Mirror production for the Cherenkov telescopes of the ASTRI Mini-Array and of the MST project for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
N. La Palombara, G. Sironi, E. Giro, S. Scuderi, R. Canestrari, S. Iovenitti, M. Garczarczyk, M. Krause, S. Diebold, R. Millul, F. Marioni, N. Missaglia, M. Red… 展开作者
N. La Palombara, G. Sironi, E. Giro, S. Scuderi, R. Canestrari, S. Iovenitti, M. Garczarczyk, M. Krause, S. Diebold, R. Millul, F. Marioni, N. Missaglia, M. Redaelli, G. Valsecchi, F. Zocchi, A. Zanoni, G. Pareschi
备注：
Accepted for publication in the SPIE Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS); 29 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables, quite a lot of stress, infinite patience. Published online on February 3, 2022 at http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.014005
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next ground-based $γ$-ray observatory in the TeV $γ$-ray spectral region operating with the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique. It is based on almost 70 telescopes of different class diameters - LST, MST and SST of 23, 12, and 4 m, respectively - to be installed in two sites in the two hemispheres (at La Palma, Canary Islands, and near Paranal, Chile). Several thousands of reflecting mirror tiles larger than 1 m$^2$ will be produced for realizing the segmented primary mirrors of a so large number of telescopes. Almost in parallel, the ASTRI Mini-Array (MA) is being implemented in Tenerife (Canary Islands), composed of nine 4 m diameter dual-mirror Cherenkov telescopes (very similar to the SSTs). We completed the mirror production for all nine telescopes of the ASTRI MA and two MST telescopes (400 segments in total) using the cold glass slumping replication technology. The results related to the quality achieved with a so large-scale production are presented, also discussing the adopted testing methods and approaches. They will be very useful for the adoption and optimization of the quality assurance process for the huge production (almost 3000 m$^2$ of reflecting surface) of the MST and SST CTA telescopes.
The observation of energetic astronomical sources emitting very high-energy gamma-rays in the TeV spectral range (as e.g. supernova remnants or blazars) is mainly based on detecting the Cherenkov light induced by relativistic particles in the showers produced by the photon interaction with the Earth atmosphere. The ASTRI Mini-Array is an INAF-led project aimed observing such celestial objects in the 1 - 100 TeV energy range. It consists of an array of nine innovative imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes that are an evolution of the dual-mirror aplanatic ASTRI-Horn telescope operating at th…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the most advanced facility designed for Cherenkov Astronomy. ASTRI SST-2M has been developed as a demonstrator for the Small Size Telescope in the context of the upcoming CTA. Its main innovation consists in the optical layout which implements the Schwarzschild-Couder configuration and is fully validated for the first time. The ASTRI SST-2M optical system represents the first qualified example for two mirrors telescope for Cherenkov Astronomy. This configuration permits to (i) maintain a high optical quality across a large FoV (ii) de-magnify the …
The ASTRI Mini-Array is a project for the Cherenkov astronomy in the TeV energy range. ASTRI Mini-Array consists of nine Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located at the Teide Observatory (Canarias Islands). Large volumes of monitoring and logging data result from the operation of a large-scale astrophysical observatory. In the last few years, several "Big Data" technologies have been developed to deal with such volumes of data, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT) framework. We present the Monitoring, Logging, and Alarm (MLA) system for the ASTRI Mini-Array aimed at supporting th…
A peculiar aspect of Cherenkov telescopes is that they are designed to detect atmospheric light flashes on the time scale of nanoseconds, being almost blind to stellar sources. As a consequence, the pointing calibration of these instruments cannot be done in general exploiting the standard astrometry of the focal plane. In this paper we validate a procedure to overcome this problem for the case of the innovative ASTRI telescope, developed by INAF, exploiting sky images produced as an ancillary output by its novel Cherenkov camera. In fact, this instrument implements a statistical technique cal…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the largest ground-based observatory operating in the very-high-energy gamma-ray (20 GeV - 300 TeV) range. It will be based on more than one hundred telescopes, located at two sites (northern and southern hemispheres). The energy coverage, in the southern CTA array, will extend up to hundreds of TeV thanks to 70 small size telescopes (SST), with primary mirrors of about 4 meters in diameter and large field of view of the order of 9 degrees. It is proposed that one of the first sets of precursors for the CTA SSTs array will be represented by nine ASTR…
We will describe the current status of the ASTRI Mini-Array, under construction at the Teide Astronomical Observatory in Tenerife, Spain. The final layout of the array will include nine small Cherenkov telescopes covering an area of about 650 x 270 square meters. The ASTRI telescopes adopt a dual-mirror Schwarzchild-Couder aplanatic optical design. In the focal plane, the ASTRI camera, based on silicon photo-multiplier detectors, will cover a large field-of-view ( > 10 deg in diameter). This system also provides good gamma-ray sensitivity at very high energies (VHE, above 10 TeV) combined with…
