Telescope Array Radar (TARA) observatory for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbasi, R.; Othman, M. Abou Bakr; Allen, C.; Beard, L.; Belz, J.; Besson, D.; Byrne, M.; Farhang-Boroujeny, B.; Gardner, A.; Gillman, W.H.; Hanlon, W.; Hanson, J.; Jayanthmurthy, C.; Kunwar, S.; Larson, S.L.; Myers, I.; Prohira, S.; Ratzlaff, K.; Sokolsky, P.; Takai, H.

2014-01-01

Construction was completed during summer 2013 on the Telescope Array RAdar (TARA) bi-static radar observatory for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). TARA is co-located with the Telescope Array, the largest “conventional” cosmic ray detector in the Northern Hemisphere, in radio-quiet Western Utah. TARA employs an 8 MW Effective Radiated Power (ERP) VHF transmitter and smart receiver system based on a 250 MS/s data acquisition system in an effort to detect the scatter of sounding radiation by UHECR-induced atmospheric ionization. TARA seeks to demonstrate bi-static radar as a useful new remote sensing technique for UHECRs. In this report, we describe the design and performance of the TARA transmitter and receiver systems

Telescope Array Radar (TARA) observatory for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

Science.gov (United States)

Abbasi, R.; Othman, M. Abou Bakr; Allen, C.; Beard, L.; Belz, J.; Besson, D.; Byrne, M.; Farhang-Boroujeny, B.; Gardner, A.; Gillman, W. H.; Hanlon, W.; Hanson, J.; Jayanthmurthy, C.; Kunwar, S.; Larson, S. L.; Myers, I.; Prohira, S.; Ratzlaff, K.; Sokolsky, P.; Takai, H.; Thomson, G. B.; Von Maluski, D.

2014-12-01

Construction was completed during summer 2013 on the Telescope Array RAdar (TARA) bi-static radar observatory for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). TARA is co-located with the Telescope Array, the largest "conventional" cosmic ray detector in the Northern Hemisphere, in radio-quiet Western Utah. TARA employs an 8 MW Effective Radiated Power (ERP) VHF transmitter and smart receiver system based on a 250 MS/s data acquisition system in an effort to detect the scatter of sounding radiation by UHECR-induced atmospheric ionization. TARA seeks to demonstrate bi-static radar as a useful new remote sensing technique for UHECRs. In this report, we describe the design and performance of the TARA transmitter and receiver systems.

A graded d-spacing multilayer telescope for high-energy x-ray astronomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Finn Erland; Hornstrup, Allan; WESTERGAARD, NJ

1992-01-01

A high energy telescope design is presented which combines grazing incidence geometry with Bragg reflection in a graded d-spacing multilayer coating to obtain significant sensitivity up to --6O keV. The concept utilizes total reflection and first order Bragg reflection in a graded d-spacing multi...

Exploring the Extreme Universe with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, David J.; Digel, Seth W.; Racusin, Judith L.

2012-01-01

In ways similar to experiments in nuclear and particle physics, high-energy astrophysics usesgamma rays and energetic charged particles toprobe processes that involve large energy transfers.Since its launch in 2008, the international Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has been exploringnatural particle accelerators and the interactionsof high-energy particles in the universe. Withsources ranging from thunderstorms on Earth to galaxies and exploding stars in distant parts of the cosmos, the telescopes subjects of study are almostas diverse as were those of the scientist whose name it bears.

A Galaxy Zoo - WorldWide Telescope Mashup: Expanding User Defined Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Luebbert, Jarod; Sands, M.; Fay, J.; Smith, A.; Gay, P. L.; Galaxy Zoo Team

2010-01-01

We present a new way of exploring your favorite Galaxy Zoo galaxies within the context of the sky using Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope. Galaxy Zoo has a fantastic community that is eager to learn and contribute to science through morphological classifications of galaxies. WorldWide Telescope is an interactive observatory that allows users to explore the sky. WorldWide Telescope uses images from the world's best telescopes, including the galaxies of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. WorldWide Telescope provides a fantastic sense of size and distance that is hard to experience in Galaxy Zoo. Creating tours from favorite galaxies directly from Galaxy Zoo aims to solve this dilemma.The incorporation of Galaxy Zoo and WorldWide telescope provides a great resource for users to learn more about the galaxies they are classifying. Users can now explore the areas around certain galaxies and view information about that location from within WorldWide Telescope. Not only does this encourage self-motivated research but after tours are created they can be shared with anyone. We hope this will help spread citizen science to different audiences via email, Facebook, and Twitter.Without the WorldWide Telescope team at Microsoft Research this project would not have been possible. Please go start exploring at http://wwt.galaxyzoo.org. This project was funded through the Microsoft Research Academic Program.

Investigation of Substrates and Mounting Techniques for the High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hailey, Charles J.; Abdali, Salim; Christensen, Finn Erland

1997-01-01

The High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) is a balloon-borne system for obtaining arcminute imagery in the 20-100 keV energy band. The hard X-ray optics are baselined to use thin epoxy-replicated aluminum foil substrates coated with graded-d multilayers, and we show some results on X-ray performa...... is a better substrate due to its superior hard X-ray reflectivity and scattering properties in comparison to similarly coated epoxyreplicated aluminum foil. We also discuss some preliminary work on the HEFT mirror mounting concept and the associated angular resolution error budget....

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) High-Energy X-ray Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Fiona A.; Craig, Willliam W.; Christensen, Finn E.; Hailey, Charles J.; Zhang, William W.; Boggs, Steven E.; Stern, Daniel; Cook, W. Rick; Forster, Karl; Giommi, Paolo;

γ astrophysics above 10-30 GeV with the MAGIC telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, Razmick

1999-01-01

The project on the 17 m oe telescope, dubbed MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescope), is dedicated for γ astrophysics in the energy range from 10-30 GeV till 50-100 TeV. MAGIC will for the first time allow to explore with very high sensitivity the energy range 10-300 GeV and to bridge the existing energy gap between satellite and ground-based air Cherenkov measurements. We believe MAGIC will serve as a prototype for future multi-telescope γ ray observatories

Characteristics of the telescope for high energy gamma-ray astronomy selected for definition studies on the Gamma Ray Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, E. B.; Hofstadter, R.; Rolfe, J.; Johansson, A.; Bertsch, D. L.; Cruickshank, W. J.; Ehrmann, C. H.; Fichtel, C. E.; Hartman, R. C.; Kniffen, D. A.

1980-01-01

The high energy gamma-ray telescope selected for definition studies on the Gamma Ray Observatory provides a substantial improvement in observational capability over earlier instruments. It will have about 20 times more sensitivity, cover a much broader energy range, have considerably better energy resolution and provide a significantly improved angular resolution. The design and performance are described.

DESTINY, The Dark Energy Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Pasquale, Bert A.; Woodruff, Robert A.; Benford, Dominic J.; Lauer, Tod

2007-01-01

We have proposed the development of a low-cost space telescope, Destiny, as a concept for the NASA/DOE Joint Dark Energy Mission. Destiny is a 1.65m space telescope, featuring a near-infrared (0.85-1.7m) survey camera/spectrometer with a moderate flat-field field of view (FOV). Destiny will probe the properties of dark energy by obtaining a Hubble diagram based on Type Ia supernovae and a large-scale mass power spectrum derived from weak lensing distortions of field galaxies as a function of redshift.

TARGET: A multi-channel digitizer chip for very-high-energy gamma-ray telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bechtol, K.; Funk, S.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Okumura, A.; /JAXA, Sagamihara /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Ruckman, L.; /Hawaii U.; Simons, A.; Tajima, H.; Vandenbroucke, J.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Varner, G.; /Hawaii U.

2011-08-11

The next-generation very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array, will feature dozens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs), each with thousands of pixels of photosensors. To be affordable and reliable, reading out such a mega-channel array requires event recording technology that is highly integrated and modular, with a low cost per channel. We present the design and performance of a chip targeted to this application: the TeV Array Readout with GSa/s sampling and Event Trigger (TARGET). This application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) has 16 parallel input channels, a 4096-sample buffer for each channel, adjustable input termination, self-trigger functionality, and tight window-selected readout. We report the performance of TARGET in terms of sampling frequency, power consumption, dynamic range, current-mode gain, analog bandwidth, and cross talk. The large number of channels per chip allows a low cost per channel ($10 to $20 including front-end and back-end electronics but not including photosensors) to be achieved with a TARGET-based IACT readout system. In addition to basic performance parameters of the TARGET chip itself, we present a camera module prototype as well as a second-generation chip (TARGET 2), both of which have been produced.

Thin Mirror Shaping Technology for High-Throughput X-ray Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Schattenburg, Mark

This proposal is submitted to the NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences program (ROSES-2012) in response to NASA Research Announcement NNH12ZDA001N- APRA. It is targeted to the Astronomy and Astrophysics Research and Analysis (APRA) program element under the Supporting Technology category. Powerful x-ray telescope mirrors are critical components of a raft of small-to-large mission concepts under consideration by NASA. The science questions addressed by these missions have certainly never been more compelling and the need to fulfill NASA s core missions of exploring the universe and strengthening our nation s technology base has never been greater. Unfortunately, budgetary constraints are driving NASA to consider the cost/benefit and risk factors of new missions more carefully than ever. New technology for producing x-ray telescopes with increased resolution and collecting area, while holding down cost, are key to meeting these goals and sustaining a thriving high-energy astrophysics enterprise in the US. We propose to develop advanced technology which will lead to thin-shell x-ray telescope mirrors rivaling the Chandra x-ray telescope in spatial resolution but with 10-100X larger area all at significantly reduced weight, risk and cost. The proposed effort builds on previous research at MIT and complements NASA-supported research at other institutions. We are currently pursuing two thin-mirror technology development tracks which we propose to extend and accelerate with NASA support. The first research track utilizes rapidly-maturing thermal glass slumping technology which uses porous ceramic air-bearing mandrels to shape glass mirrors without touching, thus avoiding surface-induced mid-range spatial frequency ripples. A second research track seeks to remove any remaining mid- to long-range errors in mirrors by using scanning ion-beam implant to impart small, highly deterministic and very stable amounts of stress into thin glass, utilizing local

Development of the Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT) for Medium-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Stanley D.; Bloser, Peter F.; Dion, Michael P.; McConnell, Mark L.; deNolfo, Georgia A.; Son, Seunghee; Ryan, James M.; Stecker, Floyd W.

2011-01-01

Progress in high-energy gamma-ray science has been dramatic since the launch of INTEGRAL, AGILE and FERMI. These instruments, however, are not optimized for observations in the medium-energy (approx.0.3< E(sub gamma)< approx.200 MeV) regime where many astrophysical objects exhibit unique, transitory behavior, such as spectral breaks, bursts, and flares. We outline some of the major science goals of a medium-energy mission. These science goals are best achieved with a combination of two telescopes, a Compton telescope and a pair telescope, optimized to provide significant improvements in angular resolution and sensitivity. In this paper we describe the design of the Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT) based on the Three-Dimensional Track Imager (3-DTI) detector. This technology achieves excellent, medium-energy sensitivity, angular resolution near the kinematic limit, and gamma-ray polarization sensitivity, by high resolution 3-D electron tracking. We describe the performance of a 30x30x30 cm3 prototype of the AdEPT instrument.

The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Mission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atwood, W.B.; /UC, Santa Cruz; Abdo, Aous A.; /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C.; Ackermann, M.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Anderson, B. /UC, Santa Cruz; Axelsson, M.; /Stockholm U.; Baldini, L.; /INFN, Pisa; Ballet, J.; /DAPNIA, Saclay; Band, D.L.; /NASA, Goddard /NASA, Goddard; Barbiellini, Guido; /INFN, Trieste /Trieste U.; Bartelt, J.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Bastieri, Denis; /INFN, Padua /Padua U.; Baughman, B.M.; /Ohio State U.; Bechtol, K.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Bederede, D.; /DAPNIA, Saclay; Bellardi, F.; /INFN, Pisa; Bellazzini, R.; /INFN, Pisa; Berenji, B.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Bignami, G.F.; /Pavia U.; Bisello, D.; /INFN, Padua /Padua U.; Bissaldi, E.; /Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Blandford, R.D.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /NASA, Goddard /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /INFN, Pisa /INFN, Pisa /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /Ecole Polytechnique /Washington U., Seattle /INFN, Padua /Padua U. /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /IASF, Milan /IASF, Milan /Kalmar U. /Royal Inst. Tech., Stockholm /DAPNIA, Saclay /ASI, Rome /INFN, Pisa /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /George Mason U. /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C. /NASA, Goddard /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /DAPNIA, Saclay /NASA, Goddard /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Montpellier U. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; /more authors..

2009-05-15

The Large Area Telescope (Fermi/LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view (FoV), high-energy {gamma}-ray telescope, covering the energy range from below 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. The LAT was built by an international collaboration with contributions from space agencies, high-energy particle physics institutes, and universities in France, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the United States. This paper describes the LAT, its preflight expected performance, and summarizes the key science objectives that will be addressed. On-orbit performance will be presented in detail in a subsequent paper. The LAT is a pair-conversion telescope with a precision tracker and calorimeter, each consisting of a 4 x 4 array of 16 modules, a segmented anticoincidence detector that covers the tracker array, and a programmable trigger and data acquisition system. Each tracker module has a vertical stack of 18 (x, y) tracking planes, including two layers (x and y) of single-sided silicon strip detectors and high-Z converter material (tungsten) per tray. Every calorimeter module has 96 CsI(Tl) crystals, arranged in an eight-layer hodoscopic configuration with a total depth of 8.6 radiation lengths, giving both longitudinal and transverse information about the energy deposition pattern. The calorimeter's depth and segmentation enable the high-energy reach of the LAT and contribute significantly to background rejection. The aspect ratio of the tracker (height/width) is 0.4, allowing a large FoV (2.4 sr) and ensuring that most pair-conversion showers initiated in the tracker will pass into the calorimeter for energy measurement. Data obtained with the LAT are intended to (1) permit rapid notification of high-energy {gamma}-ray bursts and transients and facilitate monitoring of variable sources, (2) yield an extensive catalog of several thousand high-energy sources obtained from an all-sky survey, (3

All-sky search for high-energy neutrinos from gravitational wave event GW170104 with the Antares neutrino telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albert, A.; André, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Aubert, J.-J.; Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Barrios-Martí, J.; Basa, S.; Belhorma, B.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bormuth, R.; Bourret, S.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Brânzas, H.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Capone, A.; Caramete, L.; Carr, J.; Celli, S.; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coelho, J.A.B.; Coleiro, A.; Coniglione, R.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Díaz, A.F.; Deschamps, A.; De Bonis, G.; Distefano, C.; Di Palma, I.; Domi, A.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Eberl, T.; El Bojaddaini, I.; El Khayati, N.; Elsässer, D.; Enzenhöfer, A.; Ettahiri, A.; Fassi, F.; Felis, I.; Fusco, L.A.; Gay, P.; Giordano, V.; Glotin, H.; Grégoire, T.; Gracia-Ruiz, R.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; van Haren, H.; Heijboer, A.J.; Hello, Y.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Hößl, J.; Hofestädt, J.; Hugon, C.; Illuminati, G.; James, C.W.; de Jong, M.; Jongen, M.; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kießling, D.; Kouchner, A.; Kreter, M.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachaud, C.; Lahmann, R.; Lefèvre, D.; Leonora, E.; Lotze, M.; Loucatos, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Marinelli, A.; Martínez-Mora, J.A.; Mele, R.; Melis, K.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Navas, S.; Nezri, E.; Organokov, M.; Pavalas, G.E.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, C.; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Quinn, L.; Racca, C.; Riccobene, G.; Sánchez-Losa, A.; Saldaña, M.; Salvadori, I.; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Sanguineti, M.; Sapienza, P.; Schüssler, F.; Sieger, C.; Spurio, M.; Stolarczyk, Th.; Taiuti, M.; Tayalati, Y.; Trovato, A.; Turpin, D.; Tönnis, C.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Versari, F.; Vivolo, D.; Vizzoca, A.; Wilms, J.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zúñiga, J.

2017-01-01

Advanced LIGO detected a significant gravitational wave signal (GW170104) originating from the coalescence of two black holes during the second observation run on January 4th, 2017. An all-sky high-energy neutrino follow-up search has been made using data from the Antares neutrino telescope,

Calibration of the Nustar High-Energy Focusing X-Ray Telescope

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Kristin K.; Harrison, Fiona A.; Markwardt, Craig B.

2015-01-01

We present the calibration of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-ray satellite. We used the Crab as the primary effective area calibrator and constructed a piece-wise linear spline function to modify the vignetting response. The achieved residuals for all off-axis angles...... and energies, compared to the assumed spectrum, are typically better than +/- 2% up to 40 keV and 5%-10% above due to limited counting statistics. An empirical adjustment to the theoretical two-dimensional point-spread function (PSF) was found using several strong point sources, and no increase of the PSF half-power...

Very-high-energy gamma-ray observations of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2014J with the MAGIC telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.; Antoranz, P.; Arcaro, C.; Babic, A.; Banerjee, B.; Bangale, P.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Becerra González, J.; Bednarek, W.; Bernardini, E.; Berti, A.; Biasuzzi, B.; Biland, A.; Blanch, O.; Bonnefoy, S.; Bonnoli, G.; Borracci, F.; Bretz, T.; Carosi, R.; Carosi, A.; Chatterjee, A.; Colin, P.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Covino, S.; Cumani, P.; Da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; De Lotto, B.; de Oña Wilhelmi, E.; Di Pierro, F.; Doert, M.; Domínguez, A.; Dominis Prester, D.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Einecke, S.; Eisenacher Glawion, D.; Elsaesser, D.; Engelkemeier, M.; Fallah Ramazani, V.; Fernández-Barral, A.; Fidalgo, D.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Frantzen, K.; Fruck, C.; Galindo, D.; García López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Garrido Terrats, D.; Gaug, M.; Giammaria, P.; Godinović, N.; Gora, D.; Guberman, D.; Hadasch, D.; Hahn, A.; Hayashida, M.; Herrera, J.; Hose, J.; Hrupec, D.; Hughes, G.; Idec, W.; Kodani, K.; Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Kushida, J.; La Barbera, A.; Lelas, D.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; López-Coto, R.; Majumdar, P.; Makariev, M.; Mallot, K.; Maneva, G.; Manganaro, M.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Marcote, B.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Menzel, U.; Miranda, J. M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Moretti, E.; Nakajima, D.; Neustroev, V.; Niedzwiecki, A.; Nievas Rosillo, M.; Nilsson, K.; Nishijima, K.; Noda, K.; Nogués, L.; Paiano, S.; Palacio, J.; Palatiello, M.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Paredes-Fortuny, X.; Pedaletti, G.; Peresano, M.; Perri, L.; Persic, M.; Poutanen, J.; Prada Moroni, P. G.; Prandini, E.; Puljak, I.; Garcia, J. R.; Reichardt, I.; Rhode, W.; Ribó, M.; Rico, J.; Saito, T.; Satalecka, K.; Schroeder, S.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpää, A.; Sitarek, J.; Snidaric, I.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Strzys, M.; Surić, T.; Takalo, L.; Tavecchio, F.; Temnikov, P.; Terzić, T.; Tescaro, D.; Teshima, M.; Torres, D. F.; Toyama, T.; Treves, A.; Vanzo, G.; Vazquez Acosta, M.; Vovk, I.; Ward, J. E.; Will, M.; Wu, M. H.; Zanin, R.

2017-06-01

Context. In this work we present data from observations with the MAGIC telescopes of SN 2014J detected on January 21 2014, the closest Type Ia supernova since Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes started to operate. Aims: We aim to probe the possibility of very-high-energy (VHE; E ≥ 100 GeV) gamma rays produced in the early stages of Type Ia supernova explosions. Methods: We performed follow-up observations after this supernova (SN) explosion for five days, between January 27 and February 2 2014. We searched for gamma-ray signals in the energy range between 100 GeV and several TeV from the location of SN 2014J using data from a total of 5.5 h of observations. Prospects for observing gamma rays of hadronic origin from SN 2014J in the near future are also being addressed. Results: No significant excess was detected from the direction of SN 2014J. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the integral flux, assuming a power-law spectrum, dF/dE ∝ E- Γ, with a spectral index of Γ = 2.6, for energies higher than 300 GeV and 700 GeV, are established at 1.3 × 10-12 and 4.1 × 10-13 photons cm-2 s-1, respectively. Conclusions: For the first time, upper limits on the VHE emission of a Type Ia supernova are established. The energy fraction isotropically emitted into TeV gamma rays during the first 10 days after the supernova explosion for energies greater than 300 GeV is limited to 10-6 of the total available energy budget ( 1051 erg). Within the assumed theoretical scenario, the MAGIC upper limits on the VHE emission suggest that SN 2014J will not be detectable in the future by any current or planned generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes.

Notice of Intent to Prepare a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE) for the Construction and Operation of a High-Energy Neutrino Telescope (Project Ice Cube) at the South Pole

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

Request for comments from the NSF for a proposed project to construct and operate a high-energy neutrino telescope at the South Pole. The proposed telescope would be a second-generation instrument based on the successful evolution of a smaller neutrino telescope at the South Pole (1 page).

A new energy-efficient control approach for astronomical telescope drive system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, W.; Wang, Y.

2012-12-01

Drive control makes the astronomical telescope accurately tracking celestial bodies in spite of external and internal disturbances, which is a key technique to the performance of telescopes. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear ad, aptive observer based on power reversible approach for high precision telescope position tracking. The nonlinear adaptive observer automatically estimates the disturbances in drive system, and the observed value is applied to compensate for the real disturbances. With greatly reduced disturbances, the control precision can be evidently improved. In conventional drive control, the brake device is often used to slow down the reaction wheel and may waste enormous energy. To avoid those disadvantages, an H-bridge is put forward for wheel speed regulation. Such H-bridge has four independent sections, and each section mainly consists of a power electronic switch and an anti-parallel diode. During the period of the mount slowing down, the armature current of drive motor goes through the two path-wise diodes to charge the battery. Thus, energy waste is avoided. Based on the disturbance compensation, an optimal controller is designed to minimize an evaluation function which is made up of a weighted sum of position errors and energy consumption.The outputs of the controller are applied to control the H-bridge. Simulations are performed in MATLAB language. The results show that high precision control can be obtained by the proposed approach. And the energy consumption will be remarkably reduced.

Design and construction of a multi-layer CsI(Tl) telescope for high-energy reaction studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, D.; Sun, Z.Y.; Yue, K.; Wang, S.T.; Zhang, X.H.; Yu, Y.H.; Chen, J.L.; Tang, S.W.; Fang, F.; Zhou, Y.; Sun, Y.; Wang, Z.M.; Sun, Y.Z.

2017-01-01

A prototype of a new CsI(Tl) telescope, which will be used in the reaction studies of light isotopes with energy of several hundred AMeV, was constructed and tested at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The telescope has a multi-layer structure, and the range information was obtained to improve the particle identification performance. This prototype has seven layers of different thickness. An energy resolution of 5.0% (FWHM) was obtained for one of the layers in a beam test experiment. Positive improvement for the identification of 14 O and 15 O isotopes was achieved using the range information.

Design and construction of a multi-layer CsI(Tl) telescope for high-energy reaction studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, D.; Sun, Z.Y. [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Yue, K., E-mail: yueke@impcas.ac.cn [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Wang, S.T.; Zhang, X.H.; Yu, Y.H.; Chen, J.L.; Tang, S.W.; Fang, F. [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Zhou, Y.; Sun, Y. [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Wang, Z.M.; Sun, Y.Z. [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

2017-01-21

A prototype of a new CsI(Tl) telescope, which will be used in the reaction studies of light isotopes with energy of several hundred AMeV, was constructed and tested at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The telescope has a multi-layer structure, and the range information was obtained to improve the particle identification performance. This prototype has seven layers of different thickness. An energy resolution of 5.0% (FWHM) was obtained for one of the layers in a beam test experiment. Positive improvement for the identification of {sup 14}O and {sup 15}O isotopes was achieved using the range information.

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrison, Fiona A.; Boggs, Steve; Christensen, Finn Erland

2010-01-01

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is a NASA Small Explorer mission that will carry the first focusing hard X-ray (6 - 80 keV) telescope to orbit. NuSTAR will offer a factor 50 - 100 sensitivity improvement compared to previous collimated or coded mask imagers that have operated...... in this energy band. In addition, NuSTAR provides sub-arcminute imaging with good spectral resolution over a 12-arcminute eld of view. After launch, NuSTAR will carry out a two-year primary science mission that focuses on four key programs: studying the evolution of massive black holes through surveys carried...... on-orbit deployment of an extendable mast. An aspect and alignment metrology system enable reconstruction of the absolute aspect and variations in the telescope alignment resulting from mast exure during ground data processing. Data will be publicly available at GSFC's High Energy Archive Research...

The Phobos low energy telescope charged particle experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marsden, R.G.; Henrion, J.P.G.; Wenzel, K.P. (European Space Agency, Noordwijk (Netherlands). Space Science Dept.); Afonin, V.V. (AN SSSR, Moscow (USSR). Inst. Kosmicheskikh Issledovanij); Balazs, A.; Erdoes, G.; Rusznyak, P.; Somogyi, A.; Szalai, S.; Varga, A.; Varhalmi, L. (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest (Hungary). Central Research Inst. for Physics); Richter, A.K.; Witte, M. (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany, F.R.))

1990-05-01

The Low Energy Telescope (LET) experiment on board the Phobos 1 and 2 spacecraft measures the flux, energy spectra and elemental composition of solar energetic particles and cosmic ray nuclei from hydrogen up to iron in the energy range {proportional to}1 to {proportional to}75 MeV/n. The LET sensor system comprises a double dE/dX vs E solid-state detector telescope surrounded by a cylindrical plastic scintillator anticoincidence shield, and the instrument is equipped with a comprehensive particle identifier and event priority system that enables rare nuclei to be analysed in preference to the more common species. Isotope separation for light nuclei such as He is also achieved. The sensor is mounted on a rotating platform to enable coarse anisotropy measurements of low energy protons to be made. (orig.).

Cosmic inquirers: Modern telescopes and their makers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tucker, W.; Tucker, K.

1986-01-01

An historical account is given of major, telescopic instrument-related advancements in 20th-century astronomy, with attention to the roles played by leading figures in the various fields of astronomical research involved. These biographical treatments encompass David Heeshen and the development of the VLA; Riccardo Giacconi and the X-ray astronomy Uhuru, High Energy Astronomy Observatory, and X-ray Explorer, and Einstein Observatory satellites; Allan Jacobson and the Gamma Ray Observatory satellite; the involvements of Frank Low and Gerry Neugebauer in the development of the IR Astronomy Satellite; and C. R. O'Dell's organization of the NASA Space Telescope program. 62 references

Study of the high energy Cosmic Rays large scale anisotropies with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Illuminati, Giulia

2016-01-01

We present the analysis method used to search for an anisotropy in the high energy Cosmic Rays arrival distribution using data collected by the ANTARES telescope. ANTARES is a neutrino detector, where the collected data are dominated by a large background of cosmic ray muons. Therefore, the background data are suitable for high-statistics studies of cosmic rays in the Northern sky. The main challenge for this analysis is accounting for those effects which can mimic an apparent anisotropy in the muon arrival direction: the detector exposure asymmetries, non-uniform time coverage, diurnal and seasonal variation of the atmospheric temperature. Once all these effects have been corrected, a study of the anisotropy profiles along the right ascension can be performed. (paper)

Lunar Radio Telescopes: A Staged Approach for Lunar Science, Heliophysics, Astrobiology, Cosmology, and Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Lazio, Joseph; Bowman, Judd D.; Burns, Jack O.; Farrell, W. M.; Jones, D. L.; Kasper, J. C.; MacDowall, R. J.; Stewart, K. P.; Weiler, K.

2012-01-01

Observations with radio telescopes address key problems in cosmology, astrobiology, heliophysics, and planetary science including the first light in the Universe (Cosmic Dawn), magnetic fields of extrasolar planets, particle acceleration mechanisms, and the lunar ionosphere. The Moon is a unique science platform because it allows access to radio frequencies that do not penetrate the Earth's ionosphere and because its far side is shielded from intense terrestrial emissions. The instrument packages and infrastructure needed for radio telescopes can be transported and deployed as part of Exploration activities, and the resulting science measurements may inform Exploration (e.g., measurements of lunar surface charging). An illustrative roadmap for the staged deployment of lunar radio telescopes

Operating performance of the gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope: An end-to-end Schwarzschild–Couder telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dournaux, J.L., E-mail: jean-laurent.dournaux@obspm.fr [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); De Franco, A. [Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Laporte, P. [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); White, R. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Greenshaw, T. [University of Liverpool, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, P.O. Box 147, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 3BX (United Kingdom); Sol, H. [LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); Abchiche, A. [CNRS, Division technique DT-INSU, 1 Place Aristide Briand, 92190 Meudon (France); Allan, D. [Department of Physics and Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Amans, J.P. [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); Armstrong, T.P. [Department of Physics and Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Balzer, A.; Berge, D. [GRAPPA, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Boisson, C. [LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); and others

2017-02-11

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consortium aims to build the next-generation ground-based very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory. The array will feature different sizes of telescopes allowing it to cover a wide gamma-ray energy band from about 20 GeV to above 100 TeV. The highest energies, above 5 TeV, will be covered by a large number of Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) with a field-of-view of around 9°. The Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), based on Schwarzschild–Couder dual-mirror optics, is one of the three proposed SST designs. The GCT is described in this contribution and the first images of Cherenkov showers obtained using the telescope and its camera are presented. These were obtained in November 2015 in Meudon, France.

A new energy-efficient control approach for space telescope drive system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wangping; Wang, Yong

Drive control makes the telescope accurately track celestial bodies in spite of external and in-ternal disturbances, and is a key technique to the performance of telescopes. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear adaptive observer based on power reversible approach for high preci-sion position tracking, i.e., space telescopes. The nonlinear adaptive observer automatically estimates the disturbances in drive system, and the observed value is applied to compensate for the real disturbances. With greatly reduced disturbances, the control precision can be ev-idently improved. In conventional drive control, the brake device is often used to slow down the reaction wheel and may waste enormous energy. To avoid those disadvantages, an H-bridge is put forward for wheel speed regulation. Such H-bridge has four independent sections, and each section mainly consists of a power electronic switch and an anti-parallel diode. A pair of diagonal sections is switched on for speeding up the reaction wheel and the other pair act in reverse. During the period of the wheel slowing down, the armature current of drive motor goes through the two path-wise diodes to discharge the battery. Thusly, energy waste is avoided. Based on the disturbance compensation, an optimal controller is designed to minimize an eval-uation function which is made up of a weighted sum of position errors and energy consumption. The outputs of the controller are amplified to control the H-bridge. Simulations are performed in MATLAB language. The results show that high precision control can be obtained by the proposed approach. And the energy consumption will be remarkably reduced.

The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET for high-energy astroparticle physics on the International Space Station

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriani O.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET is a space experiment, currently under development by Japan in collaboration with Italy and the United States, which will measure the flux of cosmic-ray electrons (and positrons up to 20 TeV energy, of gamma rays up to 10 TeV, of nuclei with Z from 1 to 40 up to 1 PeV energy, and will detect gamma-ray bursts in the 7 keV to 20 MeV energy range during a 5 year mission. These measurements are essential to investigate possible nearby astrophysical sources of high energy electrons, study the details of galactic particle propagation and search for dark matter signatures. The main detector of CALET, the Calorimeter, consists of a module to identify the particle charge, followed by a thin imaging calorimeter (3 radiation lengths with tungsten plates interleaving scintillating fibre planes, and a thick energy measuring calorimeter (27 radiation lengths composed of lead tungstate logs. The Calorimeter has the depth, imaging capabilities and energy resolution necessary for excellent separation between hadrons, electrons and gamma rays. The instrument is currently being prepared for launch (expected in 2015 to the International Space Station ISS, for installation on the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposure Facility (JEM-EF.

Development of a Telescope for Medium-Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Sunter, Stan

2012-01-01

Since the launch of AGILE and FERMI, the scientific progress in high-energy (Eg greater than approximately 200 MeV) gamma-ray science has been, and will continue to be dramatic. Both of these telescopes cover a broad energy range from approximately 20 MeV to greater than 10 GeV. However, neither instrument is optimized for observations below approximately 200 MeV where many astrophysical objects exhibit unique, transitory behavior, such as spectral breaks, bursts, and flares. Hence, while significant progress from current observations is expected, there will nonetheless remain a significant sensitivity gap in the medium-energy (approximately 0.1-200 MeV) regime; the lower end of this range remains largely unexplored whereas the upper end will allow comparison with FERMI data. Tapping into this unexplored regime requires significant improvements in sensitivity. A major emphasis of modern detector development, with the goal of providing significant improvements in sensitivity in the medium-energy regime, focuses on high-resolution electron tracking. The Three-Dimensional Track Imager (3-DTI) technology being developed at GSFC provides high resolution tracking of the electron-positron pair from gamma-ray interactions from 5 to 200 MeV. The 3-DTI consists of a time projection chamber (TPC) and 2-D cross-strip microwell detector (MWD). The low-density and homogeneous design of the 3-DTI, offers unprecedented sensitivity by providing angular resolution near the kinematic limit. Electron tracking also enables measurement of gamma-ray polarization, a new tool to study astrophysical phenomenon. We describe the design, fabrication, and performance of a 30x30x30 cm3 3-DTI detector prototype of a medium-energy gamma-ray telescope.

The High-Resolution Lightweight Telescope for the EUV (HiLiTE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez-Galarce, D S; Boerner, P; Soufli, R; De Pontieu, B; Katz, N; Title, A; Gullikson, E M; Robinson, J C; Baker, S L

2008-06-02

The High-resolution Lightweight Telescope for the EUV (HiLiTE) is a Cassegrain telescope that will be made entirely of Silicon Carbide (SiC), optical substrates and metering structure alike. Using multilayer coatings, this instrument will be tuned to operate at the 465 {angstrom} Ne VII emission line, formed in solar transition region plasma at {approx}500,000 K. HiLiTE will have an aperture of 30 cm, angular resolution of {approx}0.2 arc seconds and operate at a cadence of {approx}5 seconds or less, having a mass that is about 1/4 that of one of the 20 cm aperture telescopes on the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). This new instrument technology thus serves as a path finder to a post-AIA, Explorer-class missions.

