Design and performance of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope camera

Taylor LP, 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, 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, Halliday R, Hervet O, 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, Ross D, 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, Watson JJ, White R, Williams DA, Zink A (2022)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Publisher: Sissa Medialab Srl

Book Volume: 395

Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings of Science

Event location: Virtual, Berlin

DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2209.02680

Abstract

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next-generation ground-based observatory for very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. An innovative 9.7 m aperture, dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) design is a candidate design for CTA Medium-Sized Telescopes. A prototype SCT (pSCT) has been constructed at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona, USA. Its camera is currently partially instrumented with 1600 pixels covering a field of view of 2.7 degrees square. The small plate scale of the optical system allows densely packed silicon photomultipliers to be used, which combined with high-density trigger and waveform readout electronics enable the high-resolution camera. The camera's electronics are capable of imaging air shower development at a rate of one billion samples per second. We describe the commissioning and performance of the pSCT camera, including trigger and waveform readout performance, calibration, and absolute GPS time stamping. We also present the upgrade to the camera, which is currently underway. The upgrade will fully populate the focal plane, increasing the field of view to 8 degree diameter, and lower the front-end electronics noise, enabling a lower trigger threshold and improved reconstruction and background rejection.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

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

How to cite

APA:

Taylor, L.P., Adams, C.B., Ambrosi, G., Ambrosio, M., Aramo, C., Batista, P.I.,... Zink, A. (2022). Design and performance of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope camera. In Proceedings of Science. Virtual, Berlin, DE: Sissa Medialab Srl.

MLA:

Taylor, L. P., et al. "Design and performance of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope camera." Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021, Virtual, Berlin Sissa Medialab Srl, 2022.

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