The ASTRI Mini-Array (MA) is an INAF project to build and operate a facility to study astronomical sources emitting at very high-energy in the TeV spectral band. The ASTRI MA consists of a group of nine innovative Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The telescopes will be installed at the Teide Astronomical Observatory of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) on the basis of a host agreement with INAF. Thanks to its expected overall performance, better than those of current Cherenkov telescopes' arrays for energies above \sim 5 TeV and up to 1…
The ASTRI project aims to develop, in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, an end-to-end prototype of the small-size telescope, devoted to the investigation of the energy range ~ 1-100 TeV. The proposed design is characterized by two challenging but innovative technological solutions which will be adopted for the first time on a Cherenkov telescope: a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder configuration and a modular, light and compact camera based on Silicon photo-multipliers. Here we describe the prototype design, the expected performance and the possibility to realize a mini array comp…
The ASTRI project is the INAF (Italian National Institute for Astrophysics) flagship project developed in the context of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) international project. ASTRI is dedicated to the realization of the prototype of a Cherenkov small-size dual-mirror telescope (SST-2M) and then to the realization of a mini-array composed of a few of these units. The prototype and all the necessary hardware devices are foreseen to be installed at the Serra La Nave Observing Station (Catania, Italy) in 2014. The upcoming data flow will be properly reduced by dedicated (online and offline) a…
ASTRI-Horn is the Cherenkov telescope developed by INAF and operating in Italy on the slopes of Etna volcano. Characterized by a dual-mirror optical system and a focal plane covered by silicon photomultiplier sensors, ASTRI-Horn is a prototype of the telescopes proposed to form one of the pathfinder sub-arrays of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory in Chile. The electronics of the ASTRI-Horn telescope, optimized to detect nanosecond burst of light, is not able to directly measure any continuous or slowly varying flux illuminating its camera. To measure the intensity of the night sky back…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a worldwide project aimed at building the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. Within the CTA project, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing an end-to-end prototype of the CTA Small-Size Telescopes with a dual-mirror (SST-2M) Schwarzschild-Couder configuration. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, is located at the INAF "M.C. Fracastoro" observing station in Serra La Nave (Mt. Etna, Sicily) and is currently in the scientific and performance validation phase. A mini-array of (at least) nine ASTRI telescopes has b…
ASTRI ("Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana") is a flagship project of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. Within this framework, INAF is currently developing a wide field of view (9.6 degrees in diameter) end-to-end prototype of the CTA small-size telescope (SST), devoted to the investigation of the energy range from a fraction of TeV up to tens of TeVs, and scheduled to start data acquisition in 2014. For the first time, a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical design will be adopted on a Cherenkov telescope, in order to obtain a compact optical…
Cherenkov telescope cameras are not suitable to perform astrometrical pointing calibration since they are not designed to produce images of the sky, but rather to detect nanosecond atmospheric flashes due to very high-energy cosmic radiation. Indeed, these instruments show only a moderate angular resolution (fractions of degrees) and are almost blind to the steady or slow-varying optical signal of starlight. For this reason, auxiliary optical instruments are typically adopted to calibrate the telescope pointing. However, secondary instruments are possible sources of systematic errors. Furtherm…
The next generation instrument for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy will be the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), consisting of approximately 100 telescopes in three sizes, built on two sites with one each in the Northern and Southern Hemi- spheres. Up to 40 of these will be Medium Size Telescopes (MSTs) which will dominate sensitivity in the core energy range. Since 2012, a full size mechanical prototype for the modified 12 m Davies-Cotton design MST has been in operation in Berlin. This doc- ument describes the techniques which have been implemented to calibrate and optimise the mechanical an…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a large collaborative effort aimed at the design and operation of an observatory dedicated to very high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics in the energy range from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV, which will yield about an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity with respect to the current major arrays (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS). Within this framework, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics is leading the ASTRI project, whose main goals are the design and installation on Mt. Etna (Sicily) of an end-to-end dual-mirror prototype of the CTA …