Robotic telescopes for high energy astrophysics in Ondřejov

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Nekola, Martin; Hudec, René; Jelínek, M.; Kocka, Matúš; Münz, F.; Kubánek, P.; Polášek, Cyril; Šimon, Vojtěch; Štrobl, Jan

2010-01-01

Roč. 28, č. 1 (2010), s. 79-85 ISSN 0922-6435. [400 Years of Astronomical Telescopes: A Review of History, Science and Technology. Noordwijk, 29.09.2008-02.10.2008] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Grant - others:ESA(XE) ESA-PECS project No. 98023 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : robotic telescopes * BART * D50 Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 2.140, year: 2010

Exploring Galileo's Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Straulino, Samuele; Terzuoli, Alessandra

2010-01-01

In the first months of 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, the authors developed an educational project for middle-level students connected with the first astronomical discoveries that Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) made 400 years ago. The project included the construction of a basic telescope and the observation of the Moon. The project, if…

All-sky search for high-energy neutrinos from gravitational wave event GW170104 with the Antares neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albert, A.; Drouhin, D.; Racca, C.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Eberl, T.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; Hoessl, J.; Hofestaedt, J.; James, C.W.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kiessling, D.; Lahmann, R.; Sieger, C.; Ardid, M.; Felis, I.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Saldana, M.; Aubert, J.J.; Bertin, V.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Carr, J.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Dornic, D.; Enzenhoefer, A.; Quinn, L.; Salvadori, I.; Turpin, D.; Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Bourret, S.; Coelho, J.A.B.; Creusot, A.; Gregoire, T.; Gracia Ruiz, R.; Lachaud, C.; Barrios-Marti, J.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Illuminati, G.; Lotze, M.; Toennis, C.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J.; Basa, S.; Marcelin, M.; Nezri, E.; Belhorma, B.; Biagi, S.; Coniglione, R.; Distefano, C.; Piattelli, P.; Riccobene, G.; Sapienza, P.; Trovato, A.; Bormuth, R.; Jong, M. de; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Heijboer, A.J.; Jongen, M.; Michael, T.; Branzas, H.; Caramete, L.; Pavalas, G.E.; Popa, V.; Bruijn, R.; Melis, K.; Capone, A.; Di Palma, I.; Perrina, C.; Vizzoca, A.; Celli, S.; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; El Khayati, N.; Ettahiri, A.; Fassi, F.; Tayalati, Y.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Sanchez-Losa, A.; Coleiro, A.; Diaz, A.F.; Deschamps, A.; Hello, Y.; De Bonis, G.; Domi, A.; Hugon, C.; Sanguineti, M.; Taiuti, M.; Donzaud, C.; El Bojaddaini, I.; Moussa, A.; Elsaesser, D.; Kadler, M.; Kreter, M.; Fusco, L.A.; Margiotta, A.; Pellegrino, C.; Spurio, M.; Versari, F.; Gay, P.; Giordano, V.; Glotin, H.; Haren, H. van; Kouchner, A.; Van Elewyck, V.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Wilms, J.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lefevre, D.; Leonora, E.; Loucatos, S.; Vallage, B.; Marinelli, A.; Mele, R.; Vivolo, D.; Migliozzi, P.; Navas, S.; Organokov, M.; Pradier, T.; Schuessler, F.; Stolarczyk, T.

2017-01-01

Advanced LIGO detected a significant gravitational wave signal (GW170104) originating from the coalescence of two black holes during the second observation run on January 4th, 2017. An all-sky high-energy neutrino follow-up search has been made using data from the Antares neutrino telescope, including both upgoing and downgoing events in two separate analyses. No neutrino candidates were found within ±500 s around the GW event time nor any time clustering of events over an extended time window of ±3 months. The non-detection is used to constrain isotropic-equivalent high-energy neutrino emission from GW170104 to less than ∝ 1.2 x 10 55 erg for a E -2 spectrum. This constraint is valid in the energy range corresponding to the 5-95% quantiles of the neutrino flux [3.2 TeV; 3.6 PeV], if the GW emitter was below the Antares horizon at the alert time. (orig.)

All-sky search for high-energy neutrinos from gravitational wave event GW170104 with the Antares neutrino telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albert, A.; Drouhin, D.; Racca, C. [Universite de Haute Alsace - Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Colmar, GRPHE, Colmar (France); Andre, M. [Technical University of Catalonia, Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, Vilanova i la Geltru, Barcelona (Spain); Anghinolfi, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Anton, G.; Eberl, T.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; Hoessl, J.; Hofestaedt, J.; James, C.W.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kiessling, D.; Lahmann, R.; Sieger, C. [Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen (Germany); Ardid, M.; Felis, I.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Saldana, M. [Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Institut d' Investigacio per a la Gestio Integrada de les Zones Costaneres (IGIC), Gandia (Spain); Aubert, J.J.; Bertin, V.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Carr, J.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Dornic, D.; Enzenhoefer, A.; Quinn, L.; Salvadori, I.; Turpin, D. [Aix Marseille Univ., CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille (France); Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Bourret, S.; Coelho, J.A.B.; Creusot, A.; Gregoire, T.; Gracia Ruiz, R.; Lachaud, C. [Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, APC, Paris (France); Barrios-Marti, J.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Illuminati, G.; Lotze, M.; Toennis, C.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J. [IFIC-Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia), Paterna, Valencia (Spain); Basa, S.; Marcelin, M.; Nezri, E. [Pole de l' Etoile Site de Chateau-Gombert, LAM-Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille (France); Belhorma, B. [National Center for Energy Sciences and Nuclear Techniques, Rabat (Morocco); Biagi, S.; Coniglione, R.; Distefano, C.; Piattelli, P.; Riccobene, G.; Sapienza, P.; Trovato, A. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Catania (Italy); Bormuth, R.; Jong, M. de; Samtleben, D.F.E. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit Leiden, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Leiden (Netherlands); Bouwhuis, M.C.; Heijboer, A.J.; Jongen, M.; Michael, T. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Branzas, H.; Caramete, L.; Pavalas, G.E.; Popa, V. [Institute for Space Science, Bucharest (Romania); Bruijn, R.; Melis, K. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit van Amsterdam, Instituut voor Hoge-Energie Fysica, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Capone, A.; Di Palma, I.; Perrina, C.; Vizzoca, A. [INFN-Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita La Sapienza, Rome (Italy); Celli, S. [INFN-Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita La Sapienza, Rome (Italy); Gran Sasso Science Institute, L' Aquila (Italy); Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; El Khayati, N.; Ettahiri, A.; Fassi, F.; Tayalati, Y. [University Mohammed V, Faculty of Sciences, Rabat (Morocco); Chiarusi, T. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Circella, M.; Sanchez-Losa, A. [INFN-Sezione di Bari, Bari (Italy); Coleiro, A. [Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, APC, Paris (France); IFIC-Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia), Paterna, Valencia (Spain); Diaz, A.F. [University of Granada, Department of Computer Architecture and Technology/CITIC, Granada (Spain); Deschamps, A.; Hello, Y. [Geoazur, UCA, CNRS, IRD, Observatoire de la Cote d' Azur, Sophia Antipolis (France); De Bonis, G. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita La Sapienza, Rome (Italy); Domi, A.; Hugon, C.; Sanguineti, M.; Taiuti, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Genoa (Italy); Donzaud, C. [Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, APC, Paris (France); Universite Paris-Sud, Orsay (France); El Bojaddaini, I.; Moussa, A. [University Mohammed I, Laboratory of Physics of Matter and Radiations, Oujda (Morocco); Elsaesser, D.; Kadler, M.; Kreter, M. [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg (Germany); Fusco, L.A.; Margiotta, A.; Pellegrino, C.; Spurio, M.; Versari, F. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell' Universita, Bologna (Italy); Gay, P. [Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, APC, Paris (France); Clermont Universite, Universite Blaise Pascal, Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire, CNRS/IN2P3, Clermont-Ferrand (France); Giordano, V. [INFN-Sezione di Catania, Catania (Italy); Glotin, H. [LSIS, Aix Marseille Universite CNRS ENSAM LSIS UMR 7296, Marseille (France); Universite de Toulon CNRS LSIS UMR 7296, La Garde (FR); Institut Universitaire de France, Paris (FR); Haren, H. van [Utrecht University, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), ' t Horntje (Texel) (NL); Kouchner, A.; Van Elewyck, V. [Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, APC, Paris (FR); Institut Universitaire de France, Paris (FR); Kreykenbohm, I.; Wilms, J. [Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Bamberg (DE); Kulikovskiy, V. [Aix Marseille Univ., CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille (FR); Moscow State University, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow (RU); Lefevre, D. [Aix-Marseille University, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Marseille (FR); Universite du Sud Toulon-Var, CNRS-INSU/IRD UM 110, La Garde (FR); Leonora, E. [INFN-Sezione di Catania, Catania (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell' Universita, Catania (IT); Loucatos, S.; Vallage, B. [Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, APC, Paris (FR); Direction des Sciences de la Matiere-Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l' Univers-Service de Physique des Particules, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (FR); Marinelli, A. [INFN-Sezione di Pisa, Pisa (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Pisa (IT); Mele, R.; Vivolo, D. [INFN-Sezione di Napoli, Naples (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita Federico II di Napoli, Naples (IT); Migliozzi, P. [INFN-Sezione di Napoli, Naples (IT); Navas, S. [University of Granada, Dept. de Fisica Teorica y del Cosmos y C.A.F.P.E., Granada (ES); Organokov, M.; Pradier, T. [Universite de Strasbourg, CNRS, Strasbourg (FR); Schuessler, F.; Stolarczyk, T. [Direction des Sciences de la Matiere-Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l' Univers-Service de Physique des Particules, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (FR); Collaboration: The ANTARES Collaboration

2017-12-15

Advanced LIGO detected a significant gravitational wave signal (GW170104) originating from the coalescence of two black holes during the second observation run on January 4th, 2017. An all-sky high-energy neutrino follow-up search has been made using data from the Antares neutrino telescope, including both upgoing and downgoing events in two separate analyses. No neutrino candidates were found within ±500 s around the GW event time nor any time clustering of events over an extended time window of ±3 months. The non-detection is used to constrain isotropic-equivalent high-energy neutrino emission from GW170104 to less than ∝ 1.2 x 10{sup 55} erg for a E{sup -2} spectrum. This constraint is valid in the energy range corresponding to the 5-95% quantiles of the neutrino flux [3.2 TeV; 3.6 PeV], if the GW emitter was below the Antares horizon at the alert time. (orig.)

Prospects for γ-ray imaging telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carter, J.N.; Dean, A.J.; Ramsden, D.

1981-01-01

Apart from the requirement for a new, high angular-resolution gamma-ray telescope for the more precise location of known COS-B gamma-ray sources, there is also a need for another instrument that can be used in a search for the gamma-ray emission from specific X-ray-emitting objects. If there is to be any hope of relating gamma ray emission to specific candidate X-ray objects, then an angular resolution of typically a few minutes of arc is required to resolve adjacent sources in crowded regions of the sky such as the galactic centre. Efforts to improve the angular resolution of track-chamber telescopes are compared. For energies close to 1 MeV telescopes have either used collimators to restrict the field of view or have made use of the kinematics of the Compton scattering process to determine the direction of the incident photon. The use of coded aperture techniques in high angular resolution X-ray astronomy telescopes is reviewed. A practical telescope for astronomy at high energies described by Carter is mentioned. At low energies an imaging telescope could be constructed by making use of position-sensitive detectors initially developed for use in medical physics. Such a telescope is outlined in general terms and its benefits and uses given. (U.K.)

A new Recoil Proton Telescope for energy and fluence measurement of fast neutron fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lebreton, Lena; Bachaalany, Mario [IRSN / LMDN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete nucleaire / Laboratoire de Metrologie et de dosimetrie des neutrons), Cadarache Bat.159, 13115 Saint Paul-lez-Durance, (France); Husson, Daniel; Higueret, Stephane [IPHC / RaMsEs (Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien / Radioprotection et Mesures Environnementales), 23 rue du loess - BP28, 67037 Strasbourg cedex 2, (France)

2015-07-01

The spectrometer ATHENA (Accurate Telescope for High Energy Neutron metrology Applications), is being developed at the IRSN / LMDN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete nucleaire / Laboratoire de Metrologie et de dosimetrie des neutrons) and aims at characterizing energy and fluence of fast neutron fields. The detector is a Recoil Proton Telescope and measures neutron fields in the range of 5 to 20 MeV. This telescope is intended to become a primary standard for both energy and fluence measurements. The neutron detection is achieved by a polyethylene radiator for n-p conversion, three 50{sub m} thick silicon sensors that use CMOS technology for the proton tracking and a 3 mm thick silicon diode to measure the residual proton energy. This first prototype used CMOS sensors called MIMOSTAR, initially developed for heavy ion physics. The use of CMOS sensors and silicon diode increases the intrinsic efficiency of the detector by a factor of ten compared with conventional designs. The first prototype has already been done and was a successful study giving the results it offered in terms of energy and fluence measurements. For mono energetic beams going from 5 to 19 MeV, the telescope offered an energy resolution between 5 and 11% and fluence difference going from 5 to 7% compared to other home standards. A second and final prototype of the detector is being designed. It will hold upgraded CMOS sensors called FastPixN. These CMOS sensors are supposed to run 400 times faster than the older version and therefore give the telescope the ability to support neutron flux in the order of 107 to 108cm{sup 2}:s{sup 1}. The first prototypes results showed that a 50 m pixel size is enough for a precise scattering angle reconstruction. Simulations using MCNPX and GEANT4 are already in place for further improvements. A DeltaE diode will replace the third CMOS sensor and will be installed right before the silicon diode for a better recoil proton selection. The final prototype with

First detection of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from the extreme blazar PGC 2402248 with the MAGIC telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Mirzoyan, Razmik

2018-04-01

The MAGIC collaboration reports the first detection of very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from PGC 2402248, also known as 2WHSP J073326.7+515354 (Chang et al. 2016, A & A, 598, A17) with coordinates R.A.: 07:33:26.7 h, Dec: +51:53:54.99 deg. The source is classified as an extreme high-energy peaked BL Lacertae object of unknown redshift, included in the 2WHSP catalog with a synchrotron peak located at 10^17.9 Hz. PGC 2402248 was observed with the MAGIC telescopes from 2018/01/23 to 2018/04/18 (MJD 58141-58226) for about 23 h. The preliminary analysis of these data resulted in the detection of PGC 2402248 with a statistical significance of more than 6 standard deviations.

Study of the sensibility of the Antares neutrino telescope to very high energy photons: Contribution to the time calibration of the detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillard, G.

2010-10-01

From the sea-floor, the 900-odd photomultiplier tubes of the Antares neutrino telescope scrutinize the abysses attempting to discern, amid bioluminescence and marine radioactivity, Cerenkov photons emitted by muons from astrophysical neutrinos, and to distinguish these muons from those generated by air showers produced by cosmic rays. Antares has been collecting data since 2006; this feat of engineering has paved the way for submarine neutrino astronomy: Antares is expected to be the forerunner of a larger instrument, KM3NeT. Telescope's performance is characterized in part by its angular resolution. In the case of Antares, the angular resolution is directly related to the time resolution of the detector's elements. This manuscript presents a correction for one of the main sources of deterioration of this time resolution, the walk effect induced by the set up of a fixed threshold for triggering the photomultiplier tubes signal. This correction, implemented in the official software chain of the Antares collaboration, improves in particular the events reconstruction quality estimator. This implementation allows further optimizations. The author also attempts to evaluate, using a complete Monte-Carlo simulation, the possibility of using very high energy photon sources as calibrated muon beams in order to estimate the absolute pointing and the angular resolution of the telescope. Although limited by large uncertainties, it is demonstrated that the possibility to detect such sources is extremely small. In addition, it is shown that the atmospheric neutrino background induced by very high-energy photons is negligible. (author)

The GILDA mission: a new technique for a gamma-ray telescope in the energy range 20 MeV-100 GeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbiellini, G.; Candusso, M.; Pascale, M.P. de; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Ricci, M.; Sparvoli, R.; Spillantini, P.; Vacchi, A.

1995-01-01

In this article a new technique for the realization of a high energy gamma-ray telescope is presented, based on the adoption of silicon strip detectors and lead scintillating fibers. The simulated performances of such an instrument (GILDA) are significatively better than those of EGRET, the last successful experiment of a high energy gamma-ray telescope, launched on the CGRO satellite, though having less volume and weight. ((orig.))

The Ringo2 Optical Polarisation Catalogue of 13 High-Energy Blazars

Science.gov (United States)

Barres de Almeida, Ulisses; Jermak, Helen; Mundell, Carole; Lindfors, Elina; Nilsson, Kari; Steele, Iain

2015-08-01

We present the findings of the Ringo2 3-year survey of 13 blazars (3 FSRQs and 10 BL Lacs) with regular coverage and reasonably fast cadence of one to three observations a week. Ringo2 was installed on the Liverpool Robotic Telescope (LT) on the Canary Island of La Palma between 2009 and 2012 and monitored thirteen high-energy-emitting blazars in the northern sky. The objects selected as well as the observational strategy were tuned to maximise the synergies with high-energy X- to gamma-ray observations. Therefore this sample stands out as a well-sampled, long-term view of high-energy AGN jets in polarised optical light. Over half of the sources exhibited an increase in optical flux during this period and almost a quarter were observed in outburst. We compare the optical data to gamma (Fermi/LAT) and X-ray data during these periods of outburst. In this talk we present the data obtained for all sources over the lifetime of Ringo2 with additional optical data from the KVA telescope and the SkyCamZ wide-field camera (on the LT), we explore the relationship between the change in polarisation angle as a function of time (dEVPA/dMJD), flux and polarisation degree along with cross correlation comparisons of optical and high-energy flux.

Oscillation effects on high-energy neutrino fluxes from astrophysical hidden sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mena, Olga; Mocioiu, Irina; Razzaque, Soebur

2007-01-01

High-energy neutrinos are expected to be produced in a variety of astrophysical sources as well as in optically thick hidden sources. We explore the matter-induced oscillation effects on emitted neutrino fluxes of three different flavors from the latter class. We use the ratio of electron and tau induced showers to muon tracks, in upcoming neutrino telescopes, as the principal observable in our analysis. This ratio depends on the neutrino energy, density profile of the sources, and on the oscillation parameters. The largely unknown flux normalization drops out of our calculation and only affects the statistics. For the current knowledge of the oscillation parameters we find that the matter-induced effects are non-negligible and the enhancement of the ratio from its vacuum value takes place in an energy range where the neutrino telescopes are the most sensitive. Quantifying the effect would be useful to learn about the astrophysics of the sources as well as the oscillation parameters. If the neutrino telescopes mostly detect diffuse neutrinos without identifying their sources, then any deviation of the measured flux ratios from the vacuum expectation values would be most naturally explained by a large population of hidden sources for which matter-induced neutrino oscillation effects are important

First results of high energy particle measurements with the TUENDE-M telescopes on board the S/C VEGA-1 and -2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Somogyi, A.J.; Erdoes, G.; Eroe, J.

1986-02-01

VEGA-1 and VEGA-2 space probes launched to comet Halley are equipped with identical TUENDE-M high energy particle detectors. Each TUENDE-M instrument consists of two particle telescopes viewing in the ecliptic plane at an angle of deg 55 and deg 90, respectively, to the east of the Sun. Technical data of the detectors are tabulated. In the period Dec 1984 - Apr 1985 several cases of interplanetary acceleration of charged particles up to MeV energies and a large solar flare event (27.Jan 1985) were observed by the TUENDE-M instruments. The latter event is described in detail and observation results (intensity profiles of different channels of various energies) are presented. (D.Gy.)

Perfomance of a high purity germanium multi-detector telescope for long range particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riepe, G.; Protic, D.; Suekoesd, C.; Didelez, J.P.; Frascaria, N.; Gerlic, E.; Hourani, E.; Morlet, M.

1980-01-01

A telescope of stacked high purity germanium detectors designed for long range charged particles was tested using medium energy protons. Particle identification and the rejection of the low energy tail could be accomplished on-line allowing the measurement of complex spectra. The efficiency of the detector stack for protons was measured up to 156 MeV incoming energy. The various factors affecting the energy resolution are discussed and their estimated contributions are compared with the experimental results

Mechanical design of SST-GATE, a dual-mirror telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Dournaux, Jean-Laurent; Huet, Jean-Michel; Amans, Jean-Philippe; Dumas, Delphine; Laporte, Philippe; Sol, Hélène; Blake, Simon

2014-07-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project aims to create the next generation Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray telescope array. It will be devoted to the observation of gamma rays over a wide band of energy, from a few tens of GeV to more than 100 TeV. Two sites are foreseen to view the whole sky where about 100 telescopes, composed of three different classes, related to the specific energy region to be investigated, will be installed. Among these, the Small Size class of Telescopes, SSTs, are devoted to the highest energy region, to beyond 100 TeV. Due to the large number of SSTs, their unit cost is an important parameter. At the Observatoire de Paris, we have designed a prototype of a Small Size Telescope named SST-GATE, based on the dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical formula, which has never before been implemented in the design of a telescope. Over the last two years, we developed a mechanical design for SST-GATE from the optical and preliminary mechanical designs made by the University of Durham. The integration of this telescope is currently in progress. Since the early stages of mechanical design of SST-GATE, finite element method has been used employing shape and topology optimization techniques to help design several elements of the telescope. This allowed optimization of the mechanical stiffness/mass ratio, leading to a lightweight and less expensive mechanical structure. These techniques and the resulting mechanical design are detailed in this paper. We will also describe the finite element analyses carried out to calculate the mechanical deformations and the stresses in the structure under observing and survival conditions.

Study of the high energy gamma-ray emission from the crab pulsar with the MAGIC telescope and Fermi-LAT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Takayuki

2010-01-01

My thesis deals with a fundamental question of high energy gamma-ray astronomy. Namely, I studied the cut-off shape of the Crab pulsar spectrum to distinguish between the leading scenarios for the pulsar models. Pulsars are celestial objects, which emit periodic pulsed electromagnetic radiation (pulsation) from radio to high energy gamma-rays. Two major scenarios evolved in past 40 years to explain the pulsation mechanism: the inner magnetosphere scenario and the outer magnetosphere scenario. Both scenarios predict a high energy cut-off in the gamma-ray energy spectrum, but with different cut-off sharpness. An exponential cut-off is expected for the outer magnetosphere scenario while a super-exponential cut-off is predicted for the inner magnetosphere scenario. Therefore, one of the best ways to confirm or refute these scenarios is to measure the energy spectrum of a pulsar at around the cut-off energy, i.e., at energies between a few GeV and a few tens of GeV. All past attempts to measure pulsar spectra with ground-based instruments have failed while satellite-borne detectors had a too small area to study detailed spectra in the GeV domain. In this thesis, the gamma-ray emission at around the cut-off energy from the Crab pulsar is studied with the MAGIC telescope. The public data of the satellite-borne gamma-ray detector, Fermi-LAT, are also analyzed in order to discuss the MAGIC observation results in comparison with the adjacent energy band. In late 2007, a new trigger system (SUM trigger system) allowed to reduce the threshold energy of the MAGIC telescope from 50 GeV to 25 GeV and the Crab pulsar was successfully detected during observations from October 2007 and January 2009. My analysis reveals that the energy spectrum is consistent with a simple power law between 25 GeV to 100 GeV. The extension of the energy spectrum up to 100 GeV rules out the inner magnetosphere scenario. Fermi-LAT started operation in August 2008. The Fermi-LAT data reveal that a power

Study of the high energy gamma-ray emission from the crab pulsar with the MAGIC telescope and Fermi-LAT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saito, Takayuki

2010-12-06

My thesis deals with a fundamental question of high energy gamma-ray astronomy. Namely, I studied the cut-off shape of the Crab pulsar spectrum to distinguish between the leading scenarios for the pulsar models. Pulsars are celestial objects, which emit periodic pulsed electromagnetic radiation (pulsation) from radio to high energy gamma-rays. Two major scenarios evolved in past 40 years to explain the pulsation mechanism: the inner magnetosphere scenario and the outer magnetosphere scenario. Both scenarios predict a high energy cut-off in the gamma-ray energy spectrum, but with different cut-off sharpness. An exponential cut-off is expected for the outer magnetosphere scenario while a super-exponential cut-off is predicted for the inner magnetosphere scenario. Therefore, one of the best ways to confirm or refute these scenarios is to measure the energy spectrum of a pulsar at around the cut-off energy, i.e., at energies between a few GeV and a few tens of GeV. All past attempts to measure pulsar spectra with ground-based instruments have failed while satellite-borne detectors had a too small area to study detailed spectra in the GeV domain. In this thesis, the gamma-ray emission at around the cut-off energy from the Crab pulsar is studied with the MAGIC telescope. The public data of the satellite-borne gamma-ray detector, Fermi-LAT, are also analyzed in order to discuss the MAGIC observation results in comparison with the adjacent energy band. In late 2007, a new trigger system (SUM trigger system) allowed to reduce the threshold energy of the MAGIC telescope from 50 GeV to 25 GeV and the Crab pulsar was successfully detected during observations from October 2007 and January 2009. My analysis reveals that the energy spectrum is consistent with a simple power law between 25 GeV to 100 GeV. The extension of the energy spectrum up to 100 GeV rules out the inner magnetosphere scenario. Fermi-LAT started operation in August 2008. The Fermi-LAT data reveal that a power

CONSTRAINTS ON VERY HIGH ENERGY EMISSION FROM GRB 130427A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aliu, E.; Errando, M.; Aune, T.; Barnacka, A.; Beilicke, M.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V.; Benbow, W.; Cerruti, M.; Berger, K.; Biteau, J.; Byrum, K.; Cardenzana, J. V; Dickinson, H. J.; Eisch, J. D.; Chen, X.; Ciupik, L.; Connaughton, V.; Cui, W.; Falcone, A.

2014-01-01

Prompt emission from the very fluent and nearby (z = 0.34) gamma-ray burst GRB 130427A was detected by several orbiting telescopes and by ground-based, wide-field-of-view optical transient monitors. Apart from the intensity and proximity of this GRB, it is exceptional due to the extremely long-lived high-energy (100 MeV to 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission, which was detected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope for ∼70 ks after the initial burst. The persistent, hard-spectrum, high-energy emission suggests that the highest-energy gamma rays may have been produced via synchrotron self-Compton processes though there is also evidence that the high-energy emission may instead be an extension of the synchrotron spectrum. VERITAS, a ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array, began follow-up observations of GRB 130427A ∼71 ks (∼20 hr) after the onset of the burst. The GRB was not detected with VERITAS; however, the high elevation of the observations, coupled with the low redshift of the GRB, make VERITAS a very sensitive probe of the emission from GRB 130427A for E > 100 GeV. The non-detection and consequent upper limit derived place constraints on the synchrotron self-Compton model of high-energy gamma-ray emission from this burst

5@5 - A 5 GeV Energy Threshold Array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes at 5 km Altitude

Science.gov (United States)

Aharonian, F. A.; Konopelko, A. K.; Voelk, H. J.; Quintana, H.

2000-10-01

We discuss the concept and the performance of 5@5 - a stereoscopic array of several large imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes installed at a very high mountain elevation of about 5 km a.s.l. or more - for the study of the gamma-ray sky at energies from several GeV to 100 GeV. With its capability to detect the ``standard'' EGRET sources with spectra extending up to 10 GeV in exposure times from 1 to 103 seconds, such a detector may serve as an ideal "Gamma-Ray Timing Explorer" for the study of transient non-thermal phenomena like gamma-radiation from AGN jets, synchrotron flares of microquasars, the high energy (GeV) counterparts of Gamma Ray Bursts, etc. Such an instrument would also allow detailed studies of the spectral characteristics of persistent gamma-ray sources like pulsars, supernova remnants, plerions, radiogalaxies, etc, in the energy region between 10 GeV and 100 GeV, where the capabilities of both the current space-based and ground-based gamma-ray projects are quite limited. The existing technological achievements in the design and construction of multi (1000) pixel, high resolution imagers, as well as of large, 20 m diameter class multi-mirror dishes with rather modest optical requirements, would allow the construction of the "5@5" in a foreseeable future. The Llano de Chajnantor (or the neighboring Cerro Toco) in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile seems an ideal site for such a ``post - CANGAROO/H.E.S.S./MAGIC/VERITAS'' era ground-based gamma-ray detector. The large flat area of that site, which was recently chosen for the installation of one of the most powerful future astronomical instruments - the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) - could accomodate also an additional Cherenkov telescope array which requires a relatively compact area with a radius of about 100 m.

INFN Camera demonstrator for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

CERN Document Server

Ambrosi, G; Aramo, C.; Bertucci, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Bitossi, M.; Brasolin, S.; Busetto, G.; Carosi, R.; Catalanotti, S.; Ciocci, M.A.; Consoletti, R.; Da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; De Lotto, B.; de Palma, F.; Desiante, R.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Giulio, C.; Doro, M.; D'Urso, D.; Ferraro, G.; Ferrarotto, F.; Gargano, F.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giraudo, G.; Iacovacci, M.; Ionica, M.; Iori, M.; Longo, F.; Mariotti, M.; Mastroianni, S.; Minuti, M.; Morselli, A.; Paoletti, R.; Pauletta, G.; Rando, R.; Fernandez, G. Rodriguez; Rugliancich, A.; Simone, D.; Stella, C.; Tonachini, A.; Vallania, P.; Valore, L.; Vagelli, V.; Verzi, V.; Vigorito, C.

2015-01-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array is a world-wide project for a new generation of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes of the Imaging class with the aim of exploring the highest energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum. With two planned arrays, one for each hemisphere, it will guarantee a good sky coverage in the energy range from a few tens of GeV to hundreds of TeV, with improved angular resolution and a sensitivity in the TeV energy region better by one order of magnitude than the currently operating arrays. In order to cover this wide energy range, three different telescope types are envisaged, with different mirror sizes and focal plane features. In particular, for the highest energies a possible design is a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical scheme, with a compact focal plane. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) based camera is being proposed as a solution to match the dimensions of the pixel (angular size of ~ 0.17 degrees). INFN is developing a camera demonstrator made by 9 Photo Sensor Modules (PSMs...

A study of the sensitivity of an imaging telescope (GRITS) for high energy gamma-ray astronomy. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yearian, M.R.

1990-08-01

When a gamma-ray telescope is placed in Earth orbit, it is bombarded by a flux of cosmic protons much greater than the flux of interesting gammas. These protons can interact in the telescope's thermal shielding to produce detectable gamma rays, most of which are vetoed. Since the proton flux is so high, the unvetoed gamma rays constitute a significant background relative to some weak sources. This background increases the observing time required to pinpoint some sources and entirely obscures other sources. Although recent telescopes have been designed to minimize this background, its strength and spectral characteristics were not previously calculated in detail. Monte Carlo calculations are presented which characterize the strength, spectrum and other features of the cosmic proton background using FLUKA, a hadronic cascade program. Several gamma-ray telescopes, including SAS-2, EGRET and the Gamma Ray Imaging Telescope System (GRITS), are analyzed, and their proton-induced backgrounds are characterized. In all cases, the backgrounds are either shown to be low relative to interesting signals or suggestions are made which would reduce the background sufficiently to leave the telescope unimpaired. In addition, several limiting cases are examined for comparison to previous estimates and calibration measurements

High Energy Astrophysics with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Hays, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews some of the findings of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi Observatory. It includes information about the LAT, and the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM), detection of the quiet sun and the moon in gamma rays, Pulsars observed by the observatory, Globular Star Clusters, Active Galactic Nucleus, and Gamma-Ray Bursts, with specific information about GRB 080916C.

The Status of the Telescope Array experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tokuno, H; Azuma, R [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Abu-Zayyad, T; Allen, M; Barcikowski, E; Belz, J W; Blake, S A; Brusova, O; Cady, R [University of Utah, High Energy Astrophysics Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Aida, R [University of Yamanashi, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, Kofu, Yamanashi (Japan); Benno, T; Chikawa, M; Doura, K [Kinki University, Higashi Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Bergman, D R [Rutgers University, Piscataway (United States); Cheon, B G; Cho, E J [Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J [Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba (Japan); Cho, L S; Cho, W R [Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cohen, F, E-mail: htokuno@cr.phys.titech.ac.jp [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan)

2011-04-01

The purpose of The Telescope Array experiment is to identify origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays. The Telescope Array is a hybrid detector consists of a surface detector array and air fluorescence detectors. This hybrid detector is observing extensive air showers to measure the energy spectrum, anisotropy and composition of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays. The detector construction has been completed in March 2008, and the hybrid observation with the full configuration has been running since that time. In this talk, the status of observation and our prospects are described.

End-to-end simulations and planning of a small space telescopes: Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Heap, Sara; Folta, David; Gong, Qian; Howard, Joseph; Hull, Tony; Purves, Lloyd

2016-08-01

Large astronomical missions are usually general-purpose telescopes with a suite of instruments optimized for different wavelength regions, spectral resolutions, etc. Their end-to-end (E2E) simulations are typically photons-in to flux-out calculations made to verify that each instrument meets its performance specifications. In contrast, smaller space missions are usually single-purpose telescopes, and their E2E simulations start with the scientific question to be answered and end with an assessment of the effectiveness of the mission in answering the scientific question. Thus, E2E simulations for small missions consist a longer string of calculations than for large missions, as they include not only the telescope and instrumentation, but also the spacecraft, orbit, and external factors such as coordination with other telescopes. Here, we illustrate the strategy and organization of small-mission E2E simulations using the Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer (GESE) as a case study. GESE is an Explorer/Probe-class space mission concept with the primary aim of understanding galaxy evolution. Operation of a small survey telescope in space like GESE is usually simpler than operations of large telescopes driven by the varied scientific programs of the observers or by transient events. Nevertheless, both types of telescopes share two common challenges: maximizing the integration time on target, while minimizing operation costs including communication costs and staffing on the ground. We show in the case of GESE how these challenges can be met through a custom orbit and a system design emphasizing simplification and leveraging information from ground-based telescopes.

