156 research outputs found
FACT - Long-term Monitoring of Bright TeV-Blazars
Since October 2011, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is operated
successfully on the Canary Island of La Palma. Apart from the proof of
principle for the use of G-APDs in Cherenkov telescopes, the major goal of the
project is the dedicated long-term monitoring of a small sample of bright TeV
blazars. The unique properties of G-APDs permit stable observations also during
strong moon light. Thus a superior sampling density is provided on time scales
at which the blazar variability amplitudes are expected to be largest, as
exemplified by the spectacular variations of Mrk 501 observed in June 2012.
While still in commissioning, FACT monitored bright blazars like Mrk 421 and
Mrk 501 during the past 1.5 years so far. Preliminary results including the Mrk
501 flare from June 2012 will be presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, presented at the 33rd ICRC (2013
FACT - Threshold prediction for higher duty cycle and improved scheduling
The First G-APD Cherenkov telescope (FACT) is the first telescope using
silicon photon detectors (G-APD aka. SiPM). The use of Silicon devices promise
a higher photon detection efficiency, more robustness and higher precision than
photo-multiplier tubes. Being operated during different light-conditions, the
threshold settings of a Cherenkov telescope have to be adapted to feature the
lowest possible threshold but also an efficient suppression of triggers from
night-sky background photons. Usually this threshold is set either by
experience or a mini-ratescan. Since the measured current through the sensors
is directly correlated with the noise level, the current can be used to set the
best threshold at any time. Due to the correlation between the physical
threshold and the final energy threshold, the current can also be used as a
measure for the energy threshold of any observation. This presentation
introduces a method which uses the properties of the moon and the source
position to predict the currents and the corresponding energy threshold for
every upcoming observation allowing to adapt the observation schedule
accordingly
FACT - Long-term stability and observations during strong Moon light
The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is the first Cherenkov telescope
equipped with a camera made of silicon photon detectors (G-APD aka. SiPM).
Since October 2011, it is regularly taking data on the Canary Island of La
Palma. G-APDs are ideal detectors for Cherenkov telescopes as they are robust
and stable. Furthermore, the insensitivity of G-APDs towards strong ambient
light allows to conduct observations during bright Moon and twilight. This gain
in observation time is essential for the long-term monitoring of bright TeV
blazars. During the commissioning phase, hundreds of hours of data (including
data from the the Crab Nebula) were taken in order to understand the
performance and sensitivity of the instrument. The data cover a wide range of
observation conditions including different weather conditions, different zenith
angles and different light conditions (ranging from dark night to direct full
Moon). We use a new parmetrisation of the Moon light background to enhance our
scheduling and to monitor the atmosphere. With the data from 1.5 years, the
long-term stability and the performance of the camera during Moon light is
studied and compared to that achieved with photomultiplier tubes so far.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, FACT Contribution to the 33rd International
Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), Rio de Janeir
FACT - How stable are the silicon photon detectors?
The First G-APD Cherenkov telescope (FACT) is the first telescope using
silicon photon detectors (G-APD aka. SiPM). The use of Silicon devices promise
a higher photon detection efficiency, more robustness and higher precision than
photo-multiplier tubes. Since the properties of G-APDs depend on auxiliary
parameters like temperature, a feedback system adapting the applied voltage
accordingly is mandatory.
In this presentation, the feedback system, developed and in operation for
FACT, is presented. Using the extraction of a single photon-equivalent (pe)
spectrum as a reference, it can be proven that the sensors can be operated with
very high precision. The extraction of the single-pe, its spectrum up to
10\,pe, its properties and their precision, as well as their long-term behavior
during operation are discussed. As a by product a single pulse template is
obtained. It is shown that with the presented method, an additional external
calibration device can be omitted. The presented method is essential for the
application of G-APDs in future projects in Cherenkov astronomy and is supposed
to result in a more stable and precise operation than possible with
photo-multiplier tubes
Mirror Position Determination for the Alignment of Cherenkov Telescopes
Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) need imaging optics with
large apertures to map the faint Cherenkov light emitted in extensive air
showers onto their image sensors. Segmented reflectors fulfill these needs
using mass produced and light weight mirror facets. However, as the overall
image is the sum of the individual mirror facet images, alignment is important.