UVscope is an instrument, based on a multi-pixel photon detector, developed to support experimental activities for high-energy astrophysics and cosmic ray research. The instrument, working in single photon counting mode, is designed to directly measure light flux in the wavelengths range 300-650~nm. The instrument can be used in a wide field of applications where the knowledge of the nocturnal environmental luminosity is required. Currently, one UVscope instrument is allocated onto the external structure of the ASTRI-Horn Cherenkov telescope devoted to the gamma-ray astronomy at very high ener…
The ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) Mini-Array (MA) project is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). ASTRI MA is composed of nine Cherenkov telescopes operating in the energy range 1-100 TeV, and it aims to study very high-energy gamma ray astrophysics and optical intensity interferometry of bright stars. ASTRI MA is currently under construction, and will be installed at the site of the Teide Observatory in Tenerife (Spain). The hardware and software system that is responsible of monitoring and controlling…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a future ground-based gamma-ray observatory that will provide unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution for the detection of gamma rays with energies above a few tens of GeV. In comparison to existing instruments (like H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS) the sensitivity will be improved by installing two extended arrays of telescopes in the northern and southern hemisphere, respectively. A large number of planned telescopes (>100 in total) motivates the application of predictive maintenance techniques to the individual telescopes. A constant and automati…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the planned next-generation instrument for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy, covering a photon energy range of ~20 GeV to above 100 TeV. CTA will consist of the order of 100 telescopes of three sizes, installed at two sites in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. This contribution deals with the 12 meter Medium Size Telescopes (MST) having a single mirror (modified Davies-Cotton, DC) design. In the baseline design of the CTA arrays, 25 MSTs in the South and 15 MSTs in the North provide the necessary sensitivity for CTA in the core energy range of 100 GeV…
The study of ring images generated from high-energy muons is a very useful tool for the performance monitoring and calibration of any Imaging Atmosphere Cherenkov Telescope. Isolated muons travelling towards the telescope light collector system produce characteristic Cherenkov ring images in the focal plane camera. Since the geometry and the distribution of light deployed onto the camera can be easily reconstructed analytically for a muon of given energy and direction, muon rings are a powerful tool for monitoring the behaviour of crucial properties of an imaging telescope such as the point-sp…
ASTRI is a Flagship Project led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. The main objective of the ASTRI project is to develop a prototype of the Small Size class Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) in a dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M). The ASTRI SST-2M is an end-to-end prototype that will be fully developed by the ASTRI Collaboration from the optics design and manufacturing to the focal plane camera, from the structure of the mount to all the needed software. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be placed at the INAF "M.G. Fracastoro" observing station in Serra La …
Astri-Horn is a Small-Sized Telescope (SST) for very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy installed in Italy at the INAF "M.C. Fracastoro" observing station (Mt. Etna, Sicily). The ASTRI-Horn telescope is characterized by a dual-mirror optical system and a curved focal surface covered by SiPM sensors managed by a innovative fast front-end electronics. Dedicated studies were performed to verify the feasibility of the calibration through muons on the relatively small size of the primary mirror (~4 m diameter), as in the case of larger Cherenkov telescopes. A number of tests were performed using simul…
The ASTRI Mini-Array is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), aiming to construct and operate an array of nine Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) to study gamma-ray sources at very high energy (TeV) and to perform stellar intensity interferometry observations. This contribution describes the design and the technologies used by the ASTRI team to implement the Online Observation Quality System (OOQS). The main objective of the OOQS is to perform data quality analyses in real-time during Cherenkov and intensity interferometry o…
