English

Mobile Intensity Interferometer for Stellar Observations (MI$^2$SO)

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics 2026-01-19 v1

Abstract

In recent years, intensity interferometry has seen renewed interest and successful application at Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope arrays. These measurements are usually performed during bright moon periods while the instruments' primary purpose -- gamma-ray observations -- cannot be fulfilled. The Mobile Intensity Interferometer for Stellar Observations was designed as a proof of concept for a purpose-built intensity interferometer. Using acrylic Fresnel lenses 1 m in diameter with 1.2 m focal length, a compact, economical and lightweight design was realised. The detector fixture allows for translation in the z-axis to adjust for measurements at different wavelengths (and therefore focal points) and easy swapping of the detector in its entirety. Both mobility and scalability in quantity of this design allow for specific targeting of projected baselines and orientations based on the target. Particularly for potential binary systems, selective coverage of a target's u-v plane is essential to probing the characteristics accurately. A first campaign demonstrated the capability of these Fresnel lens telescopes by measuring the spatial coherence curve of Arcturus (α\alpha Boo). In an observation time of less than 11 h, the angular diameter was measured with milliarcsecond precision, in agreement with the values in the literature.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.11268,
  title  = {Mobile Intensity Interferometer for Stellar Observations (MI$^2$SO)},
  author = {Christopher Ingenhütt and Pedro Batista and Gisela Anton and Alison Mitchell and Naomi Vogel and Adrian Zink and Andreas Zmija and Stefan Funk},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.11268},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

20 pages, 12 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T09:07:32.430Z