The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Experiment is a second-generation highsensitivity gamma-ray and cosmic-ray detector that builds on the experience and technology of the Milagro observatory. Like Milagro, HAWC utilizes the water Cherenkov technique to measure extensive air showers. Instead of a pond filled with water (as in Milagro) an array of closely packed water tanks is used. The event direction will be reconstructed using the times when the PMTs in each tank are triggered. Therefore, the timing calibration will be crucial for reaching an angular resolution as low as 0.25 degrees.We propose to use a laser calibration system, patterned after the calibration system in Milagro. Like Milagro, the HAWC optical calibration system will use ~1 ns laser light pulses. Unlike Milagro, the PMTs are optically isolated and require their own optical fiber calibration. For HAWC the laser light pulses will be directed through a series of optical fan-outs and fibers to illuminate the PMTs in approximately one half of the tanks on any given pulse. Time slewing corrections will be made using neutraldensity filters to control the light intensity over 4 orders of magnitude. This system is envisioned to run continuously at a low rate and will be controlled remotely. In this paper, we present the design of the calibration system and first measurements of its performance.
The HAWC collaboration has recently completed the construction of a gamma-ray observatory at an altitude of 4100 meters on the slope of the Sierra Negra volcano in the state of Puebla, Mexico. In order to achieve an optimal angular resolution, energy reconstruction, and cosmic-ray background suppression for the air showers observed by HAWC, it is crucial to obtain good timing and charge calibrations of the photosensors in the detector. The HAWC calibration is based on a laser system which is able to deliver short light pulses to all the tanks in the array. The light intensity can range over 7 …
The design and performance of the GPS Timing and Control (GTC) System of the High Altitude Water Cerenkov (HAWC) gamma ray observatory is described. The GTC system provides a GPS synchronized absolute timestamp, with an accuracy better than 1$μ$s, for each recorded event in HAWC. In order to avoid any slack between the recorded data and the timestamp, timestamps are injected to the main data acquisition (DAQ) system after the Front-end Electronic Boards (FEBs). When HAWC is completed, the HAWC main DAQ will use 10 time to digital converters (TDCs). In order to keep all the TDCs in sync, the GT…
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma Ray Observatory (HAWC) is under construction 4100 meters above sea level at Sierra Negra, Mexico. We describe the design and cabling of the detector, the characterization of the photomultipliers, and the timing calibration system. We also outline a next-generation detector based on the water Cherenkov technique.
On May 2008 the ANTARES collaboration completed the installation of a neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. This detector consists of a tridimensional array of almost 900 photomultipliers (PMTs) distributed in 12 lines. These PMTs can collect the Cherenkov light emitted by the muons produced in the interaction of high energy cosmic neutrinos with the matter surrounding the detector. A good timing resolution is crucial in order to infer the neutrino track direction and to make astronomy. In this presentation I describe the time calibration systems of the ANTARES detector including some m…
The AstroSat mission carries several high-energy detectors meant for fast timing studies of cosmic sources. In order to carry out high precision multi-wavelength timing studies, it is essential to calibrate the absolute time stamps of these instruments to the best possible accuracy. We present here the absolute time calibration of the AstroSat LAXPC instrument, utilising the broadband electromagnetic emission from the Crab Pulsar to cross calibrate against Fermi-LAT and ground based radio observatories Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT). Using the techniq…
The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission is the first focusing X-ray telescope in the hard X-ray (3-79 keV) band. Among the phenomena that can be studied in this energy band, some require high time resolution and stability: rotation-powered and accreting millisecond pulsars, fast variability from black holes and neutron stars, X-ray bursts, and more. Moreover, a good alignment of the timestamps of X-ray photons to UTC is key for multi-instrument studies of fast astrophysical processes. In this Paper, we describe the timing calibration of the NuSTAR mission. In particular, we …
The radio as well as the high energy emission mechanism in pulsars is yet not understood properly. A multi-wavelength study is likely to help in better understanding of such processes. The first Indian space-based observatory, ASTROSAT, has five instruments aboard, which cover the electromagnetic spectrum from infra-red (1300 $Å$) to hard X-ray (380 KeV). Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI), one of the five instruments is a hard X-ray telescope functional over an energy range of 20-380 KeV. We aim to estimate the timing offset introduced in the data acquisition pipeline of the instrument, whi…
We describe a method for spectral cleaning and timing calibration of short voltage time series data from individual radio interferometer receivers. It makes use of the phase differences in Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectra across antenna pairs. For strong, localized terrestrial sources these are stable over time, while being approximately uniform-random for a sum over many sources or for noise. Using only milliseconds-long datasets, the method finds the strongest interfering transmitters, a first-order solution for relative timing calibrations, and faulty data channels. No knowledge of gain…
Reliable timing calibration is essential for the accurate comparison of XMM-Newton light curves with those from other observatories, to ultimately use them to derive precise physical quantities. The XMM-Newton timing calibration is based on pulsar analysis. However, as pulsars show both timing noise and glitches, it is essential to monitor these calibration sources regularly. To this end, the XMM-Newton observatory performs observations twice a year of the Crab pulsar to monitor the absolute timing accuracy of the EPIC-pn camera in the fast Timing and Burst modes. We present the results of thi…
The Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) began millimeter-precision ranging to the Moon in 2006. Until now, a comprehensive validation of APOLLO system range accuracy has not been possible because of centimeter-scale deficiencies in computational models of the Earth-Moon range, and because APOLLO lacked an internal timing calibration system. Here, we report on the development of a system that enables in-situ calibration of the timing response of the APOLLO apparatus, simultaneous with lunar range measurements. The system was installed in August 2016. Preliminary resu…
As China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, Insight-HXMT (Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope) successfully launched on Jun 15, 2017. It performs timing and spectral studies of bright sources to determine their physical parameters. HXMT carries three main payloads onboard: the High Energy X-ray telescope (HE, 20-250 keV, NaI(Tl)/CsI(Na)), the Medium Energy X-ray Telescope (ME, 5-30 keV, Si-Pin) and the Low Energy X-ray telescope (LE, 1-15 keV, SCD). In orbit, we have used the radioactive sources, activated lines, the fluorescence line, and Cas A to calibrate the gain and energy resolution of th…
We report the timing and spatial resolution from the Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) installed in the STAR experiment at RHIC. Cosmic ray muons traversing the STAR detector have an average transverse momentum of 6 GeV/c. Due to their very small multiple scattering, these cosmic muons provide an ideal tool to calibrate the detectors and measure their timing and spatial resolution. The values obtained were ~100 ps and ~1-2 cm, respectively. These values are comparable to those obtained from cosmic-ray bench tests and test beams.
Lunar laser ranging provides a number of leading experimental tests of gravitation -- important in our quest to unify General Relativity and the Standard Model of physics. The Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) has for years achieved median range precision at the ~2 mm level. Yet residuals in model-measurement comparisons are an order-of-magnitude larger, raising the question of whether the ranging data are not nearly as accurate as they are precise, or if the models are incomplete or ill-conditioned. This paper describes a new absolute calibration system (ACS) int…