X-ray telescope mirrors made of slumped glass sheets

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, A.; Breunig, E.; Friedrich, P.; Proserpio, L.

2017-11-01

For several decades, the field of X-ray astronomy has been playing a major role in understanding the processes in our universe. From binary stars and black holes up to galaxy clusters and dark matter, high energetic events have been observed and analysed using powerful X-ray telescopes like e.g. Rosat, Chandra, and XMM-Newton [1,2,3], giving us detailed and unprecedented views of the high-energy universe. In November 2013, the theme of "The Hot and Energetic Universe" was rated as of highest importance for future exploration and in June 2014 the ATHENA Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics was selected by ESA for the second large science mission (L2) in the ESA Cosmic Vision program, with launch foreseen in 2028 [4]. By combining a large X-ray telescope with state-of-the-art scientific instruments, ATHENA will address key questions in astrophysics, including: How and why does ordinary matter assemble into the galaxies and galactic clusters that we see today? How do black holes grow and influence their surroundings? In order to answer these questions, ATHENA needs a powerful mirror system which exceed the capabilities of current missions, especially in terms of collecting area. However, current technologies have reached the mass limits of the launching rocket, creating the need for more light-weight mirror systems in order to enhance the effective area without increasing the telescope mass. Hence new mirror technologies are being developed which aim for low-weight systems with large collecting areas. Light material like glass can be used, which are shaped to form an X-ray reflecting system via the method of thermal glass slumping.

A study of upward going particles with the Extreme Energy Events telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abbrescia, M. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Bari, Bari (Italy); Avanzini, C.; Baldini, L. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Ferroli, R. Baldini [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati (RM) (Italy); Batignani, G. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Bencivenni, G. [INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati (RM) (Italy); Bossini, E. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN Gruppo Collegato di Siena and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Siena, Siena (Italy); Chiavassa, A. [INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Torino, Torino (Italy); Cicalo, C. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari (Italy); Cifarelli, L. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Coccia, E. [INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma (Italy); Corvaglia, A. [Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma (Italy); INFN and Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università del Salento, Lecce (Italy); and others

2016-04-21

In this paper the first study of the upward going events detected by the telescopes of the Extreme Energy Event (EEE) project is reported. The EEE project consists of a detector array of Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers located at selected sites on the Italian territory. During autumn 2014 the first coordinated data taking period took place and around one billion candidate tracks were collected. Among them, of particular interest is the sample of particles which cross the telescopes from below. The results obtained demonstrate that the EEE telescopes can distinguish the electrons produced as decay products of cosmic muons stopped in the ground, or in the last chamber of the telescopes themselves, confirming the excellent performance of the system for the investigation of intriguing cosmic phenomena.

A study of upward going particles with the Extreme Energy Events telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbrescia, M.; Avanzini, C.; Baldini, L.; Ferroli, R. Baldini; Batignani, G.; Bencivenni, G.; Bossini, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cicalo, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Coccia, E.; Corvaglia, A.

2016-01-01

In this paper the first study of the upward going events detected by the telescopes of the Extreme Energy Event (EEE) project is reported. The EEE project consists of a detector array of Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers located at selected sites on the Italian territory. During autumn 2014 the first coordinated data taking period took place and around one billion candidate tracks were collected. Among them, of particular interest is the sample of particles which cross the telescopes from below. The results obtained demonstrate that the EEE telescopes can distinguish the electrons produced as decay products of cosmic muons stopped in the ground, or in the last chamber of the telescopes themselves, confirming the excellent performance of the system for the investigation of intriguing cosmic phenomena.

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, P. T.

2016-04-01

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor is a mission which will be proposed for the ESA M5 call. THESEUS will address multiple components in the Early Universe ESA Cosmic Vision theme:4.1 Early Universe,4.2 The Universe taking shape, and4.3 The evolving violent Universe.THESEUS aims at vastly increasing the discovery space of the high energy transient phenomena over the entire cosmic history. This is achieved via a unique payload providing an unprecedented combination of: (i) wide and deep sky monitoring in a broad energy band(0.3 keV-20 MeV; (ii) focusing capabilities in the soft X-ray band granting large grasp and high angular resolution; and (iii) on board near-IR capabilities for immediate transient identification and first redshift estimate.The THESEUS payload consists of: (i) the Soft X--ray Imager (SXI), a set of Lobster Eye (0.3--6 keV) telescopes with CCD detectors covering a total FOV of 1 sr; (ii) the X--Gamma-rays spectrometer (XGS), a non-imaging spectrometer (XGS) based on SDD+CsI, covering the same FOV than the Lobster telescope extending the THESEUS energy band up to 20 MeV; and (iii) a 70cm class InfraRed Telescope (IRT) observing up to 2 microns with imaging and moderate spectral capabilities.The main scientific goals of THESEUS are to:(a) Explore the Early Universe (cosmic dawn and reionization era) by unveiling the Gamma--Ray Burst (GRBs) population in the first billion years}, determining when did the first stars form, and investigating the re-ionization epoch, the interstellar medium (ISM) and the intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshifts.(b) Perform an unprecedented deep survey of the soft X-ray transient Universe in order to fill the present gap in the discovery space of new classes of transient; provide a fundamental step forward in the comprehension of the physics of various classes of Galactic and extra--Galactic transients, and provide real time trigger and accurate locations of transients for follow-up with next

Performance of the SciBar cosmic ray telescope (SciCRT) toward the detection of high-energy solar neutrons in solar cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Sasai, Yoshinori; Nagai, Yuya; Itow, Yoshitaka; Matsubara, Yutaka; Sako, Takashi; Lopez, Diego; Itow, Tsukasa; Munakata, Kazuoki; Kato, Chihiro; Kozai, Masayoshi; Miyazaki, Takahiro; Shibata, Shoichi; Oshima, Akitoshi; Kojima, Hiroshi; Tsuchiya, Harufumi; Watanabe, Kyoko; Koi, Tatsumi; Valdés-Galicia, Jose Francisco; González, Luis Xavier; Ortiz, Ernesto; Musalem, Octavio; Hurtado, Alejandro; Garcia, Rocio; Anzorena, Marcos

2014-12-01

We plan to observe solar neutrons at Mt. Sierra Negra (4,600 m above sea level) in Mexico using the SciBar detector. This project is named the SciBar Cosmic Ray Telescope (SciCRT). The main aims of the SciCRT project are to observe solar neutrons to study the mechanism of ion acceleration on the surface of the sun and to monitor the anisotropy of galactic cosmic-ray muons. The SciBar detector, a fully active tracker, is composed of 14,848 scintillator bars, whose dimension is 300 cm × 2.5 cm × 1.3 cm. The structure of the detector enables us to obtain the particle trajectory and its total deposited energy. This information is useful for the energy reconstruction of primary neutrons and particle identification. The total volume of the detector is 3.0 m × 3.0 m × 1.7 m. Since this volume is much larger than the solar neutron telescope (SNT) in Mexico, the detection efficiency of the SciCRT for neutrons is highly enhanced. We performed the calibration of the SciCRT at Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) located at 2,150 m above sea level in Mexico in 2012. We installed the SciCRT at Mt. Sierra Negra in April 2013 and calibrated this detector in May and August 2013. We started continuous observation in March 2014. In this paper, we report the detector performance as a solar neutron telescope and the current status of the SciCRT.

Detecting ultra high energy neutrinos with LOFAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mevius, M.; Buitink, S.; Falcke, H.; Hörandel, J.; James, C.W.; McFadden, R.; Scholten, O.; Singh, K.; Stappers, B.; Veen, S. ter

2012-01-01

The NuMoon project aims to detect signals of Ultra High Energy (UHE) Cosmic Rays with radio telescopes on Earth using the Lunar Cherenkov technique at low frequencies (∼150MHz). The advantage of using low frequencies is the much larger effective detecting volume, with as trade-off the cut-off in sensitivity at lower energies. A first upper limit on the UHE neutrino flux from data of the Westerbork Radio Telescope (WSRT) has been published, while a second experiment, using the new LOFAR telescope, is in preparation. The advantages of LOFAR over WSRT are the larger collecting area, the better pointing accuracy and the use of ring buffers, which allow the implementation of a sophisticated self-trigger algorithm. The expected sensitivity of LOFAR reaches flux limits within the range of some theoretical production models.

High energy particles from {gamma}-ray bursts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waxman, E [Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot (Israel)

2001-11-15

A review is presented of the fireball model of {gamma}-ray bursts (GRBs), and of the production in GRB fireballs of high energy protons and neutrinos. Constraints imposed on the model by recent afterglow observations, which support the association of GRB and ultra-high energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) sources, are discussed. Predictions of the GRB model for UHECR production, which can be tested with planned large area UHECR detectors and with planned high energy neutrino telescopes, are reviewed. (author)

Study of the sensibility of the Antares neutrino telescope to very high energy photons: Contribution to the time calibration of the detector; Etude de la sensibilite du telescope a neutrinos Antares aux photons de tres haute energie: Contribution a l'etalonnage en temps du detecteur

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guillard, G.

2010-10-15

From the sea-floor, the 900-odd photomultiplier tubes of the Antares neutrino telescope scrutinize the abysses attempting to discern, amid bioluminescence and marine radioactivity, Cerenkov photons emitted by muons from astrophysical neutrinos, and to distinguish these muons from those generated by air showers produced by cosmic rays. Antares has been collecting data since 2006; this feat of engineering has paved the way for submarine neutrino astronomy: Antares is expected to be the forerunner of a larger instrument, KM3NeT. Telescope's performance is characterized in part by its angular resolution. In the case of Antares, the angular resolution is directly related to the time resolution of the detector's elements. This manuscript presents a correction for one of the main sources of deterioration of this time resolution, the walk effect induced by the set up of a fixed threshold for triggering the photomultiplier tubes signal. This correction, implemented in the official software chain of the Antares collaboration, improves in particular the events reconstruction quality estimator. This implementation allows further optimizations. The author also attempts to evaluate, using a complete Monte-Carlo simulation, the possibility of using very high energy photon sources as calibrated muon beams in order to estimate the absolute pointing and the angular resolution of the telescope. Although limited by large uncertainties, it is demonstrated that the possibility to detect such sources is extremely small. In addition, it is shown that the atmospheric neutrino background induced by very high-energy photons is negligible. (author)

CTA-A project for a new generation of Cherenkov telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doro, Michele

2011-01-01

Gamma-rays provide a powerful insight into the non-thermal universe and perhaps a unique probe for new physics beyond the standard model. Current experiments are already giving results in the physics of acceleration of cosmic rays in supernova remnants, pulsar and active galactic nuclei with a 100 sources detected at very-high-energies so far. Despite its relatively recent appearance, very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy has proven to have reached a mature technology with fast assembling, relatively cheap and reliable telescopes. The goal of future installation is to increase the sensitivity by a factor 10 compared to current installations, and enlarge the energy domain from few 10s of GeV to a 100 TeV. Gamma-ray spectra of astrophysical origin are rather soft thus hardly one single size telescope can cover more than 1.5 decades in energy, therefore an array of telescopes of 2-3 different sizes is required. Hereafter, we present design considerations for a Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a project for a new generation of highly automated telescopes for gamma-ray astronomy. The status of the project, technical solutions and an insight in the involved physics will be presented.

“Exploring High Energy Interactions with CMS at the LHC”

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sulak, Lawrence R. [; Boston Univ., MA (United States)

2016-08-01

This High Energy Physics research project achieved its goal of exploring high-energy interactions with 7, 8 and 13 TeV data accumulated by CMS at the Energy Frontier. For the original hadron calorimeter (HCAL) and for its upgrade during Long Shutdown 1 (LS1), the PI helped propose and implement the upgrading the phototubes, new electronics, and fast timing of the hadronic forward (HF) and hadronic outer (HO) calorimeters of CMS, projects which he had forcefully advocated since the inception of CMS. The PI and his colleagues Prof. J. Rohlf and chief electronics engineer E. Hazen, his post-docs A. Heister and S. Girgis, and his graduate students (P. Lawson and D. Arcaro) contributed software tools used in perfecting of μTCA and Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC13) electronics, the PC board that provides clock, timing and DAQ service for HCAL (and now many other subdetectors and central systems in the upgraded CMS detector). This Task reaped the benefits of these hardware contributions 1) to hermiticity for missing energy searches, and 2) to forward tagging jets for Vector Boson Fusion processes by analyzing and publishing early data, including that for the Higgs discovery and for exotic and supersymmetric searches.

New electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (NECTAr)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naumann, C.L.; Delagnes, E.; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Dzahini, D.; Feinstein, F.; Gascón, D.; Glicenstein, J.-F.; Guilloux, F.; Nayman, P.; Rarbi, F.; Sanuy, A.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.; Vorobiov, S.

2012-01-01

The international CTA consortium has recently entered into its preparatory phase towards the construction of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA. This experiment will be a successor, and based on the return of experience from the three major current-generation arrays H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS, and aims to significantly improve upon the sensitivity as well as the energy range of its highly successful predecessors. Construction is planned to begin by 2013, and when finished, CTA will be able to explore the highest-energy gamma ray sky in unprecedented detail. To achieve this increase in sensitivity and energy range, CTA will employ the order of 100 telescopes of three different sizes on two sites, with around 1000–4000 channels per camera, depending on the telescope size. To equip and reliably operate the order of 100000 channels of photodetectors (compared to 6000 of the H.E.S.S. array), a new kind of flexible and powerful yet inexpensive front-end hardware will be required. One possible solution is pursued by the NECTAr (New Electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array) project. Its main feature is the integration of as much as possible of the front-end electronics (amplifiers, fast analogue samplers, memory and ADCs) into a single ASIC, which will allow very fast readout performances while significantly reducing the cost and the power consumption per channel. Also included is a low-cost FPGA for digital treatment and online data processing, as well as an Ethernet connection. Other priorities of NECTAr are the modularity of the system, a high degree of flexibility in the trigger system as well as the possibility of flexible readout modes to optimise the signal-to-noise ratio while at the same time allowing a significant reduction of data rates, both of which could improve the sensitivity of CTA compared to current detection systems. This paper gives an overview over the development work for the Nectar system, with particular focus on its main

New electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (NECTAr)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naumann, C.L., E-mail: christopher.naumann@lpnhe.in2p3.fr [LPNHE, IN2P3/CNRS Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France); Delagnes, E. [IRFU, CEA/DSM, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Bolmont, J.; Corona, P. [LPNHE, IN2P3/CNRS Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France); Dzahini, D. [LPSC, Universite Joseph Fourier, INPG and IN2P3/CNRS, Grenoble (France); Feinstein, F. [LUPM, Universite Montpellier II and IN2P3/CNRS, Montpellier (France); Gascon, D. [ICC-UB, Universitat Barcelona (Spain); Glicenstein, J.-F.; Guilloux, F. [IRFU, CEA/DSM, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Nayman, P. [LPNHE, IN2P3/CNRS Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France); Rarbi, F. [LPSC, Universite Joseph Fourier, INPG and IN2P3/CNRS, Grenoble (France); Sanuy, A. [ICC-UB, Universitat Barcelona (Spain); Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P. [LPNHE, IN2P3/CNRS Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France); Vorobiov, S. [LUPM, Universite Montpellier II and IN2P3/CNRS, Montpellier (France); DESY Zeuthen, Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen (Germany)

2012-12-11

The international CTA consortium has recently entered into its preparatory phase towards the construction of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA. This experiment will be a successor, and based on the return of experience from the three major current-generation arrays H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS, and aims to significantly improve upon the sensitivity as well as the energy range of its highly successful predecessors. Construction is planned to begin by 2013, and when finished, CTA will be able to explore the highest-energy gamma ray sky in unprecedented detail. To achieve this increase in sensitivity and energy range, CTA will employ the order of 100 telescopes of three different sizes on two sites, with around 1000-4000 channels per camera, depending on the telescope size. To equip and reliably operate the order of 100000 channels of photodetectors (compared to 6000 of the H.E.S.S. array), a new kind of flexible and powerful yet inexpensive front-end hardware will be required. One possible solution is pursued by the NECTAr (New Electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array) project. Its main feature is the integration of as much as possible of the front-end electronics (amplifiers, fast analogue samplers, memory and ADCs) into a single ASIC, which will allow very fast readout performances while significantly reducing the cost and the power consumption per channel. Also included is a low-cost FPGA for digital treatment and online data processing, as well as an Ethernet connection. Other priorities of NECTAr are the modularity of the system, a high degree of flexibility in the trigger system as well as the possibility of flexible readout modes to optimise the signal-to-noise ratio while at the same time allowing a significant reduction of data rates, both of which could improve the sensitivity of CTA compared to current detection systems. This paper gives an overview over the development work for the Nectar system, with particular focus on its main

New electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (NECTAr)

Science.gov (United States)

Naumann, C. L.; Delagnes, E.; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Dzahini, D.; Feinstein, F.; Gascón, D.; Glicenstein, J.-F.; Guilloux, F.; Nayman, P.; Rarbi, F.; Sanuy, A.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.; Vorobiov, S.

2012-12-01

The international CTA consortium has recently entered into its preparatory phase towards the construction of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA. This experiment will be a successor, and based on the return of experience from the three major current-generation arrays H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS, and aims to significantly improve upon the sensitivity as well as the energy range of its highly successful predecessors. Construction is planned to begin by 2013, and when finished, CTA will be able to explore the highest-energy gamma ray sky in unprecedented detail. To achieve this increase in sensitivity and energy range, CTA will employ the order of 100 telescopes of three different sizes on two sites, with around 1000-4000 channels per camera, depending on the telescope size. To equip and reliably operate the order of 100000 channels of photodetectors (compared to 6000 of the H.E.S.S. array), a new kind of flexible and powerful yet inexpensive front-end hardware will be required. One possible solution is pursued by the NECTAr (New Electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array) project. Its main feature is the integration of as much as possible of the front-end electronics (amplifiers, fast analogue samplers, memory and ADCs) into a single ASIC, which will allow very fast readout performances while significantly reducing the cost and the power consumption per channel. Also included is a low-cost FPGA for digital treatment and online data processing, as well as an Ethernet connection. Other priorities of NECTAr are the modularity of the system, a high degree of flexibility in the trigger system as well as the possibility of flexible readout modes to optimise the signal-to-noise ratio while at the same time allowing a significant reduction of data rates, both of which could improve the sensitivity of CTA compared to current detection systems. This paper gives an overview over the development work for the Nectar system, with particular focus on its main

Development of a mid-sized Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, Robert A.

2012-06-28

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a ground-based observatory for very high-energy (10 GeV to 100 TeV) gamma rays, planned for operation starting in 2018. It will be an array of dozens of optical telescopes, known as Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (ACTs), of 8 m to 24 m diameter, deployed over an area of more than 1 square km, to detect flashes of Cherenkov light from showers initiated in the Earth's atmosphere by gamma rays. CTA will have improved angular resolution, a wider energy range, larger fields of view and an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over current ACT arrays such as H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS. Several institutions have proposed a research and development program to eventually contribute 36 medium-sized telescopes (9 m to 12 m diameter) to CTA to enhance and optimize its science performance. The program aims to construct a prototype of an innovative, Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (SCT) design that will allow much smaller and less expensive cameras and much larger fields of view than conventional Davies-Cotton designs, and will also include design and testing of camera electronics for the necessary advances in performance, reliability and cost. We report on the progress of the mid-sized SCT development program.

High energy particle experiment for the GEOTAIL mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-09-01

The high energy particle experiment for GEOTAIL mission was designed to understand the particle acceleration mechanism, energy flow, boundary dynamics and magnetic reconnection mechanism in the geotail region, solar flare particle acceleration mechanism, the propagation mechanism through interplanetary space, and the origin, lifetime and propagation mechanism of cosmic ray heavy ions. In order to achieve these objectives, particle detectors, burst detectors, medium energy isotope telescopes and a high energy isotope telescope will be placed in the spacecraft which will be launched in 1992 as one of the spacecraft missions in the International Solar Terrestrial Physics program. With these detectors, electrons, protons and helium, carbon, silicon and iron particles will be detected. The characteristics and the main technique used for each instrument to observe high energy particles are summarized. The details of the scientific objectives, the basic principle of particle identification, the electronic system and data processing system, key parameter information, telemetry data formats, preflight and in-flight calibration method and data an analysis plan are described in this report. (K.I.)

Stacked search for time shifted high energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursts with the Antares neutrino telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adrian-Martinez, S.; Ardid, M.; Felis, I.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Saldana, M. [Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Institut d' Investigacio per a la Gestio Integrada de les Zones Costaneres (IGIC), Gandia (Spain); Albert, A.; Drouhin, D.; Racca, C. [GRPHE-Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Colmar, 34 rue du Grillenbreit, BP 50568, Colmar (France); Andre, M. [Technical University of Catalonia, Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, Vilanova i la Geltru, Barcelona (Spain); Anghinolfi, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Anton, G.; Eberl, T.; Enzenhoefer, A.; Fehn, K.; Folger, F.; Geisselsoeder, S.; Geyer, K.; Gleixner, A.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; Hoessl, J.; Hofestaedt, J.; James, C.W.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kiessling, D.; Lahmann, R.; Richter, R.; Roensch, K.; Schmid, J.; Schnabel, J.; Seitz, T.; Sieger, C.; Tselengidou, M.; Wagner, S. [Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen (Germany); Aubert, J.J.; Bertin, V.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Carr, J.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Dornic, D.; Mathieu, A.; Vallee, C. [CPPM, Aix-Marseille Universite, CNRS/IN2P3, Marseille (France); Baret, B.; Barrios-Marti, J.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Sanchez-Losa, A.; Toennis, C.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J. [CSIC-Universitat de Valencia, IFIC-Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, Edificios Investigacion de Paterna, Paterna, Valencia (Spain); Basa, S.; Marcelin, M.; Nezri, E. [Pole de l' Etoile Site de Chateau-Gombert, LAM-Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille Cedex 13 (France); Biagi, S.; Coniglione, R.; Distefano, C.; Piattelli, P.; Riccobene, G.; Sapienza, P.; Trovato, A. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Catania (Italy); Bormuth, R.; Jong, M. de; Samtleben, D.F.E. [Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit Leiden, Leids Instituut voor Onderzoek in Natuurkunde, Leiden (Netherlands); Bouwhuis, M.C.; Heijboer, A.J.; Michael, T.; Steijger, J.J.M.; Visser, E. [Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Bruijn, R. [Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit van Amsterdam, Instituut voor Hoge-Energie Fysica, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Capone, A.; De Bonis, G.; Fermani, P.; Perrina, C. [INFN-Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita La Sapienza, Rome (Italy); Caramete, L.; Pavalas, G.E.; Popa, V. [Institute for Space Sciences, Bucharest, Magurele (Romania); Chiarusi, T. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Circella, M. [INFN-Sezione di Bari, Bari (Italy); Creusot, A.; Galata, S.; Gracia-Ruiz, R.; Van Elewyck, V. [APC, Universite Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Dekeyser, I.; Lefevre, D.; Tamburini, C. [Aix-Marseille University, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Marseille Cedex 9 (France); Universite du Sud Toulon-Var, CNRS-INSU/IRD UM 110, La Garde Cedex (France); Deschamps, A.; Hello, Y. [Geoazur, Universite Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS/INSU, IRD, Observatoire de la Cote d' Azur, Sophia Antipolis (France); Donzaud, C. [APC, Universite Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Universite Paris-Sud, Orsay Cedex (France); Dumas, A.; Gay, P. [Clermont Universite, Universite Blaise Pascal, CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire, BP 10448, Clermont-Ferrand (France); Elsaesser, D.; Kadler, M.; Kreter, M.; Mueller, C. [Universitaet Wuerzburg, Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Wuerzburg (Germany); Fusco, L.A.; Margiotta, A.; Pellegrino, C.; Spurio, M. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Bologna (Italy); Giordano, V. [INFN-Sezione di Catania, Catania (Italy); Haren, H. van [Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), ' t Horntje, Texel (Netherlands); Hugon, C.; Taiuti, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Genoa (Italy); Kooijman, P. [Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit Utrecht, Faculteit Betawetenschappen, Utrecht (Netherlands); Universiteit van Amsterdam, Instituut voor Hoge-Energie Fysica, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Kouchner, A. [APC, Universite Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Institut Universitaire de France, Paris (France); Kreykenbohm, I.; Wilms, J. [Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Bamberg (Germany); Kulikovskiy, V. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Catania (Italy); Moscow State University, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow (Russian Federation); Leonora, E. [INFN-Sezione di Catania, Catania (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia dell' Universita, Catania (Italy); Loucatos, S. [APC, Universite Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); CEA Saclay, Direction des Sciences de la Matiere, Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l' Univers, Service de Physique des Particules, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Marinelli, A. [INFN-Sezione di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Pisa (Italy); Migliozzi, P. [INFN-Sezione di Napoli, Naples (IT); Moussa, A. [University Mohammed I, Laboratory of Physics of Matter and Radiations, Oujda (MA); Pradier, T. [Universite de Strasbourg et CNRS/IN2P3, IPHC-Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, 23 rue du Loess, BP 28, Strasbourg Cedex 2 (FR); Sanguineti, M. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Genoa (IT); Schuessler, F.; Stolarczyk, T.; Vallage, B. [CEA Saclay, Direction des Sciences de la Matiere, Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l' Univers, Service de Physique des Particules, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (FR); Vivolo, D. [INFN-Sezione di Napoli, Naples (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita Federico II di Napoli, Naples (IT)

2017-01-15

A search for high-energy neutrino emission correlated with gamma-ray bursts outside the electromagnetic prompt-emission time window is presented. Using a stacking approach of the time delays between reported gamma-ray burst alerts and spatially coincident muon-neutrino signatures, data from the Antares neutrino telescope recorded between 2007 and 2012 are analysed. One year of public data from the IceCube detector between 2008 and 2009 have been also investigated. The respective timing profiles are scanned for statistically significant accumulations within 40 days of the Gamma Ray Burst, as expected from Lorentz Invariance Violation effects and some astrophysical models. No significant excess over the expected accidental coincidence rate could be found in either of the two data sets. The average strength of the neutrino signal is found to be fainter than one detectable neutrino signal per hundred gamma-ray bursts in the Antares data at 90% confidence level. (orig.)

Stacked search for time shifted high energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursts with the Antares neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adrian-Martinez, S.; Ardid, M.; Felis, I.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Saldana, M.; Albert, A.; Drouhin, D.; Racca, C.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Eberl, T.; Enzenhoefer, A.; Fehn, K.; Folger, F.; Geisselsoeder, S.; Geyer, K.; Gleixner, A.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; Hoessl, J.; Hofestaedt, J.; James, C.W.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kiessling, D.; Lahmann, R.; Richter, R.; Roensch, K.; Schmid, J.; Schnabel, J.; Seitz, T.; Sieger, C.; Tselengidou, M.; Wagner, S.; Aubert, J.J.; Bertin, V.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Carr, J.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Dornic, D.; Mathieu, A.; Vallee, C.; Baret, B.; Barrios-Marti, J.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Sanchez-Losa, A.; Toennis, C.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J.; Basa, S.; Marcelin, M.; Nezri, E.; Biagi, S.; Coniglione, R.; Distefano, C.; Piattelli, P.; Riccobene, G.; Sapienza, P.; Trovato, A.; Bormuth, R.; Jong, M. de; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Heijboer, A.J.; Michael, T.; Steijger, J.J.M.; Visser, E.; Bruijn, R.; Capone, A.; De Bonis, G.; Fermani, P.; Perrina, C.; Caramete, L.; Pavalas, G.E.; Popa, V.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Creusot, A.; Galata, S.; Gracia-Ruiz, R.; Van Elewyck, V.; Dekeyser, I.; Lefevre, D.; Tamburini, C.; Deschamps, A.; Hello, Y.; Donzaud, C.; Dumas, A.; Gay, P.; Elsaesser, D.; Kadler, M.; Kreter, M.; Mueller, C.; Fusco, L.A.; Margiotta, A.; Pellegrino, C.; Spurio, M.; Giordano, V.; Haren, H. van; Hugon, C.; Taiuti, M.; Kooijman, P.; Kouchner, A.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Wilms, J.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Leonora, E.; Loucatos, S.; Marinelli, A.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Pradier, T.; Sanguineti, M.; Schuessler, F.; Stolarczyk, T.; Vallage, B.; Vivolo, D.

2017-01-01

A search for high-energy neutrino emission correlated with gamma-ray bursts outside the electromagnetic prompt-emission time window is presented. Using a stacking approach of the time delays between reported gamma-ray burst alerts and spatially coincident muon-neutrino signatures, data from the Antares neutrino telescope recorded between 2007 and 2012 are analysed. One year of public data from the IceCube detector between 2008 and 2009 have been also investigated. The respective timing profiles are scanned for statistically significant accumulations within 40 days of the Gamma Ray Burst, as expected from Lorentz Invariance Violation effects and some astrophysical models. No significant excess over the expected accidental coincidence rate could be found in either of the two data sets. The average strength of the neutrino signal is found to be fainter than one detectable neutrino signal per hundred gamma-ray bursts in the Antares data at 90% confidence level. (orig.)

Solar High-energy Astrophysical Plasmas Explorer (SHAPE). Volume 1: Proposed concept, statement of work and cost plan

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, Brian R.; Martin, Franklin D.; Prince, T.; Lin, R.; Bruner, M.; Culhane, L.; Ramaty, R.; Doschek, G.; Emslie, G.; Lingenfelter, R.

1986-01-01

The concept of the Solar High-Energy Astrophysical Plasmas Explorer (SHAPE) is studied. The primary goal is to understand the impulsive release of energy, efficient acceleration of particles to high energies, and rapid transport of energy. Solar flare studies are the centerpieces of the investigation because in flares these high energy processes can be studied in unmatched detail at most wavelenth regions of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as in energetic charged particles and neutrons.

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy with Cherenkov telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinton, Jim

2009-01-01

Very high-energy (>100 GeV) γ-ray astronomy is emerging as an important discipline in both high-energy astrophysics and astro-particle physics. This field is currently dominated by imaging atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) and arrays of these telescopes. Such arrays have achieved the best angular resolution and energy flux sensitivity in the γ-ray domain and are still far from the fundamental limits of the technique. Here, I will summarize some key aspects of this technique and go on to review the current status of the major instruments and to highlight selected recent results.

Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays

CERN Document Server

Dova, M.T.

2015-05-22

The origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above E > 10 17 eV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. This is a written version of a series of lectures devoted to UHECR at the 2013 CERN-Latin-American School of High-Energy Physics. We present anintroduction to acceleration mechanisms of charged particles to the highest energies in astrophysical objects, their propagation from the sources to Earth, and the experimental techniques for their detection. We also discuss some of the relevant observational results from Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

Advanced Dark Energy Physics Telescope (ADEPT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Charles L. Bennett

2009-03-26

In 2006, we proposed to NASA a detailed concept study of ADEPT (the Advanced Dark Energy Physics Telescope), a potential space mission to reliably measure the time-evolution of dark energy by conducting the largest effective volume survey of the universe ever done. A peer-review panel of scientific, management, and technical experts reported back the highest possible 'excellent' rating for ADEPT. We have since made substantial advances in the scientific and technical maturity of the mission design. With this Department of Energy (DOE) award we were granted supplemental funding to support specific extended research items that were not included in the NASA proposal, many of which were intended to broadly advance future dark energy research, as laid out by the Dark Energy Task Force (DETF). The proposed work had three targets: (1) the adaptation of large-format infrared arrays to a 2 micron cut-off; (2) analytical research to improve the understanding of the dark energy figure-of- merit; and (3) extended studies of baryon acoustic oscillation systematic uncertainties. Since the actual award was only for {approx}10% of the proposed amount item (1) was dropped and item (2) work was severely restricted, consistent with the referee reviews of the proposal, although there was considerable contradictions between reviewer comments and several comments that displayed a lack of familiarity with the research. None the less, item (3) was the focus of the work. To characterize the nature of the dark energy, ADEPT is designed to observe baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in a large galaxy redshift survey and to obtain substantial numbers of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The 2003 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) made a precise determination of the BAO 'standard ruler' scale, as it was imprinted on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at z {approx} 1090. The standard ruler was also imprinted on the pattern of galaxies, and was first

CORRELATIONS OF THE ARRIVAL DIRECTIONS OF ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY COSMIC RAYS WITH EXTRAGALACTIC OBJECTS AS OBSERVED BY THE TELESCOPE ARRAY EXPERIMENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abu-Zayyad, T.; Allen, M.; Anderson, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Blake, S. A.; Cady, R.; Hanlon, W. [High Energy Astrophysics Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Aida, R. [Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Kofu, Yamanashi (Japan); Azuma, R.; Fukuda, T. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Cheon, B. G.; Cho, E. J. [Department of Physics and The Research Institute of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J. [Department of Physics, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba (Japan); Chikawa, M. [Department of Physics, Kinki University, Higashi Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Cho, W. R. [Department of Physics, Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Fujii, H. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Fujii, T. [Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka (Japan); Fukushima, M. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan); and others

2013-11-10

We search for correlations between the positions of extragalactic objects and the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with primary energy E ≥ 40 EeV as observed by the surface detector array of the Telescope Array (TA) experiment during the first 40 months of operation. We examine several public astronomical object catalogs, including the Veron-Cetty and Veron catalog of active galactic nuclei. We count the number of TA events correlated with objects in each catalog as a function of three parameters: the maximum angular separation between a TA event and an object, the minimum energy of the events, and the maximum redshift of the objects. We determine the combination of these parameters that maximizes the correlations, and we calculate the probability of having the same levels of correlations from an isotropic distribution of UHECR arrival directions. No statistically significant correlations are found when penalties for scanning over the above parameters and for searching in several catalogs are taken into account.

