Flare star observations with a single-photon counting imaging detector

Abstract

At Los Alamos National Laboratory we are developing a new imaging sensor which combines high spatial and high temporal resolution over a large area format, while maintaining single-photon counting sensitivity and sustaining a high count rate. The detector is called a microchannel plate with crossed delay line readout, or MCP/CDL. This detector is ideally suited to the observation of weak transient events, such as stellar flares from red dwarf flare stars in our Galaxy. At present we are initiating an experiment with the MCP/CDL detector which will utilize a 30-cm aperture f/7 telescope to characterize U-band, B-band, and V-band emission from such low-luminosity flare stars, and to search for weak optical transients associated with other astrophysical sources.