Pair Of Telescopes Research Articles

The BINGO Project

Context. The Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) radio telescope will use the neutral hydrogen emission line to map the Universe in the redshift range 0.127 ≤ z ≤ 0.449, with the main goal of probing BAO. In addition, the instrument’s optical design and hardware configuration support the search for fast radio bursts (FRBs). Aims. In this work, we propose the use of a BINGO Interferometry System (BIS) including new auxiliary, smaller radio telescopes (hereafter outriggers). The interferometric approach makes it possible to pinpoint the FRB sources in the sky. We present the results of several BIS configurations combining BINGO horns with and without mirrors (4 m, 5 m, and 6 m) and five, seven, nine, or ten for single horns. Methods. We developed a new Python package, the <mono>FRBlip</mono>, which generates mock catalogs of synthetic FRB and computes, based on a telescope model, the observed signal-to-noise ratio, which we use to numerically compute the detection rates of the telescopes and how many interferometry pairs of telescopes (baselines) can observe an FRB. The FRBs observed by more than one baseline are the ones whose location can be determined. We thus evaluated the performance of BIS regarding FRB localization. Results. We found that BIS would be able to localize 23 FRBs yearly with single horn outriggers in the best configuration (using ten outriggers of 6-m mirrors), with redshift z ≤ 0.96. The full localization capability depends on the number and type of the outriggers. Wider beams are best for pinpointing FRB sources because potential candidates will be observed by more baselines, while narrow beams search deep in redshift. Conclusions. The BIS can be a powerful extension of the BINGO telescope, dedicated to observe hundreds of FRBs during Phase 1. Many of FRBs will be well localized with a single horn and a 6-m dish as outriggers.

Piston Reconstruction Experiment (P-REx) – II. Off-line performance evaluation with VLTI/GRAVITY

ABSTRACT For sensitive optical interferometry, it is crucial to control the evolution of the optical path difference (OPD) of the wavefront between the individual telescopes of the array. The OPD between a pair of telescopes is induced by differential optical properties such as atmospheric refraction, telescope alignment, etc. This has classically been measured using a fringe tracker that provides corrections to a piston actuator to account for this difference. An auxiliary method, known as the Piston Reconstruction Experiment (P-REx), has been developed to measure the OPD, or differential ‘piston’ of the wavefront, induced by the atmosphere at each telescope. Previously, this method was outlined and results obtained from Large Binocular Telescope adaptive optics data for a single telescope aperture were presented. P-REx has now been applied off-line to previously acquired Very Large Telescope Intereferometer (VLTI)’s GRAVITY Coudé Infrared Adaptive Optics wavefront sensing data to estimate the atmospheric OPD for the six baselines. Comparisons with the OPD obtained from the VLTI GRAVITY fringe tracker were made. The results indicate that the telescope and instrumental noise of the combined VLTI and GRAVITY systems dominates over the atmospheric turbulence contributions. However, good agreement between simulated and on-sky P-REx data indicates that if the telescope and instrumental noise was reduced to atmospheric piston noise levels, P-REx has the potential to reduce the OPD root mean square of piston turbulence by up to a factor of 10 for frequencies down to 1 Hz. In such conditions, P-REx will assist in pushing the sensitivity limits of optical fringe tracking with long baseline interferometers.

Concurrent Jovian S‐Burst Beaming as Observed From LWA1, NDA, and Ukrainian Radio Telescopes

AbstractThis paper describes the statistical property of Jupiter's millisecond burst (S‐burst) beaming for Io‐related decametric (Io‐DAM) sources from a ground‐based radio telescope network. To do so, we performed simultaneous observations of Jovian Io‐DAM S‐bursts from 15 January through 4 May 2016 for a total of nine events using several radio telescopes. These radio telescopes include the Long Wavelength Array station One (LWA1) in the United States, Nançay Decameter Array (NDA) in France, and three large radio telescopes (UTR2, URAN2, and URAN3) in Ukraine. We conducted a cross‐correlation analysis of the S‐burst spectrograms in a frequency range of 10.5 to 33 MHz over effective baselines of up to 8,950 km. We found that the beaming of the S‐bursts is formed on the flashlight‐like structure within an east‐west beam width of 2.75" for Io‐A/C, 2.63" for Io‐A', and 2.75" for Io‐B/D. In parallel, the flashlight‐like beam was completely filled because the results from all usable pairs of telescopes supported this model. Hence, these beam widths directly correspond to the minimum cone thickness where a radio source emanates over large solid angles from the same direction of Jupiter, as opposed to a localized radio source emitting over small solid angles along active magnetic flux tubes that are tied to Io's orbital motion in Jupiter's rotation frame (beacon‐like structure). Additionally, this cross‐correlation technique shows a practical benefit of producing statistical profiles of S‐bursts.