Here we present a method to determine the mirror facet positions on a segmented
reflector in a very direct way. Our method reconstructs the mirror facet
positions from photographs and a laser distance meter measurement which goes
from the center of the image sensor plane to the center of each mirror facet.
We use our method to both align the mirror facet positions and to feed the
measured positions into our IACT simulation. We demonstrate our implementation
on the 4 m First Geiger-mode Avalanche Cherenkov Telescope (FACT).Comment: 11 figures, small ray tracing performance simulation, and
implementation demonstratio
Data compression for the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope
The First Geiger-mode Avalanche photodiode (G-APD) Cherenkov Telescope (FACT)
has been operating on the Canary island of La Palma since October 2011.
Operations were automated so that the system can be operated remotely. Manual
interaction is required only when the observation schedule is modified due to
weather conditions or in case of unexpected events such as a mechanical
failure. Automatic operations enabled high data taking efficiency, which
resulted in up to two terabytes of FITS files being recorded nightly and
transferred from La Palma to the FACT archive at ISDC in Switzerland. Since
long term storage of hundreds of terabytes of observations data is costly, data
compression is mandatory. This paper discusses the design choices that were
made to increase the compression ratio and speed of writing of the data with
respect to existing compression algorithms.
Following a more detailed motivation, the FACT compression algorithm along
with the associated I/O layer is discussed. Eventually, the performances of the
algorithm is compared to other approaches.Comment: 17 pages, accepted to Astronomy and Computing special issue on
astronomical file format
FACT - Monitoring Blazars at Very High Energies
The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) was built on the Canary Island of
La Palma in October 2011 as a proof of principle for silicon based photosensors
in Cherenkov Astronomy. The scientific goal of the project is to study the
variability of active galatic nuclei (AGN) at TeV energies. Observing a small
sample of TeV blazars whenever possible, an unbiased data sample is collected.
This allows to study the variability of the selected objects on timescales from
hours to years. Results from the first three years of monitoring will be
presented. To provide quick flare alerts to the community and trigger
multi-wavelength observations, a quick look analysis has been installed on-site
providing results publicly online within the same night. In summer 2014,
several flare alerts were issued. Results of the quick look analysis are
summarized.Comment: 2014 Fermi Symposium proceedings - eConf C14102.
A novel camera type for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy based on Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes
Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (G-APD) are promising new sensors for light
detection in atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. In this paper, the design and
commissioning of a 36-pixel G-APD prototype camera is presented. The data
acquisition is based on the Domino Ring Sampling (DRS2) chip. A sub-nanosecond
time resolution has been achieved. Cosmic-ray induced air showers have been
recorded using an imaging mirror setup, in a self-triggered mode. This is the
first time that such measurements have been carried out with a complete G-APD
camera.Comment: 9 pages with 11 figure
FACT -- the First Cherenkov Telescope using a G-APD Camera for TeV Gamma-ray Astronomy (HEAD 2010)
Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) bear the potential to significantly
improve the sensitivity of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT). We are
currently building the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) by refurbishing
an old IACT with a mirror area of 9.5 square meters and construct a new, fine
pixelized camera using novel G-APDs. The main goal is to evaluate the
performance of a complete system by observing very high energy gamma-rays from
the Crab Nebula. This is an important field test to check the feasibility of
G-APD-based cameras to replace at some time the PMT-based cameras of planned
future IACTs like AGIS and CTA. In this article, we present the basic design of
such a camera as well as some important details to be taken into account.Comment: Poster shown at HEAD 2010, Big Island, Hawaii, March 1-4, 201
Calibration and performance of the photon sensor response of FACT -- The First G-APD Cherenkov telescope
The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is the first in-operation test of
the performance of silicon photo detectors in Cherenkov Astronomy. For more
than two years it is operated on La Palma, Canary Islands (Spain), for the
purpose of long-term monitoring of astrophysical sources. For this, the
performance of the photo detectors is crucial and therefore has been studied in
great detail. Special care has been taken for their temperature and voltage
dependence implementing a correction method to keep their properties stable.
Several measurements have been carried out to monitor the performance. The
measurements and their results are shown, demonstrating the stability of the
gain below the percent level. The resulting stability of the whole system is
discussed, nicely demonstrating that silicon photo detectors are perfectly
suited for the usage in Cherenkov telescopes, especially for long-term
monitoring purpose
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