IQUEYE: A New Visiting Instrument at Gemini South

Iqueye, the Italian Quantum Eye, is a fast photon counter designed to achieve sub-nanosecond timing accuracy in the optical bands. It uses Single Photon Avalanche Photodiode (SPAD) detectors combined with a split-pupil optical design and a cutting-edge timing system, incorporating a rubidium clock with a GPS system to allow precise time tagging. Before coming to Gemini South, Iqueye was used at the 1.8-meter Asiago Observatory telescope and NTT 3.6-meter telescope.

The instrument team, led by Professor Tomás Cassanelli at the Universidad de Chile, Professor Giampiero Naletto at the University of Padova (Italy), and Professor Luca Zampieri at the National Institute of Astrophysics (Padova, Italy), delivered Iqueye to Gemini South in early February. Commissioning and science observations were completed on February 18. Data reduction and analysis of Iqueye datasets takes time, but even in the preliminary analysis of the Crab Pulsar observations, the data reveal detailed structures in the time-series of signals from the pulsar, with high signal-to-noise ratios, which have never been obtained before.