Portable Multi-Channel Intensity Interferometer

便携式多通道强度干涉仪

• 批准号: 1429015
• 负责人: Elliott Horch
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Southern Connecticut State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1429015&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Portable; Multi; Channel; Intensity; Interferometer

In the continual effort to obtain better images of objects in the universe, the emphasis has generally been centered on orbiting observatories or ever-larger ground-based facilities with laser correction of atmospheric turbulence. Both are expensive endeavors with physical limitations. A quite different approach, intensity interferometry, has a significant history in radio astronomy, but was last seriously used for the optical regime in the 1970's using the simple detectors available at the time. Dr. E. Horch of Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) has recognized that today's very sensitive, extremely fast solid-state detectors motivates that the technique be re-examined, as it would offer the possibility of obtaining separations of orbiting binary stars, stellar diameters, and even complete stellar images using a small array of inexpensive, modest-sized telescopes and commercially available instrumentation. Indeed, the SCSU project is being promoted as an activity well-suited to student involvement at a small undergraduate university.Intensity interferometry for astronomy utilizes the Bose-Einstein correlation of bosons (and therefore photons) to provide information on the angular size of the radiating source. For telescopes with somewhat less than 1-m aperture distributed over the SCSU campus, Dr. Horch predicts that an angular resolution of 0.1 milliarcseconds can be achieved down to a visual magnitude of ~3.5, allowing detailed inspection of about 200 stars. For comparison, the Sun moved to a distance that yields this apparent magnitude would have an angular diameter of 2 milliarcseconds. Moreover, the effect can be monitored in several wavebands simultaneously through the use of Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays that have quantum efficiencies near 0.5 and time response of ~0.1 nanoseconds, and the data recorded using GPS technology.Funding for the development of a modern two-telescope prototype of an intensity interferometer array for the optical is being provided by NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences through its participation in the Major Research Instrumentation program.

在不断努力获得更好的宇宙物体图像的过程中，重点一般集中在轨道观测台或越来越大的地面设施上，这些设施具有大气湍流的激光校正功能。 两者都是昂贵的努力与物理限制。 一种完全不同的方法，强度干涉测量法，在射电天文学中有着重要的历史，但最后一次被认真用于光学领域是在20世纪70年代，当时使用的是简单的探测器。 Dr. E.南康涅狄格州州立大学（SCSU）的霍希（Horch）已经认识到，当今非常灵敏、速度极快的固态探测器促使人们重新审视这项技术，因为它将提供一种可能性，即使用一小批廉价、中等尺寸的望远镜和商业上可用的仪器来获得轨道双星的分离、恒星直径，甚至完整的恒星图像。 实际上，SCSU项目正被推广为一项非常适合学生参与的小型本科大学活动。天文学强度干涉测量利用玻色子（以及光子）的玻色-爱因斯坦相关性来提供辐射源的角大小信息。 对于分布在SCSU校园内的孔径略小于1米的望远镜，Horch博士预测，0.1毫角秒的角分辨率可以达到约3.5的视星等，允许对大约200颗恒星进行详细检查。 作为比较，太阳移动到产生这个视星等的距离时，其角直径为2毫角秒。 此外，通过使用量子效率接近0.5且时间响应为~0.1纳秒的单光子雪崩二极管（SPAD）阵列，可以在多个波段中同时监测该效应，以及使用GPS技术记录的数据。为开发现代两-美国国家科学基金会的天文科学部通过参与该项目，正在提供一个用于光学的强度干涉仪阵列的望远镜原型。研究仪器计划。