Atmospheric monitoring using the Cherenkov Transparency Coefficient for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The future ground-based gamma-ray observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will require reliable monitoring of the atmosphere which is an inherent part of the detector. We discuss here the implementation of the extended method of the Cherenkov Transparency Coeffcient for the atmospheric calibration for the CTA. The method estimates the atmospheric transmission of Cherenkov light, relying on the measurement of the rates of cosmic ray-induced air showers that trigger different pairs of telescopes. We examine the performance of our approach utilizing Monte Carlo simulations assuming various atmospheric conditions and CTA observation configurations.

Coupling of wavefront errors and pointing jitter in the LISA interferometer: misalignment of the interfering wavefronts

The laser interferometer space antenna is a foreseen space-based gravitational wave detector, which aims to detect 10−20 strains in the frequency range from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz. It is a triangular constellation of three spacecraft, with equal sides of m, where every spacecraft hosts a pair of telescopes that simultaneously transmit and receive laser beams measuring the constellation arms by heterodyning the received wavefronts with local references. Due to the spacecraft and constellation jitters, the interfering (received and local) wavefronts become misaligned. We investigate analytically the coupling between misalignments and aberrations of the interfering wavefronts and estimate the relevant contribution to the noise of the heterodyne signal.

Search for long distance correlations between extensive air showers detected by the EEE network

A search for long distance correlations between individual Extensive Air Showers (EAS) detected by pairs of MRPC telescopes of the Extreme Energy Events (EEE) network was carried out. The search for an anomaly in these events is the purpose of our work. A dataset obtained by all the possible 45 pairs between 10 EEE cluster sites (hosting at least two telescopes), located at relative distances between 86 and 1200km, was analyzed, corresponding to an overall period of 3968 days time exposure. To estimate the possible event excess with respect to the spurious rate, the number of coincidence events was extracted as a function of the time difference between the arrival of the showers in the two sites, from $\pm 10$ s to the smallest time interval where events are still observed. The analysis was done taking into account both the time and orientation correlation between the showers detected by the telescope pairs. A few candidate events with unusually small time difference and angular distance were observed, with a p-value sensibly smaller than a confidence level of 0.05.

Investigation of the inhomogeneity of atmospheric turbulence at day and night times

In this work, we introduce for the first time the use of a pair of telescopes facing each other in conjunction with the use of a pair of moiré deflectometers for the investigation of the inhomogeneity of atmospheric turbulence. In the experiment, a laser beam enters a telescope from its back focal point by virtue of a focusing lens and is expanded and re-collimated by it before passing through the turbulent ground level atmosphere. It then enters the aperture of a second telescope, where it is again re-collimated behind the focal point, finally entering a pair of moiré deflectometers. We use the instrument for measuring the fluctuations of two components of the angle of arrival (AA) across the second telescope's aperture. Calculation of the structure functions of the vertical and horizontal components of the AA fluctuations on the second telescope's aperture (over typical vertical and horizontal moiré fringes) at different altitudes and at different latitudes allows a quantitative measure of the inhomogeneity at the day and night times in the atmospheric surface layer. Experimental results show that on sunny days the difference between the structure functions of the horizontal component of the AA fluctuations calculated at two different altitudes over two horizontal moiré fringes is changed as a function of the time and its value meaningfully correlated to the mean value of the temperature of the Earth's surface. We did not find any interpretative correlation for the difference between the structure functions of the vertical component of the AA fluctuations calculated at two different latitudes. In addition, for the data recorded on windy days the observed correlation between the inhomogeneity of the atmospheric turbulence and the Earth's temperature almost disappeared.

Interferometric nulling of four channels with integrated optics.