An algorithm for the reconstruction of high-energy neutrino-induced particle showers and its application to the ANTARES neutrino telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albert, A.; André, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Aubert, J.-J.; Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Barrios-Martí, J.; Basa, S.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bormuth, R.; Bourret, S.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Capone, A.; Caramete, L.; Carr, J.; Celli, S.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coelho, C.O.A.; Coleiro, A.; Coniglione, R.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Deschamps, A.; De Bonis, G.; Distefano, C.; Di Palma, I.; Domi, A.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Eberl, T.; El Bojaddaini, I.; Elsässer, D.; Enzenhofer, A.; Felis, I.; Folger, F.; Fusco, L.A.; Galata, S.; Gay, P.; Giordano, V.; Glotin, H.; Grégoire, T.; Gracia-Ruiz, R.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; van Haren, H.; Heijboer, A.J.; Hello, Y.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Hößl, J.; Hofestädt, J.; Hugon, C.; Illuminati, G.; James, C.W.; de Jong, M.; Jongen, M.; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kießling, D.; Kouchner, A.; Kreter, M.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachaud, C.; Lahmann, R.; Lefevre, D.; Leonora, E.; Lotze, M.; Loucatos, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Marinelli, A.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Mele, R.; Melis, K.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Nezri, E.; Organokov, M.; Pavalas, G.E.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, C.; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Quinn, L.; Racca, C.; Riccobene, G.; Sanchez-Losa, A.; Saldaña, M.; Salvadori, I.; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Sanguineti, M.; Sapienza, P.; Schussler, F.; Sieger, C.; Spurio, M.; Stolarczyk, T.; Taiuti, M.; Tayalati, Y.; Trovato, A.; Turpin, D.; Tönnis, C.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Versari, F.; Vivolo, D.; Vizzoca, A.; Wilms, J.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J.

2017-01-01

A novel algorithm to reconstruct neutrino-induced particle showers within the ANTARES neutrino telescope is presented. The method achieves a median angular resolution of 6∘ for shower energies below 100 TeV. Applying this algorithm to 6 years of data taken with the ANTARES detector, 8 events with

A deep sea telescope for high energy neutrinos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aslanides, E.; Aubert, J.J.; Basa, S. [and others

1999-05-01

This document presents the scientific motivation for building a high energy neutrino undersea detector, with an effective area of 0.1 km{sup 2}, along with a review of the technical issues involved in its design and construction. It contents: the scientific program, the detection principles, the research and development program, the detector design and performances and complementary technique. (A.L.B.)

A deep sea telescope for high energy neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aslanides, E.; Aubert, J.J.; Basa, S.

1999-05-01

This document presents the scientific motivation for building a high energy neutrino undersea detector, with an effective area of 0.1 km 2 , along with a review of the technical issues involved in its design and construction. It contents: the scientific program, the detection principles, the research and development program, the detector design and performances and complementary technique. (A.L.B.)

CALIBRATION OF THE NuSTAR HIGH-ENERGY FOCUSING X-RAY TELESCOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Madsen, Kristin K.; Harrison, Fiona A.; Grefenstette, Brian W.; Miyasaka, Hiromasa; Forster, Karl; Fuerst, Felix; Rana, Vikram; Walton, Dominic J. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Markwardt, Craig B. [Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); An, Hongjun [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2T8 (Canada); Bachetti, Matteo [Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, Toulouse (France); Kitaguchi, Takao [RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198 (Japan); Bhalerao, Varun [Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Post Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007 (India); Boggs, Steve; Craig, William W. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Christensen, Finn E. [DTU Space, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektronvej 327, DK-2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Hailey, Charles J. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, NY 10027 (United States); Perri, Matteo; Puccetti, Simonetta [ASI Science Data Center, via Galileo Galilei, I-00044, Frascati (Italy); Stern, Daniel [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); and others

2015-09-15

We present the calibration of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-ray satellite. We used the Crab as the primary effective area calibrator and constructed a piece-wise linear spline function to modify the vignetting response. The achieved residuals for all off-axis angles and energies, compared to the assumed spectrum, are typically better than ±2% up to 40 keV and 5%–10% above due to limited counting statistics. An empirical adjustment to the theoretical two-dimensional point-spread function (PSF) was found using several strong point sources, and no increase of the PSF half-power diameter has been observed since the beginning of the mission. We report on the detector gain calibration, good to 60 eV for all grades, and discuss the timing capabilities of the observatory, which has an absolute timing of ±3 ms. Finally, we present cross-calibration results from two campaigns between all the major concurrent X-ray observatories (Chandra, Swift, Suzaku, and XMM-Newton), conducted in 2012 and 2013 on the sources 3C 273 and PKS 2155-304, and show that the differences in measured flux is within ∼10% for all instruments with respect to NuSTAR.

Development in High-Density Cobra Fiber Positioners for the Subaru Telescope's Prime Focus Spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Charles D.; Braun, David F.; Kaluzny, Joel V.; Seiffert, Mic D.; Dekany, Richard G.; Ellis, Richard S.; Smith, Roger S.

2012-01-01

The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is a fiber fed multi-object spectrometer for the Subaru Telescope that will conduct a variety of targeted surveys for studies of dark energy, galaxy evolution, and galactic archaeology. The key to the instrument is a high density array of fiber positioners placed at the prime focus of the Subaru Telescope. The system, nicknamed "Cobra", will be capable of rapidly reconfiguring the array of 2394 optical fibers to the image positions of astronomical targets in the focal plane with high accuracy. The system uses 2394 individual "SCARA robot" mechanisms that are 7.7mm in diameter and use 2 piezo-electric rotary motors to individually position each of the optical fibers within its patrol region. Testing demonstrates that the Cobra positioner can be moved to within 5 micrometers of an astronomical target in 6 move iterations with a success rate of 95%. The Cobra system is a key aspect of PFS that will enable its unprecedented combination of high-multiplex factor and observing efficiency on the Subaru telescope. The requirements, design, and prototyping efforts for the fiber positioner system for the PFS are described here as are the plans for modular construction, assembly, integration, functional testing, and performance validation.

The image camera of the 17 m diameter air Cherenkov telescope MAGIC

CERN Document Server

Ostankov, A P

2001-01-01

The image camera of the 17 m diameter MAGIC telescope, an air Cherenkov telescope currently under construction to be installed at the Canary island La Palma, is described. The main goal of the experiment is to cover the unexplored energy window from approx 10 to approx 300 GeV in gamma-ray astrophysics. In its first phase with a classical PMT camera the MAGIC telescope is expected to reach an energy threshold of approx 30 GeV. The operational conditions, the special characteristics of the developed PMTs and their use with light concentrators, the fast signal transfer scheme using analog optical links, the trigger and DAQ organization as well as image reconstruction strategy are described. The different paths being explored towards future camera improvements, in particular the constraints in using silicon avalanche photodiodes and GaAsP hybrid photodetectors in air Cherenkov telescopes are discussed.

A Pair Production Telescope for Medium-Energy Gamma-Ray Polarimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Stanley D.; Bloser, Peter F.; Depaola, Gerardo; Dion, Michael P.; DeNolfo, Georgia A.; Hanu, Andrei; Iparraguirre, Marcos; Legere, Jason; Longo, Francesco; McConnell, Mark L.;

CrossRef A study of upward going particles with the Extreme Energy Events telescopes

CERN Document Server

Abbrescia, M; Baldini, L; Ferroli, R Baldini; Batignani, G; Bencivenni, G; Bossini, E; Chiavassa, A; Cicalo, C; Cifarelli, L; Coccia, E; Corvaglia, A; De Gruttola, D; De Pasquale, S; Di Giovanni, A; D׳Incecco, M; Dreucci, M; Fabbri, F L; Fattibene, E; Ferraro, A; Forster, R; Frolov, V; Galeotti, P; Garbini, M; Gemme, G; Gnesi, I; Grazzi, S; Gustavino, C; Hatzifotiadu, D; La Rocca, P; Maggiora, A; Maron, G; Mazziotta, M N; Miozzi, S; Nania, R; Noferini, F; Nozzoli, F; Panareo, M; Panetta, M P; Paoletti, R; Perasso, L; Pilo, F; Piragino, G; Riggi, F; Righini, G C; Rodriguez, A R; Sartorelli, G; Scapparone, E; Schioppa, M; Scribano, A; Selvi, M; Serci, S; Siddi, E; Squarcia, S; Stori, L; Taiuti, M; Terreni, G; Vistoli, M C; Votano, L; Williams, M C S; Zani, S; Zichichi, A; Zuyeuski, R

2016-01-01

In this paper the first study of the upward going events detected by the telescopes of the Extreme Energy Event (EEE) project is reported. The EEE project consists of a detector array of Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers located at selected sites on the Italian territory. During autumn 2014 the first coordinated data taking period took place and around one billion candidate tracks were collected. Among them, of particular interest is the sample of particles which cross the telescopes from below. The results obtained demonstrate that the EEE telescopes can distinguish the electrons produced as decay products of cosmic muons stopped in the ground, or in the last chamber of the telescopes themselves, confirming the excellent performance of the system for the investigation of intriguing cosmic phenomena.

High performance Lyot and PIAA coronagraphy for arbitrarily shaped telescope apertures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guyon, Olivier; Hinz, Philip M. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Cady, Eric [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Belikov, Ruslan [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Martinache, Frantz, E-mail: guyon@naoj.org [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Subaru Telescope, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)

2014-01-10

Two high-performance coronagraphic approaches compatible with segmented and obstructed telescope pupils are described. Both concepts use entrance pupil amplitude apodization and a combined phase and amplitude focal plane mask to achieve full coronagraphic extinction of an on-axis point source. While the first concept, called Apodized Pupil Complex Mask Lyot Coronagraph (APCMLC), relies on a transmission mask to perform the pupil apodization, the second concept, called Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization complex mask coronagraph (PIAACMC), uses beam remapping for lossless apodization. Both concepts theoretically offer complete coronagraphic extinction (infinite contrast) of a point source in monochromatic light, with high throughput and sub-λ/D inner working angle, regardless of aperture shape. The PIAACMC offers nearly 100% throughput and approaches the fundamental coronagraph performance limit imposed by first principles. The steps toward designing the coronagraphs for arbitrary apertures are described for monochromatic light. Designs for the APCMLC and the higher performance PIAACMC are shown for several monolith and segmented apertures, such as the apertures of the Subaru Telescope, Giant Magellan Telescope, Thirty Meter Telescope, the European Extremely Large Telescope, and the Large Binocular Telescope. Performance in broadband light is also quantified, suggesting that the monochromatic designs are suitable for use in up to 20% wide spectral bands for ground-based telescopes.

CELESTE an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope for high energy gamma astrophysics

CERN Document Server

Paré, E; Bazer-Bachi, R; Bergeret, H; Berny, F; Briand, N; Bruel, P; Cerutti, M; Collon, J; Cordier, A; Cornebise, P; Debiais, G; Dezalay, J P; Dumora, D; Durand, E; Eschstruth, P T; Espigat, P; Fabre, B; Fleury, P; Gilly, J; Gouillaud, J C; Gregory, C; Herault, N; Holder, J; Hrabovsky, M; Incerti, S; Jouenne, A; Kalt, L; Legallou, R; Lott, B; Lodygensky, O; Manigot, P; Manseri, H; Manitaz, H; Martin, M; Morano, R; Morineaud, G; Muenz, F; Musquere, A; Naurois, M D; Neveu, J; Noppe, J M; Olive, J F; Palatka, M; Pérez, A; Quebert, J; Rebii, A; Reposeur, T; Rob, L; Roy, P; Sans, J L; Sako, T; Schovanek, P; Smith, D A; Snabre, P; Villard, G

2002-01-01

CELESTE is an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope based on the sampling method which makes use of the de-commissioned THEMIS solar electrical plant in the French Pyrenees. A large (2000 m sup 2) mirror surface area from 40 independent heliostats followed by a secondary optic, a trigger system using analog summing techniques and signal digitization with 1 GHz flash ADCs make possible the detection of cosmic gamma-rays down to 30 GeV. This paper provides a detailed technical description of the CELESTE installation.

One-point fluctuation analysis of the high-energy neutrino sky

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feyereisen, Michael R.; Tamborra, Irene; Ando, Shin'ichiro

2017-01-01

We perform the first one-point fluctuation analysis of the high-energy neutrino sky. This method reveals itself to be especially suited to contemporary neutrino data, as it allows to study the properties of the astrophysical components of the high-energy flux detected by the IceCube telescope, even...

Energy Storage: Batteries and Fuel Cells for Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Manzo, Michelle A.; Miller, Thomas B.; Hoberecht, Mark A.; Baumann, Eric D.

2007-01-01

NASA's Vision for Exploration requires safe, human-rated, energy storage technologies with high energy density, high specific energy and the ability to perform in a variety of unique environments. The Exploration Technology Development Program is currently supporting the development of battery and fuel cell systems that address these critical technology areas. Specific technology efforts that advance these systems and optimize their operation in various space environments are addressed in this overview of the Energy Storage Technology Development Project. These technologies will support a new generation of more affordable, more reliable, and more effective space systems.

The Telescope Array experiment: status and prospects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tokuno, H; Cohen, F [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa (Japan); Abbasi, R U; Abu-Zayyad, T; Belz, J W; Blake, S A; Brusova, O; Cady, R; Cao, Z [University of Utah, Salt Lake City (United States); Azuma, R [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo (Japan); Benno, T; Chikawa, M; Doura, K [Kinki University, Osaka (Japan); Bergman, D R [Rutgers University, Piscataway (United States); Cheon, B G [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J [Tokyo University of Science, Noda (Japan); Cho, I S [Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chung, T [Ewha Womans University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Doyle, T [Utah State University, Logan (United States); Endo, A [Saitama University, Saitama (Japan)], E-mail: htokuno@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp (and others)

2008-07-15

Telescope Array (TA) is a hybrid detector of a surface detector array and fluorescence telescopes. This hybrid detector will measure the energy spectrum, anisotropy and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) to identify their origin. The almost construction of the detector has been completed in May 2007, and the detector is running under test and adjustments. The first hybrid observation with the full configuration is planned in beginning of 2008. In this paper the status and prospects of TA detector is described.

The great Melbourne telescope

CERN Document Server

Gillespie, Richard

2011-01-01

Erected at Melbourne Observatory in 1869, the telescope was the second largest in the world, designed to explore the nature of the nebulae in the southern skies. Richard Gillespie, head of the History and Technology department at the Melbourne museum has written an entertaining account of the telescope's extraordinary history and tells the story through an amazing cast of characters whose lives intersected with the telescope.

VERY HIGH ENERGY OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS WITH STACEE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarvis, A.; Ong, R. A.; Ball, J.; Carson, J. E.; Zweerink, J.; Williams, D. A.; Aune, T.; Covault, C. E.; Driscoll, D. D.; Fortin, P.; Mukherjee, R.; Gingrich, D. M.; Hanna, D. S.; Kildea, J.; Lindner, T.; Mueller, C.; Ragan, K.

2010-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions known in the universe. Sensitive measurements of the high-energy spectra of GRBs can place important constraints on the burst environments and radiation processes. Until recently, there were no observations during the first few minutes of GRB afterglows in the energy range between 30 GeV and ∼1 TeV. With the launch of the Swift GRB Explorer in late 2004, GRB alerts and localizations within seconds of the bursts became available. The Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE) was a ground-based, gamma-ray telescope with an energy threshold of ∼150 GeV for sources at zenith. At the time of Swift's launch, STACEE was in a rare position to provide >150 GeV follow-up observations of GRBs as fast as three minutes after the burst alert. In addition, STACEE performed follow-up observations of several GRBs that were localized by the HETE-2 and INTEGRAL satellites. Between 2002 June and 2007 July, STACEE made follow-up observations of 23 GRBs. Upper limits are placed on the high-energy gamma-ray fluxes from 21 of these bursts.

Giving High School Students a Research Grade Radio Telescope to Control; Motivational Results from Access to Real Scientific Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Kohrs, Russell; Langston, G.; Heatherly, S.

2013-01-01

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to place control of a six-story building in the hands of eager high school students? This past summer, the USNO 20m telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, WV was brought back online for just such a purpose. This telescope is equipped with an X-band receiver, capable of observing center frequencies from 8-10 GHz and is the first radio telescope accessible by students and observers through the SKYNET telescope network. Operated remotely with a queue-based system, students can now collect real radio data for any range of projects. This past summer, five lessons were written that were tailor-made for student exploration of radio astronomy. Each lesson explores various radio objects in the context of an action-packed sci-fi adventure. Some of the work required to bring the 20m online for student use will be discussed here, but the main focus of this presentation will be how this work has been received by the author’s own students in its first classroom application. Topics that are normally difficult to discuss with students in an inquiry-based classroom setting, such as HII regions, synchrotron radiation, lunar temperature profiles, and galactic supermassive black holes were addressed in the classroom using the lessons developed by the author for the 20m as well as data collected by students using the telescope via SKYNET.

Search for very high-energy gamma-ray emission from the microquasar Cygnus X-1 with the MAGIC telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.; Arcaro, C.; Babić, A.; Banerjee, B.; Bangale, P.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Becerra González, J.; Bednarek, W.; Bernardini, E.; Berti, A.; Bhattacharyya, W.; Biasuzzi, B.; Biland, A.; Blanch, O.; Bonnefoy, S.; Bonnoli, G.; Carosi, R.; Carosi, A.; Chatterjee, A.; Colin, P.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Covino, S.; Cumani, P.; da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; de Angelis, A.; de Lotto, B.; de Oña Wilhelmi, E.; di Pierro, F.; Doert, M.; Domínguez, A.; Dominis Prester, D.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Einecke, S.; Eisenacher Glawion, D.; Elsaesser, D.; Engelkemeier, M.; Fallah Ramazani, V.; Fernández-Barral, A.; Fidalgo, D.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Fruck, C.; Galindo, D.; García López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gaug, M.; Giammaria, P.; Godinović, N.; Gora, D.; Guberman, D.; Hadasch, D.; Hahn, A.; Hassan, T.; Hayashida, M.; Herrera, J.; Hose, J.; Hrupec, D.; Ishio, K.; Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Kushida, J.; Kuveždić, D.; Lelas, D.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; Maggio, C.; Majumdar, P.; Makariev, M.; Maneva, G.; Manganaro, M.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Menzel, U.; Minev, M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Moreno, V.; Moretti, E.; Neustroev, V.; Niedzwiecki, A.; Nievas Rosillo, M.; Nilsson, K.; Ninci, D.; Nishijima, K.; Noda, K.; Nogués, L.; Paiano, S.; Palacio, J.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Paredes-Fortuny, X.; Pedaletti, G.; Peresano, M.; Perri, L.; Persic, M.; Prada Moroni, P. G.; Prandini, E.; Puljak, I.; Garcia, J. R.; Reichardt, I.; Rhode, W.; Ribó, M.; Rico, J.; Righi, C.; Saito, T.; Satalecka, K.; Schroeder, S.; Schweizer, T.; Sitarek, J.; Šnidarić, I.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Strzys, M.; Surić, T.; Takalo, L.; Tavecchio, F.; Temnikov, P.; Terzić, T.; Tescaro, D.; Teshima, M.; Torres, D. F.; Torres-Albà, N.; Treves, A.; Vanzo, G.; Vazquez Acosta, M.; Vovk, I.; Ward, J. E.; Will, M.; Zarić, D.; MAGIC Collaboration; Bosch-Ramon, V.; Pooley, G. G.; Trushkin, S. A.; Zanin, R.

2017-12-01

The microquasar Cygnus X-1 displays the two typical soft and hard X-ray states of a black hole transient. During the latter, Cygnus X-1 shows a one-sided relativistic radio-jet. Recent detection of the system in the high energy (HE; E ≳ 60 MeV) gamma-ray range with Fermi-LAT associates this emission with the outflow. Former MAGIC observations revealed a hint of flaring activity in the very high-energy (VHE; E ≳ 100 GeV) regime during this X-ray state. We analyse ∼97 h of Cygnus X-1 data taken with the MAGIC telescopes between July 2007 and October 2014. To shed light on the correlation between hard X-ray and VHE gamma rays as previously suggested, we study each main X-ray state separately. We perform an orbital phase-folded analysis to look for variability in the VHE band. Additionally, to place this variability behaviour in a multiwavelength context, we compare our results with Fermi-LAT, AGILE, Swift-BAT, MAXI, RXTE-ASM, AMI and RATAN-600 data. We do not detect Cygnus X-1 in the VHE regime. We establish upper limits for each X-ray state, assuming a power-law distribution with photon index Γ = 3.2. For steady emission in the hard and soft X-ray states, we set integral upper limits at 95 per cent confidence level for energies above 200 GeV at 2.6 × 10-12 photons cm-2 s-1 and 1.0 × 10-11 photons cm-2 s-1, respectively. We rule out steady VHE gamma-ray emission above this energy range, at the level of the MAGIC sensitivity, originating in the interaction between the relativistic jet and the surrounding medium, while the emission above this flux level produced inside the binary still remains a valid possibility.

The ATHENA telescope and optics status

Science.gov (United States)

Bavdaz, Marcos; Wille, Eric; Ayre, Mark; Ferreira, Ivo; Shortt, Brian; Fransen, Sebastiaan; Collon, Maximilien; Vacanti, Giuseppe; Barriere, Nicolas; Landgraf, Boris; Haneveld, Jeroen; van Baren, Coen; Zuknik, Karl-Heintz; Della Monica Ferreira, Desiree; Massahi, Sonny; Christensen, Finn; Krumrey, Michael; Burwitz, Vadim; Pareschi, Giovanni; Spiga, Daniele; Valsecchi, Giuseppe; Vernani, Dervis; Oliver, Paul; Seidel, André

2017-08-01

The work on the definition and technological preparation of the ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics) mission continues to progress. In parallel to the study of the accommodation of the telescope, many aspects of the X-ray optics are being evolved further. The optics technology chosen for ATHENA is the Silicon Pore Optics (SPO), which hinges on technology spin-in from the semiconductor industry, and uses a modular approach to produce large effective area lightweight telescope optics with a good angular resolution. Both system studies and the technology developments are guided by ESA and implemented in industry, with participation of institutional partners. In this paper an overview of the current status of the telescope optics accommodation and technology development activities is provided.

Possible GRB Observation with the MAGIC Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Mariotti, M.; Peruzzo, L.; Saggion, A.

2001-08-01

The MAGIC Telescope, with its reflecting parabolic dish of 17 m of diameter and its careful design of a robust, lightweight, alto-azimuthal mount, is an ideal detector for GRB phenomena. The telescope is an air Cherenkov telescope that, even in the first phase, equipped with standard PMTs, can reach an energy threshold below 30 GeV. The threshold is going to drop well below 10 GeV in the envisaged second phase, when chamber PMTs will be substituted by high quantum efficiency APDs. The telescope can promptly respond to GRB alerts coming, for instance, from GCN, and can reposition itself in less than 30 seconds, 20 seconds being the time to turn half a round for the azimuth bearing. In this report, the effective area of the detector as a function of energy and zenith angle is taken into account, in order to evaluate the expected yearly occurrence and the response to different kinds of GRBs.

The capability to detect wimps with a high energy neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blondeau, F.

1998-05-01

We studied the potential of the proposed ANTARES undersea neutrino telescope to detect muons coming from from neutralinos annihilating at the center of the Earth. First results show that the full 1 km 3 -scale detector can indicate, after a few years of operation, if there are indeed neutralinos trapped at the core of celestial bodies, as expected are the major form of dark matter in our galaxy. (author)

Possibility of observing high energy neutrinos from gamma bursts, with the Antanares telescope, feasibility study; Possibilite d'observation, par le telescope antares, de neutrinos de haute energie associes aux sursauts gamma et validation des techniques de detection a l'aide d'un prototype

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kouchner, A

2001-04-01

The European Antares collaboration intends to build a deep-sea neutrino telescope with a detection surface of about 1/10 km{sup 2} in the Mediterranean sea. The universe is transparent to neutrinos, so their study provides a unique means of improving our knowledge of the nature and origin of cosmic rays and their emission from the most powerful astrophysical sources in the cosmos. Neutrinos also offer the possibility of opening a new energy window (E>TeV) for observation of the universe. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to a study of the possibility of using the future telescope to look for correlations between gamma-ray bursts and high-energy neutrinos. It is based, on one hand, on the predictions of neutrino fluxes from gamma-ray bursts in the framework of the theoretical model of 'fireballs', and, on the other hand, on the temporal properties of the gamma-ray bursts in the 4. BATSE catalogue. The second part of the thesis presents the results obtained with a prototype detector line deployed, at the end of 1999, some forty km south-west off Marseilles. The objective was to operate a complete apparatus, similar to the future detector lines, from the shore, and under realistic conditions. Data from 7 photomultiplier tubes disposed along the detector line were transmitted through 37 km of optical fiber to the shore, where they were used to reconstruct tracks due to atmospheric muons, thus validating the detection principles and methods. (author)

ATST telescope mount: telescope of machine tool

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffers, Paul; Stolz, Günter; Bonomi, Giovanni; Dreyer, Oliver; Kärcher, Hans

2012-09-01

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the largest solar telescope in the world, and will be able to provide the sharpest views ever taken of the solar surface. The telescope has a 4m aperture primary mirror, however due to the off axis nature of the optical layout, the telescope mount has proportions similar to an 8 meter class telescope. The technology normally used in this class of telescope is well understood in the telescope community and has been successfully implemented in numerous projects. The world of large machine tools has developed in a separate realm with similar levels of performance requirement but different boundary conditions. In addition the competitive nature of private industry has encouraged development and usage of more cost effective solutions both in initial capital cost and thru-life operating cost. Telescope mounts move relatively slowly with requirements for high stability under external environmental influences such as wind buffeting. Large machine tools operate under high speed requirements coupled with high application of force through the machine but with little or no external environmental influences. The benefits of these parallel development paths and the ATST system requirements are being combined in the ATST Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA). The process of balancing the system requirements with new technologies is based on the experience of the ATST project team, Ingersoll Machine Tools who are the main contractor for the TMA and MT Mechatronics who are their design subcontractors. This paper highlights a number of these proven technologies from the commercially driven machine tool world that are being introduced to the TMA design. Also the challenges of integrating and ensuring that the differences in application requirements are accounted for in the design are discussed.

The High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE): Mission and science overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ricker, G.R.; Crew, G.B.; Doty, J.P.; Vanderspek, R.; Villasenor, J.; Atteia, J.-L.; Fenimore, E.E.; Galassi, M.; Graziani, C.; Lamb, D.Q.; Hurley, K.; Jernigan, J.G.; Kawai, N.; Matsuoka, M.; Pizzichini, G.; Shirasaki, Y.; Tamagawa, T.; Vedrenne, G.; Woosley, S.E.; Yoshida, A.

2003-01-01

The High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE ) mission is devoted to the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using soft X-ray, medium X-ray, and gamma-ray instruments mounted on a compact spacecraft. The HETE satellite was launched into equatorial orbit on 9 October 2000. A science team from France, Japan, Brazil, India, Italy, and the US is responsible for the HETE mission, which was completed for ∼ 1/3 the cost of a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX). The HETE mission is unique in that it is entirely 'self-contained', insofar as it relies upon dedicated tracking, data acquisition, mission operations, and data analysis facilities run by members of its international Science Team. A powerful feature of HETE is its potential for localizing GRBs within seconds of the trigger with good precision (∼ 10') using medium energy X-rays and, for a subset of bright GRBs, improving the localization to ∼ 30''accuracy using low energy X-rays. Real-time GRB localizations are transmitted to ground observers within seconds via a dedicated network of 14 automated 'Burst Alert Stations', thereby allowing prompt optical, IR, and radio follow-up, leading to the identification of counterparts for a large fraction of HETE -localized GRBs. HETE is the only satellite that can provide near-real time localizations of GRBs, and that can localize GRBs that do not have X-ray, optical, and radio afterglows, during the next two years. These capabilities are the key to allowing HETE to probe further the unique physics that produces the brightest known photon sources in the universe. To date (December 2002), HETE has produced 31 GRB localizations. Localization accuracies are routinely in the 4'- 20' range; for the five GRBs with SXC localization, accuracies are ∼1-2'. In addition, HETE has detected ∼ 25 bursts from soft gamma repeaters (SGRs), and >600 X-ray bursts (XRBs)

Very high energy gamma ray astronomy from Hanle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chitnis, Varsha R.

2015-01-01

Over a past decade very high energy (VHE) gamma ray astronomy has emerged as a major astronomical discipline. In India, we have a long tradition of experiments in this field. Few years ago, multi-institutional Himalayan Gamma Ray Observatory (HiGRO) collaboration was formed to set up VHE gamma rays experiments at Hanle, a high altitude location in Himalayas. HAGAR, the first phase of this collaboration is operational since 2008. HAGAR has successfully detected VHE gamma ray emission from some of the extragalactic objects like Mrk 421, Mrk 501 as well as galactic sources including Crab nebula/pulsar. Details of HAGAR telescope system and results obtained will be discussed. HiGRO is now gearing up for the next phase, i.e. 21 m diameter MACE telescope, which is being installed at Hanle at present. Details of MACE telescope system and future plans will be discussed. (author)

Low energy pion detection by a silicon surface barrier telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sealock, R.M.; Caplan, H.S.; Leung, M.K.

1978-01-01

Four telescopes of three (2-ΔE, 1-E) silicon surface barrier detectors each, mounted in the focal plane of a magnetic spectrometer, have been used to detect positive pions in the energy range from 4.7-17.9 MeV and negative pions from 14.1-17.9 MeV. Positive pions from 4.7-12.7 MeV were stopped in the third detector while positive and negative pions from 14.1-17.9 MeV were detected in transmission. For energies greater than 7.4 MeV aluminum moderators were placed in front of the first detector to degrade the pion energy. Energy spectra show well resolved pion peaks with extremely low background. Double differential cross sections for the 12 C(e,π + ) 12 B,e' reaction have been measured. (Auth.)

Status of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2015-01-01

I will review the recent results on Ultra-High energy cosmic rays obtained by the Auger and Telescope Array Observatories, and discuss some of the Astrophysical scenarios that could account for them, a connection with LHC results  as well as the possible connections to neutrino and gamma ray observations.

The MIDAS telescope for microwave detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Soares, E.A.; Berlin, A.; Bogdan, M.; Boháčová, Martina; Bonifazi, C.; Carvalho, W.R.; de Mello Neto, J.R.T.; San Luis, P.F.; Genat, J.F.; Hollon, N.; Mills, E.; Monasor, M.; Privitera, P.; Ramos de Castro, A.; Reyes, L.C.; Richardson, M.; Rouille D’Orfeuil, B.; Santos, E.M.; Wayne, S.; Williams, C.; Zas, E.; Zhou, J.

2013-01-01

Roč. 719, Aug (2013), s. 70-80 ISSN 0168-9002 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : ultra high energy cosmic rays * radio-detection * microwave * GHz Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 1.316, year: 2013

Telescoping Solar Array Concept for Achieving High Packaging Efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulas, Martin; Pappa, Richard; Warren, Jay; Rose, Geoff

2015-01-01

Lightweight, high-efficiency solar arrays are required for future deep space missions using high-power Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP). Structural performance metrics for state-of-the art 30-50 kW flexible blanket arrays recently demonstrated in ground tests are approximately 40 kW/cu m packaging efficiency, 150 W/kg specific power, 0.1 Hz deployed stiffness, and 0.2 g deployed strength. Much larger arrays with up to a megawatt or more of power and improved packaging and specific power are of interest to mission planners for minimizing launch and life cycle costs of Mars exploration. A new concept referred to as the Compact Telescoping Array (CTA) with 60 kW/cu m packaging efficiency at 1 MW of power is described herein. Performance metrics as a function of array size and corresponding power level are derived analytically and validated by finite element analysis. Feasible CTA packaging and deployment approaches are also described. The CTA was developed, in part, to serve as a NASA reference solar array concept against which other proposed designs of 50-1000 kW arrays for future high-power SEP missions could be compared.

Open principle for large high-resolution solar telescopes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hammerschlag, R.H.; Bettonvil, F.C.M.; Jägers, A.P.L.; Sliepen, G.

2009-01-01

Vacuum solar telescopes solve the problem of image deterioration inside the telescope due to refractive index fluctuations of the air heated by the solar light. However, such telescopes have a practical diameter limit somewhat over 1 m. The Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) was the pioneering demonstrator

An innovative telescope control system architecture for SST-GATE telescopes at the CTA Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Fasola, Gilles; Mignot, Shan; Laporte, Philippe; Abchiche, Abdel; Buchholtz, Gilles; Jégouzo, Isabelle

2014-07-01

SST-GATE (Small Size Telescope - GAmma-ray Telescope Elements) is a 4-metre telescope designed as a prototype for the Small Size Telescopes (SST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a major facility for the very high energy gamma-ray astronomy of the next three decades. In this 100-telescope array there will be 70 SSTs, involving a design with an industrial view aiming at long-term service, low maintenance effort and reduced costs. More than a prototype, SST-GATE is also a fully functional telescope that shall be usable by scientists and students at the Observatoire de Meudon for 30 years. The Telescope Control System (TCS) is designed to work either as an element of a large array driven by an array controller or in a stand-alone mode with a remote workstation. Hence it is built to be autonomous with versatile interfacing; as an example, pointing and tracking —the main functions of the telescope— are managed onboard, including astronomical transformations, geometrical transformations (e.g. telescope bending model) and drive control. The core hardware is a CompactRIO (cRIO) featuring a real-time operating system and an FPGA. In this paper, we present an overview of the current status of the TCS. We especially focus on three items: the pointing computation implemented in the FPGA of the cRIO —using CORDIC algorithms— since it enables an optimisation of the hardware resources; data flow management based on OPCUA with its specific implementation on the cRIO; and the use of an EtherCAT field-bus for its ability to provide real-time data exchanges with the sensors and actuators distributed throughout the telescope.

New Cosmic Horizons: Space Astronomy from the V2 to the Hubble Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Leverington, David

2001-02-01

Preface; 1. The sounding rocket era; 2. The start of the space race; 3. Initial exploration of the Solar System; 4. Lunar exploration; 5. Mars and Venus; early results; 6. Mars and Venus; the middle period; 7. Venus, Mars and cometary spacecraft post-1980; 8. Early missions to the outer planets; 9. The Voyager missions to the outer planets; 10. The Sun; 11. Early spacecraft observations of non-solar system sources; 12. A period of rapid growth; 13. The high energy astronomy observatory programme; 14. IUE, IRAS and Exosat - spacecraft for the early 1980s; 15. Hiatus; 16. Business as usual; 17. The Hubble Space Telescope.

Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Gaug, Markus; Berge, David; Daniel, Michael; Doro, Michele; Förster, Andreas; Hofmann, Werner; Maccarone, Maria C.; Parsons, Dan; de los Reyes Lopez, Raquel; van Eldik, Christopher

2014-08-01

The Central Calibration Facilities workpackage of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory for very high energy gamma ray astronomy defines the overall calibration strategy of the array, develops dedicated hardware and software for the overall array calibration and coordinates the calibration efforts of the different telescopes. The latter include LED-based light pulsers, and various methods and instruments to achieve a calibration of the overall optical throughput. On the array level, methods for the inter-telescope calibration and the absolute calibration of the entire observatory are being developed. Additionally, the atmosphere above the telescopes, used as a calorimeter, will be monitored constantly with state-of-the-art instruments to obtain a full molecular and aerosol profile up to the stratosphere. The aim is to provide a maximal uncertainty of 10% on the reconstructed energy-scale, obtained through various independent methods. Different types of LIDAR in combination with all-sky-cameras will provide the observatory with an online, intelligent scheduling system, which, if the sky is partially covered by clouds, gives preference to sources observable under good atmospheric conditions. Wide-field optical telescopes and Raman Lidars will provide online information about the height-resolved atmospheric extinction, throughout the field-of-view of the cameras, allowing for the correction of the reconstructed energy of each gamma-ray event. The aim is to maximize the duty cycle of the observatory, in terms of usable data, while reducing the dead time introduced by calibration activities to an absolute minimum.

Research of high energy radioactivity identification detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yong Kyun; Lee, Yong Bum; Hwang, Jong Sun; Choi, Seok Ki

1998-07-01

{Delta} {Epsilon}-{Epsilon} telescope high radioactivity detector was designed, fabricated, and tested at the 35 MeV proton energy. We developed the computer code to calculate the energy loss of projectile ions in the matter. Using the code, we designed and fabricated a detector to measure 15-50 MeV protons. The detector was successfully tested to measure the energy of protons and deuterons and to identify the ions. In future, we would like to extend the present result to the development of a higher energy proton detector and a heavy ion detector. (author). 10 refs., 3 tabs., 14 figs

Observations of VHE γ-Ray Sources with the MAGIC Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bartko, H.

2008-10-01

The MAGIC telescope with its 17m diameter mirror is today the largest operating single-dish Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT). It is located on the Canary Island La Palma, at an altitude of 2200m above sea level, as part of the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory. The MAGIC telescope detects celestial very high energy γ-radiation in the energy band between about 50 GeV and 10 TeV. Since Autumn of 2004 MAGIC has been taking data routinely, observing various objects like supernova remnants (SNRs), γ-ray binaries, Pulsars, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB). We briefly describe the observational strategy, the procedure implemented for the data analysis, and discuss the results for individual sources. An outlook to the construction of the second MAGIC telescope is given.

Time and charge calibration of Cherenkov telescope data acquired by Domino Ring Sampler 4 chips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoerbe, Mario; Doert, Marlene [Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum (Germany); Bruegge, Kai; Buss, Jens; Bockermann, Christian; Egorov, Alexej [TU Dortmund (Germany)

2016-07-01

Very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy aims to give an insight into the most energetic phenomena in our Universe. Earthbound Cherenkov telescopes can measure Cherenkov light emitted by atmospheric particle showers which are produced by incoming cosmic particles at high energies. Current Cherenkov telescopes, e.g. operated in the FACT and the MAGIC experiments, utilize Domino Ring Sampler 4 (DRS4) chips for recording signals at high speed coming from the telescopes' cameras. DRS4 chips will also be used in the cameras of the Large-Size telescopes of the projected Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). We aim at developing a software solution for the calibration of DRS4 data based on the streams-framework, a software tool for streaming analysis which has been developed within the Collaborative Research Center SFB 876. The objectives and the current status of the project are presented.

High energy transients: The millisecond domain

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, A. R.

2018-02-01

The search for high energy transients in the millisecond domain has come to the focus in recent times due to the detection of gravitational wave events and the identification of fast radio bursts as cosmological sources. Here we highlight the sensitivity limitations in the currently operating hard X-ray telescopes and give some details of the search for millisecond events in the AstroSat CZT Imager data.

High Energy Cosmic Electrons: Messengers from Nearby Cosmic Ray Sources or Dark Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Moiseev, Alexander

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the recent discoveries by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope in reference to high energy cosmic electrons, and whether their source is cosmic rays or dark matter. Specific interest is devoted to Cosmic Ray electrons anisotropy,

The GLAST Large Area Telescope Detector Performance Monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borgland, A.W.; Charles, E.; SLAC

2007-01-01

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) is one of two instruments on board the Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST), the next generation high energy gamma-ray space telescope. The LAT contains sixteen identical towers in a four-by-four grid. Each tower contains a silicon-strip tracker and a CsI calorimeter that together will give the incident direction and energy of the pair-converting photon in the energy range 20 MeV - 300 GeV. In addition, the instrument is covered by a finely segmented Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD) to reject charged particle background. Altogether, the LAT contains more than 864k channels in the trackers, 1536 CsI crystals and 97 ACD plastic scintillator tiles and ribbons. Here we detail some of the strategies and methods for how we are planning to monitor the instrument performance on orbit. It builds on the extensive experience gained from Integration and Test and Commissioning of the instrument on ground

Exploring the history of New Zealand astronomy trials, tribulations, telescopes and transits

CERN Document Server

Orchiston, Wayne

2016-01-01

Professor Orchiston is a foremost authority on the subject of New Zealand astronomy, and here are the collected papers of his fruitful studies in this area, including both those published many years ago and new material.  The papers herein review traditional Maori astronomy, examine the appearance of nautical astronomy practiced by Cook and his astronomers on their various stopovers in New Zealand during their three voyagers to the South Seas, and also explore notable nineteenth century New Zealand observatories historically, from significant telescopes now located in New Zealand to local and international observations made during the 1874 and 1882 transits of Venus and the nineteenth and twentieth century preoccupation of New Zealand amateur astronomers with comets and meteors. New Zealand astronomy has a truly rich history, extending from the Maori civilization in pre-European times through to the years when explorers and navigators discovered the region, up to pioneering research on the newly emerging fie...

THE COSMIC-RAY ENERGY SPECTRUM OBSERVED WITH THE SURFACE DETECTOR OF THE TELESCOPE ARRAY EXPERIMENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abu-Zayyad, T.; Allen, M.; Anderson, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Blake, S. A.; Cady, R.; Hanlon, W. [High Energy Astrophysics Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Aida, R. [University of Yamanashi, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, Kofu, Yamanashi (Japan); Azuma, R.; Fukuda, T. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Cheon, B. G.; Cho, E. J. [Department of Physics and Research Institute of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J. [Department of Physics, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba (Japan); Chikawa, M. [Department of Physics, Kinki University, Higashi Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Cho, W. R. [Department of Physics, Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Fujii, H. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Fujii, T. [Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Fukushima, M. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan); and others

2013-05-01

The Telescope Array (TA) collaboration has measured the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with primary energies above 1.6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} eV. This measurement is based upon four years of observation by the surface detector component of TA. The spectrum shows a dip at an energy of 4.6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} eV and a steepening at 5.4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 19} eV which is consistent with the expectation from the GZK cutoff. We present the results of a technique, new to the analysis of UHECR surface detector data, that involves generating a complete simulation of UHECRs striking the TA surface detector. The procedure starts with shower simulations using the CORSIKA Monte Carlo program where we have solved the problems caused by use of the ''thinning'' approximation. This simulation method allows us to make an accurate calculation of the acceptance of the detector for the energies concerned.

A Search for High-Energy Counterparts to Fast Radio Bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Virginia A.; Cenko, Bradley

2018-01-01

We report on a search for high-energy counterparts to Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) with the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), and the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT). We find no significant associations for any of the 14 FRBs in our sample, but report upper limits to the high-energy fluence for each on timescales of ∼0.1, 1, 10, and 100 s. We report lower limits on the radio to high-energy fluence, fr / fγ, for timescales of ∼0.1 and 100 s. The non-detection of high-energy emission is expected if FRBs are analogous to the giant pulses seen from the Crab pulsar, but the observed radio fluences of FRBs are orders of magnitude larger than even the most extreme giant pulses would be at the implied cosmological distances. It has also been proposed that events similar to magnetar hyperflares produce FRBs; this might be a viable model, but our fr / fγ lower limits are in tension with the fr / fγ upper limit for the 2004 superburst of SGR 1806‑20, for 6 out of the 12 FRBs that we study. This demonstrates the utility of analyses of high-energy data for FRBs in tracking down the nature of these elusive sources.

Advanced Dark Energy Physics Telescope (ADEPT). Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, Charles L.

2009-01-01

In 2006, we proposed to NASA a detailed concept study of ADEPT (the Advanced Dark Energy Physics Telescope), a potential space mission to reliably measure the time-evolution of dark energy by conducting the largest effective volume survey of the universe ever done. A peer-review panel of scientific, management, and technical experts reported back the highest possible 'excellent' rating for ADEPT. We have since made substantial advances in the scientific and technical maturity of the mission design. With this Department of Energy (DOE) award we were granted supplemental funding to support specific extended research items that were not included in the NASA proposal, many of which were intended to broadly advance future dark energy research, as laid out by the Dark Energy Task Force (DETF). The proposed work had three targets: (1) the adaptation of large-format infrared arrays to a 2 micron cut-off; (2) analytical research to improve the understanding of the dark energy figure-of- merit; and (3) extended studies of baryon acoustic oscillation systematic uncertainties. Since the actual award was only for ∼10% of the proposed amount item (1) was dropped and item (2) work was severely restricted, consistent with the referee reviews of the proposal, although there was considerable contradictions between reviewer comments and several comments that displayed a lack of familiarity with the research. None the less, item (3) was the focus of the work. To characterize the nature of the dark energy, ADEPT is designed to observe baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in a large galaxy redshift survey and to obtain substantial numbers of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The 2003 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) made a precise determination of the BAO 'standard ruler' scale, as it was imprinted on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at z ∼ 1090. The standard ruler was also imprinted on the pattern of galaxies, and was first detected in 2005 in Sloan Digital

A large fiber sensor network for an acoustic neutrino telescope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buis Ernst-Jan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The scientific prospects of detecting neutrinos with an energy close or even higher than the GKZ cut-off energy has been discussed extensively in literature. It is clear that due to their expected low flux, the detection of these ultra-high energy neutrinos (Ev > 1018 eV requires a telescope larger than 100 km3. Acoustic detection may provide a way to observe these ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos, as sound that they induce in the deep sea when neutrinos lose their energy travels undisturbed for many kilometers. To realize a large scale acoustic neutrino telescope, dedicated technology must be developed that allows for a deep sea sensor network. Fiber optic hydrophone technology provides a promising means to establish a large scale sensor network [1] with the proper sensitivity to detect the small signals from the neutrino interactions.

Recent results on galactic sources with MAGIC telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De los Reyes, R.

2009-01-01

Located at the Canary island of La Palma, the single-dish MAGIC telescope currently has the lowest energy threshold achieved by any Cherenkov telescope, which can be as low as 25 GeV. In the last two years, the MAGIC telescope has detected a significant amount of galactic sources that emit at very high energies (up to several TeV). Here we present the most recent results that have yielded important scientific highlights in astrophysics, which include the first detection of gamma-ray emission from a pulsar, an X-ray binary system and a stellar-mass black hole. We also make a review of the latest results of the MAGIC observations on galactic sources, which will include also γ-ray unidentified sources (TeV J2032+4130), the Galactic Centre, X-ray binaries (LSI +61 303), pulsars (Crab pulsar) and SNRs (IC443).

CELESTE: an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope for high energy gamma astrophysics

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Paré, E.; Balauge, B.; Bazer-Bachi, R.; Bergeret, H.; Berny, F.; Briand, N.; Bruel, P.; Cerutti, M.; Collon, J.; Cordier, A.; Cornbise, P.; Debiais, G.; Dezalay, J. P.; Dumora, D.; Durand, E.; Eschstruth, P.; Espigat, P.; Fabre, B.; Fleury, P.; Gilly, J.; Gouillaud, J. C.; Gregory, C.; Hérault, N.; Holder, J.; Hrabovský, Miroslav; Incerti, S.; Jouenne, A.; Kalt, L.; LeGallou, R.; Lott, B.; Manigot, P.; Neveu, J.; Olive, J. F.; Palatka, Miroslav; Perez, A.; Rebii, A.; Rob, L.; Sans, J. L.; Schovánek, Petr; Villard, G.

2002-01-01

Roč. 490, - (2002), s. 71-89 ISSN 0168-9002 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LN00A006 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1010920 Keywords : gamma-ray astronopy * atmospheric Cherenkov detector Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 1.167, year: 2002

Classic Telescopes A Guide to Collecting, Restoring, and Using Telescopes of Yesteryear

CERN Document Server

English, Neil

2013-01-01

Classic Telescopes explores the exciting world of telescopes past, as well as the possibilities involved in acquiring these instruments. What are classic telescopes? First, the book takes a look at the more traditional telescopes built by the great instrument makers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the dynastic houses founded by the likes of John Dollond, Alvan Clark, Thomas Cooke & Sons and Carl Zeiss, plus some lesser-known luminaries, including John Brashear, John Calver, and Henry Fitz. Instruments constructed from the 1950s until as recently as the early 1990s are now also considered 'classic.' There is thus a very active market for buying and selling these 'modern' classics. The author examines some of the most talked about instruments on the amateur Internet forums, including the Unitron refractors, the Questar 90, a classic 6-inch reflector, the RV-6; a 3-inch F/15 achromat by Fullerscopes; the time-honored AstroScan Richfield reflector; and many, many more. Classic telescopes are of...

Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope [WFIRST]: telescope design and simulated performance

Science.gov (United States)

Goullioud, R.; Content, D. A.; Kuan, G. M.; Moore, J. D.; Chang, Z.; Sunada, E. T.; Villalvazo, J.; Hawk, J. P.; Armani, N. V.; Johnson, E. L.; Powell, C. A.

2012-09-01

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission concept was ranked first in new space astrophysics missions by the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, incorporating the Joint Dark Energy Mission payload concept and multiple science white papers. This mission is based on a space telescope at L2 studying exoplanets [via gravitational microlensing], probing dark energy, and surveying the near infrared sky. Since the release of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, the team has been working with the WFIRST Science Definition Team to refine mission and payload concepts. We present the current interim reference mission point design of the payload, based on the use of a 1.3m unobscured aperture three mirror anastigmat form, with focal imaging and slit-less spectroscopy science channels. We also present the first results of Structural/Thermal/Optical performance modeling of the telescope point design.

James Webb Space Telescope Studies of Dark Energy

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Jonathan P.; Stiavelli, Massimo; Mather, John C.

2010-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has contributed significantly to studies of dark energy. It was used to find the first evidence of deceleration at z=1.8 (Riess et al. 2001) through the serendipitous discovery of a type 1a supernova (SN1a) in the Hubble Deep Field. The discovery of deceleration at z greater than 1 was confirmation that the apparent acceleration at low redshift (Riess et al. 1998; Perlmutter et al. 1999) was due to dark energy rather than observational or astrophysical effects such as systematic errors, evolution in the SN1a population or intergalactic dust. The GOODS project and associated follow-up discovered 21 SN1a, expanding on this result (Riess et al. 2007). HST has also been used to constrain cosmological parameters and dark energy through weak lensing measurements in the COSMOS survey (Massey et al 2007; Schrabback et al 2009) and strong gravitational lensing with measured time delays (Suyu et al 2010). Constraints on dark energy are often parameterized as the equation of state, w = P/p. For the cosmological constant model, w = -1 at all times; other models predict a change with time, sometimes parameterized generally as w(a) or approximated as w(sub 0)+(1-a)w(sub a), where a = (1+z)(sup -1) is the scale factor of the universe relative to its current scale. Dark energy can be constrained through several measurements. Standard candles, such as SN1a, provide a direct measurement of the luminosity distance as a function of redshift, which can be converted to H(z), the change in the Hubble constant with redshift. An analysis of weak lensing in a galaxy field can be used to derive the angular-diameter distance from the weak-lensing equation and to measure the power spectrum of dark-matter halos, which constrains the growth of structure in the Universe. Baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO), imprinted on the distribution of matter at recombination, provide a standard rod for measuring the cosmological geometry. Strong gravitational lensing of a

Alignment error of mirror modules of advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics due to wavefront aberrations

Science.gov (United States)

Zocchi, Fabio E.

2017-10-01

One of the approaches that is being tested for the integration of the mirror modules of the advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics x-ray mission of the European Space Agency consists in aligning each module on an optical bench operated at an ultraviolet wavelength. The mirror module is illuminated by a plane wave and, in order to overcome diffraction effects, the centroid of the image produced by the module is used as a reference to assess the accuracy of the optical alignment of the mirror module itself. Among other sources of uncertainty, the wave-front error of the plane wave also introduces an error in the position of the centroid, thus affecting the quality of the mirror module alignment. The power spectral density of the position of the point spread function centroid is here derived from the power spectral density of the wave-front error of the plane wave in the framework of the scalar theory of Fourier diffraction. This allows the defining of a specification on the collimator quality used for generating the plane wave starting from the contribution to the error budget allocated for the uncertainty of the centroid position. The theory generally applies whenever Fourier diffraction is a valid approximation, in which case the obtained result is identical to that derived by geometrical optics considerations.

Focusing Cosmic Telescopes: Exploring Redshift z ~ 5-6 Galaxies with the Bullet Cluster 1E0657 - 56

Science.gov (United States)

Bradač, Maruša; Treu, Tommaso; Applegate, Douglas; Gonzalez, Anthony H.; Clowe, Douglas; Forman, William; Jones, Christine; Marshall, Phil; Schneider, Peter; Zaritsky, Dennis

2009-12-01

The gravitational potential of clusters of galaxies acts as a cosmic telescope allowing us to find and study galaxies at fainter limits than otherwise possible and thus probe closer to the epoch of formation of the first galaxies. We use the Bullet cluster 1E0657 - 56 (z = 0.296) as a case study, because its high mass and merging configuration makes it one of the most efficient cosmic telescopes we know. We develop a new algorithm to reconstruct the gravitational potential of the Bullet cluster based on a non-uniform adaptive grid, combining strong and weak gravitational lensing data derived from deep Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys F606W-F775W-F850LP and ground-based imaging. We exploit this improved mass map to study z ~ 5-6 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs), which we detect as dropouts. One of the LBGs is multiply imaged, providing a geometric confirmation of its high redshift, and is used to further improve our mass model. We quantify the uncertainties in the magnification map reconstruction in the intrinsic source luminosity, and in the volume surveyed, and show that they are negligible compared to sample variance when determining the luminosity function of high-redshift galaxies. With shallower and comparable magnitude limits to Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) and Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), the Bullet cluster observations, after correcting for magnification, probe deeper into the luminosity function of the high-redshift galaxies than GOODS and only slightly shallower than HUDF. We conclude that accurately focused cosmic telescopes are the most efficient way to sample the bright end of the luminosity function of high-redshift galaxies and—in case they are multiply imaged—confirm their redshifts. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5

Physics and astrophysics with gamma-ray telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vandenbroucke, J. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)

2012-08-15

In the past few years gamma-ray astronomy has entered a golden age. A modern suite of telescopes is now scanning the sky over both hemispheres and over six orders of magnitude in energy. At {approx}TeV energies, only a handful of sources were known a decade ago, but the current generation of ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS) has increased this number to nearly one hundred. With a large field of view and duty cycle, the Tibet and Milagro air shower detectors have demonstrated the promise of the direct particle detection technique for TeV gamma rays. At {approx}GeV energies, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has increased the number of known sources by nearly an order of magnitude in its first year of operation. New classes of sources that were previously theorized to be gamma-ray emitters have now been confirmed observationally. Moreover, there have been surprise discoveries of GeV gamma-ray emission from source classes for which no theory predicted it was possible. In addition to elucidating the processes of high-energy astrophysics, gamma-ray telescopes are making essential contributions to fundamental physics topics including quantum gravity, gravitational waves, and dark matter. I summarize the current census of astrophysical gamma-ray sources, highlight some recent discoveries relevant to fundamental physics, and describe the synergetic connections between gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy. This is a brief overview intended in particular for particle physicists and neutrino astronomers, based on a presentation at the Neutrino 2010 conference in Athens, Greece. I focus in particular on results from Fermi (which was launched soon after Neutrino 2008), and conclude with a description of the next generation of instruments, namely HAWC and the Cherenkov Telescope Array.

Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gaug, M.; Berge, D.; Daniel, M.; Doro, M.; Förster, A.; Hofmann, W.; Maccarone, M.C.; Parsons, D.; de los Reyes Lopez, R.; van Eldik, C.

2014-01-01

The Central Calibration Facilities workpackage of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory for very high energy gamma ray astronomy defines the overall calibration strategy of the array, develops dedicated hardware and software for the overall array calibration and coordinates the calibration

Status Of The Development Of A Thin Foil High Throughput X-Ray Telescope For The Soviet Spectrum X-Gamma Mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

WESTERGAARD, NJ; BYRNAK, BP; Christensen, Finn Erland

1989-01-01

modification of this design is optimized with respect to high energy throughput of the telescope. The mechanical design and the status of the surface preparation technologies are described. Various X-ray and optical test facilities for the measurement of surface roughness, "orange peel", and figure errors...

High-speed Dynamic Gait Generation Based on Asymmetrization of Impact Posture Using Telescopic Legs

OpenAIRE

浅野, 文彦

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a novel method for generating a dynamic gait based on anterior-posterior asymmetric impact posture tilting the robo's center of mass forward. The primary purpose of this method is to asymmetrize the impact posture by actuating the robot's telescopic-legs to make overcoming the potential barrier at mid-stance easy, and the mechanical energy is accordingly restored. First, we introduce a planar rimless wheel model with telescopic legs, and investigate the validity of the sta...

Digital optical correlator x-ray telescope alignment monitoring system

Science.gov (United States)

Lis, Tomasz; Gaskin, Jessica; Jasper, John; Gregory, Don A.

2018-01-01

The High-Energy Replicated Optics to Explore the Sun (HEROES) program is a balloon-borne x-ray telescope mission to observe hard x-rays (˜20 to 70 keV) from the sun and multiple astrophysical targets. The payload consists of eight mirror modules with a total of 114 optics that are mounted on a 6-m-long optical bench. Each mirror module is complemented by a high-pressure xenon gas scintillation proportional counter. Attached to the payload is a camera that acquires star fields and then matches the acquired field to star maps to determine the pointing of the optical bench. Slight misalignments between the star camera, the optical bench, and the telescope elements attached to the optical bench may occur during flight due to mechanical shifts, thermal gradients, and gravitational effects. These misalignments can result in diminished imaging and reduced photon collection efficiency. To monitor these misalignments during flight, a supplementary Bench Alignment Monitoring System (BAMS) was added to the payload. BAMS hardware comprises two cameras mounted directly to the optical bench and rings of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted onto the telescope components. The LEDs in these rings are mounted in a predefined, asymmetric pattern, and their positions are tracked using an optical/digital correlator. The BAMS analysis software is a digital adaption of an optical joint transform correlator. The aim is to enhance the observational proficiency of HEROES while providing insight into the magnitude of mechanically and thermally induced misalignments during flight. Results from a preflight test of the system are reported.

Pre-selecting muon events in the camera server of the ASTRI telescopes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Maccarone, Maria C.; Mineo, Teresa; Capalbi, Milvia; Conforti, Vito; Coffaro, Martina

2016-08-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground based observatories for very high energy gamma ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium, and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The telescopes will be equipped with cameras composed either of photomultipliers or silicon photomultipliers, and with different trigger and read-out electronics. In such a scenario, several different methods will be used for the telescopes' calibration. Nevertheless, the optical throughput of any CTA telescope, independently of its type, can be calibrated analyzing the characteristic image produced by local atmospheric highly energetic muons that induce the emission of Cherenkov light which is imaged as a ring onto the focal plane if their impact point is relatively close to the telescope optical axis. Large sized telescopes would be able to detect useful muon events under stereo coincidence and such stereo muon events will be directly addressed to the central CTA array data acquisition pipeline to be analyzed. For the medium and small sized telescopes, due to their smaller mirror area and large inter-telescope distance, the stereo coincidence rate will tend to zero; nevertheless, muon events will be detected by single telescopes that must therefore be able to identify them as possible useful calibration candidates, even if no stereo coincidence is available. This is the case for the ASTRI telescopes, proposed as pre-production units of the small size array of the CTA, which are able to detect muon events during regular data taking without requiring any dedicated trigger. We present two fast

On site calibration for new fluorescence detectors of the telescope array experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokuno, H.; Murano, Y.; Kawana, S.; Tameda, Y.; Taketa, A.; Ikeda, D.; Udo, S.; Ogio, S.; Fukushima, M.; Azuma, R.; Fukuda, M.; Inoue, N.; Kadota, K.; Kakimoto, F.; Sagawa, H.; Sakurai, N.; Shibata, T.; Takeda, M.; Tsunesada, Y.

2009-01-01

The Telescope Array experiment is searching for the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using a ground array of particle detectors and three fluorescence telescope stations. The precise calibration of the fluorescence detectors is important for small systematic errors in shower reconstruction. This paper details the process of calibrating cameras for two of the fluorescence telescope stations. This paper provides the operational results of these camera calibrations.

VERITAS UPPER LIMIT ON THE VERY HIGH ENERGY EMISSION FROM THE RADIO GALAXY NGC 1275

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acciari, V. A.; Benbow, W.; Aliu, E.; Boltuch, D.; Arlen, T.; Celik, O.; Aune, T.; Bautista, M.; Cogan, P.; Beilicke, M.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V.; Dickherber, R.; Bradbury, S. M.; Byrum, K.; Cannon, A.; Cesarini, A.; Ciupik, L.; Cui, W.; Duke, C.

2009-01-01

The recent detection by the Fermi γ-ray space telescope of high-energy γ-rays from the radio galaxy NGC 1275 makes the observation of the very high energy (VHE: E>100 GeV) part of its broadband spectrum particularly interesting, especially for the understanding of active galactic nuclei with misaligned multi-structured jets. The radio galaxy NGC 1275 was recently observed by VERITAS at energies above 100 GeV for about 8 hr. No VHE γ-ray emission was detected by VERITAS from NGC 1275. A 99% confidence level upper limit of 2.1% of the Crab Nebula flux level is obtained at the decorrelation energy of approximately 340 GeV, corresponding to 19% of the power-law extrapolation of the Fermi Large Area Telescope result.

NECTAr0, a new high speed digitizer ASIC for the Cherenkov telescope array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delagnes, E.; Glicenstein, J.F.; Guilloux, F.; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Naumann, C.L.; Nayman, P.; Tavemet, J.P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.; Dzahini, D.; Rarbi, F.; Feinstein, F.; Vorobiov, S.; Gascon, D.; Sanuy, A.

2011-01-01

H.E.S.S. and MAGIC experiments have demonstrated the high level of maturity of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) dedicated to very-high-energy gamma ray astronomy domain. The astro-particle physics community is preparing the next generation of instruments, with sensitivity improved by an order of magnitude in the 10 GeV to 100 TeV range. To reach this goal, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will consist in an array of 50-100 dishes of various sizes and various spacing, each equipped with a camera, made of few thousands fast photo-detectors and its associated front-end electronics. The total number of electronics channels will be larger than 100,000 to be compared to the total of 6,000 channels of the 5-telescopes H.E.S.S.-I H.E.S.S.-II array. To decrease the overall CTA cost, a consequent effort should be done to lower the cost of the electronics while keeping performance at least as good as the one demonstrated on the current experiments and simplifying its maintenance. This will be allowed by mass production, use of standardized modules and integration of front-end functions in ASICs. The 3-year NECTAr program started in 2009 addresses these two topics. Its final aim is to develop and test a demonstrator module of a generic CTA camera. The paper is mainly focused on one of the main components of this module, the NECTAr ASIC which samples the photo-detector signal in a circular analog memory at several GSPS and digitizes it over 12 bits after having received an external trigger. (authors)

Searching for dark matter with neutrino telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hooper, Dan; Silk, Joseph

2004-01-01

One of the most interesting mysteries of astrophysics is the puzzle of dark matter. Although numerous techniques have been explored and developed to detect this elusive substance, its nature remains unknown. One such method uses large high-energy neutrino telescopes to look for the annihilation products of dark matter annihilations. In this paper, we briefly review this technique. We describe the calculations used to find the rate of capture of WIMPs in the Sun or Earth and the spectrum of neutrinos produced in the resulting dark matter annihilations. We will discuss these calculations within the context of supersymmetry and models with universal extra dimensions, the lightest supersymmetric particle and lightest Kaluza-Klein particle providing the WIMP candidate in these cases, respectively. We will also discuss the status of some of the experiments relevant to these searches: AMANDA, IceCube and ANTARES

New stage in high-energy gamma-ray studies with GAMMA-400 after Fermi-LAT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Topchiev N.P.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Fermi-LAT has made a significant contribution to the study of high-energy gamma-ray diffuse emission and the observations of 3000 discrete sources. However, one third of all gamma-ray sources (both galactic and extragalactic are unidentified, the data on the diffuse gamma-ray emission should be clarified, and signatures of dark matter particles in the high-energy gamma-ray range are not observed up to now. GAMMA-400, the currently developing gamma-ray telescope, will have angular (∼0.01∘ at 100 GeV and energy (∼1% at 100 GeV resolutions in the energy range of 10–1000 GeV which are better than Fermi-LAT (as well as ground gamma-ray telescopes by a factor of 5–10. It will observe some regions of the Universe (such as the Galactic Center, Fermi Bubbles, Crab, Cygnus, etc. in a highly elliptic orbit (without shading the telescope by the Earth continuously for a long time. It will allow us to identify many discrete sources, to clarify the structure of extended sources, to specify the data on the diffuse emission, and to resolve gamma rays from dark matter particles.

New Prospects in High Energy Astrophysics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blandford, Roger; /KIPAC, Menlo Park

2011-11-15

Recent discoveries using TeV, X-ray and radio telescopes as well as Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray arrays are leading to new insights into longstanding puzzles in high energy astrophysics. Many of these insights come from combining observations throughout the electromagnetic and other spectra as well as evidence assembled from different types of source to propose general principles. Issues discussed in this general overview include methods of accelerating relativistic particles, and amplifying magnetic field, the dynamics of relativistic outflows and the nature of the prime movers that power them. Observational approaches to distinguishing hadronic, leptonic and electromagnetic outflows and emission mechanisms are discussed along with probes of the velocity field and the confinement mechanisms. Observations with GLAST promise to be very prescriptive for addressing these problems.

The advanced cosmic microwave explorer - A millimeter-wave telescope and stabilized platform

Science.gov (United States)

Meinhold, P. R.; Chingcuanco, A. O.; Gundersen, J. O.; Schuster, J. A.; Seiffert, M. D.; Lubin, P. M.; Morris, D.; Villela, T.

1993-01-01

We have developed and flown a 1 m diameter Gregorian telescope system for measurements of anisotropy in the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR). The telescope is incorporated in a balloon-borne stabilized platform with arcminute stabilization capability. To date, the system has flown four times and observed from the ground at the South Pole twice. The telescope has used both coherent and incoherent detectors. We describe the development of the telescope, pointing platform, and one of the receivers employed in making measurements of the CBR. Performance of the system during the first flight and operation on the ground at the South Pole are described, and the quality of the South Pole as a millimeter wave observing site is discussed.

Method of incident low-energy gamma-ray direction reconstruction in the GAMMA-400 gamma-ray space telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheymits, M D; Leonov, A A; Zverev, V G; Galper, A M; Arkhangelskaya, I V; Arkhangelskiy, A I; Yurkin, Yu T; Bakaldin, A V; Suchkov, S I; Topchiev, N P; Dalkarov, O D

2016-01-01

The GAMMA-400 gamma-ray space-based telescope has as its main goals to measure cosmic γ-ray fluxes and the electron-positron cosmic-ray component produced, theoretically, in dark-matter-particles decay or annihilation processes, to search for discrete γ-ray sources and study them in detail, to examine the energy spectra of diffuse γ-rays — both galactic and extragalactic — and to study gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and γ-rays from the active Sun. Scientific goals of GAMMA-400 telescope require fine angular resolution. The telescope is of a pair-production type. In the converter-tracker, the incident gamma-ray photon converts into electron-positron pair in the tungsten layer and then the tracks are detected by silicon- strip position-sensitive detectors. Multiple scattering processes become a significant obstacle in the incident-gamma direction reconstruction for energies below several gigaelectronvolts. The method of utilising this process to improve the resolution is proposed in the presented work. (paper)

Observations of Pulsars with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parent, D.

2009-11-01

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi, launched on 2008 June 11, is a space telescope to explore the high energy γ-ray universe. The instrument covers the energy range from 20 MeV to 300 GeV with greatly improved sensitivity and ability to localize γ-ray point sources. It detects γ-rays through conversion to electron-positron pairs and measurement of their direction in a tracker and their energy in a calorimeter. This thesis presents the γ-ray light curves and the phase-resolved spectral measurements of radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars detected by the LAT. The measurement of pulsar spectral parameters (i.e. integrated flux, spectral index, and energy cut-off) depends on the instrument response functions (IRFs). A method developed for the on-orbit validation of the effective area is presented using the Vela pulsar. The cut efficiencies between the real data and the simulated data are compared at each stage of the background rejection. The results are then propagated to the IRFs, allowing the systematic uncertainties of the spectral parameters to be estimated. The last part of this thesis presents the discoveries, using both the LAT observations and the radio and X ephemeris, of new individual γ-ray pulsars such as PSR J0205+6449, and the Vela-like pulsars J2229+6114 and J1048-5832. Timing and spectral analysis are investigated in order to constrain the γ-ray emission model. In addition, we discuss the properties of a large population of γ-ray pulsars detected by the LAT, including normal pulsars, and millisecond pulsars. (author)

Monte: A compact and versatile multidetector system based on monolithic telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amorini, F.; Bonanno, A.; Cardella, G.; Di Pietro, A.; Fallica, G.; Figuera, P.; Morea, A.; Musumarra, A.; Papa, M.; Pappalardo, G.; Pinto, A.; Rizzo, F.; Tian, W.; Tudisco, S.; Valvo, G.

