Results and developments from the 12m Davies-Cotton medium-sized telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Louise Oakes; Markus Garczarcyk; Stefan Schlenstedt; Ronny Sternberger; Ullrich Schwanke

doi:10.1117/12.2192084

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4 September 2015 Results and developments from the 12m Davies-Cotton medium-sized telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Louise Oakes, Markus Garczarcyk, Stefan Schlenstedt, Ronny Sternberger, Ullrich Schwanke

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Proceedings Volume 9603, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy VII; 960306 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2192084
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, covering an energy range from a few tens of GeV to a few hundred TeV. The CTA project is currently in the design and prototyping phase, the start of construction is planned for 2016. The planned sensitivity of CTA improves on current ground based Cherenkov telescope experiments by about an order of magnitude. In the core energy range this sensitivity will be dominated by up to 40 Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs). These telescopes, of a modified Davies-Cotton mount type with a reflector diameter of 12 m, are currently being prototyped. A full-size mechanical prototype has been operating in Berlin since 2012. Several types of prototype mirrors have been developed and tested, and are mounted on the telescope. CCD cameras with various lenses are mounted on the prototype for studying deformation of the structure, testing alignment techniques, and telescope pointing using astrometry methods. The report will focus on results of optical and structural measurements, commissioning and testing of the MST prototype in Berlin, as well as the final design.

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Louise Oakes, Markus Garczarcyk, Stefan Schlenstedt, Ronny Sternberger, and Ullrich Schwanke "Results and developments from the 12m Davies-Cotton medium-sized telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array", Proc. SPIE 9603, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy VII, 960306 (4 September 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2192084

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