Towards μ-arcsecond spatial resolution with Air Cherenkov Telescope arrays as optical intensity interferometers

Abstract

Abstract. In this poster contribution we highlight the equivalence between an Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) array and an Intensity Interferometer for a range of technical requirements. We touch on the differences between a Michelson and an Intensity Interferometer and give a brief overview of the current IACT arrays, their upgrades and next generation concepts (CTA, AGIS, completion 2015). The later are foreseen to include 30-90 telescopes that will provide 400-4000 different baselines that range in length between 50 m and a kilometre. Intensity interferometry with such arrays of telescopes attains 50µ-arc seconds resolution for a limiting mv ∼ 8.5. This technique opens the possibility of a wide range of studies, amongst others, probing the stellar surface activity and the dynamic AU scale circumstellar environment of stars in various crucial evolutionary stages. Here we discuss possibilities for using IACT arrays as optical Intensity Interferometers.