Development of a modern Stellar Intensity Interferometer at the University of Utah.

Stellar Intensity Interferometry (SII) has recently been introduced as a viable method for performing high-resolution imaging of stellar surfaces by employing large air-cherenkov telescope arrays, typically used for gamma-ray astronomy. Unprecedented angular resolution scales on the order of tens of micro-arcseconds are attainable since the baseline separation between telescopes can be made very large (\textgreater 100m) due to the relative insensitivity of the technique to atmospheric turbulence. Given these capabilities, it is possible to image oblate and binary star systems, stellar features such as star-spots, and potentially the silhouette of orbiting exoplanets. At the University of Utah we have been working towards a modern SII system and also operate the StarBase-Utah observatory, consisting of two twin 3m diameter telescopes located in Grantsville, UT. In this talk, I will outline the capabilities of the SII technique as well as describe the progress made in imaging simulated stars in the laboratory. Additionally, I will highlight the future goals of our group which include SII observations of stars this upcoming winter using the StarBase observatory.