2005-01-01

We present the characteristics of a new multidetector based on monolithic silicon telescopes: MONTE. By using high-energy ion implantation techniques, the ΔE and residual energy stages of such telescopes have been integrated on the same silicon chip, obtaining extremely thin ΔE stages of the order of 1μm. This allowed one to obtain a very low charge identification energy threshold and a very good β background suppression in reactions induced by radioactive ion beams. The multidetector has a modular structure and can be assembled in different geometrical configurations according to experimental needs

Search for correlations between the arrival directions of IceCube neutrino events and ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Collaboration, The IceCube; Aartsen, M. G.; Abraham, K.; Ackermann, M.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Ahrens, M.; Altmann, D.; Anderson, T.; Ansseau, I.; Archinger, M.; Arguelles, C.; Arlen, T. C.; Auffenberg, J.; Bai, X.; Barwick, S. W.; Baum, V.; Bay, R.; Beatty, J. J.; Tjus, J. Becker; Becker, K. -H.; Beiser, E.; Berghaus, P.; Berley, D.; Bernardini, E.; Bernhard, A.; Besson, D. Z.; Binder, G.; Bindig, D.; Bissok, M.; Blaufuss, E.; Blumenthal, J.; Boersma, D. J.; Bohm, C.; Börner, M.; Bos, F.; Bose, D.; Böser, S.; Botner, O.; Braun, J.; Brayeur, L.; Bretz, H. -P.; Buzinsky, N.; Casey, J.; Casier, M.; Cheung, E.; Chirkin, D.; Christov, A.; Clark, K.; Classen, L.; Coenders, S.; Cowen, D. F.; Silva, A. H. Cruz; Daughhetee, J.; Davis, J. C.; Day, M.; André, J. P. A. M. de; Clercq, C. De; Rosendo, E. del Pino; Dembinski, H.; Ridder, S. De; Desiati, P.; Vries, K. D. de; Wasseige, G. de; With, M. de; DeYoung, T.; Díaz-Vélez, J. C.; Lorenzo, V. di; Dumm, J. P.; Dunkman, M.; Eberhardt, B.; Ehrhardt, T.; Eichmann, B.; Euler, S.; Evenson, P. A.; Fahey, S.; Fazely, A. R.; Feintzeig, J.; Felde, J.; Filimonov, K.; Finley, C.; Fischer-Wasels, T.; Flis, S.; Fösig, C. -C.; Fuchs, T.; Gaisser, T. K.; Gaior, R.; Gallagher, J.; Gerhardt, L.; Ghorbani, K.; Gier, D.; Gladstone, L.; Glagla, M.; Glüsenkamp, T.; Goldschmidt, A.; Golup, G.; Gonzalez, J. G.; Góra, D.; Grant, D.; Griffith, Z.; Groß, A.; Ha, C.; Haack, C.; Ismail, A. Haj; Hallgren, A.; Halzen, F.; Hansen, E.; Hansmann, B.; Hanson, K.; Hebecker, D.; Heereman, D.; Helbing, K.; Hellauer, R.; Hickford, S.; Hignight, J.; Hill, G. C.; Hoffman, K. D.; Hoffmann, R.; Holzapfel, K.; Homeier, A.; Hoshina, K.; Huang, F.; Huber, M.; Huelsnitz, W.; Hulth, P. O.; Hultqvist, K.; In, S.; Ishihara, A.; Jacobi, E.; Japaridze, G. S.; Jeong, M.; Jero, K.; Jurkovic, M.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Karle, A.; Kauer, M.; Keivani, A.; Kelley, J. L.; Kemp, J.; Kheirandish, A.; Kiryluk, J.; Kläs, J.; Klein, S. R.; Kohnen, G.; Koirala, R.; Kolanoski, H.; Konietz, R.; Köpke, L.; Kopper, C.; Kopper, S.; Koskinen, D. J.; Kowalski, M.; Krings, K.; Kroll, G.; Kroll, M.; Krückl, G.; Kunnen, J.; Kurahashi, N.; Kuwabara, T.; Labare, M.; Lanfranchi, J. L.; Larson, M. J.; Lesiak-Bzdak, M.; Leuermann, M.; Leuner, J.; Lu, L.; Lünemann, J.; Madsen, J.; Maggi, G.; Mahn, K. B. M.; Mandelartz, M.; Maruyama, R.; Mase, K.; Matis, H. S.; Maunu, R.; McNally, F.; Meagher, K.; Medici, M.; Meli, A.; Menne, T.; Merino, G.; Meures, T.; Miarecki, S.; Middell, E.; Mohrmann, L.; Montaruli, T.; Morse, R.; Nahnhauer, R.; Naumann, U.; Neer, G.; Niederhausen, H.; Nowicki, S. C.; Nygren, D. R.; Pollmann, A. Obertacke; Olivas, A.; Omairat, A.; O'Murchadha, A.; Palczewski, T.; Pandya, H.; Pankova, D. V.; Paul, L.; Pepper, J. A.; Heros, C. Pérez de los; Pfendner, C.; Pieloth, D.; Pinat, E.; Posselt, J.; Price, P. B.; Przybylski, G. T.; Quinnan, M.; Raab, C.; Rädel, L.; Rameez, M.; Rawlins, K.; Reimann, R.; Relich, M.; Resconi, E.; Rhode, W.; Richman, M.; Richter, S.; Riedel, B.; Robertson, S.; Rongen, M.; Rott, C.; Ruhe, T.; Ryckbosch, D.; Sabbatini, L.; Sander, H. -G.; Sandrock, A.; Sandroos, J.; Sarkar, S.; Schatto, K.; Schimp, M.; Schmidt, T.; Schoenen, S.; Schöneberg, S.; Schönwald, A.; Schulte, L.; Schumacher, L.; Seckel, D.; Seunarine, S.; Soldin, D.; Song, M.; Spiczak, G. M.; Spiering, C.; Stahlberg, M.; Stamatikos, M.; Stanev, T.; Stasik, A.; Steuer, A.; Stezelberger, T.; Stokstad, R. G.; Stößl, A.; Ström, R.; Strotjohann, N. L.; Sullivan, G. W.; Sutherland, M.; Taavola, H.; Taboada, I.; Tatar, J.; Ter-Antonyan, S.; Terliuk, A.; Tešić, G.; Tilav, S.; Toale, P. A.; Tobin, M. N.; Toscano, S.; Tosi, D.; Tselengidou, M.; Turcati, A.; Unger, E.; Usner, M.; Vallecorsa, S.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Eijndhoven, N. van; Vanheule, S.; Santen, J. van; Veenkamp, J.; Vehring, M.; Voge, M.; Vraeghe, M.; Walck, C.; Wallace, A.; Wallraff, M.; Wandkowsky, N.; Weaver, Ch; Wendt, C.; Westerhoff, S.; Whelan, B. J.; Wiebe, K.; Wiebusch, C. H.; Wille, L.; Williams, D. R.; Wissing, H.; Wolf, M.; Wood, T. R.; Woschnagg, K.; Xu, D. L.; Xu, X. W.; Xu, Y.; Yanez, J. P.; Yodh, G.; Yoshida, S.; Collaboration, M. Zoll The Pierre Auger; Aab, A.; Abreu, P.; Aglietta, M.; Ahn, E. J.; Samarai, I. Al; Albuquerque, I. F. M.; Allekotte, I.; Allison, P.; Almela, A.; Castillo, J. Alvarez; Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Batista, R. Alves; Ambrosio, M.; Aminaei, A.; Anchordoqui, L.; Andrada, B.; Andringa, S.; Aramo, C.; Arqueros, F.; Arsene, N.; Asorey, H.; Assis, P.; Aublin, J.; Avila, G.; Awal, N.; Badescu, A. M.; Baus, C.; Beatty, J. J.; Becker, K. H.; Bellido, J. A.; Berat, C.; Bertaina, M. E.; Bertou, X.; Biermann, P. L.; Billoir, P.; Blaess, S. G.; Blanco, A.; Blanco, M.; Blazek, J.; Bleve, C.; Blümer, H.; Boháčová, M.; Boncioli, D.; Bonifazi, C.; Borodai, N.; Botti, A. M.; Brack, J.; Brancus, I.; Bretz, T.; Bridgeman, A.; Briechle, F. L.; Buchholz, P.; Bueno, A.; Buitink, S.; Buscemi, M.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Caccianiga, B.; Caccianiga, L.; Candusso, M.; Caramete, L.; Caruso, R.; Castellina, A.; Cataldi, G.; Cazon, L.; Cester, R.; Chavez, A. G.; Chiavassa, A.; Chinellato, J. A.; Diaz, J. C. Chirinos; Chudoba, J.; Clay, R. W.; Colalillo, R.; Coleman, A.; Collica, L.; Coluccia, M. R.; Conceição, R.; Contreras, F.; Cooper, M. J.; Cordier, A.; Coutu, S.; Covault, C. E.; Dallier, R.; D'Amico, S.; Daniel, B.; Dasso, S.; Daumiller, K.; Dawson, B. R.; Almeida, R. M. de; Jong, S. J. de; Mauro, G. De; Neto, J. R. T. de Mello; Mitri, I. De; Oliveira, J. de; Souza, V. de; Debatin, J.; Peral, L. del; Deligny, O.; Dhital, N.; Giulio, C. Di; Matteo, A. Di; Castro, M. L. Díaz; Diogo, F.; Dobrigkeit, C.; Docters, W.; D'Olivo, J. C.; Dorofeev, A.; Anjos, R. C. dos; Dova, M. T.; Dundovic, A.; Ebr, J.; Engel, R.; Erdmann, M.; Erfani, M.; Escobar, C. O.; Espadanal, J.; Etchegoyen, A.; Falcke, H.; Fang, K.; Farrar, G.; Fauth, A. C.; Fazzini, N.; Ferguson, A. P.; Fick, B.; Figueira, J. M.; Filevich, A.; Filipčič, A.; Fratu, O.; Freire, M. M.; Fujii, T.; Fuster, A.; Gallo, F.; García, B.; Garcia-Gamez, D.; Garcia-Pinto, D.; Gate, F.; Gemmeke, H.; Gherghel-Lascu, A.; Ghia, P. L.; Giaccari, U.; Giammarchi, M.; Giller, M.; Głas, D.; Glaser, C.; Glass, H.; Golup, G.; Berisso, M. Gómez; Vitale, P. F. Gómez; González, N.; Gookin, B.; Gordon, J.; Gorgi, A.; Gorham, P.; Gouffon, P.; Griffith, N.; Grillo, A. F.; Grubb, T. D.; Guarino, F.; Guedes, G. P.; Hampel, M. R.; Hansen, P.; Harari, D.; Harrison, T. A.; Harton, J. L.; Hasankiadeh, Q.; Haungs, A.; Hebbeker, T.; Heck, D.; Heimann, P.; Herve, A. E.; Hill, G. C.; Hojvat, C.; Hollon, N.; Holt, E.; Homola, P.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horvath, P.; Hrabovský, M.; Huege, T.; Insolia, A.; Isar, P. G.; Jandt, I.; Jansen, S.; Jarne, C.; Johnsen, J. A.; Josebachuili, M.; Kääpä, A.; Kambeitz, O.; Kampert, K. H.; Kasper, P.; Katkov, I.; Keilhauer, B.; Kemp, E.; Kieckhafer, R. M.; Klages, H. O.; Kleifges, M.; Kleinfeller, J.; Krause, R.; Krohm, N.; Kuempel, D.; Mezek, G. Kukec; Kunka, N.; Awad, A. Kuotb; LaHurd, D.; Latronico, L.; Lauer, R.; Lauscher, M.; Lautridou, P.; Lebrun, D.; Lebrun, P.; Oliveira, M. A. Leigui de; Letessier-Selvon, A.; Lhenry-Yvon, I.; Link, K.; Lopes, L.; López, R.; Casado, A. López; Lucero, A.; Malacari, M.; Mallamaci, M.; Mandat, D.; Mantsch, P.; Mariazzi, A. G.; Marin, V.; Mariş, I. C.; Marsella, G.; Martello, D.; Martinez, H.; Bravo, O. Martínez; Meza, J. J. Masías; Mathes, H. J.; Mathys, S.; Matthews, J.; Matthews, J. A. J.; Matthiae, G.; Maurizio, D.; Mayotte, E.; Mazur, P. O.; Medina, C.; Medina-Tanco, G.; Mello, V. B. B.; Melo, D.; Menshikov, A.; Messina, S.; Micheletti, M. I.; Middendorf, L.; Minaya, I. A.; Miramonti, L.; Mitrica, B.; Molina-Bueno, L.; Mollerach, S.; Montanet, F.; Morello, C.; Mostafá, M.; Moura, C. A.; Müller, G.; Muller, M. A.; Müller, S.; Naranjo, I.; Navas, S.; Necesal, P.; Nellen, L.; Nelles, A.; Neuser, J.; Nguyen, P. H.; Niculescu-Oglinzanu, M.; Niechciol, M.; Niemietz, L.; Niggemann, T.; Nitz, D.; Nosek, D.; Novotny, V.; Nožka, H.; Núñez, L. A.; Ochilo, L.; Oikonomou, F.; Olinto, A.; Pacheco, N.; Selmi-Dei, D. Pakk; Palatka, M.; Pallotta, J.; Papenbreer, P.; Parente, G.; Parra, A.; Paul, T.; Pech, M.; Pękala, J.; Pelayo, R.; Peña-Rodriguez, J.; Pepe, I. M.; Perrone, L.; Petermann, E.; Peters, C.; Petrera, S.; Phuntsok, J.; Piegaia, R.; Pierog, T.; Pieroni, P.; Pimenta, M.; Pirronello, V.; Platino, M.; Plum, M.; Porowski, C.; Prado, R. R.; Privitera, P.; Prouza, M.; Quel, E. J.; Querchfeld, S.; Quinn, S.; Rautenberg, J.; Ravel, O.; Ravignani, D.; Reinert, D.; Revenu, B.; Ridky, J.; Risse, M.; Ristori, P.; Rizi, V.; Carvalho, W. Rodrigues de; Rojo, J. Rodriguez; Rodríguez-Frías, M. D.; Rogozin, D.; Rosado, J.; Roth, M.; Roulet, E.; Rovero, A. C.; Saffi, S. J.; Saftoiu, A.; Salazar, H.; Saleh, A.; Greus, F. Salesa; Salina, G.; Gomez, J. D. Sanabria; Sánchez, F.; Sanchez-Lucas, P.; Santos, E. M.; Santos, E.; Sarazin, F.; Sarkar, B.; Sarmento, R.; Sarmiento-Cano, C.; Sato, R.; Scarso, C.; Schauer, M.; Scherini, V.; Schieler, H.; Schmidt, D.; Scholten, O.; Schoorlemmer, H.; Schovánek, P.; Schröder, F. G.; Schulz, A.; Schulz, J.; Schumacher, J.; Segreto, A.; Settimo, M.; Shadkam, A.; Shellard, R. C.; Sigl, G.; Sima, O.; Śmiałkowski, A.; Šmída, R.; Snow, G. R.; Sommers, P.; Sonntag, S.; Sorokin, J.; Squartini, R.; Stanca, D.; Stanič, S.; Stapleton, J.; Stasielak, J.; Stephan, M.; Strafella, F.; Stutz, A.; Suarez, F.; Durán, M. Suarez; Suomijärvi, T.; Supanitsky, A. D.; Sutherland, M. S.; Swain, J.; Szadkowski, Z.; Taborda, O. A.; Tapia, A.; Tepe, A.; Theodoro, V. M.; Timmermans, C.; Peixoto, C. J. Todero; Toma, G.; Tomankova, L.; Tomé, B.; Tonachini, A.; Elipe, G. Torralba; Machado, D. Torres; Travnicek, P.; Trini, M.; Ulrich, R.; Unger, M.; Urban, M.; Galicia, J. F. Valdés; Valiño, I.; Valore, L.; Aar, G. van; Bodegom, P. van; Berg, A. M. van den; Vliet, A. van; Varela, E.; Cárdenas, B. Vargas; Varner, G.; Vasquez, R.; Vázquez, J. R.; Vázquez, R. A.; Veberič, D.; Verzi, V.; Vicha, J.; Videla, M.; Villaseñor, L.; Vorobiov, S.; Wahlberg, H.; Wainberg, O.; Walz, D.; Watson, A. A.; Weber, M.; Weidenhaupt, K.; Weindl, A.; Wiencke, L.; Wilczyński, H.; Winchen, T.; Wittkowski, D.; Wundheiler, B.; Wykes, S.; Yang, L.; Yapici, T.; Yushkov, A.; Zas, E.; Zavrtanik, D.; Zavrtanik, M.; Zepeda, A.; Zimmermann, B.; Ziolkowski, M.; Zong, Z.; Collaboration, F. Zuccarello The Telescope Array; Abbasi, R. U.; Abe, M.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Allen, M.; Azuma, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Blake, S. A.; Cady, R.; Chae, M. J.; Cheon, B. G.; Chiba, J.; Chikawa, M.; Cho, W. R.; Fujii, T.; Fukushima, M.; Goto, T.; Hanlon, W.; Hayashi, Y.; Hayashida, N.; Hibino, K.; Honda, K.; Ikeda, D.; Inoue, N.; Ishii, T.; Ishimori, R.; Ito, H.; Ivanov, D.; Jui, C. C. H.; Kadota, K.; Kakimoto, F.; Kalashev, O.; Kasahara, K.; Kawai, H.; Kawakami, S.; Kawana, S.; Kawata, K.; Kido, E.; Kim, H. B.; Kim, J. H.; Kim, J. H.; Kitamura, S.; Kitamura, Y.; Kuzmin, V.; Kwon, Y. J.; Lan, J.; Lim, S. I.; Lundquist, J. P.; Machida, K.; Martens, K.; Matsuda, T.; Matsuyama, T.; Matthews, J. N.; Minamino, M.; Mukai, Y.; Myers, I.; Nagasawa, K.; Nagataki, S.; Nakamura, T.; Nonaka, T.; Nozato, A.; Ogio, S.; Ogura, J.; Ohnishi, M.; Ohoka, H.; Oki, K.; Okuda, T.; Ono, M.; Oshima, A.; Ozawa, S.; Park, I. H.; Pshirkov, M. S.; Rodriguez, D. C.; Rubtsov, G.; Ryu, D.; Sagawa, H.; Sakurai, N.; Scott, L. M.; Shah, P. D.; Shibata, F.; Shibata, T.; Shimodaira, H.; Shin, B. K.; Shin, H. S.; Smith, J. D.; Sokolsky, P.; Springer, R. W.; Stokes, B. T.; Stratton, S. R.; Stroman, T. A.; Suzawa, T.; Takamura, M.; Takeda, M.; Takeishi, R.; Taketa, A.; Takita, M.; Tameda, Y.; Tanaka, H.; Tanaka, K.; Tanaka, M.; Thomas, S. B.; Thomson, G. B.; Tinyakov, P.; Tkachev, I.; Tokuno, H.; Tomida, T.; Troitsky, S.; Tsunesada, Y.; Tsutsumi, K.; Uchihori, Y.; Udo, S.; Urban, F.; Vasiloff, G.; Wong, T.; Yamane, R.; Yamaoka, H.; Yamazaki, K.; Yang, J.; Yashiro, K.; Yoneda, Y.; Yoshida, S.; Yoshii, H.; Zollinger, R.; Zundel, Z.

2015-01-01

This paper presents the results of different searches for correlations between very high-energy neutrino candidates detected by IceCube and the highest-energy cosmic rays measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array. We first consider samples of cascade neutrino events and of

High-redshift supernova rates measured with the gravitational telescope A 1689

OpenAIRE

Petrushevska, T.; Amanullah, R.; Goobar, A.; Fabbro, S.; Johansson, J.; Kjellsson, T.; Lidman, C.; Paech, K.; Richard, J.; Dahle, Håkon; Ferretti, R.; Kneib, J.-P.; Limousin, M.; Nordin, J.; Stanishev, V.

2016-01-01

Aims. We present a ground-based, near-infrared search for lensed supernovae behind the massive cluster Abell 1689 at z = 0.18, which is one of the most powerful gravitational telescopes that nature provides. Methods. Our survey was based on multi-epoch J-band observations with the HAWK-I instrument on VLT, with supporting optical data from the Nordic Optical Telescope. Results. Our search resulted in the discovery of five photometrically classified, core-collapse supernovae with high re...

High-precision photometry by telescope defocusing - I. The transiting planetary system WASP-5

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Southworth, J.; Hinse, T. C.; Jørgensen, U. G.

2009-01-01

We present high-precision photometry of two transit events of the extrasolar planetary system WASP-5, obtained with the Danish 1.54-m telescope at European Southern Obseratory La Silla. In order to minimize both random and flat-fielding errors, we defocused the telescope so its point spread...

An algorithm for the reconstruction of high-energy neutrino-induced particle showers and its application to the ANTARES neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albert, A.; Drouhin, D.; Racca, C.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Folger, F.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; Hoessl, J.; Hofestaedt, J.; James, C.W.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kiessling, D.; Lahmann, R.; Sieger, C.; Ardid, M.; Felis, I.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Saldana, M.; Aubert, J.J.; Bertin, V.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Carr, J.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Dornic, D.; Enzenhoefer, A.; Quinn, L.; Salvadori, I.; Turpin, D.; Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Bourret, S.; Coelho, J.A.B.; Creusot, A.; Galata, S.; Gregoire, T.; Gracia Ruiz, R.; Lachaud, C.; Barrios-Marti, J.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Illuminati, G.; Lotze, M.; Toennis, C.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J.; Basa, S.; Marcelin, M.; Nezri, E.; Biagi, S.; Coniglione, R.; Distefano, C.; Piattelli, P.; Riccobene, G.; Sapienza, P.; Trovato, A.; Bormuth, R.; Jong, M. de; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Heijboer, A.J.; Jongen, M.; Michael, T.; Bruijn, R.; Melis, K.; Capone, A.; De Bonis, G.; Di Palma, I.; Perrina, C.; Vizzoca, A.; Caramete, L.; Pavalas, G.E.; Popa, V.; Celli, S.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Sanchez-Losa, A.; Coleiro, A.; Deschamps, A.; Hello, Y.; Domi, A.; Hugon, C.; Sanguineti, M.; Taiuti, M.; Donzaud, C.; Eberl, T.; El Bojaddaini, I.; Moussa, A.; Elsaesser, D.; Kadler, M.; Kreter, M.; Fusco, L.A.; Margiotta, A.; Pellegrino, C.; Spurio, M.; Versari, F.; Gay, P.; Giordano, V.; Glotin, H.; Haren, H. van; Kouchner, A.; Van Elewyck, V.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Wilms, J.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lefevre, D.; Leonora, E.; Loucatos, S.; Vallage, B.; Marinelli, A.; Mele, R.; Vivolo, D.; Migliozzi, P.; Organokov, M.; Pradier, T.; Schuessler, F.; Stolarczyk, T.; Tayalati, Y.

2017-01-01

A novel algorithm to reconstruct neutrino-induced particle showers within the ANTARES neutrino telescope is presented. The method achieves a median angular resolution of 6 "c"i"r"c"l"e for shower energies below 100 TeV. Applying this algorithm to 6 years of data taken with the ANTARES detector, 8 events with reconstructed shower energies above 10 TeV are observed. This is consistent with the expectation of about 5 events from atmospheric backgrounds, but also compatible with diffuse astrophysical flux measurements by the IceCube collaboration, from which 2-4 additional events are expected. A 90% C.L. upper limit on the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux with a value per neutrino flavour of E"2 . Φ"9"0"% = 4.9 . 10"-"8 GeV . cm"-"2 . s"-"1 . sr"-"1 is set, applicable to the energy range from 23 TeV to 7.8 PeV, assuming an unbroken E"-"2 spectrum and neutrino flavour equipartition at Earth. (orig.)

An algorithm for the reconstruction of high-energy neutrino-induced particle showers and its application to the ANTARES neutrino telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albert, A.; Drouhin, D.; Racca, C. [GRPHE, Universite de Haute Alsace, Institut universitaire de technologie de Colmar, 34 rue du Grillenbreit, BP 50568, Colmar (France); Andre, M. [Technical University of Catalonia, Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, Rambla Exposicio, Barcelona (Spain); Anghinolfi, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Anton, G.; Folger, F.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; Hoessl, J.; Hofestaedt, J.; James, C.W.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kiessling, D.; Lahmann, R.; Sieger, C. [Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen (Germany); Ardid, M.; Felis, I.; Martinez-Mora, J.A.; Saldana, M. [Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Institut d' Investigacio per a la Gestio Integrada de les Zones Costaneres (IGIC), Gandia (Spain); Aubert, J.J.; Bertin, V.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Carr, J.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Dornic, D.; Enzenhoefer, A.; Quinn, L.; Salvadori, I.; Turpin, D. [Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille (France); Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Bourret, S.; Coelho, J.A.B.; Creusot, A.; Galata, S.; Gregoire, T.; Gracia Ruiz, R.; Lachaud, C. [APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Barrios-Marti, J.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Illuminati, G.; Lotze, M.; Toennis, C.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zuniga, J. [IFIC, Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia) c/Catedratico Jose Beltran, 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia (Spain); Basa, S.; Marcelin, M.; Nezri, E. [LAM, Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille, Pole de l' Etoile Site de Chateau-Gombert, Marseille Cedex 13 (France); Biagi, S.; Coniglione, R.; Distefano, C.; Piattelli, P.; Riccobene, G.; Sapienza, P.; Trovato, A. [INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Catania (Italy); Bormuth, R.; Jong, M. de; Samtleben, D.F.E. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit Leiden, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Leiden (Netherlands); Bouwhuis, M.C.; Heijboer, A.J.; Jongen, M.; Michael, T. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Bruijn, R.; Melis, K. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Universiteit van Amsterdam, Instituut voor Hoge-Energie Fysica, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Capone, A.; De Bonis, G.; Di Palma, I.; Perrina, C.; Vizzoca, A. [INFN, Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita La Sapienza, Rome (Italy); Caramete, L.; Pavalas, G.E.; Popa, V. [Institute for Space Science, 077125, Bucharest, Magurele (Romania); Celli, S. [INFN, Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita La Sapienza, Rome (Italy); Gran Sasso Science Institute, L' Aquila (Italy); Chiarusi, T. [INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Circella, M.; Sanchez-Losa, A. [INFN, Sezione di Bari, Bari (Italy); Coleiro, A. [APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); IFIC, Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia) c/Catedratico Jose Beltran, 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia (Spain); Deschamps, A.; Hello, Y. [CNRS, IRD, Observatoire de la Cote d' Azur, Geoazur, UCA, Sophia Antipolis (France); Domi, A.; Hugon, C.; Sanguineti, M.; Taiuti, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Genoa (Italy); Donzaud, C. [APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Universite Paris-Sud, Orsay Cedex (France); Eberl, T. [Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen (Germany); El Bojaddaini, I.; Moussa, A. [University Mohammed I, Laboratory of Physics of Matter and Radiations, B.P.717, Oujda (Morocco); Elsaesser, D.; Kadler, M.; Kreter, M. [Universitaet Wuerzburg, Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Wuerzburg (Germany); Fusco, L.A.; Margiotta, A.; Pellegrino, C.; Spurio, M.; Versari, F. [INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell' Universita, Bologna (Italy); Gay, P. [APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Universite Blaise Pascal, CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire, Clermont Universite, BP 10448, Clermont-Ferrand (France); Giordano, V. [INFN, Sezione di Catania, Catania (Italy); Glotin, H. [LSIS, Aix Marseille Universite CNRS ENSAM LSIS UMR 7296, Marseille (France); Universite de Toulon CNRS LSIS UMR 7296, La Garde (France); Institut Universitaire de France, Paris (France); Haren, H. van [Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), ' t Horntje (Texel) (Netherlands); Kouchner, A.; Van Elewyck, V. [APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite (France); Institut Universitaire de France, Paris (France); Kreykenbohm, I.; Wilms, J. [Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Bamberg (Germany); Kulikovskiy, V. [Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille (France); Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow (RU); Lefevre, D. [Aix-Marseille University, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Marseille Cedex 9 (FR); Universite du Sud Toulon-Var, CNRS-INSU/IRD UM 110, La Garde Cedex (FR); Leonora, E. [INFN, Sezione di Catania, Catania (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia dell' Universita, Catania (IT); Loucatos, S.; Vallage, B. [APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (FR); Direction des Sciences de la Matiere, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l' Univers, Service de Physique des Particules, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (FR); Marinelli, A. [INFN, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita, Pisa (IT); Mele, R.; Vivolo, D. [INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Naples (IT); Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita Federico II di Napoli, Naples (IT); Migliozzi, P. [INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Naples (IT); Organokov, M.; Pradier, T. [Universite de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, Strasbourg (FR); Schuessler, F.; Stolarczyk, T. [Direction des Sciences de la Matiere, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l' Univers, Service de Physique des Particules, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (FR); Tayalati, Y. [University Mohammed V in Rabat, Faculty of Sciences, Rabat (MA)

2017-06-15

A novel algorithm to reconstruct neutrino-induced particle showers within the ANTARES neutrino telescope is presented. The method achieves a median angular resolution of 6 {sup circle} for shower energies below 100 TeV. Applying this algorithm to 6 years of data taken with the ANTARES detector, 8 events with reconstructed shower energies above 10 TeV are observed. This is consistent with the expectation of about 5 events from atmospheric backgrounds, but also compatible with diffuse astrophysical flux measurements by the IceCube collaboration, from which 2-4 additional events are expected. A 90% C.L. upper limit on the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux with a value per neutrino flavour of E{sup 2} . Φ{sup 90%} = 4.9 . 10{sup -8} GeV . cm{sup -2} . s{sup -1} . sr{sup -1} is set, applicable to the energy range from 23 TeV to 7.8 PeV, assuming an unbroken E{sup -2} spectrum and neutrino flavour equipartition at Earth. (orig.)

LOBSTER: new space x-ray telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Hudec, R.; Sveda, L.; Pína, L.; Inneman, A.; Semencova, V.; Skulinova, M.

2017-11-01

The LOBSTER telescopes are based on the optical arrangement of the lobster eye. The main difference from classical X-ray space telescopes in wide use is the very large field of view while the use of optics results in higher efficiency if compared with detectors without optics. Recent innovative technologies have enabled to design, to develop and to test first prototypes. They will provide deep sensitive survey of the sky in X-rays for the first time which is essential for both long-term monitoring of celestial high-energy sources as well as in understanding transient phenomena. The technology is now ready for applications in space.

Possibility of observing high energy neutrinos from gamma bursts, with the Antanares telescope, feasibility study; Possibilite d'observation, par le telescope antares, de neutrinos de haute energie associes aux sursauts gamma et validation des techniques de detection a l'aide d'un prototype

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kouchner, A

2001-04-01

The European Antares collaboration intends to build a deep-sea neutrino telescope with a detection surface of about 1/10 km{sup 2} in the Mediterranean sea. The universe is transparent to neutrinos, so their study provides a unique means of improving our knowledge of the nature and origin of cosmic rays and their emission from the most powerful astrophysical sources in the cosmos. Neutrinos also offer the possibility of opening a new energy window (E>TeV) for observation of the universe. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to a study of the possibility of using the future telescope to look for correlations between gamma-ray bursts and high-energy neutrinos. It is based, on one hand, on the predictions of neutrino fluxes from gamma-ray bursts in the framework of the theoretical model of 'fireballs', and, on the other hand, on the temporal properties of the gamma-ray bursts in the 4. BATSE catalogue. The second part of the thesis presents the results obtained with a prototype detector line deployed, at the end of 1999, some forty km south-west off Marseilles. The objective was to operate a complete apparatus, similar to the future detector lines, from the shore, and under realistic conditions. Data from 7 photomultiplier tubes disposed along the detector line were transmitted through 37 km of optical fiber to the shore, where they were used to reconstruct tracks due to atmospheric muons, thus validating the detection principles and methods. (author)

The Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System (AGIS): Telescope Mechanical Designs

Science.gov (United States)

Guarino, V.; Buckley, J.; Byrum, K.; Falcone, A.; Fegan, S.; Finley, J.; Hanna, D.; Horan, D.; Kaaret, P.; Konopelko, A.; Krawczynski, H.; Krennrich, F.; Wagner, R.; Woods, M.; Vassiliev, V.

2008-04-01

The concept of a future ground-based gamma-ray observatory, AGIS, in the energy range 40 GeV-100 TeV is based on an array of sim 100 imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). The anticipated improvements of AGIS sensitivity, angular resolution and reliability of operation impose demanding technological and cost requirements on the design of IACTs. The relatively inexpensive Davies-Cotton telescope design has been used in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy for almost fifty years and is an excellent option. We are also exploring alternative designs and in this submission we focus on the recent mechanical design of a two-mirror telescope with a Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) optical system. The mechanical structure provides support points for mirrors and camera. The design was driven by the requirement of minimizing the deflections of the mirror support structures. The structure is also designed to be able to slew in elevation and azimuth at 10 degrees/sec.

Very high energy emission from passive supermassive black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pedaletti, Giovanna

2009-10-22

The H.E.S.S. experiment, an array of four Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes, widened the horizon of Very High Energy (VHE) astronomy. Its unprecedented sensitivity is well suited for the study of new classes of expected VHE emitters, such as passive galactic nuclei that are the main focus of the work presented in this thesis. Acceleration of particles up to Ultra High Energies is expected in the magnetosphere of supermassive black holes (SMBH). The radiation losses of these accelerated particles are expected to reach the VHE regime in which H.E.S.S. operates. Predicted fluxes exceed the sensitivity of the array. However, strong photon fields in the surrounding of the acceleration region might absorb the produced radiation. Therefore observations focus on those galactic nuclei that are underluminous at lower photon energies. This work presents data collected by the H.E.S.S. telescopes on the test candidate NGC 1399 and their interpretation. While no detection has been achieved, important constraints can be derived from the obtained upper limits on the maximum energy attainable by the accelerated particles and on the magnetic field strength in the acceleration region. A limit on the magnetic field of B < 74 Gauss is given. The limit is model dependent and a scaling of the result with the assumptions is given. This is the tightest empirical constraint to date. Because of the lack of signal from the test candidate, a stacking analysis has been performed on similar sources in three cluster fields. A search for signal from classes of active galactic nuclei has also been made in the same three fields. None of the analyzed samples revealed a significant signal. Also presented are the expectations for the next generation of Cherenkov Telescopes and an outlook on the relativistic effects expected on the VHE emission close to SMBH. (orig.)

