19 research outputs found
New air fluorescence detectors employed in the Telescope Array experiment
Since 2007, the Telescope Array (TA) experiment, based in Utah, USA, has been
observing ultra high energy cosmic rays to understand their origins. The
experiment involves a surface detector (SD) array and three fluorescence
detector (FD) stations. FD stations, installed surrounding the SD array,
measure the air fluorescence light emitted from extensive air showers (EASs)
for precise determination of their energies and species. The detectors employed
at one of the three FD stations were relocated from the High Resolution Fly's
Eye experiment. At the other two stations, newly designed detectors were
constructed for the TA experiment. An FD consists of a primary mirror and a
camera equipped with photomultiplier tubes. To obtain the EAS parameters with
high accuracies, understanding the FD optical characteristics is important. In
this paper, we report the characteristics and installation of new FDs and the
performances of the FD components. The results of the monitored mirror
reflectance during the observation time are also described in this report.Comment: 44 pages, 23 figures, submitted to NIM-