First results of aqueye, a precursor ‘quantum’ instrument for the e-elt

Abstract

In September 2005, we completed a study (QuantEYE, the ESO Quantum Eye, [D. Dravins et al. in Proceedings from Meeting ‘Instrumentation for Extremely Large Telescopes’, held at Ringberg Castle, July 2005 ed. by T. Herbst, 2005]) in the frame of the projects for the 100 m Overwhelmingly Large (OWL) telescope. The main goal was to demonstrate the possibility of approaching with the existing technology the picosecond time resolution needed to bring quantum optics into the astronomical domain, measuring the statistics of the photon arrival time and demonstrating the feasibility of a modern version of the Hanbury Brown Twiss Intensity Interferometry (HBTII). To gain experience with such a novel instrument, we have built and put in operation a prototype (AQuEye) for the Asiago 1.8 m telescope. Here we present its main characteristics.