Discovery of a point-like very-high-energy gamma-ray source in Monoceros

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aharonian, F.A.; Benbow, W.; Berge, D.; Bernlohr, K.; Bolz, O.; Braun, I.; Buhler, R.; Carrigan, S.; Costamante, L.; Domainko, W.; Egberts, K.; Forster, A.; Funk, S.; Hauser, D.; Hermann, G.; Hinton, J.A.; Hofmann, W.; Hoppe, S.; Khelifi, B.; Kosack, K.; Masterson, C.; Panter, M.; Rowell, G.; van Eldik, C.; Volk, H.J.; Akhperjanian, A.G.; Sahakian, V.; Bazer-Bachi, A.R.; Borrel, V.; Marcowith, A.; Olive, J.P.; Beilicke, M.; Cornils, R.; Heinzelmann, G.; Raue, M.; Ripken, J.; Bernlohr, K.; Funk, Seb.; Fussling, M.; Kerschhaggl, M.; Lohse, T.; Schlenker, S.; Schwanke, U.; Boisson, C.; Martin, J.M.; Sol, H.; Brion, E.; Glicenstein, J.F.; Goret, P.; Moulin, E.; Rolland, L.

2007-01-01

Aims. The complex Monoceros Loop SNR/Rosette Nebula region contains several potential sources of very-high-energy (VHE) γ-ray emission and two as yet unidentified high-energy EGRET sources. Sensitive VHE observations are required to probe acceleration processes in this region. Methods. The HESS telescope array has been used to search for very high-energy gamma-ray sources in this region. CO data from the NANTEN telescope were used to map the molecular clouds in the region, which could act as target material for γ-ray production via hadronic interactions. Results. We announce the discovery of a new γ-ray source, HESS J0632+057, located close to the rim of the Monoceros SNR. This source is unresolved by HESS and has no clear counterpart at other wavelengths but is possibly associated with the weak X-ray source 1RXS J063258.3+054857, the Be-star MWC148 and/or the lower energy γ-ray source 3EGJ0634+0521. No evidence for an associated molecular cloud was found in the CO data. (authors)

Time-dependent search for neutrino emission from X-ray binaries with the ANTARES telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albert, A.; André, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Aubert, J.-J.; Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Barrios-Martí, J.; Basa, S.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bormuth, R.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Capone, A.; Caramete, L.; Carr, J.; Celli, S.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coleiro, A.; Coniglione, R.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Deschamps, A.; De Bonis, G.; Distefano, C.; Di Palma, I.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Eberl, T.; El Bojaddaini, I.; Elsässer, D.; Enzenhöfer, A.; Felis, I.; Fusco, L.A.; Galatà, S.; Gay, P.; Geißelsöder, S.; Geyer, K.; Giordano, V.; Gleixner, A.; Glotin, H.; Gracia-Ruiz, R.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; van Haren, H.; Heijboer, A.J.; Hello, Y.; Hernández-Rey, J.J.; Hößl, J.; Hofestädt, J.; Hugon, C.; Illuminati, G.; James, C.W.; de Jong, M.; Jongen, M.; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kießling, D.; Kouchner, A.; Kreter, M.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachaud, C.; Lahmann, R.; Lefèvre, D.; Leonora, E.; Loucatos, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Marinelli, A.; Martínez-Mora, J.A.; Mathieu, A.; Melis, K.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Mueller, C.; Nezri, E.; Pavalas, G.E.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, C.; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Racca, C.; Riccobene, G.; Roensch, K.; Saldaña, M.; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Sánchez-Losa, A.; Sanguineti, M.; Sapienza, P.; Schnabel, J.; Schüssler, F.; Seitz, T.; Sieger, C.; Spurio, M.; Stolarczyk, T.; Taiuti, M.; Trovato, A.; Tselengidou, M.; Turpin, D.; Tönnis, C.; Vallage, B.; Vallée, C.; Van Elewyck, V.; Vivolo, D.; Wagner, S.; Wilms, J.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zúñiga, J.

2017-01-01

ANTARES is currently the largest neutrino telescope operating in the NorthernHemisphere, aiming at the detection of high-energy neutrinos from astrophysical sources.Neutrino telescopes constantly monitor at least one complete hemisphere of the sky, and arethus well-suited to detect neutrinos

Measurement of the high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Moon with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

CERN Document Server

Ackermann, M.; Albert, A.; Atwood, W. B.; Baldini, L.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bellazzini, R.; Bissaldi, E.; Blandford, R. D.; Bonino, R.; Bottacini, E.; Bregeon, J.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Caragiulo, M.; Caraveo, P.A.; Cavazzuti, E.; Cecchi, C.; Chekhtman, A.; Chiang, J.; Chiaro, G.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Costanza, F.; Cuoco, A.; Cutini, S.; D'Ammando, F.; de Angelis, A.; de Palma, F.; Desiante, R.; Digel, S.W.; Di Venere, L.; Drell, P.S.; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S.J.; Focke, W.B.; Franckowiak, A.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Grenier, I. A.; Grove, J.E.; Guiriec, S.; Harding, A. K.; Hewitt, J. W.; Horan, D.; Hou, X.; Iafrate, G.; Jóhannesson, G.; Kamae, T.; Kuss, M.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Li, J.; Li, L.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lovellette, M.N.; Lubrano, P.; Magill, J.; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Mayer, M.; Mazziotta, M.N.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Mizuno, T.; Monzani, M.E.; Morselli, A.; Murgia, S.; Nuss, E.; Omodei, N.; Orlando, E.; Ormes, J.F.; Paneque, D.; Perkins, J. S.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Petrosian, V.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Rainò, S.; Rando, R.; Razzano, M.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Sgrò, C.; Reposeur, T.; Siskind, E.J.; Spada, F.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Takahashi, H.; Thayer, J.B.; Thompson, D.J.; Tibaldo, L.; Torres, D. F.; Tosti, G.; Troja, E.; Vianello, G.; Winer, B. L.; Wood, K. S.; Yassine, M.; Cerutti, F.; Ferrari, A.; Sala, P.R.

2016-01-01

We have measured the gamma-ray emission spectrum of the Moon using the data collected by the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi satellite during its first 7 years of operation, in the energy range from 30 MeV up to a few GeV. We have also studied the time evolution of the flux, finding a correlation with the solar activity. We have developed a full Monte Carlo simulation describing the interactions of cosmic rays with the lunar surface. The results of the present analysis can be explained in the framework of this model, where the production of gamma rays is due to the interactions of cosmic-ray proton and helium nuclei with the surface of the Moon. Finally, we have used our simulation to derive the cosmic-ray proton and helium spectra near Earth from the Moon gamma-ray data.

Optimization of graded multilayer designs for astronomical x-ray telescopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mao, P.H.; Harrison, F.A.; Windt, D.L.

1999-01-01

We developed a systematic method for optimizing the design of depth-graded multilayers for astronomical hard-x-ray and soft-gamma-ray telescopes based on the instrument's bandpass and the field of view. We apply these methods to the design of the conical-approximation Wolter I optics employed...... by the balloon-borne High Energy Focusing Telescope, using W/Si as the multilayer materials. In addition, we present optimized performance calculations of mirrors, using other material pairs that are capable of extending performance to photon energies above the W K-absorption edge (69.5 keV), including Pt/C, Ni...

Very high-energy gamma rays from gamma-ray bursts.

Science.gov (United States)

Chadwick, Paula M

2007-05-15

Very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy has undergone a transformation in the last few years, with telescopes of unprecedented sensitivity having greatly expanded the source catalogue. Such progress makes the detection of a gamma-ray burst at the highest energies much more likely than previously. This paper describes the facilities currently operating and their chances for detecting gamma-ray bursts, and reviews predictions for VHE gamma-ray emission from gamma-ray bursts. Results to date are summarized.

A monolithic silicon detector telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardella, G.; Amorini, F.; Cabibbo, M.; Di Pietro, A.; Fallica, G.; Franzo, G.; Figuera, P.; Papa, M.; Pappalardo, G.; Percolla, G.; Priolo, F.; Privitera, V.; Rizzo, F.; Tudisco, S.

1996-01-01

An ultrathin silicon detector (1 μm) thick implanted on a standard 400 μm Si-detector has been built to realize a monolithic telescope detector for simultaneous charge and energy determination of charged particles. The performances of the telescope have been tested using standard alpha sources and fragments emitted in nuclear reactions with different projectile-target colliding systems. An excellent charge resolution has been obtained for low energy (less than 5 MeV) light nuclei. A multi-array lay-out of such detectors is under construction to charge identify the particles emitted in reactions induced by low energy radioactive beams. (orig.)

Telescoping cylindrical piezoelectric fiber composite actuator assemblies

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, Sidney G. (Inventor); Shams, Qamar A. (Inventor); Fox, Robert L. (Inventor); Fox, legal representative, Christopher L. (Inventor); Fox Chattin, legal representative, Melanie L. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A telescoping actuator assembly includes a plurality of cylindrical actuators in a concentric arrangement. Each cylindrical actuator is at least one piezoelectric fiber composite actuator having a plurality of piezoelectric fibers extending parallel to one another and to the concentric arrangement's longitudinal axis. Each cylindrical actuator is coupled to concentrically-adjacent ones of the cylindrical actuators such that the plurality of cylindrical actuators can experience telescopic movement. An electrical energy source coupled to the cylindrical actuators applies actuation energy thereto to generate the telescopic movement.

High-energy neutrinos from FR0 radio galaxies?

Science.gov (United States)

Tavecchio, F.; Righi, C.; Capetti, A.; Grandi, P.; Ghisellini, G.

2018-04-01

The sources responsible for the emission of high-energy (≳100 TeV) neutrinos detected by IceCube are still unknown. Among the possible candidates, active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets are often examined, since the outflowing plasma seems to offer the ideal environment to accelerate the required parent high-energy cosmic rays. The non-detection of single-point sources or - almost equivalently - the absence, in the IceCube events, of multiplets originating from the same sky position - constrains the cosmic density and the neutrino output of these sources, pointing to a numerous population of faint sources. Here we explore the possibility that FR0 radio galaxies, the population of compact sources recently identified in large radio and optical surveys and representing the bulk of radio-loud AGN population, can represent suitable candidates for neutrino emission. Modelling the spectral energy distribution of an FR0 radio galaxy recently associated with a γ-ray source detected by the Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi, we derive the physical parameters of its jet, in particular the power carried by it. We consider the possible mechanisms of neutrino production, concluding that pγ reactions in the jet between protons and ambient radiation is too inefficient to sustain the required output. We propose an alternative scenario, in which protons, accelerated in the jet, escape from it and diffuse in the host galaxy, producing neutrinos as a result of pp scattering with the interstellar gas, in strict analogy with the processes taking place in star-forming galaxies.

Design Development of a Combined Deployment and Pointing System for the International Space Station Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Budinoff, Jason; Gendreau, Keith; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Baker, Charles; Berning, Robert; Colangelo, TOdd; Holzinger, John; Lewis, Jesse; Liu, Alice; Mitchell, Alissa;

Active x-ray optics for high resolution space telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Doel, Peter; Atkins, Carolyn; Brooks, D.; Feldman, Charlotte; Willingale, Richard; Button, Tim; Rodriguez Sanmartin, Daniel; Meggs, Carl; James, Ady; Willis, Graham; Smith, Andy

2017-11-01

The Smart X-ray Optics (SXO) Basic Technology project started in April 2006 and will end in October 2010. The aim is to develop new technologies in the field of X-ray focusing, in particular the application of active and adaptive optics. While very major advances have been made in active/adaptive astronomical optics for visible light, little was previously achieved for X-ray optics where the technological challenges differ because of the much shorter wavelengths involved. The field of X-ray astronomy has been characterized by the development and launch of ever larger observatories with the culmination in the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra missions which are currently operational. XMM-Newton uses a multi-nested structure to provide modest angular resolution ( 10 arcsec) but large effective area, while Chandra sacrifices effective area to achieve the optical stability necessary to provide sub-arc second resolution. Currently the European Space Agency (ESA) is engaged in studies of the next generation of X-ray space observatories, with the aim of producing telescopes with increased sensitivity and resolution. To achieve these aims several telescopes have been proposed, for example ESA and NASA's combined International X-ray Observatory (IXO), aimed at spectroscopy, and NASA's Generation-X. In the field of X-ray astronomy sub 0.2 arcsecond resolution with high efficiency would be very exciting. Such resolution is unlikely to be achieved by anything other than an active system. The benefits of a such a high resolution would be important for a range of astrophysics subjects, for example the potential angular resolution offered by active X-ray optics could provide unprecedented structural imaging detail of the Solar Wind bowshock interaction of comets, planets and similar objects and auroral phenomena throughout the Solar system using an observing platform in low Earth orbit. A major aim of the SXO project was to investigate the production of thin

Status of the MAGIC telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Colin, Pierre; Carmona, Emiliano; Schweizer, Thomas; Sitarek, Julian [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Werner-Heisenberg Institut, Muenchen (Germany)

2010-07-01

MAGIC is a system of two 17-m Cherenkov telescopes located on La Palma (Canary islands),sensitive to gamma-rays above 30 GeV. It has been recently upgraded by a second telescope which strongly improves the sensitivity, particularly at low energy. Here we present the status of the MAGIC telescopes and an overview of the recent results obtained in single or stereoscopic mode. We also discuss the real performance of the new stereoscopic system based on Crab Nebula observations.

The Renewable Energy Data Explorer: Mapping Our Renewable Energy Future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2017-04-13

The Renewable Energy (RE) Data Explorer, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is an innovative web-based platform that allows users to visualize and analyze renewable energy potential. The RE Data Explorer informs prospecting, integrated planning, and policymaking to enable low emission development.

Template analysis for the MAGIC telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menzel, Uta [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Muenchen (Germany); Collaboration: MAGIC-Collaboration

2016-07-01

The MAGIC telescopes are two 17-m-diameter Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes located on the Canary island of La Palma. They record the Cherenkov light from air showers induced by very high energy photons. The current data analysis uses a parametrization of the two shower images (including Hillas parameters) to determine the characteristics of the primary particle. I am implementing an advanced analysis method that compares shower images on a pixel basis with template images based on Monte Carlo simulations. To reduce the simulation effort the templates contain only pure shower images that are convolved with the telescope response later in the analysis. The primary particle parameters are reconstructed by maximizing the likelihood of the template. By using all the information available in the shower images, the performance of MAGIC is expected to improve. In this presentation I will explain the general idea of a template-based analysis and show the first results of the implementation.

The first telescope of the HEGRA air Cherenkov imaging telescope array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, R.; Kankanian, R.; Krennrich, F.; Mueller, N.; Sander, H.; Sawallisch, P.; Aharonian, F.; Akhperjanian, A.; Beglarian, A.; Fernandez, J.; Fonseca, V.; Grewe, W.; Heusler, A.; Konopelko, A.K.; Lorenz, E.; Merck, M.; Plyasheshnikov, A.V.; Renker, D.; Samorski, M.; Sauerland, K.; Smarsch, E.; Stamm, W.; Ulrich, M.; Wiedner, C.A.; Wirth, H.

1994-01-01

In search of VHE γ ray emission from cosmic point sources a system of imaging Cherenkov telescopes is constructed at present on the Canarian island of La Palma; the first telescope has been operational since 1992. The Cherenkov light from air shower particles is collected by a 5 m 2 reflector. The camera at the focus contains 37 photomultipliers which sample the images of the Cherenkov flashes. The subsequent image analysis allows the discrimination of γ ray induced events from the much more abundant charged cosmic ray induced showers. The telescope has an effective energy threshold for γ showers of about 1.5 TeV. During the first year of operation a signal from the Crab nebula was detected. ((orig.))

Testing Special Relativity at High Energies with Astrophysical Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Stecker, F. W.

2007-01-01

Since the group of Lorentz boosts is unbounded, there is a question as to whether Lorentz invariance (LI) holds to infinitely short distances. However, special and general relativity may break down at the Planck scale. Various quantum gravity scenarios such as loop quantum gravity, as well as some forms of string theory and extra dimension models may imply Lorentz violation (LV) at ultrahigh energies. The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), to be launched in mid-December, will measure the spectra of distant extragalactic sources of high energy gamma-rays, particularly active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. GLAST can look for energy-dependent gamma-ray propagation effects from such sources as a signal of Lorentz invariance violation. These sources may also exhibit the high energy cutoffs predicted to be the result of intergalactic annihilation interactions with low energy photons having a flux level as determined by various astronomical observations. With LV the threshold for such interactions can be significantly raised, changing the predicted absorption turnover in the observed spectrum of the sources. Stecker and Glashow have shown that the existence such absorption features in the spectra of extragalactic sources puts constraints on LV. Such constraints have important implications for some quantum gravity and large extra dimension models. Future spaceborne detectors dedicated to measuring gamma-ray polarization can look for birefringence effects as a possible signal of loop quantum gravity. A very small LV may also result in the modification or elimination of the GZK effect, thus modifying the spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. This possibility can be explored with ground-based arrays such as Auger or with a space based detector system such as the proposed OWL satellite mission.

Detection of ultra-high energy cosmic ray showers with a single-pixel fluorescence telescope

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Fujii, T.; Malacari, M.; Bertaina, M.; Casolino, E.; Dawson, B.; Horváth, P.; Hrabovský, M.; Jiang, J.; Mandát, Dušan; Matalon, A.; Matthews, J.N.; Motloch, P.; Palatka, Miroslav; Pech, Miroslav; Privitera, P.; Schovánek, Petr; Takizawa, Y.; Thomas, S.B.; Trávníček, Petr; Yamazaki, K.

2016-01-01

Roč. 74, Feb (2016), s. 64-72 ISSN 0927-6505 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LG13007 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : ultra-high energy cosmic rays * fluorescence detector * extensive air shower Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 3.257, year: 2016

Commissioning and first tests of the MAGIC telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Baixeras, C.; Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Blanch, O.; Blanchot, G.; Bock, R.; Bretz, T.; Chilingarian, A.; Coarasa, J. A.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. C.; Corti, D.; Cortina, J.; Domingo, C.; Domingo, E.; Ferenc, D.; Fernández, E.; Flix, J.; Fonseca, V.; Font, L.; Galante, N.; Gaug, M.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gebauer, J.; Giller, M.; Goebel, F.; Hengstebeck, T.; Jacone, P.; de Jager, O. C.; Kalekin, O.; Kestel, M.; Kneiske, T.; Laille, A.; López, M.; López, J.; Lorenz, E.; Mannheim, K.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mase, K.; Merck, M.; Meucci, M.; Miralles, L.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Wilhelmi, E. Oña; Orduña, R.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Pascoli, D.; Pavel, N.; Pegna, R.; Peruzzo, L.; Piccioli, A.; Roberts, A.; Reyes, R.; Saggion, A.; Sánchez, A.; Sartori, P.; Scalzotto, V.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpaa, A.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Stepanian, A.; Stiehler, R.; Takalo, L.; Teshima, M.; Tonello, N.; Torres, A.; Turini, N.; Vitale, V.; Volkov, S.; Wagner, R. M.; Wibig, T.; Wittek, W.

2004-02-01

Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope is starting its operations with a set of engineering runs to tune the telescope subsystem elements to be ready for the first physics campaign. Many technical improvements have been developed and implemented in several elements of the telescope to reach the lowest energy threshold ever obtained by an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope. A general description of the telescope is presented. The commissioning of the telescope's elements is described and the expected performances are reviewed with the final detector set-up.

Extragalactic observations with the MAGIC telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shore, S.N.

2014-01-01

The MAGIC imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, both as a single detector and now used in stereo mode, have been observing a variety of active galaxies and galactic clusters for almost a decade. This review provides a brief summary of some of the most recent results for blazars observed in the energy range > 50 GeV to tens of TeV. The very high energy emission observed with MAGIC is essential for disentangling the various contributions and timescales to the observed spectra and variability. (author)

Telescope Construction: A Hands-On Approach to Astronomy Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sarrazine, Angela R.; Albin, E.

2009-01-01

We report on a popular semester-long telescope making course offered at Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, GA. The program is tailored for junior / senior level high school students and incorporates the current educational performance standards for the state of Georgia. This course steps out of the traditional classroom environment and allows students to explore optics and astronomical concepts by constructing their own telescopes. Student telescopes follow the classic six-inch f/8 Newtonian reflector design, which has proven to be a good compromise between portability and aperture. Participants meet for a few hours, twice weekly, to build their telescopes. Over the course of the semester, raw one-inch thick Pyrex mirror blanks are ground, polished, and figured by hand into precision telescope objectives. Along the way, students are introduced to the Ronchi and Foucault methods for testing optics and once figured, completed mirrors are then chemically silvered. A plywood Dobsonian-style base is built and eventually mated with an optical tube made from a standard eight-inch concrete form tube or sonotube. An evening of star testing the optics and observation is planned at the end of the semester to insure the proper operation of each telescope. In summary, we believe that a hands-on approach to the understanding and use of optical telescopes is a great way not only to instill enthusiasm among students for the night sky, but may perhaps inspire the next generation of professional telescope makers.

The camera of the fifth H.E.S.S. telescope. Part I: System description

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolmont, J., E-mail: bolmont@in2p3.fr [LPNHE, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Université Denis Diderot Paris 7, CNRS/IN2P3, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75252 Paris Cedex 5 (France); Corona, P.; Gauron, P.; Ghislain, P.; Goffin, C.; Guevara Riveros, L.; Huppert, J.-F.; Martineau-Huynh, O.; Nayman, P.; Parraud, J.-M.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, D.; Vincent, P. [LPNHE, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Université Denis Diderot Paris 7, CNRS/IN2P3, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75252 Paris Cedex 5 (France); Bertoli, W.; Espigat, P.; Punch, M. [APC, AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 10, rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, F-75205 Paris Cedex 13 (France); Besin, D.; Delagnes, E.; Glicenstein, J.-F. [CEA Saclay, DSM/IRFU, F-91191 Gif-Sur-Yvette Cedex (France); and others

2014-10-11

In July 2012, as the four ground-based gamma-ray telescopes of the H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System) array reached their tenth year of operation in Khomas Highlands, Namibia, a fifth telescope took its first data as part of the system. This new Cherenkov detector, comprising a 614.5 m{sup 2} reflector with a highly pixelized camera in its focal plane, improves the sensitivity of the current array by a factor two and extends its energy domain down to a few tens of GeV. The present part I of the paper gives a detailed description of the fifth H.E.S.S. telescope's camera, presenting the details of both the hardware and the software, emphasizing the main improvements as compared to previous H.E.S.S. camera technology.

Particle Beam Tests of the Calorimetric Electron Telescope

CERN Document Server

Tamura, Tadahisa

The Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) is a new mission addressing outstanding astrophysics questions including the nature of dark matter, the sources of high-energy particles and photons, and the details of particle acceleration and transport in the galaxy by measuring the high-energy spectra of electrons, nuclei, and gamma-rays. It will launch on HTV-5 (H-II Transfer Vehicle 5) in 2014 for installation on the Japanese Experiment Module–Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) of the International Space Station. The CALET collaboration is led by JAXA and includes researchers from Japan, the U.S. and Italy. The CALET Main Telescope uses a plastic scintillator charge detector followed by a 30 radiation-length (X0) deep particle calorimeter divided into a 3 X0 imaging calorimeter, with scintillating optical fibers interleaved with thin tungsten sheets, and a 27 X0 fully-active total-absorption calorimeter made of lead tungstate scintillators. CALET prototypes were tested at the CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Ph...

High Spatial and Temporal Frequency Active Surfaces for Diffraction Controlled Telescopes

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Segmented primary mirrors are a key element in the design of next generation large aperture UV/Optical/IR space telescopes. To enable high quality science, precise...

A virtual reality environment for telescope operation

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Luis A.; Villarreal, José L.; Ángeles, Fernando; Bernal, Abel

2010-07-01

Astronomical observatories and telescopes are becoming increasingly large and complex systems, demanding to any potential user the acquirement of great amount of information previous to access them. At present, the most common way to overcome that information is through the implementation of larger graphical user interfaces and computer monitors to increase the display area. Tonantzintla Observatory has a 1-m telescope with a remote observing system. As a step forward in the improvement of the telescope software, we have designed a Virtual Reality (VR) environment that works as an extension of the remote system and allows us to operate the telescope. In this work we explore this alternative technology that is being suggested here as a software platform for the operation of the 1-m telescope.

Recent Results on Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays from the Telescope Array

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2015-01-01

TA's recent results on Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) are reported. The energy spectrum based on 20k events above 10^18.2 eV demonstrates a clear dip at 10^18.7 eV and a cutoff at 10^19.7 eV , the shape and the energies of which are well described by the GZK process: energy loss of extra-galactic protons by the interaction with the CMB and IR background. The primary composition obtained from the shower maximum analysis using the hybrid technique is consistent with 100% proton or light nuclei, and inconsistent with 100% iron up to 10^19.3 eV. Above the GZK cutoff energy, a large flux enhancement of medium size (radius=20deg) is observed in the direction of Ursa-Major. The chance probability of this hotspot appearing from the isotropic flux is 4.0sigma. The center of the hotspot is 19 deg off from the Super-Galactic Plane, and no obvious candidate of UHECRs is known in this direction.

Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Balloon Flight Engineering Model: Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, D. J.; Godfrey, G.; Williams, S. M.; Grove, J. E.; Mizuno, T.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Kamae, T.; Ampe, J.; Briber, Stuart; Dann, James;

The Atmospheric Monitoring Strategy for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, M. K.; CTA Consortium

2015-04-01

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 (23 m), Medium (12 m) and Small (4 m) sized telescopes spread over an area of order ~km2. 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.

The present status of the Telescope Array experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nonaka, T. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha Kashiwa Chiba (Japan); Abu-Zayyad, T.; Allen, M. [University of Utah - High Energy Astrophysics Institute, 115 S 1400 E 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0830 (United States); Azuma, R. [Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ohokayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550 (Japan); Belz, J.W. [University of Utah - High Energy Astrophysics Institute, 115 S 1400 E 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0830 (United States); Bergman, D.R. [Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Blake, S.A.; Brusova, O.; Cady, R.; Cao, Z. [University of Utah - High Energy Astrophysics Institute, 115 S 1400 E 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0830 (United States); Chiba, J. [Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki Noda-shi, Chiba 278-8510 (Japan); Chikawa, M. [Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka 577-8582 (Japan); Cho, I.S. [Yonsei University, 134 Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Fujii, H. [KEK - Institute of Particle And Nuclear Studies, 1-1 Oho Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Fujii, T. [Osaka City University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto-cho, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585 (Japan); Fukuda, T. [Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ohokayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550 (Japan); Fukushima, M. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha Kashiwa Chiba (Japan); Hayashi, K. [Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ohokayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550 (Japan); Hayashida, N. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha Kashiwa Chiba (Japan); Hibino, K. [Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 221-8686 (Japan)

2009-05-15

The Telescope Array(TA) experiment located at western desert in Utah USA (N39.3,W112.9) is designed for observation of air shower from extreme high energy cosmic rays. The TA detector consists of 2 types of detector to enable a cross check on systematic difference from the two main methods of observation for the energy region. One is a Fluorescence detector (FD) for detecting fluorescence light from air shower and another is surface detector (SD) array for detecting air shower particles at ground level. Each SD consists of 2 layers of plastic scintillator with 3m{sup 2} of surface and more sensitive to electromagnetic component in air shower. The full operation using 3FD stations and full SD array has started. Here we present the updated status of Telescope Array experiment.

Lasers and future high energy colliders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsa, Z.

1998-02-01

Future high energy colliders, directions for particle physics and relationship to new technology such as lasers are discussed. Experimental approaches to explore New Physics with emphasis on the utility of high energy colliders are also discussed

High frequency electromechanical memory cells based on telescoping carbon nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Popov, A M; Lozovik, Y E; Kulish, A S; Bichoutskaia, E

2010-07-01

A new method to increase the operational frequency of electromechanical memory cells based on the telescoping motion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes through the selection of the form of the switching voltage pulse is proposed. The relative motion of the walls of carbon nanotubes can be controlled through the shape of the interwall interaction energy surface. This allows the use of the memory cells in nonvolatile or volatile regime, depending on the structure of carbon nanotube. Simulations based on ab initio and semi-empirical calculations of the interwall interaction energies are used to estimate the switching voltage and the operational frequency of volatile cells with the electrodes made of carbon nanotubes. The lifetime of nonvolatile memory cells is also predicted.

Applications of Robust, Radiation Hard AlGaN Optoelectronic Devices in Space Exploration and High Energy Density Physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, K.

2011-05-04

This slide show presents: space exploration applications; high energy density physics applications; UV LED and photodiode radiation hardness; UV LED and photodiode space qualification; UV LED AC charge management; and UV LED satellite payload instruments. A UV LED satellite will be launched 2nd half 2012.

CsI Calorimeter for a Compton-Pair Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Grove, Eric J.

We propose to build and test a hodoscopic CsI(Tl) scintillating-crystal calorimeter for a medium-energy γ-ray Compton and pair telescope. The design and technical approach for this calorimeter relies deeply on heritage from the Fermi LAT CsI Calorimeter, but it dramatically improves the low-energy performance of that design by reading out the scintillation light with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), making the technology developed for Fermi applicable in the Compton regime. While such a hodoscopic calorimeter is useful for an entire class of medium-energy γ-ray telescope designs, we propose to build it explicitly to support beam tests and balloon flight of the Proto-ComPair telescope, the development and construction of which was funded in a four-year APRA program beginning in 2015 ("ComPair: Steps to a Medium Energy γ-ray Mission" with PI J. McEnery of GSFC). That award did not include funding for its CsI calorimeter subsystem, and this proposal is intended to cover that gap. ComPair is a MIDEX-class instrument concept to perform a high-sensitivity survey of the γ-ray sky from 0.5 MeV to 500 MeV. ComPair is designed to provide a dramatic increase in sensitivity relative to previous instruments in this energy range (predominantly INTEGRAL/SPI and Compton COMPTEL), with the same transformative sensitivity increase - and corresponding scientific return- that the Fermi Large Area Telescope provided relative to Compton EGRET. To enable transformative science over a broad range of MeV energies and with a wide field of view, ComPair is a combined Compton telescope and pair telescope employing a silicon-strip tracker (for Compton scattering and pair conversion and tracking) and a solid-state CdZnTe calorimeter (for Compton absorption) and CsI calorimeter (for pair calorimetry), surrounded by a plastic scintillator anti-coincidence detector. Under the current proposal, we will complete the detailed design, assembly, and test of the CsI calorimeter for the risk

Search for magnetic monopoles with the neutrino telescope ANTARES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Picot-Clemente, N.

2010-01-01

The ANTARES neutrino telescope is located at a 2500 meters depth, and is composed of an array of 900 photomultipliers installed for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by neutrino-induced muons, after having interacted with matter, and in order to reconstruct their directions. However, besides of being capable of detecting high energy neutrinos, neutrino telescopes could measure the incoming flux of magnetic monopoles in the detector. In this work, were first presented the different methods used in order to calibrate the photomultipliers, which are the heart of a neutrino telescope. The possibility of detecting magnetic monopoles with ANTARES was then discussed, and a first analysis optimised for the search for high velocity magnetic monopoles showed the great sensitivity offered by the telescope. Finally, a track reconstruction algorithm was modified, and a new analysis this time sensitive over a wider range of velocities was performed. After the application of the last analysis on the data taken in 2008 with the ANTARES telescope, new upper limits on the upward going magnetic monopole flux, of masses lower than 10 14 GeV were obtained, and are the best experimental constraints on their flux for the velocity region β ∼ [0.65, 0.995]. (author)

Radio Telescopes Extend Astronomy's Best "Yardstick," Provide Vital Tool for Unraveling Dark Energy Mystery

Science.gov (United States)

2009-06-01

/AUI/NSF Dark Energy was discovered in 1998 with the observation that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. It constitutes 70 percent of the matter and energy in the Universe, but its nature remains unknown. Determining its nature is one of the most important problems in astrophysics. "Measuring precise distances is one of the oldest problems in astronomy, and applying a relatively new radio-astronomy technique to this old problem is vital to solving one of the greatest challenges of 21st Century astrophysics," said team member Mark Reid of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The work on UGC 3789 follows a landmark measurement done with the VLBA in 1999, in which the distance to the galaxy NGC 4258 -- 23 million light-years -- was directly measured by observing water masers in a disk of material orbiting its central black hole. That measurement allowed refinement of other, indirect distance-measuring techniques using variable stars as "standard candles." The measurement to UGC 3789 adds a new milepost seven times more distant than NGC 4258, which itself is too close to measure the Hubble Constant directly. The speed at which NGC 4258 is receding from the Milky Way can be influenced by local effects. "UGC 3789 is far enough that the speed at which it is moving away from the Milky Way is more indicative of the expansion of the Universe," said team member Elizabeth Humphreys of the CfA. Following the achievement with NGC 4258, astronomers used the highly-sensitive GBT to search for other galaxies with similar water-molecule masers in disks orbiting their central black holes. Once candidates were found, astronomers then used the VLBA and the GBT together with the Effelsberg telescope to make images of the disks and measure their detailed rotational structure, needed for the distance measurements. This effort requires multi-year observations of each galaxy. UGC 3789 is the first galaxy in the program to yield such a precise distance. Team member Cheng

Infrared Astronomy Professional Development for K-12 Educators: WISE Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Borders, Kareen; Mendez, B. M.