Nulling interferometry has been identified as a competitive technique for the detection of extrasolar planets. In its basic form, the technique consists of combining out-of-phase a single pair of telescopes to effectively null the light of a bright star and reveal the dim glow of the companion. However, in order to mitigate the effect of the stellar leaks through the interferometer, a broad angular central null is required. The hierarchical combination of several pairs of telescopes can accomplish this task. We have manufactured and tested with monochromatic light an integrated optics component, which combines a linear array of four telescopes in the nulling mode envisaged by Angel and Woolf [Astroph. J.475, 373-379 (1997).10.1086/apj.1997.475.issue-1ASJOAB0004-637X]. By simulating in the laboratory the motion of a star in the sky, we could measure the expected angular transmission of the four-telescope nuller. Moreover, the tests have demonstrated a broad nulling scaling as the fourth power of the baseline delay.

Initial Results Obtained with the First TWIN VLBI Radio Telescope at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell.

Geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) uses radio telescopes as sensor networks to determine Earth orientation parameters and baseline vectors between the telescopes. The TWIN Telescope Wettzell 1 (TTW1), the first of the new 13.2 m diameter telescope pair at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell, Germany, is currently in its commissioning phase. The technology behind this radio telescope including the receiving system and the tri-band feed horn is depicted. Since VLBI telescopes must operate at least in pairs, the existing 20 m diameter Radio Telescope Wettzell (RTW) is used together with TTW1 for practical tests. In addition, selected long baseline setups are investigated. Correlation results portraying the data quality achieved during first initial experiments are discussed. Finally, the local 123 m baseline between the old RTW telescope and the new TTW1 is analyzed and compared with an existing high-precision local survey. Our initial results are very satisfactory for X-band group delays featuring a 3D distance agreement between VLBI data analysis and local ties of 1 to 2 mm in the majority of the experiments. However, S-band data, which suffer much from local radio interference due to WiFi and mobile communications, are about 10 times less precise than X-band data and require further analysis, but evidence is provided that S-band data are well-usable over long baselines where local radio interference patterns decorrelate.

Optical aperture synthesis with electronically connected telescopes.

Highest resolution imaging in astronomy is achieved by interferometry, connecting telescopes over increasingly longer distances and at successively shorter wavelengths. Here, we present the first diffraction-limited images in visual light, produced by an array of independent optical telescopes, connected electronically only, with no optical links between them. With an array of small telescopes, second-order optical coherence of the sources is measured through intensity interferometry over 180 baselines between pairs of telescopes, and two-dimensional images reconstructed. The technique aims at diffraction-limited optical aperture synthesis over kilometre-long baselines to reach resolutions showing details on stellar surfaces and perhaps even the silhouettes of transiting exoplanets. Intensity interferometry circumvents problems of atmospheric turbulence that constrain ordinary interferometry. Since the electronic signal can be copied, many baselines can be built up between dispersed telescopes, and over long distances. Using arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes, this should enable the optical equivalent of interferometric arrays currently operating at radio wavelengths.

IDATEN and G-SITENNO: GUI-assisted software for coherent X-ray diffraction imaging experiments and data analyses at SACLA.

Using our custom-made diffraction apparatus KOTOBUKI-1 and two multiport CCD detectors, cryogenic coherent X-ray diffraction imaging experiments have been undertaken at the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) facility. To efficiently perform experiments and data processing, two software suites with user-friendly graphical user interfaces have been developed. The first is a program suite named IDATEN, which was developed to easily conduct four procedures during experiments: aligning KOTOBUKI-1, loading a flash-cooled sample into the cryogenic goniometer stage inside the vacuum chamber of KOTOBUKI-1, adjusting the sample position with respect to the X-ray beam using a pair of telescopes, and collecting diffraction data by raster scanning the sample with X-ray pulses. Named G-SITENNO, the other suite is an automated version of the original SITENNO suite, which was designed for processing diffraction data. These user-friendly software suites are now indispensable for collecting a large number of diffraction patterns and for processing the diffraction patterns immediately after collecting data within a limited beam time.

Signal-to-noise ratio limitations for intensity correlation imaging.

