The two MAGIC 17-m diameter Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes have been equipped to work also as an intensity interferometer with a deadtime-free, 4-channel, GPU-based, real-time correlator. Operating with baselines between similar to 40 and 90 m the MAGIC interferometer is able to measure stellar diameters of 0.5 - 1 mas in the 400-440 nm wavelength range with a sensitivity roughly 10 times better than that achieved in the 1970's by the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer. Besides, active mirror control allows to split the primary mirrors into sub-mirrors. This allows to make simultaneous calibration measurements of the zero-baseline correlation or to simultaneously collect six baselines below 17 m with almost arbitrary orientation, corresponding to angular scales of similar to 1-50 mas. We plan to perform test observations adding the nearby Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) LST-1 23 m diameter telescope by next year. All three telescope pairs will be correlated simultaneously. Adding LST-1 is expected to increase the sensitivity by at least 1 mag and significantly improve the u-v plane coverage. If successful, the proposed correlator setup is scalable enough to be implemented to the full CTA arrays.

First measurements and upgrade plans of the MAGIC intensity interferometer

Fiori, M;Mariotti, M;Mirzoyan, R;Naletto, G;
2022

Abstract

The two MAGIC 17-m diameter Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes have been equipped to work also as an intensity interferometer with a deadtime-free, 4-channel, GPU-based, real-time correlator. Operating with baselines between similar to 40 and 90 m the MAGIC interferometer is able to measure stellar diameters of 0.5 - 1 mas in the 400-440 nm wavelength range with a sensitivity roughly 10 times better than that achieved in the 1970's by the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer. Besides, active mirror control allows to split the primary mirrors into sub-mirrors. This allows to make simultaneous calibration measurements of the zero-baseline correlation or to simultaneously collect six baselines below 17 m with almost arbitrary orientation, corresponding to angular scales of similar to 1-50 mas. We plan to perform test observations adding the nearby Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) LST-1 23 m diameter telescope by next year. All three telescope pairs will be correlated simultaneously. Adding LST-1 is expected to increase the sensitivity by at least 1 mag and significantly improve the u-v plane coverage. If successful, the proposed correlator setup is scalable enough to be implemented to the full CTA arrays.
2022
Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VIII
Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VIII
9781510653474
9781510653481
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/3466554
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 1
  • OpenAlex ND
social impact