Astronomy Seminar
| Date/Time: | Friday, 02 Mar 2018 from 4:10 pm to 5:10 pm |
|---|---|
| Location: | A401 Zaffarano Hall |
| Cost: | Free |
| Contact: | Steve Kawaler |
| Phone: | 515-294-9728 |
| Channel: | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Categories: | Lectures |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
The seminal work of Hanbury Brown and Twiss demonstrated that
high-resolution astronomy is possible with rather modest optical
means by shifting the performance burden to the light sensors,
particularly with respect to their time resolution. Recent advances in
the field of ultrafast photon sensors make it worth re-visiting this
concept and improve on it. The talk discusses the possibilities
arising from a novel spatially and temporally resolving, large-area
picosecond photon detector, the LAPPD(TM).
These include a concept for a relatively inexpensive large-area astronomical
telescope in the form of a 100-meter-size array of mirrors, as well as
combining multiple such arrays for baselines of tens to hundreds of
kilometers. The alternative of using existing telescopes, such as
Veritas will be discussed.
It will be demonstrated how the angular resolution is limited only by the
light-gathering power, which can be optimized through inexpensive mirror
area, and maximizing the spectral bandwidth.
Furthermore, a proposal will be discussed for resolving the phase
problem of the Fourier transform inherent in HBT astronomy, thus
possibly providing true astronomical images.