Toward the construction of a medium size prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope for CTA

J. Rousselle; K. Byrum; R. Cameron; V. Connaughton; M. Errando; S. Griffiths; V. Guarino; T. B. Humensky; P. Jenke; P. Kaaret; D. Kieda; M. Limon; I. Mognet; R. Mukherjee; D. Nieto; A. Okumura; A. Peck; A. Petrashyk; D. Ribeiro; B. Stevenson; V. Vassiliev; P. Yu

doi:10.1117/12.2188381

4 September 2015 Toward the construction of a medium size prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope for CTA

J. Rousselle, K. Byrum, R. Cameron, V. Connaughton, M. Errando, S. Griffiths, V. Guarino, T. B. Humensky, P. Jenke, P. Kaaret, D. Kieda, M. Limon, I. Mognet, R. Mukherjee, D. Nieto, A. Okumura, A. Peck, A. Petrashyk, D. Ribeiro, B. Stevenson, V. Vassiliev, P. Yu

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9603, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy VII; 960305 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188381
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The construction of a prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (pSCT) started in early June 2015 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Southern Arizona, as a candidate medium-sized telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Compared to current Davies-Cotton telescopes, this novel instrument with an aplanatic two-mirror optical system will offer a wider field-of-view and improved angular resolution. In addition, the reduced plate scale of the camera allows the use of highly-integrated photon detectors such as silicon photo multipliers. As part of CTA, this design has the potential to greatly improve the performance of the next generation ground-based observatory for very high-energy (E>60 GeV) gamma-ray astronomy. In this contribution we present the design and performance of both optical and alignment systems of the pSCT.

Citation Download Citation

J. Rousselle, K. Byrum, R. Cameron, V. Connaughton, M. Errando, S. Griffiths, V. Guarino, T. B. Humensky, P. Jenke, P. Kaaret, D. Kieda, M. Limon, I. Mognet, R. Mukherjee, D. Nieto, A. Okumura, A. Peck, A. Petrashyk, D. Ribeiro, B. Stevenson, V. Vassiliev, and P. Yu "Toward the construction of a medium size prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope for CTA", Proc. SPIE 9603, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy VII, 960305 (4 September 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188381

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available