Speaker
Description
IC4Stars (Intensity Correlations For Stars) is a project that aims to directly measure the angular diameter of the white dwarf Sirius B. Together with the high-precision distance measurement from Hipparcos parallaxes, this will provide a measurement of the physical size of a white dwarf star for the first time. The objective is to perform intensity interferometry measurements deployed at two 8-m class telescopes, using single-photon sensors with time resolution in the order of tens of pico seconds. In this talk we will present the technical milestones achieved so far by our group. We will showcase the current status and prospects of the project. We will highlight the laboratory characterization campaign on the photon detectors, the design and construction of the optical detection module and the performance on-sky, deployed at l'Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in March 2026.
