstrate the possibilities and challenges of the project.