ASTRI is a flagship project of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, which aims to develop an end-to-end prototype of the CTA small-size telescope. The proposed design is characterized by a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder configuration and a camera based on Silicon photo-multipliers, two challenging but innovative technological solutions which will be adopted for the first time on a Cherenkov telescope. Here we describe the current status of the project, the expected performance and the possibility to realize a mini-array composed by a few small-size telescopes, which sh…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), is an international project for the next generation ground- based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy in the energy range from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. The sensitivity in the core energy range will be dominated by up to 40 Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs). The MSTs, of Davies-Cotton type with a 12 m diameter reflector are currently in the prototype phase. A full-size mechanical telescope structure has been assembled in Berlin. The telescope is partially equipped with different mirror prototypes, which are currently being tested and evaluated for performances charac…
The ASTRI Mini-Array is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. This project aims to construct and operate an array of nine Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes to study gamma-ray sources at very high energy (TeV) and perform stellar intensity interferometry observations. We describe the software architecture and the technologies used to implement the Online Observation Quality System (OOQS) for the ASTRI Mini-Array project. The OOQS aims to execute data quality checks on the data acquired in real-time by the Cherenkov cameras and intensity in…
ASTRI SST-2M is the end-to-end prototype telescope of the Italian National Institute of Astro- physics, INAF, designed to investigate the 10-100 TeV band in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope has been installed in Italy in September 2014, at the INAF ob- serving station located at Serra La Nave on Mount Etna. The telescope is foreseen to be completed and fully operative in spring 2015 including auxiliary instrumentation needed to support both operations and data anal- ysis. In this contribution we present the current status of a sub-set of the auxil…
ASTRI ("Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana") is a Flagship Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, and led by INAF, the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics. Main goals of the ASTRI project are the realization of an end-to-end prototype of a Small Size Telescope (SST) for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) in a dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M) and, subsequently, of a mini-array composed of a few SST-2M telescopes to be placed at the final CTA Southern Site. Here we present the main features of the Mini-Array Software System…
ASTRI SST-2M is one of the prototypes of the small size class of telescopes proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Its optical design is based on a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder configuration, and the camera is composed by a matrix of monolithic multipixel silicon photomultipliers managed by ad-hoc tailored front-end electronics. This paper describes the procedures for the gain calibration on the ASTRI SST-2M. Since the SiPM gain depends on the operative voltage and the temperature, we adjust the operative voltages for all sensors to have equal gains at a reference temperature. We then…
We report on the first detection of very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula by a Cherenkov telescope in dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) configuration. The result has been achieved by means of the 4 m size ASTRI-Horn telescope, operated on Mt. Etna (Italy) and developed in the context of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory preparatory phase. The dual-mirror SC design is aplanatic and characterized by a small plate scale, allowing us to implement large field of view cameras with small-size pixel sensors and a high compactness. The curved focal plane of the ASTR…
ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) is an Italian flagship project pursued by INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) strictly linked to the development of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA. Primary goal of the ASTRI program is the design and production of an end-to-end prototype of a Small Size Telescope for the CTA sub-array devoted to the highest gamma-ray energy region. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, will be tested on field in Italy during 2014. This telescope will be the first Cherenkov telescope adopting the double reflection layout in a Schwarzschild-C…
The Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) is a camera-development project involving UK, US, Japanese and Dutch institutes for the dual-mirror Small-Sized Telescopes (SST-2M) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Two CHEC prototypes, based on different photosensors are funded and will be assembled and tested in the UK over the next ~18 months. CHEC is designed to record flashes of Cherenkov light lasting from a few to a hundred nanoseconds, with typical RMS image width and length of ~0.2 x 1.0 degrees, and has a 9 degree field of view. The physical camera geometry is dictated by the telescope opt…
