A High Altitude Mexican ACT Project, OMEGA

Sacahui, J. R.; Huidobro, F.; Nuñez, Rosa Elba; Alfaro, R.; Belmont‐Moreno, E.; Blanch, O.; Carramiñana, A.; Dingus, B. L.; González, M. M.; Grabski, V.; Menchaca‐Rocha, A.; Sandoval, A.; Schneider, M.; Tovmassian, G.

doi:10.1063/1.3076811

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Hardware The Mexican groups have two of the old HEGRA telescope mounts including one of the old cameras. One of the telescopes is already installed at the HAWC site (OMEGA project [14]). The second telescope is stored in a container and ready to be transported to the site.…”

Section: Status and Plansmentioning

confidence: 99%

M@TE - Monitoring at TeV Energies

Dorner,

Bretz,

Gonzalez

et al. 2016

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Blazars are extremely variable objects emitting radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum and showing variability on time scales from minutes to years. For the understanding of the emission mechanisms, simultaneous multi-wavelength observations are crucial. Various models for flares predict simultaneous flux increases in the X-ray and in the gamma-ray band or more complex variability patterns, depending on the dominant process responsible for the gamma-ray emission. Monitoring at TeV energies is providing important information to distinguish between different emission mechanisms.To study the duty cycle and the variability time scales of the object, an unbiased data sample is essential, and a good sensitivity and continuous monitoring are needed to resolve variability on smaller time scales.A dedicated long-term monitoring program at TeV energies has been started by the FACT project more than four years ago. The success of the project clearly illustrated that the usage of silicon based photo sensors (SIPMs) is ideally suited for long-term monitoring. They provide not only an excellent and stable detector performance, but also allow for observations during bright ambient light like full moon minimizing observational gaps and increasing the duty cycle of the instrument. The observation time in a single longitude is limited to six hours. To study typical variability time scales of few hours to one day, the ultimate goal is 24/7 monitoring with a network of small telescopes around the globe (DWARF project).The installation of an Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope is planned at the site in San Pedro Martir in Mexico. For the M@TE (Monitoring at TeV energies) telescope, a mount from a previous experiment is being refurbished and will be equipped with a camera using the new generation of SiPMs. In the presentation, the status of the M@TE project will be reported and the scientific potential, including the possibility to extend monitoring campaigns to 12 hours by coordinated observations together with FACT, will be outlined.

show abstract

Section: Status and Plansmentioning

confidence: 99%

M@TE - Monitoring at TeV Energies

Dorner,

Bretz,

Gonzalez

et al. 2016

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For the 5@5 array it is shown that an E th in the range 3 − 5 GeV can be achieved by 5 IACTs placed at 5 km of altitude. To test the feasibility of measurements at high altitudes, the OMEGA project is also under consideration [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth magnetic field effects on the cosmic electron flux as background for Cherenkov Telescopes at low energies

Supanitsky

Rovero

2012

Astroparticle Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cosmic ray electrons and positrons constitute an important component of the background for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Systems with very low energy thresholds. As the primary energy of electrons and positrons decreases, their contribution to the background trigger rate dominates over protons, at least in terms of differential rates against actual energies. After event reconstruction, this contribution might become comparable to the proton background at energies of the order of few GeV. It is well known that the flux of low energy charged particles is suppressed by the Earth's magnetic field. This effect strongly depends on the geographical location, the direction of incidence of the charged particle and its mass. Therefore, the geomagnetic field can contribute to diminish the rate of the electrons and positrons detected by a given array of Cherenkov Telescopes.In this work we study the propagation of low energy primary electrons in the Earth's magnetic field by using the backtracking technique. We use a more realistic geomagnetic field model than the one used in previous calculations. We consider some sites relevant for new generations of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. We also study in detail the case of 5@5, a proposed low energy Cherenkov Telescope array.

show abstract