Intensity Interferometry observations of the H$\alpha$ envelope of $\gamma$ Cas with M\'{e}O and a portable telescope

TL;DR

This study uses intensity interferometry with modified telescopes to observe the H-alpha envelope of gamma-Cas, confirming previous findings and demonstrating the scalability of the technique across different telescope designs.

Contribution

It introduces a method to equip various optical telescopes with intensity interferometry for stellar envelope observations, showing its effectiveness and scalability.

Findings

Data consistent with previous interferometric observations

Demonstrated capability to use different telescope designs

Showed potential for scaling the system to more telescopes

Abstract

We report on observations of the extended environment of the bright Be star $\gamma$-Cas performed using intensity interferometry measurements within its H$\alpha$ emission line. These observations were performed using a modified version of the I2C intensity interferometry instrument installed onto the 1.54 meter M\'{e}O optical metrology telescope and a portable 1-meter telescope (T1M). In order to better constrain the extent of the H$\alpha$ envelope, observations were performed for two different positions of the T1M telescope, corresponding to an intermediate and long baselines in which the extended region was partially and fully resolved. We find that the observed data are consistent with past interferometric observations of $\gamma$-Cas. These observations demonstrate the capability to equip optical telescopes of different optical designs with intensity interferometry capabilities and illustrate the potential to scale a similar system onto many additional telescopes.