Toward a revival of stellar intensity interferometry

Abstract

Building on technological developments over the last 35 years, intensity interferometry now appears a feasible option by which to achieve diffraction-limited imaging over a square-kilometer synthetic aperture. Upcoming Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope projects will consist of up to 100 telescopes, each with ~100m² of light gathering area, and distributed over ~1km². These large facilities will offer thousands of baselines from 50m to more than 1km and an unprecedented (u,v) plane coverage. The revival of interest in Intensity Interferometry has recently led to the formation of a IAU working group. Here we report on various ongoing efforts towards implementing modern Stellar Intensity Interferometry.