ASTRI is a Flagship Project of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. One of the main aims of the ASTRI Project is the design, construction and verification on-field of a dual mirror (2M) end-to-end prototype for the Small Size Telescope (SST) envisaged to become part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype adopts the Schwarzschild-Couder design, and a camera based on SiPM (Silicon Photo Multiplier); it will be assembled at the INAF astronomical site of Serra La Nave on mount Etna (Catania, I…
ASTRI (Astrofisica a Specchi con Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) is a "Flagship Project" financed by the Italian Ministry of Instruction, University and Research and led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics. It represents the Italian proposal for the development of the Small Size Telescope system of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the next generation observatory for Very High Energy gamma-rays (20 GeV - 100 TeV). The ASTRI end-to-end prototype will be installed at Serra La Nave (Catania, Italy) and it will see the first light at the beginning of 2014. We describe the expected perfo…
ASTRI is a Flagship Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, and led by INAF, the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics. The primary goal of the ASTRI project is the realization of an end-to-end prototype of a Small Size Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, is based on a completely new double mirror optics design and will be equipped with a camera made of a matrix of SiPM detectors. Here we describe the ASTRI SST-2M camera concept: basic idea, detectors, electronics, current status and some results coming fr…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the future observatory for TeV gamma-ray astronomy. In order to increase the sensitivity and to extend the energy coverage beyond the capabilities of current facilities, its design concept features telescopes of three different size classes. Based on the experience from H.E.S.S. phase II, the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics Tübingen (IAAT) develops actuators for the mirror control system of the CTA Medium Size Telescopes (MSTs). The goals of this effort are durability, high precision, and mechanical stability under all environmental conditio…
The pointing capability of a telescope in the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a crucial aspect in the calibration of the instrument. It describes how a position in the sky is transformed to the focal plane of the telescope and allows precise directional reconstructions of atmospheric particle showers. The favoured approach for pointing calibrations of the Medium Size Telescopes (MST) is the utilisation of an CCD-camera installed in the centre of the dish, which images the night sky and the focal plane simultaneously. The technical implementation of this solution and test results taken over …
The next generation of IACT (Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope) will explore the uppermost end of the VHE (Very High Energy) domain up to about few hundreds of TeV with unprecedented sensibility, angular resolution and imaging quality. To this end, INAF (Italian National Institute of Astrophysics) is currently developing a scientific and technological telescope prototype for the implementation of the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) observatory. ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) foresees the full design, development, installation and calibration of a Small S…
The ASTRI Mini-Array is a next-generation system of nine imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes that is going to be built at the Observatorio del Teide site. After a first phase, in which the instrument will be operated as an experiment prioritizing a schedule of primary science cases, an observatory phase is foreseen in which other significant targets will be pointed. We focus on the observational feasibility of extragalactic sources and on astrophysical processes that best complement and expand the ASTRI Mini-Array core science, presenting the most relevant examples that are at reach of de…
ASTRI is a Flagship Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, and led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. Primary goal of the ASTRI project is the design and production of an end-to-end prototype of Small Size Telescope for the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) in a dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M) equipped with a camera at the focal plane composed by an array of Silicon Photo-Multipliers and devoted to the investigation of the highest gamma-ray energy band. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be placed at the INAF M.G. Fracastoro observin…
As TeV gamma-ray astronomy progresses into the era of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), there is a desire for the capacity to instantaneously follow up on transient phenomena and continuously monitor gamma-ray flux at energies above $10^{12}$ eV. To this end, a worldwide network of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) is required to provide triggers for CTA observations and complementary continuous monitoring. An IACT array sited in Australia would contribute significant coverage of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Here, we investigate the suitability of a small IACT array and how different…
