FACT – Status and experience from five years of operation of the first G-APD Cherenkov Telescope

Neise, Dominik; Adam, Jan; Ahnen, M. L.; Baack, Dominik; Balbo, Matteo; Bergmann, Matthias; Biland, A.; Blank, Michael; Bretz, T.; Brügge, Kai; Buß, Jens; Dmytriiev, A.; Dorner, D.; Einecke, S.; Hempfling, Christina; Hildebrand, D.; Hughes, G.; Linhoff, Lena; Mannheim, K.; Müller, Sebastian; Neronov, A.; Nöthe, M.; Paravac, Aleksander; Pauß, F.; Rhode, W.; Shukla, Amit; Thaele, J.; Walter, R.

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.12.053

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…for MAGIC and VERI-TAS), but it needs attention not to damage PMTs and in some cases human intervention to install attenuation filters. FACT operates for about 30% longer time than the tagged 'dark time' by MAGIC and even with the Moon shining in the camera without any manual intervention, just increasing the trigger threshold [2,12]. Consequently, FACT shows an excellent capability to provide alerts to large telescopes in blazar monitoring even with high Moon.…”

Section: Sipm Based Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an advanced SiPM camera for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov TelescopeArray Observatory

Heller¹,

Abe²,

Aguasca³

et al. 2021

Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021)

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Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have become the baseline choice for cameras of the smallsized telescopes (SSTs) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). On the other hand, SiPMs are relatively new to the field and covering large surfaces and operating at high data rates still are challenges to outperform photomultipliers (PMTs). The higher sensitivity in the near infra-red and longer signals compared to PMTs result in higher night sky background rate for SiPMs. However, the robustness of the SiPMs represents a unique opportunity to ensure long-term operation with low maintenance and better duty cycle than PMTs. The proposed camera for large size telescopes will feature 0.05 • pixels, low power and fast front-end electronics and a fully digital readout. In this work, we present the status of dedicated simulations and data analysis for the performance estimation. The design features and the different strategies identified, so far, to tackle the demanding requirements and the improved performance are described.

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Section: Sipm Based Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an advanced SiPM camera for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov TelescopeArray Observatory

Heller¹,

Abe²,

Aguasca³

et al. 2021

Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021)

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“…This enclosure shields all delicate instrumentation (including the SiPM-based camera) from the harsh South Pole environment. Due to the use of SiPMs for the camera and the enclosure of the entire electronics, this instrument allows for a high duty cycle as demonstrated by the FACT telescope [18,19]. The IceAct telescopes are much smaller than most imaging air-Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs), with a diameter of 55 cm and a tube length of about 1 m including the DAQ.…”

Section: Telescope Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

IceAct, small Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes for IceCube

Schaufel¹,

Andeen²,

Auffenberg³

2019

Proceedings of 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2019)

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IceAct is a proposed surface array of cost effective and compact Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) based small-size (50 cm) Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes above the IceCube in-ice detector. In coincidence with the in-ice and surface components of IceCube it forms a hybrid detector that enables new measurements combining the information from the Cherenkov light image, the surface particle footprint and the in-ice muon tracks of extensive air showers. During January 2019, two new versions of the IceAct telescope demonstrators featuring 61 SiPM pixels and improved optics were installed in the center of the IceTop surface detector at the geographic South Pole. Combining information from these two telescopes and IceCube, it is possible to test the performance in primary particle discrimination, detector calibration, and veto capabilities. We present the status of the project and the prospects of the upcoming data taking season during the Antarctic winter.

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“…Nonetheless, they require also appropriate calibration, as discussed in Ref. [55,56]. The duty cycle achievable with SiPM cameras seems to be larger than the duty cycle achieved by photomultiplier cameras.…”

Section: Current and Future Gamma-ray Observatories And New Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FACT recently showed that useful data can be taken with higher trigger threshold with NSB about ∼ 30% above MAGIC definition of dark night. SiPM do not require human intervention on site for this, unlike it has to be done when filters are applied [56]. The challenge of SiPMs is that the value of the bias sensor at the input of the sensors should be chosen based on the expected light intensity and operational voltage, and kept smaller than currently recommended in producer's manuals.…”

Section: Current and Future Gamma-ray Observatories And New Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gamma-rays and their future

Montaruli

2019

Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings

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The focus of this presentation is to go through some of the remarkable observations concerning gamma-ray cosmic accelerators and diffuse emissions. Additionally, I will cover the status of the new generation of gamma-ray groundbased observatories, CTA and LHAASO. To create this new generation of arrays, new technologies have been prepared concerning the photosensors and the optics. The recent start of multi-messenger astrophysical measurements indicates that there is a bright future to explore further the time domain of the universe with the current and in preparation instruments.

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FACT – Status and experience from five years of operation of the first G-APD Cherenkov Telescope

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Development of an advanced SiPM camera for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov TelescopeArray Observatory

Development of an advanced SiPM camera for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov TelescopeArray Observatory

IceAct, small Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes for IceCube

Gamma-rays and their future

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