Detection of the Crab Nebula by the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope

Adams CB, Ambrosi G, Ambrosio M, Aramo C, Batista PI, Benbow W, Bertucci B, Bissaldi E, Bitossi M, Boiano A, Bonavolontà C, Bose R, Brill A, Brown AM, Buckley JH, Cameron RA, Canestrari R, Capasso M, Caprai M, Covault CE, Depaoli D, Di Venere L, Errando M, Fegan S, Feng Q, Fiandrini E, Furniss A, Gent A, Giglietto N, Giordano F, Giro E, Halliday R, Hervet O, Holder J, Humensky TB, Incardona S, Ionica M, Jin W, Kieda D, Licciulli F, Loporchio S, Marsella G, Masone V, Meagher K, Meures T, Mode BA, Mognet SA, Mukherjee R, Okumura A, Otte N, Pantaleo FR, Paoletti R, Pareschi G, Di Pierro F, Pueschel E, Ribeiro D, Riitano L, Roache E, Rousselle J, Rugliancich A, Santander M, Shang R, Stiaccini L, Tajima H, Taylor LP, Tosti L, Tovmassian G, Tripodo G, Vagelli V, Valentino M, Vandenbroucke J, Vassiliev VV, Williams DA, Zink A (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Publisher: Sissa Medialab Srl

Article Number: 102562

Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings of Science

Event location: Virtual, Berlin, DEU

DOI: 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2021.102562

Abstract

The Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) is a medium-sized telescope technology proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. It uses a novel dual-mirror optical design that removes comatic aberrations across its entire field of view. The SCT camera employs high-resolution silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) sensors with a pixel size of 4 arcminutes. A prototype SCT (pSCT) has been constructed at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona, USA. An observing campaign in 2020, with a partial camera of 1600 pixels (2.7 degrees by 2.7 degrees field of view) resulted in detection of the Crab Nebula at 8.6 sigma statistical significance. Work on the pSCT camera and optical system is ongoing to improve performance and prepare for an upcoming camera upgrade. The pSCT camera upgrade will replace the current camera modules with improved SiPMs and readout electronics and will expand the camera to its full design field of view of 8 degrees in diameter (11,328 pixels). The fully upgraded pSCT will enable next-generation very-high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics through excellent background rejection and angular resolution. In this presentation we describe first results from the successful operation of the pSCT and future plans.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Columbia University United States (USA) (US) Washington University in St. Louis United States (USA) (US) Case Western Reserve University United States (USA) (US) Barnard College United States (USA) (US) Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY Germany (DE) The University of Alabama United States (USA) (US) Politecnico di Bari Italy (IT) Università degli Studi di Palermo Italy (IT) National Institute for Nuclear Physics / Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Italy (IT) State University of New York at Albany (UNY Albany / UAlbany) United States (USA) (US) University of Utah United States (USA) (US) National Astronomical Observatory of Japan / 国立天文台(NAOJ) Japan (JP) Georgia Institute of Technology United States (USA) (US) Michigan State University United States (USA) (US) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) National Autonomous University of Mexico / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Mexico (MX) University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) United States (USA) (US) Smithsonian Institution United States (USA) (US) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) Italy (IT) Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics United States (USA) (US) University of Wisconsin - Madison United States (USA) (US) Nagoya University / 名古屋大学 Japan (JP) California State University, East Bay United States (USA) (US) University of Delaware (UDEL) United States (USA) (US) Durham University United Kingdom (GB) Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR) France (FR) University of Turin / Università degli Studi di Torino (UNITO) Italy (IT) Stanford University United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Adams, C.B., Ambrosi, G., Ambrosio, M., Aramo, C., Batista, P.I., Benbow, W.,... Zink, A. (2021). Detection of the Crab Nebula by the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope. PoS - Proceedings of Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2021.102562

MLA:

Adams, C. B., et al. "Detection of the Crab Nebula by the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope." PoS - Proceedings of Science (2021).

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