Pointing calibration is an offline correction applied in order to obtain the true pointing direction of a telescope. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) aims to have the precision to determine the position of point-like as well as slightly extended sources, with the goal of systematic errors less than 7 arc seconds in space angle. This poster describes the pointing calibration concept being developed for the CTA Medium Size Telescope (MST) prototype at Berlin-Adlershof, showing test results and preliminary measurements. The MST pointing calibration method uses two CCD cameras, mounted on the t…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will consist of an array of three types of telescopes covering a wide energy range, from tens of GeV up to more than 100 TeV. The high energy section (> 3 TeV) will be covered by the Small Size Telescopes (SST). ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) is a flagship project of the Italian Ministry of Research and Education led by INAF, aiming at the design and construction of a prototype of the Dual Mirror SST. In a second phase the ASTRI project foresees the installation of the first elements of the SST array at the CTA southern site…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a future very high energy gamma-ray observatory. CTA will be comprised of small-, medium- and large-size telescopes covering an energy range from tens of GeV to hundreds of TeV and will surpass existing telescopes in sensitivity by an order of magnitude. The aim of our study is to find the optimal design for the medium-size telescopes (MSTs), which will determine the sensitivity in the key energy range between a few hundred GeV to about ten TeV. To study the effect of the telescope design parameters on the array performance, we simulated arrays of 61 MSTs…
NectarCAM is a camera developed to detect Cherenkov light between 80 GeV and 30 TeV. It will equip the medium-sized telescopes (MST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO). The camera comprises 265 modules, covering a field of view of 8 degrees. Each module consists of 7 photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) equipped with light guides and a front-end board performing the data capture. NectarCAM is based on the NECTAr chip, which combines a switch capacitor array sampling at 1GHz and a 12-bit Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). The NectarCAM camera is currently under integration in CEA Paris…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a future very high energy gamma-ray observatory. CTA will be comprised of small-,medium- and large-size telescopes covering an energy range from tens of GeV to hundreds of TeV and will surpass existing telescopes in sensitivity by an order of magnitude. The aim of our study is to find the optimal design for the medium-size telescopes (MSTs), which will determine the sensitivity in the key energy range between a few hundred GeV to about ten TeV. To study the effect of the telescope design parameters on the array performance, we simulated arrays of 61 MSTs …
ASTRI is a project aiming at the realization of a gamma-ray imaging Cherenkov telescope that observes the sky in the TeV band. Recently, the development of a mini-array (MA) of ASTRI telescopes has been funded by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica. The ASTRI Comprehensive Data Challenge (ACDC) project aims at optimizing the scientific exploitation and analysis techniques of the ASTRI MA, by performing a complete end-to-end simulation of a tentative scientific program, from the generation of suitable instrument response functions to the proposal, selection, analysis, and interpretation of th…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a forthcoming international ground-based observatory for very high-energy gamma rays. Its goal is to reach sensitivity five to ten times better than existing Cherenkov telescopes such as VERITAS, H.E.S.S. or MAGIC and extend the range of observation to energies down to few tens of GeV and beyond 100 TeV. To achieve this goal, an array of about 100 telescopes is required, meaning a total reflective surface of several thousands of square meters. Thence, the optimal technology used for CTA mirrors manufacture should be both low-cost (~1000 euros/m2) and allo…
We present studies for optimizing the next generation of ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). Results focus on mid-sized telescopes (MSTs) for CTA, detecting very high energy gamma rays in the energy range from a few hundred GeV to a few tens of TeV. We describe a novel, flexible detector Monte Carlo package, FAST (FAst Simulation for imaging air cherenkov Telescopes), that we use to simulate different array and telescope designs. The simulation is somewhat simplified to allow for efficient exploration over a large telescope design parameter space. We investigate a wi…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the future instrument in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy in the energy range from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. Its sensitivity will surpass that of current generation experiments by a factor $\sim$10, facilitated by telescopes of three sizes. The performance in the core energy regime will be dominated by Medium Size Telescopes (MST) with a reflector of 12 m diameter. A full-size mechanical prototype of the telescope structure has been constructed in Berlin. The performance of the prototype is being evaluated and optimisations, among others, facilitating the assemb…