Intensity correlation imaging (ICI) is a concept which has been considered for the task of providing images of satellites in geosynchronous orbit using ground-based equipment. This concept is based on the intensity interferometer principle first developed by Hanbury Brown and Twiss. It is the objective of this paper to establish that a sun-lit geosynchronous satellite is too faint a target object to allow intensity interferometry to be used in developing image information about it-at least not in a reasonable time and with a reasonable amount of equipment. An analytic treatment of the basic phenomena is presented. This is an analysis of one aspect of the statistics of the very high frequency random variations of a very narrow portion of the optical spectra of the incoherent (black-body like-actually reflected sunlight) radiation from the satellite, an analysis showing that the covariance of this radiation as measured by a pair of ground-based telescopes is directly proportional to the square of the magnitude of one component of the Fourier transform of the image of the satellite-the component being the one for a spatial frequency whose value is determined by the separation of the two telescopes. This analysis establishes the magnitude of the covariance. A second portion of the analysis considers shot-noise effects. It is shown that even with much less than one photodetection event (pde) per signal integration time an unbiased estimate of the covariance of the optical field's random variations can be developed. Also, a result is developed for the standard deviation to be associated with the estimated value of the covariance. From these results an expression is developed for what may be called the signal-to-noise ratio to be associated with an estimate of the covariance. This signal-to-noise ratio, it turns out, does not depend on the measurement's integration time, Δt (in seconds), or on the optical spectral bandwidth, Δν (in Hertz), utilized-so long as ΔtΔν≫1, which condition it would be hard to violate. It is estimated that for a D=3.16 m diameter satellite, with a pair of D=1.0 m diameter telescopes (which value of D probably represents an upper limit on allowable aperture diameter since the telescope aperture must be much too small to even resolve the size of the satellite) at least N=2.55×10(16) separate pairs of (one integration time, pde count) measurement values must be collected to achieve just a 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Working with 10 pairs of telescopes (all with the same separation), and with 10 nearly adjacent and each very narrow spectral bands extracted from the light collected by each of the telescope-so that for each measurement integration time there would be 100 pairs of measurement values available-and with an integration time as short as Δt=1 ns, it would take T=2.55×10(5) s or about 71 h to collect the data for just a single spatial frequency component of the image of the satellite. It is on this basis that it is concluded that the ICI concept does not seem likely to be able to provide a timely responsive capability for the imaging of geosynchronous satellites.

Time correlation measurements from extensive air showers detected by the EEE telescopes

Time correlated events due to cosmic muons from extensive air showers have been detected by means of telescope pairs of the EEE (Extreme Energy Events) Project array. The coincidence rate, properly normalized for detector acceptance, efficiency and altitude location, has been extracted as a function of the relative distance between the telescopes. The results have been also compared with additional measurements carried out by small scintillator detectors at various distances.

Unbalanced nulling interferometer and precise wavefront control

A nulling interferometer was proposed to achieve direct detection of extra-solar planets (exoplanets) by suppressing light from the central star using a pair of telescopes. Recently, the stellar coronagraph method has shown rapid progress, which uses an extended concept of the nulling interferometer within single telescope optics. A dynamic range larger than 1 × 109 for the detection of Earth-like exoplanets can be attained by reducing diffraction patterns using the nulling coronagraph, and by suppressing speckle noise using an adaptive optics with an accuracy of λ/10000 rms. An unbalanced nulling interferometer (UNI), which is used as fore-optics, improves the wavefront sensing sensitivity and compensation level of the adaptive optics by a factor of 10. Consequently, the dynamic range of the coronagraph can also be improved by two orders of magnitude. The UNI is composed of a modified coronagraph or a traditional interferometer and magnifies the aberrations of incoming wavefronts.

Optical intensity interferometry with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

With its unprecedented light-collecting area for night-sky observations, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) holds great potential for also optical stellar astronomy, in particular as a multi-element intensity interferometer for realizing imaging with sub-milliarcsecond angular resolution. Such an order-of-magnitude increase of the spatial resolution achieved in optical astronomy will reveal the surfaces of rotationally flattened stars with structures in their circumstellar disks and winds, or the gas flows between close binaries. Image reconstruction is feasible from the second-order coherence of light, measured as the temporal correlations of arrival times between photons recorded in different telescopes. This technique (once pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss) connects telescopes only with electronic signals and is practically insensitive to atmospheric turbulence and to imperfections in telescope optics. Detector and telescope requirements are very similar to those for imaging air Cherenkov observatories, the main difference being the signal processing (calculating cross correlations between single camera pixels in pairs of telescopes). Observations of brighter stars are not limited by sky brightness, permitting efficient CTA use during also bright-Moon periods. While other concepts have been proposed to realize kilometer-scale optical interferometers of conventional amplitude (phase-) type, both in space and on the ground, their complexity places them much further into the future than CTA, which thus could become the first kilometer-scale optical imager in astronomy.

