Wireless Imaging Intensity Interferometer for Astronomy

两台或两台以上的望远镜协同工作，原则上可以极为精确地测量距离和角度。该项目将扩展南康涅狄格恒星干涉仪（SCSI）的能力，SCSI是一种双望远镜仪器，可以测量明亮恒星的大小。由于SCSI采用的方法与目前使用的大多数多望远镜仪器不同，因此该项目所支持的科学将不同于迄今为止在该领域所做的工作。例如，SCSI可以很容易地观察到蓝光，由于空气中湍流的影响，其他现有仪器在蓝光波长范围内很难有效。该项目还将为南康涅狄格州立大学的物理系学生和公众观察活动提供培训。SCSI通过精确定时光子到达每个望远镜站，并在事后比较数据流（一种被称为强度干涉测量法的技术），产生关于恒星的极高分辨率信息。该项目将对SCSI产生三个重大改进。首先，它将把使用的望远镜数量从2个增加到3个，这是超越恒星大小测量并获得真正成像能力所必需的。其次，将使用新的电子设备来尝试证明该仪器可以成功地在无线模式下使用。如果实现了这一点，那么三个望远镜站之间的距离可以显着增加，从而能够获得更精细的图像细节。第三，通过使用更多的探测器和增加可收集的光量，仪器的灵敏度将得到显著提高。因此，较暗的恒星将被成功地观测到。该奖项的教育和公众宣传将有助于满足康涅狄格州和东北部对受过高等教育、具有研究能力的科学和工程专业人员的需求，并激发K-12学生和纽黑文社区公众对科学的兴趣。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Two or more telescopes that work as one can in principle make extremely precise measurements of distances and angles. This project will extend the capabilities of the Southern Connecticut Stellar Interferometer (SCSI), a two-telescope instrument that can measure the sizes of bright stars. Because SCSI is based on a different method than most multi-telescope instruments in use today, the science that is enabled by the project will be different than what has been done in the field to date. For example, SCSI can easily observe in blue light, a wavelength range in which it is harder for other existing instruments to be efficient due to the effects of turbulence in the air. The project will also provide for the training of physics students and public observing events at Southern Connecticut State University.SCSI yields extremely high-resolution information about stars by precisely timing the arrival of photons at each telescope station and comparing the data streams after the fact, a technique known as intensity interferometry. The project will yield three significant improvements to SCSI. First, it will increase the number of telescopes used from two to three, something that is necessary in order to go beyond measurements of stellar size and obtain a true imaging capability. Second, new electronics will be used to attempt to demonstrate that the instrument can be successfully used in a wireless mode. If this is achieved, then the distance between the three telescope stations can be increased dramatically, leading to the capability for obtaining much finer image detail. Third, the sensitivity of the instrument will be significantly improved by using more detectors and increasing the amount of light that can be collected. Fainter stars will therefore be successfully observed. The education and public outreach enabled by the award will help serve the need for highly-educated, research-capable science and engineering professionals in Connecticut and the Northeast and stimulate interest in science both among K-12 students and the general public in the New Haven community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.