1,104 research outputs found
The Atmospheric Monitoring Strategy for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT) is unusual in astronomy as
the atmosphere actually forms an intrinsic part of the detector system, with
telescopes indirectly detecting very high energy particles by the generation
and transport of Cherenkov photons deep within the atmosphere. This means that
accurate measurement, characterisation and monitoring of the atmosphere is at
the very heart of successfully operating an IACT system. The Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation IACT observatory with an
ambitious aim to improve the sensitivity of an order of magnitude over current
facilities, along with corresponding improvements in angular and energy
resolution and extended energy coverage, through an array of Large (23m),
Medium (12m) and Small (4m) sized telescopes spread over an area of order
~km. Whole sky coverage will be achieved by operating at two sites: one in
the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere. This proceedings
will cover the characterisation of the candidate sites and the atmospheric
calibration strategy. CTA will utilise a suite of instrumentation and analysis
techniques for atmospheric modelling and monitoring regarding pointing
forecasts, intelligent pointing selection for the observatory operations and
for offline data correction.Comment: 6 pages. To appear in the proceedings of the Adapting to the
Atmosphere conference 201
LATTES: a novel detector concept for a gamma-ray experiment in the Southern hemisphere
The Large Array Telescope for Tracking Energetic Sources (LATTES), is a novel
concept for an array of hybrid EAS array detectors, composed of a Resistive
Plate Counter array coupled to a Water Cherenkov Detector, planned to cover
gamma rays from less than 100 GeV up to 100 TeVs. This experiment, to be
installed at high altitude in South America, could cover the existing gap in
sensitivity between satellite and ground arrays.
The low energy threshold, large duty cycle and wide field of view of LATTES
makes it a powerful tool to detect transient phenomena and perform long term
observations of variable sources. Moreover, given its characteristics, it would
be fully complementary to the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) as it
would be able to issue alerts.
In this talk, a description of its main features and capabilities, as well as
results on its expected performance, and sensitivity, will be presented.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference
(ICRC2017), Busan, South Korea. Presented by R. Concei\c{c}\~{a}o. 8 pages;
v2: correct affiliation + journal referenc
Prospects for the Observation of Primordial Black Hole evaporation with the Southern Wide Field of View Gamma-ray Observatory
Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) are remnants of objects formed in the early
Universe. Their lifetime is an increasing function of their mass, so PBHs in
the right mass range can end their lives in an evaporation event that is
potentially detectable by our instruments now. This evaporation may result in a
-ray flash that can be detected by the current generation of
Very-High-Energy -ray detectors. The Southern Wide field of view
Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) will be part of the next generation of these
instruments. It will be able to establish limits on PBH evaporations for
integration windows between 0.5 and 5 s, in a radius of 0.25 pc around the
Earth, being sensitive to a rate of the order of 50 pc yr,
more than one order of magnitude more constraining than the currently
established best limits.Comment: Accepted by JCA
LATTES: A new gamma-ray detector concept for South America
Currently the detection of Very High Energy gamma-rays for astrophysics rely on the measurement of the Extensive Air Showers (EAS) either using Cherenkov detectors or EAS arrays with larger field of views but also larger energy thresholds. In this talk we present a novel hybrid detector concept for a EAS array with an improved sensitivity in the lower energies (~ 100 GeV). We discuss its main features, capabilities and present preliminary results on its expected perfomances and sensitivities.This wide field of view experiment is planned to be installed at high altitude in South America making it a complementary project to the planned Cherenkov telescope experiments and a powerful tool to trigger further observations of variable sources and to detect transients phenomena
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