6 research outputs found

    Mirror production for the Cherenkov telescopes of the ASTRI Mini-Array and of the MST project for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

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    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next ground-based Îł\gamma-ray observatory in the TeV Îł\gamma-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 m2^2 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 m2^2 of reflecting surface) of the MST and SST CTA telescopes

    The Software Architecture and development approach for the ASTRI Mini-Array gamma-ray air-Cherenkov experiment at the Observatorio del Teide

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    The ASTRI Mini-Array is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and devoted to the imaging of atmospheric Cherenkov light for very-high gamma-ray astronomy. The project is deploying an array of 9 telescopes sensitive above 1 TeV. In this contribution, we present the architecture of the software that covers the entire life cycle of the observatory, from scheduling to remote operations and data dissemination. The high-speed networking connection available between the observatory site, at the Canary Islands, and the Data Center in Rome allows for ready data availability for stereo triggering and data processing

    ASTRI Mini-Array core science at the Observatorio del Teide

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    The ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) Project led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing and will deploy at the Observatorio del Teide a mini-array (ASTRI Mini-Array) composed of nine telescopes similar to the small-size dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (ASTRI-Horn) currently operating on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily. The ASTRI Mini-Array will surpass the current Cherenkov telescope array differential sensitivity above a few tera-electronvolt (TeV), extending the energy band well above hundreds of TeV. This will allow us to explore a new window of the electromagnetic spectrum, by convolving the sensitivity performance with excellent angular and energy resolution figures. In this paper we describe the Core Science that we will address during the first four years of operation, providing examples of the breakthrough results that we will obtain when dealing with current open questions, such as the acceleration of cosmic rays, cosmology and fundamental physics and the new window, for the TeV energy band, of the time-domain astrophysics

    The ASTRI contribution to the Cherenkov Telescope Array: mirror production for the SST-2M ASTRI and the MST telescopes

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    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomyat very-high energies. It will consist of over a hundred telescopes of different sizes (small, medium, and large) located inthe northern and southern hemispheres. The Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) contributes to CTAthrough the ASTRI project (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana), whose main aim is to provide aseries of dual-mirror small-sized telescopes (SST-2M ASTRI) and the mirrors for the single-mirror design of themedium-sized telescopes (MST). Both the primary mirror of the SST-2M ASTRI and the mirror of the MST aresegmented, and such segments are realized with cold-slumping technology already used for the mirror facets of MAGIC,a system of two Cherenkov telescopes operating on the Canary Island of La Palma. On the other hand, the secondarymirror of the SST-2M ASTRI is monolithic and is realized with hot-slumping technology. Currently, we have completedthe mirror production for nine SST-2M ASTRI telescopes, which will form the so-called ASTRI Mini-Array. Moreover,we have almost completed also the production of mirrors for two MSTs. In this paper, we present the mirror designs anddescribe the qualification activities that were performed to assess and consolidate the production process. Moreover, wereport on the quality assurance approach we adopted to monitor and verify the production reliability. Finally, we presentthe performance of the produced mirrors and discuss their compliance with the CTA requirements

    Mirror production for the Cherenkov telescopes of the ASTRI mini-array and the MST project for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Get PDF
    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next ground-based Îł-ray observatory in the TeV Îł-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 m2^2 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 m2^2 of reflecting surface) of the MST and SST CTA telescopes
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