Year: 2016
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Optical imaging with microarcsecond resolution will reveal details across and outside stellar surfaces but requires kilometer-scale interferometers, challenging to realize either on the ground or in space. Intensity interferometry, electronically connecting independent telescopes, has a noise budget that relates to the electronic time resolution, circumventing issues of atmospheric turbulence. Extents up to a few km are becoming realistic with arrays of optical air Cherenkov telescopes (primarily erected for gamma-ray studies), enabling an optical equivalent of radio interferometer arrays. Pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss, digital versions of the technique have now been demonstrated, reconstructing diffraction-limited images from laboratory measurements over hundreds of optical baselines. This review outlines the method from its beginnings, describes current experiments, and sketches prospects for future observations.
DOI: 10.1117/12.2234130
Author: Dainis Dravins
Institution: Lund University
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2467845340