ABSTRACT
We report the design, construction, and parameters of a detector package based on a germanium avalanche photodiode operated in the Geiger mode cooled to 77 K. The new design of the active quenching circuit, proper diode structure, and cryogenic cooling setup permitted us to increase the detector's active area to 0.1-mm diameter while maintaining an acceptable dark-count rate, timing resolution, and photon-counting sensitivity at 1.54 microm. The active-area size and the compact design of the detector package permitted its application in satellite laser ranging at 0.532- and 1.543-microm wavelengths, yielding subcentimeter ranging precision.
ABSTRACT
An orbiting spacecraft and ground observatories have been used to obtain interferometric observations of cosmic radio sources. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) was used as the orbiting observatory in conjunction with two 64- meter radio telescopes at ground observatories, one in Australia and one in Japan. The quasars 1730-130 (NRAO 530), 1510-089, and 1741-038 were observed at a frequency of 2.3 gigahertz, and a maximum projected baseline of 1.4 earth diameters was achieved. All quasar observations for which valid data were acquired resulted in detected fringes. Many of the techniques proposed for a dedicated very long baseline interferometry observatory in space were used successfully in this experiment.
