Performance of the small size telescope sub-array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory

The southern part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory will consist of at least three types of telescopes: large size, medium size and small size telescopes. Massive Monte Carlo simulations have been performed using the European Grid Infrastructure to analyze the performance of this array. We present the results of these simulations for a sub-array of small size telescopes of the Davies-Cotton type. Such a telescope, called SST-1M, is currently being proposed for the CTA observatory by a group of Polish and Swiss institutions. SST-1M will have a mirror of 4m diameter and it will be equipped with a fully digital camera based on silicon photodetectors. We present the analysis of the sub-array sensitivity, angular resolution, and energy resolution to demonstrate the fulfillment of the requirements of the CTA Consortium. To verify the results obtained in numerical simulations a construction of a mini array of five SST-1M telescopes is planned. We also present the performance of such a mini array and discuss the prospects of its scientific program

DigiCam : fully digital compact camera for SST-1M telescope

The single mirror Small Size Telescopes (SST-1M), being built by a sub-consortium of Polish and Swiss Institutions of the CTA Consortium, will be equipped with a fully digital camera with a compact photodetector plane based on silicon photomultipliers. The internal trigger signal transmission overhead will be kept at low level by introducing a high level of integration. It will be achieved by massively deploying state-of-the-art multi-gigabit transceivers, beginning from the ADC flash converters, through the internal data and trigger signals transmission over backplanes and cables, to the camera's server 10Gb/s Ethernet links. Such approach will allow fitting the size and weight of the camera exactly to the SST-1M needs, still retaining the flexibility of a fully digital design. Such solution has low power consumption, high reliability and long lifetime. The concept of the camera will be described, along with some construction details and performance results

The Cherenkov Telescope Array single-mirror small size telescope project: status and prospects

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next generation very high energy gamma-ray observatory, will consist of three types of telescopes: large (LST), medium (MST) and small (SST) size telescopes. The small size telescopes are dedicated to the observation of gamma-rays with energy between a few TeV and few hundreds of TeV. The single-mirror small size telescope (SST-1M) is one of several SST designs. It will be equipped with a 4 m-diameter segmented mirror dish and a fully digital camera based on Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes. Currently, the first prototype of the mechanical structure is under assembly in Poland. In 2014 it will be equipped with 18 mirror facets and a prototype of the camera

The small size telescope projects for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The small size telescopes (SSTs), spread over an area of several square km, dominate the CTA sensitivity in the photon energy range from a few TeV to over 100 TeV, enabling for the detailed exploration of the very high energy gamma-ray sky. The proposed telescopes are innovative designs providing a wide field of view. Two of them, the ASTRI (Astrophysics con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) and the GCT (Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope) telescopes, are based on dual mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optics, with primary mirror diameters of 4 m. The third, SST-1M, is a Davies-Cotton design with a 4 m diameter mirror. Progress with the construction and testing of prototypes of these telescopes is presented. The SST cameras use silicon photomultipliers, with preamplifier and readout/trigger electronics designed to optimize the performance of these sensors for (atmospheric) Cherenkov light. The status of the camera developments is discussed. The SST sub-array will consist of about 70 telescopes at the CTA southern site. Current plans for the implementation of the array are presented

Ellsworth American : January 19, 1893

The single mirror small-size telescope (SST-1M) is one of the telescope projects being proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory by a sub-consortium of Polish and Swiss institutions. The SST-1M prototype structure is currently being constructed at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Cracow, Poland, while the camera will be assembled at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. This prototype enables measurements of parameters having a decisive influence on the telescope performance. We present results of numerical simulations of the SST-1M performance based on such measurements. The telescope effective area, the expected trigger rates and the optical point spread function are calculated