Very Large Telescope Interferometer observations of the dust geometry around R Coronae Borealis stars★

We are investigating the formation and evolution of dust around the hydrogen-deficient supergiants known as R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars. We aim to determine the connection between the probable merger past of these stars and their current dust-production activities. We carried out high-angular resolution interferometric observations of three RCB stars, namely RY Sgr, V CrA, and V854 Cen with the mid-IR interferometer, MIDI on the VLTI, using two telescope pairs. The baselines ranged from 30 to 60 m, allowing us to probe the dusty environment at very small spatial scales (~ 50 mas or 400 stellar radii). The observations of the RCB star dust environments were interpreted using both geometrical models and one-dimensional radiative transfer codes. From our analysis we find that asymmetric circumstellar material is apparent in RY Sgr, may also exist in V CrA, and is possible for V854 Cen. Overall, we find that our observations are consistent with dust forming in clumps ejected randomly around the RCB star so that over time they create a spherically symmetric distribution of dust. However, we conclude that the determination of whether there is a preferred plane of dust ejection must wait until a time series of observations are obtained.

Cosmic-ray events as background in imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes

The dominant background for observations of γ-rays in the energy region above 50 GeV with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes are cosmic-ray events. The images of most of the cosmic-ray showers look significantly different from those of γ-rays and are therefore easily discriminated. However, a small fraction of events seems to be indistinguishable from γ-rays. This constitutes an irreducible background to the observation of high-energy γ-ray sources, and limits the sensitivity achievable with a given instrument. Here, a Monte Carlo study of γ-like cosmic-ray events is presented. The nature of γ-like cosmic-ray events, the shower particles that are responsible for the γ-like appearance, and the dependence of these results on the choice of the hadronic interaction model are investigated. Most of the γ-like cosmic-ray events are characterised by the production of high-energy π 0’s early in the shower development which dump most of the shower energy into electromagnetic sub-showers. Also Cherenkov light from single muons can mimic γ-rays in close-by pairs of telescopes. Differences of up to 25% in the collection area for γ-like proton showers between QGSJet/FLUKA and Sibyll/FLUKA simulations have been found.

Technical Status of VERITAS

VERITAS, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, is a major new ground-based observatory for studying nonthermal astrophysics in the gamma-ray band above 100 GeV. VERITAS has operated a stereo pair of telescopes using a true array trigger at the Mt. Hopkins base camp site in southern Arizona since March, 2006. We report here on the status of certain key technical aspects of the project, including the optomechanical system and the trigger electronics.

CHARA ArrayK′‐Band Measurements of the Angular Dimensions of Be Star Disks

We present the first K'-band, long-baseline interferometric observations of the northern Be stars gamma Cas, phi Per, zeta Tau, and kappa Dra. The measurements were made with multiple telescope pairs of the CHARA Array interferometer, and in every case the observations indicate that the circumstellar disks of the targets are resolved. We fit the interferometric visibilities with predictions from a simple disk model that assumes an isothermal gas in Keplerian rotation. We derive fits of the four model parameters (disk base density, radial density exponent, disk normal inclination, and position angle) for each of the targets. The resulting densities are in broad agreement with prior studies of the IR excess flux and the resulting orientations generally agree with those from interferometric H-alpha and continuum polarimetric observations. We find that the angular size of the K' disk emission is smaller than that determined for the H-alpha emission, and we argue that the difference is the result of a larger H-alpha opacity and the relatively larger neutral hydrogen fraction with increasing disk radius. All the targets are known binaries with faint companions, and we find that companions appear to influence the interferometric visibilities in the cases of phi Per and kappa Dra. We also present contemporaneous observations of the H-alpha, H-gamma, and Br-gamma emission lines. Synthetic model profiles of these lines that are based on the same disk inclination and radial density exponent as derived from the CHARA Array observations match the observed emission line strength if the disk base density is reduced by approximately 1.7 dex.

Binary Stars with Component Disks: The Case of Z CMa

We present here a proposal for the mid-infrared study of the circumstellar material around Z CMa. The suggested configuration of the interferometer and the observational strategy are based on model simulations performed using the software ASPRO. We find that the UT1-UT3 telescope pair (the first mode to be offered) is able to constrain the flux ratio of the binary but not the extension of possible circumbinary disks. We suggest to use an AT unit to increase the baseline and thus resolve the material orbiting one or two components.