2010-01-01

K-12 educators need effective and relevant astronomy professional development. WISE Telescope (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer) and Spitzer Space Telescope Education programs provided an immersive teacher professional development workshop at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico during the summer of 2009. As many common misconceptions involve scale and distance, teachers worked with Moon/Earth scale, solar system scale, and distance of objects in the universe. Teachers built and used basic telescopes, learned about the history of telescopes, explored ground and satellite based telescopes, and explored and worked on models of WISE Telescope. An in-depth explanation of WISE and Spitzer telescopes gave participants background knowledge for infrared astronomy observations. We taught the electromagnetic spectrum through interactive stations. The stations included an overview via lecture and power point, the use of ultraviolet beads to determine ultraviolet exposure, the study of WISE lenticulars and diagramming of infrared data, listening to light by using speakers hooked up to photoreceptor cells, looking at visible light through diffraction glasses and diagramming the data, protocols for using astronomy based research in the classroom, and infrared thermometers to compare environmental conditions around the observatory. An overview of LIDAR physics was followed up by a simulated LIDAR mapping of the topography of Mars. We will outline specific steps for K-12 infrared astronomy professional development, provide data demonstrating the impact of the above professional development on educator understanding and classroom use, and detail future plans for additional K-12 professional development. Funding was provided by WISE Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Starbucks, Arecibo Observatory, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Washington Space Grant Consortium.

Limits to the Fraction of High-energy Photon Emitting Gamma-Ray Bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Akerlof, Carl W.; Zheng, WeiKang

2013-02-01

After almost four years of operation, the two instruments on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have shown that the number of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with high-energy photon emission above 100 MeV cannot exceed roughly 9% of the total number of all such events, at least at the present detection limits. In a recent paper, we found that GRBs with photons detected in the Large Area Telescope have a surprisingly broad distribution with respect to the observed event photon number. Extrapolation of our empirical fit to numbers of photons below our previous detection limit suggests that the overall rate of such low flux events could be estimated by standard image co-adding techniques. In this case, we have taken advantage of the excellent angular resolution of the Swift mission to provide accurate reference points for 79 GRB events which have eluded any previous correlations with high-energy photons. We find a small but significant signal in the co-added field. Guided by the extrapolated power-law fit previously obtained for the number distribution of GRBs with higher fluxes, the data suggest that only a small fraction of GRBs are sources of high-energy photons.

LIMITS TO THE FRACTION OF HIGH-ENERGY PHOTON EMITTING GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akerlof, Carl W.; Zheng, WeiKang

2013-01-01

After almost four years of operation, the two instruments on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have shown that the number of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with high-energy photon emission above 100 MeV cannot exceed roughly 9% of the total number of all such events, at least at the present detection limits. In a recent paper, we found that GRBs with photons detected in the Large Area Telescope have a surprisingly broad distribution with respect to the observed event photon number. Extrapolation of our empirical fit to numbers of photons below our previous detection limit suggests that the overall rate of such low flux events could be estimated by standard image co-adding techniques. In this case, we have taken advantage of the excellent angular resolution of the Swift mission to provide accurate reference points for 79 GRB events which have eluded any previous correlations with high-energy photons. We find a small but significant signal in the co-added field. Guided by the extrapolated power-law fit previously obtained for the number distribution of GRBs with higher fluxes, the data suggest that only a small fraction of GRBs are sources of high-energy photons.

One-point fluctuation analysis of the high-energy neutrino sky

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feyereisen, Michael R.; Ando, Shin' ichiro [GRAPPA Institute, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Tamborra, Irene, E-mail: m.r.feyereisen@uva.nl, E-mail: tamborra@nbi.ku.dk, E-mail: s.ando@uva.nl [Niels Bohr International Academy, Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)

2017-03-01

We perform the first one-point fluctuation analysis of the high-energy neutrino sky. This method reveals itself to be especially suited to contemporary neutrino data, as it allows to study the properties of the astrophysical components of the high-energy flux detected by the IceCube telescope, even with low statistics and in the absence of point source detection. Besides the veto-passing atmospheric foregrounds, we adopt a simple model of the high-energy neutrino background by assuming two main extra-galactic components: star-forming galaxies and blazars. By leveraging multi-wavelength data from Herschel and Fermi , we predict the spectral and anisotropic probability distributions for their expected neutrino counts in IceCube. We find that star-forming galaxies are likely to remain a diffuse background due to the poor angular resolution of IceCube, and we determine an upper limit on the number of shower events that can reasonably be associated to blazars. We also find that upper limits on the contribution of blazars to the measured flux are unfavourably affected by the skewness of the blazar flux distribution. One-point event clustering and likelihood analyses of the IceCube HESE data suggest that this method has the potential to dramatically improve over more conventional model-based analyses, especially for the next generation of neutrino telescopes.

The JCMT Telescope Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Tilanus, Remo P. J.; Jenness, Tim; Economou, Frossie; Cockayne, Steve

Established telescopes often face a challenge when trying to incorporate new software standards and utilities into their existing real-time control system. At the JCMT we have successfully added important new features such as a Relational Database (the Telescope Management System---TMS), an online data Archive, and WWW based utilities to an, in part, 10-year old system. The new functionality was added with remarkably few alterations to the existing system. We are still actively expanding and exploring these new capabilities.

The ASTRI SST-2M prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array: prototype technologies goals and strategies for the future SST

Science.gov (United States)

Marchiori, Gianpietro; Busatta, Andrea; Giacomel, Stefano; Folla, Ivan; Valsecchi, Marco; Canestrari, Rodolfo; Bonnoli, Giacomo; Cascone, Enrico; Conconi, Paolo; Fiorini, Mauro; Giro, Enrico; La Palombara, Nicola; Pareschi, Giovanni; Perri, Luca; Rodeghiero, Gabriele; Sironi, Giorgia; Stringhetti, Luca; Toso, Giorgio; Tosti, Gino; Pellicciari, Carlo

2014-07-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory will represent the next generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope. Using a combination of large-, medium-, and small-scale telescopes (LST, MST, SST, respectively), it will explore the Very High Energy domain from a few tens of GeVup to about few hundreds of TeV with unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution and imaging quality. In this framework, the Italian ASTRI program, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) developed a 4-meter class telescope, which will adopt an aplanatic, wide-field, double-reflection optical layout in a Schwarzschild- Couder configuration. Within this program INAF assigned to the consortium between Galbiati Group and EIE Group the construction, assembly and tests activities of the prototype named ASTRI SST-2M. On the basis of the lesson learnt from the prototype, other telescopes will be produced, starting from a re-design phase, in order to optimize performances and the overall costs and production schedule for the CTA-SST telescope. This paper will firstly give an overview of the concept for the SST prototype mount structure. In this contest, the technologies adopted for the design, manufacturing and tests of the entire system will be presented. Moreover, a specific focus on the challenges of the prototype and the strategies associated with it will be provided, in order to outline the near future performance goals for this type of Cherenkov telescopes employed for Gamma ray science.

Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbrescia, M.; An, S.; Antolini, R.; Badala, A.; Baldini Ferroli, R.; Bencivenni, G.; Blanco, F.; Bressan, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Chiri, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Cindolo, F.; Coccia, E.; De Pasquale, S.; Di Giovanni, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Fabbri, F.L.; Frolov, V.; Garbini, M.; Gustavino, C.

2008-01-01

The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented

Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

CERN Document Server

Abbrescia, M; An, S; Antolini, R; Badalà, A; Baldini Ferroli, R; Bencivenni, G; Blanco, F; Bressan, E; Chiavassa, A; Chiri, C; Cifarelli, L; Cindolo, F; Coccia, E; De Pasquale, S; Di Giovanni, A; D’Incecco, M; Fabbri, F L; Frolov, V; Garbini, M; Gustavino, C; Hatzifotiadou, D; Imponente, G; Kim, J; La Rocca, P; Librizzi, F; Maggiora, A; Menghetti, H; Miozzi, S; Moro, R; Panareo, M; Pappalardo, G S; Piragino, G; Riggi, F; Romano, F; Sartorelli, G; Sbarra, C; Selvi, M; Serci, S; Williams, C; Zuyeuski, R

2008-01-01

The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented.

Focusing Telescopes in Nuclear Astrophysics

CERN Document Server

Ballmoos, Peter von

2007-01-01

This volume is the first of its kind on focusing gamma-ray telescopes. Forty-eight refereed papers provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific potential and technical challenges of this nascent tool for nuclear astrophysics. The book features articles dealing with pivotal technologies such as grazing incident mirrors, multilayer coatings, Laue- and Fresnel-lenses - and even an optic using the curvature of space-time. The volume also presents an overview of detectors matching the ambitious objectives of gamma ray optics, and facilities for operating such systems on the ground and in space. The extraordinary scientific potential of focusing gamma-ray telescopes for the study of the most powerful sources and the most violent events in the Universe is emphasized in a series of introductory articles. Practicing professionals, and students interested in experimental high-energy astrophysics, will find this book a useful reference

NEUTRINO EMISSION FROM HIGH-ENERGY COMPONENT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Julia K.; Olivo, Martino; Halzen, Francis; O Murchadha, Aongus

2010-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have the potential to produce the particle energies (up to 10 21 eV) and energy budget (10 44 erg yr -1 Mpc -3 ) to accommodate the spectrum of the highest energy cosmic rays; on the other hand, there is no observational evidence that they accelerate hadrons. The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope recently observed two bursts that exhibit a power-law high-energy extension of a typical (Band) photon spectrum that extends to ∼30 GeV. On the basis of fireball phenomenology we argue that these two bursts, along with GRB941017 observed by EGRET in 1994, show indirect evidence for considerable baryon loading. Since the detection of neutrinos is the only unambiguous way to establish that GRBs accelerate protons, we use two methods to estimate the neutrino flux produced when they interact with fireball photons to produce charged pions and neutrinos. While the number of events expected from the two Fermi bursts discussed is small, should GRBs be the sources of the observed cosmic rays, a GRB941017-like event that has a hadronic power-law tail extending to several tens of GeV will be detected by the IceCube neutrino telescope.

Observing the Sun with Coronado telescopes telescopes

CERN Document Server

Pugh, Philip

2007-01-01

The Sun provides amateur astronomers with one of the few opportunities for daytime astronomy. In order to see the major features of our nearest star, special telescopes that have a very narrow visible bandwidth are essential. The bandwidth has to be as narrow as 1 A- 10-10 m (1 Angstrom) and centred on the absorption line of neutral hydrogen. This makes many major features of the Suna (TM)s chromosphere visible to the observer. Such narrow-band "Fabry-Perot etalon filters" are high technology, and until the introduction of the Coronado range of solar telescopes, were too expensive for amateur use. The entry-level Coronado telescope, the PST (Personal Solar Telescope) costs under 500. Solar prominences (vast columns of plasma, best seen at the edge of the solar disk), filaments, flares, sunspots, plage and active regions are all visible and can be imaged to produce spectacular solar photographs. Philip Pugh has assembled a team of contributors who show just how much solar work can be done with Coronado telesco...

TPCs in high-energy astronomical polarimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Black, J K

2007-01-01

High-energy astrophysics has yet to exploit the unique and important information that polarimetry could provide, largely due to the limited sensitivity of previously available polarimeters. In recent years, numerous efforts have been initiated to develop instruments with the sensitivity required for astronomical polarimetry over the 100 eV to 10 GeV band. Time projection chambers (TPCs), with their high-resolution event imaging capability, are an integral part of some of these efforts. After a brief overview of current astronomical polarimeter development efforts, the role of TPCs will be described in more detail. These include TPCs as photoelectric X-ray polarimeters and TPCs as components of polarizationsensitive Compton and pair-production telescopes

Status of the new Sum-Trigger system for the MAGIC telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez Garcia, Jezabel; Schweizer, Thomas; Nakajima, Daisuke [Max Planck Institute for Physics, Muenchen (Germany); Dazzi, Francesco [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita di Udine (Italy); INFN, sez. di Trieste (Italy)

2013-07-01

MAGIC is a stereoscopic system of two 17 meters Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes for gamma-ray astronomy operating in stereo mode. The telescopes are located at about 2.200 metres above sea level in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), in the Canary island of La Palma. Lowering the energy threshold of Cherenkov Telescopes is crucial for the observation of Pulsars, High redshift AGNs and GRBs. The Sum-Trigger, based on the analogue sum of a patch of pixels has a lower threshold compared to conventional digital triggers. The Sum-Trigger principle has been proven experimentally in 2007 by decreasing the energy threshold of the first Magic telescope (Back then operating in mono mode) from 55 GeV down to 25 GeV. The first VHE detection for the Crab Pulsar was achieved due to this low threshold. After the upgrade of the MAGIC I and MAGIC II cameras and readout systems, we are planning to install a new Sum-Trigger system in both telescopes in Summer 2013. This trigger system will be operated for the first time in stereo mode. At the conference we report about the status and the performance of the new Sum-Trigger-II system.

Design of UHECR telescope with 1 arcmin resolution and 50 deg. field of view

CERN Document Server

Sasaki, M; Asaoka, Y

2002-01-01

A new telescope design based on Baker-Nunn optics is proposed for observation of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The optical system has an image resolution better than 0.02 deg. within a wide field of view of 50 deg. angular diameter. When combined with a high-quality imaging device, the proposed design enables the directions of UHECRs and high-energy neutrinos to be determined with an accuracy better than 1 arcmin. The outstanding resolution of this telescope allows charge-separated cosmic-rays to be resolved and the source to be determined accurately. This marked improvement in angular resolution will allow the multi-wavelength and 'multi-particle' observations of astronomical objects through collaboration with established astronomical observations.

Design concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA: an advanced facility for ground-based high-energy gamma-ray astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allekotte, I.; Arnaldi, H.; Asorey, H.; Gomez Berisso, M.; Sofo Haro, M.; Cillis, A.; Rovero, A.C.; Supanitsky, A.D.; Actis, M.; Antico, F.; Bottani, A.; Ochoa, I.; Ringegni, P.; Vallejo, G.; De La Vega, G.; Etchegoyen, A.; Videla, M.; Gonzalez, F.; Pallota, J.; Quel, E.; Ristori, P.; Romero, G.E.; Suarez, A.; Papyan, G.; Pogosyan, L.; Sahakian, V.; Bissaldi, E.; Egberts, K.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Shellard, R.C.; Santos, E.M.; De Gouveia Dal Pino, E.M.; Kowal, G.; De Souza, V.; Todero Peixoto, C.J.; Maneva, G.; Temnikov, P.; Vankov, H.; Golev, V.; Ovcharov, E.; Bonev, T.; Dimitrov, D.; Hrupec, D.; Nedbal, D.; Rob, L.; Sillanpaa, A.; Takalo, L.; Beckmann, V.; Benallou, M.; Boutonnet, C.; Corlier, M.; Courty, B.; Djannati-Atai, A.; Dufour, C.; Gabici, S.; Guglielmi, L.; Olivetto, C.; Pita, S.; Punch, M.; Selmane, S.; Terrier, R.; Yoffo, B.; Brun, P.; Carton, P.H.; Cazaux, S.; Corpace, O.; Delagnes, E.; Disset, G.; Durand, D.; Glicenstein, J.F.; Guilloux, F.; Kosack, K.; Medina, C.; Micolon, P.; Mirabel, F.; Moulin, E.; Peyaud, B.; Reymond, J.M.; Veyssiere, C.

2011-01-01

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has had a major breakthrough with the impressive results obtained using systems of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has a huge potential in astrophysics, particle physics and cosmology. CTA is an international initiative to build the next generation instrument, with a factor of 5-10 improvement in sensitivity in the 100 GeV-10 TeV range and the extension to energies well below 100 GeV and above 100 TeV. CTA will consist of two arrays (one in the north, one in the south) for full sky coverage and will be operated as open observatory. The design of CTA is based on currently available technology. This document reports on the status and presents the major design concepts of CTA. (authors)

The basic unit of the imaging plane of the ZEBRA low energy gamma ray telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boella, G.; Bussini, A.; Butler, R.C.

1986-01-01

The mechanical, electrical, and performance characteristics of one element of the ZEBRA telescope's position sensitive detection plane are presented. One unit comprises a NaI (T1) bar 55 x 5, 8 x 5 cm thick and two photomultiplier tubes one mounted on each end. The surface of the bar has been treated to enhance the exponential attenuation of the scintillation light produced by an event. The signal from the two tubes are taken in coincidence and, by the application of two simple algorithms, the energy and position of the event along the bar can be calculated. The tubes are powered by two programmable low consumption high tension supplies. Their digital control makes automatic gain correction feasible during the flight

NECTAR: New electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Naumann, Christopher Lindsay; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Delagnes, E.; Dzahini, D.; Feinstein, F.; Gascon, D.; Glicenstein, J.-F.; Nayman, P.; Rarbi, F.; Ribo, M.; Sanuy, A.; Siero, X.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.; Vorobiov, S.

2012-12-01

The international CTA consortium is currently in the preparatory phase for the development of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA [1]), based on the return of experience from the three major current-generation arrays H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS. To achieve an unprecedented sensitivity and energy range for TeV gamma rays, a new kind of flexible and powerful yet inexpensive front-end hardware will be required for the order of 105 channels of photodetectors in up to 100 telescopes. One possible solution is the NECTAr (New Electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array) system, based on the integration of as much as possible of the front-end electronics (amplifiers, fast analogue samplers, memory and ADCs) into a single ASIC for very fast readout performance and a significant reduction of the cost and the lower consumption per channel, while offering a high degree of flexibility both for the triggering and the readout of the telescope. The current status of its development is presented, along with newest results from measurements and simulation studies.

Energy Storage Technology Development for Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Carolyn R.; Jankovsky, Amy L.; Reid, Concha M.; Miller, Thomas B.; Hoberecht, Mark A.

2011-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is developing battery and fuel cell technology to meet the expected energy storage needs of human exploration systems. Improving battery performance and safety for human missions enhances a number of exploration systems, including un-tethered extravehicular activity suits and transportation systems including landers and rovers. Similarly, improved fuel cell and electrolyzer systems can reduce mass and increase the reliability of electrical power, oxygen, and water generation for crewed vehicles, depots and outposts. To achieve this, NASA is developing non-flow-through proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell stacks, and electrolyzers coupled with low permeability membranes for high pressure operation. The primary advantage of this technology set is the reduction of ancillary parts in the balance-of-plant fewer pumps, separators and related components should result in fewer failure modes and hence a higher probability of achieving very reliable operation, and reduced parasitic power losses enable smaller reactant tanks and therefore systems with lower mass and volume. Key accomplishments over the past year include the fabrication and testing of several robust, small-scale non-flow-through fuel cell stacks that have demonstrated proof-of-concept. NASA is also developing advanced lithium-ion battery cells, targeting cell-level safety and very high specific energy and energy density. Key accomplishments include the development of silicon composite anodes, lithiatedmixed- metal-oxide cathodes, low-flammability electrolytes, and cell-incorporated safety devices that promise to substantially improve battery performance while providing a high level of safety.

The Animated Gamma-ray Sky Revealed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grenier, Isabelle

2009-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has been observing the sky in gamma-rays since August 2008. In addition to breakthrough capabilities in energy coverage (20 MeV-300 GeV) and angular resolution, the wide field of view of the Large Area Telescope enables observations of 20% of the sky at any instant, and of the whole sky every three hours. It has revealed a very animated sky with bright gamma-ray bursts flashing and vanishing in minutes, powerful active galactic nuclei flaring over hours and days, many pulsars twinkling in the Milky Way, and X-ray binaries shimmering along their orbit. Most of these variable sources had not been seen by the Fermi predecessor, EGRET, and the wealth of new data already brings important clues to the origin of the high-energy emission and particles powered by the compact objects. The telescope also brings crisp images of the bright gamma-ray emission produced by cosmic-ray interactions in the interstellar medium, thus allowing to measure the cosmic nuclei and electron spectra across the Galaxy, to weigh interstellar clouds, in particular in the dark-gas phase. The telescope sensitivity at high energy will soon provide useful constraints on dark-matter annihilations in a variety of environments. I will review the current results and future prospects of the Fermi mission.

Studies of Muons in Extensive Air Showers from Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays Observed with the Telescope Array Surface Detector

Science.gov (United States)

Takeishi, R.; Sagawa, H.; Fukushima, M.; Takeda, M.; Nonaka, T.; Kawata, K.; Kido, E.; Sakurai, N.; Okuda, T.; Ogio, S.; Matthews, J. N.; Stokes, B.

The number of muons in the air shower induced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) has been measured with surface detector (SD) arrays of various experiments. Monte Carlo (MC) prediction of the number of muons in air showers depends on hadronic interaction models and the primary cosmic ray composition. By comparing the measured number of muons with the MC prediction, hadronic interaction models can be tested. The Pierre Auger Observatory reported that the number of muons measured by water Cherenkov type SD is about 1.8 times larger than the MC prediction for proton with QGSJET II-03 model. The number of muons in the Auger data is also larger than the MC prediction for iron. The Telescope Array experiment adopts plastic scintillator type SD, which is sensitive to the electromagnetic component that is the major part of secondary particles in the air shower. To search for the high muon purity condition in air showers observed by the TA, we divided air shower events into subsets by the zenith angle θ, the azimuth angle ϕ relative to the shower arrival direction projected onto the ground, and the distance R from shower axis. As a result, we found subsets with the high muon purity 65%, and compared the charge density between observed data and MC. The typical ratios of the charge density of the data to that of the MC are 1.71 ± 0.10 at 1870 m muon purity. These results imply that the excess of the charge density in the data is partly explained by the muon excess.

Moderate energy ions for high energy density physics experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grisham, L.R.

2004-01-01

This paper gives the results of a preliminary exploration of whether moderate energy ions (≅0.3-3 MeV/amu) could be useful as modest-cost drivers for high energy density physics experiments. It is found that if the target thickness is chosen so that the ion beam enters and then leaves the target in the vicinity of the peak of the dE/dX (stopping power) curve, high uniformity of energy deposition may be achievable while also maximizing the amount of energy per beam particle deposited within the target

SEARCH FOR ANISOTROPY OF ULTRAHIGH ENERGY COSMIC RAYS WITH THE TELESCOPE ARRAY EXPERIMENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abu-Zayyad, T.; Allen, M.; Anderson, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Blake, S. A.; Cady, R.; Hanlon, W. [High Energy Astrophysics Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Aida, R. [Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Kofu, Yamanashi (Japan); Azuma, R.; Fukuda, T. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Cheon, B. G.; Cho, E. J. [Department of Physics and The Research Institute of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J. [Department of Physics, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba (Japan); Chikawa, M. [Department of Physics, Kinki University, Higashi Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Cho, W. R. [Department of Physics, Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Fujii, H. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Fujii, T. [Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Fukushima, M. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan); and others

2012-09-20

We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event sets with energy thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E > 57 EeV for correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale structure (LSS) of the universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR sources follow the matter distribution of the universe (the LSS hypothesis), while the event set with E > 10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS hypothesis.

A Strong Limit on the Very-high-energy Emission from GRB 150323A

Science.gov (United States)

Abeysekara, A. U.; Archer, A.; Benbow, W.; Bird, R.; Brose, R.; Buchovecky, M.; Bugaev, V.; Connolly, M. P.; Cui, W.; Errando, M.; Falcone, A.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P.; Flinders, A.; Fortson, L.; Furniss, A.; Gillanders, G. H.; Hütten, M.; Hanna, D.; Hervet, O.; Holder, J.; Hughes, G.; Humensky, T. B.; Johnson, C. A.; Kaaret, P.; Kar, P.; Kelley-Hoskins, N.; Kertzman, M.; Kieda, D.; Krause, M.; Krennrich, F.; Lang, M. J.; Lin, T. T. Y.; Maier, G.; McArthur, S.; Moriarty, P.; Mukherjee, R.; O’Brien, S.; Ong, R. A.; Park, N.; Perkins, J. S.; Petrashyk, A.; Pohl, M.; Popkow, A.; Pueschel, E.; Quinn, J.; Ragan, K.; Reynolds, P. T.; Richards, G. T.; Roache, E.; Rulten, C.; Sadeh, I.; Santander, M.; Sembroski, G. H.; Shahinyan, K.; Tyler, J.; Wakely, S. P.; Weiner, O. M.; Weinstein, A.; Wells, R. M.; Wilcox, P.; Wilhelm, A.; Williams, D. A.; Zitzer, B.; VERITAS Collaboration; Vurm, Indrek; Beloborodov, Andrei

2018-04-01

On 2015 March 23, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) responded to a Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) detection of a gamma-ray burst, with observations beginning 270 s after the onset of BAT emission, and only 135 s after the main BAT emission peak. No statistically significant signal is detected above 140 GeV. The VERITAS upper limit on the fluence in a 40-minute integration corresponds to about 1% of the prompt fluence. Our limit is particularly significant because the very-high-energy (VHE) observation started only ∼2 minutes after the prompt emission peaked, and Fermi-Large Area Telescope observations of numerous other bursts have revealed that the high-energy emission is typically delayed relative to the prompt radiation and lasts significantly longer. Also, the proximity of GRB 150323A (z = 0.593) limits the attenuation by the extragalactic background light to ∼50% at 100–200 GeV. We conclude that GRB 150323A had an intrinsically very weak high-energy afterglow, or that the GeV spectrum had a turnover below ∼100 GeV. If the GRB exploded into the stellar wind of a massive progenitor, the VHE non-detection constrains the wind density parameter to be A ≳ 3 × 1011 g cm‑1, consistent with a standard Wolf–Rayet progenitor. Alternatively, the VHE emission from the blast wave would be weak in a very tenuous medium such as the interstellar medium, which therefore cannot be ruled out as the environment of GRB 150323A.

Detection potential of the KM3NeT detector for high-energy neutrinos from the Fermi bubbles

Science.gov (United States)

KM3NeT Collaboration; Adrián-Martínez, S.; Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J. A.; Aharonian, F.; Aiello, S.; Albert, A.; Alexandri, M.; Ameli, F.; Anassontzis, E. G.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Assis Jesus, A.; Aubert, J.-J.; Bakker, R.; Ball, A. E.; Barbarino, G.; Barbarito, E.; Barbato, F.; Baret, B.; de Bel, M.; Belias, A.; Bellou, N.; Berbee, E.; Berkien, A.; Bersani, A.; Bertin, V.; Beurthey, S.; Biagi, S.; Bigongiari, C.; Bigourdan, B.; Billault, M.; de Boer, R.; Boer Rookhuizen, H.; Bonori, M.; Borghini, M.; Bou-Cabo, M.; Bouhadef, B.; Bourlis, G.; Bouwhuis, M.; Bradbury, S.; Brown, A.; Bruni, F.; Brunner, J.; Brunoldi, M.; Busto, J.; Cacopardo, G.; Caillat, L.; Calvo Díaz-Aldagalán, D.; Calzas, A.; Canals, M.; Capone, A.; Carr, J.; Castorina, E.; Cecchini, S.; Ceres, A.; Cereseto, R.; Chaleil, Th.; Chateau, F.; Chiarusi, T.; Choqueuse, D.; Christopoulou, P. E.; Chronis, G.; Ciaffoni, O.; Circella, M.; Cocimano, R.; Cohen, F.; Colijn, F.; Coniglione, R.; Cordelli, M.; Cosquer, A.; Costa, M.; Coyle, P.; Craig, J.; Creusot, A.; Curtil, C.; D'Amico, A.; Damy, G.; De Asmundis, R.; De Bonis, G.; Decock, G.; Decowski, P.; Delagnes, E.; De Rosa, G.; Distefano, C.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Dorosti-Hasankiadeh, Q.; Drogou, J.; Drouhin, D.; Druillole, F.; Drury, L.; Durand, D.; Durand, G. A.; Eberl, T.; Emanuele, U.; Enzenhöfer, A.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Escoffier, S.; Espinosa, V.; Etiope, G.; Favali, P.; Felea, D.; Ferri, M.; Ferry, S.; Flaminio, V.; Folger, F.; Fotiou, A.; Fritsch, U.; Gajanana, D.; Garaguso, R.; Gasparini, G. P.; Gasparoni, F.; Gautard, V.; Gensolen, F.; Geyer, K.; Giacomelli, G.; Gialas, I.; Giordano, V.; Giraud, J.; Gizani, N.; Gleixner, A.; Gojak, C.; Gómez-González, J. P.; Graf, K.; Grasso, D.; Grimaldi, A.; Groenewegen, R.; Guédé, Z.; Guillard, G.; Guilloux, F.; Habel, R.; Hallewell, G.; van Haren, H.; van Heerwaarden, J.; Heijboer, A.; Heine, E.; Hernández-Rey, J. J.; Herold, B.; Hillebrand, T.; van de Hoek, M.; Hogenbirk, J.; Hößl, J.; Hsu, C. C.; Imbesi, M.; Jamieson, A.; Jansweijer, P.; de Jong, M.; Jouvenot, F.; Kadler, M.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Karolak, M.; Katz, U. F.; Kavatsyuk, O.; Keller, P.; Kiskiras, Y.; Klein, R.; Kok, H.; Kontoyiannis, H.; Kooijman, P.; Koopstra, J.; Kopper, C.; Korporaal, A.; Koske, P.; Kouchner, A.; Koutsoukos, S.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Laan, M.; La Fratta, C.; Lagier, P.; Lahmann, R.; Lamare, P.; Larosa, G.; Lattuada, D.; Leisos, A.; Lenis, D.; Leonora, E.; Le Provost, H.; Lim, G.; Llorens, C. D.; Lloret, J.; Löhner, H.; Lo Presti, D.; Lotrus, P.; Louis, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Lykousis, V.; Malyshev, D.; Mangano, S.; Marcoulaki, E. C.; Margiotta, A.; Marinaro, G.; Marinelli, A.; Mariş, O.; Markopoulos, E.; Markou, C.; Martínez-Mora, J. A.; Martini, A.; Marvaldi, J.; Masullo, R.; Maurin, G.; Migliozzi, P.; Migneco, E.; Minutoli, S.; Miraglia, A.; Mollo, C. M.; Mongelli, M.; Monmarthe, E.; Morganti, M.; Mos, S.; Motz, H.; Moudden, Y.; Mul, G.; Musico, P.; Musumeci, M.; Naumann, Ch.; Neff, M.; Nicolaou, C.; Orlando, A.; Palioselitis, D.; Papageorgiou, K.; Papaikonomou, A.; Papaleo, R.; Papazoglou, I. A.; Păvălaş, G. E.; Peek, H. Z.; Perkin, J.; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Presani, E.; Priede, I. G.; Psallidas, A.; Rabouille, C.; Racca, C.; Radu, A.; Randazzo, N.; Rapidis, P. A.; Razis, P.; Real, D.; Reed, C.; Reito, S.; Resvanis, L. K.; Riccobene, G.; Richter, R.; Roensch, K.; Rolin, J.; Rose, J.; Roux, J.; Rovelli, A.; Russo, A.; Russo, G. V.; Salesa, F.; Samtleben, D.; Sapienza, P.; Schmelling, J.-W.; Schmid, J.; Schnabel, J.; Schroeder, K.; Schuller, J.-P.; Schussler, F.; Sciliberto, D.; Sedita, M.; Seitz, T.; Shanidze, R.; Simeone, F.; Siotis, I.; Sipala, V.; Sollima, C.; Sparnocchia, S.; Spies, A.; Spurio, M.; Staller, T.; Stavrakakis, S.; Stavropoulos, G.; Steijger, J.; Stolarczyk, Th.; Stransky, D.; Taiuti, M.; Taylor, A.; Thompson, L.; Timmer, P.; Tonoiu, D.; Toscano, S.; Touramanis, C.; Trasatti, L.; Traverso, P.; Trovato, A.; Tsirigotis, A.; Tzamarias, S.; Tzamariudaki, E.; Urbano, F.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Vannoni, G.; Vecchi, M.; Vernin, P.; Viola, S.; Vivolo, D.; Wagner, S.; Werneke, P.; White, R. J.; Wijnker, G.; Wilms, J.; de Wolf, E.; Yepes, H.; Zhukov, V.; Zonca, E.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zúñiga, J.

2013-02-01

A recent analysis of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data provided evidence for a high-intensity emission of high-energy gamma rays with a E-2 spectrum from two large areas, spanning 50° above and below the Galactic centre (the "Fermi bubbles"). A hadronic mechanism was proposed for this gamma-ray emission making the Fermi bubbles promising source candidates of high-energy neutrino emission. In this work Monte Carlo simulations regarding the detectability of high-energy neutrinos from the Fermi bubbles with the future multi-km3 neutrino telescope KM3NeT in the Mediterranean Sea are presented. Under the hypothesis that the gamma-ray emission is completely due to hadronic processes, the results indicate that neutrinos from the bubbles could be discovered in about one year of operation, for a neutrino spectrum with a cutoff at 100 TeV and a detector with about 6 km3 of instrumented volume. The effect of a possible lower cutoff is also considered.

Ultra high energy gamma rays and observations with CYGNUS/MILAGRO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weeks, D.D.; Yodh, G.B.

1992-01-01

This talk discusses high-energy observations of the Crab pulsar/nebula and the pulsar in the X-ray binary, Hercules X-1, and makes the case for continued observations with ground-based γ-ray detectors. The CYGNUS Air Shower Array has a wide field of view on monitors several astrophysical γ-ray sources at the same time, many of which are prime objects observed by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) and air Cerenkov telescopes. This array and the future MILAGRO Water Cerenkov Detector can perform observations that are simultaneous with similar experiments to provide confirmation of emission, and can measure source spectra at a range of high energies previously unexplored

Development and calibration of the tracking Compton/Pair telescope MEGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanbach, G.; Andritschke, R.; Zoglauer, A.; Ajello, M.; McConnell, M.L.; Macri, J.R.; Ryan, J.M.; Bloser, P.; Hunter, S.; DiCocco, G.; Kurfess, J.; Reglero, V.

2005-01-01

We describe the development and tests of the prototype for a new telescope for Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy (MEGA) in the energy band 0.4-50 MeV. As a successor to COMPTEL and EGRET (at low energies), MEGA aims to improve the sensitivity for astronomical sources by at least an order of magnitude. It could thus fill the severe sensitivity gap between scheduled or operating hard-X-ray and high-energy gamma-ray missions and open the way for a future Advanced Compton Telescope. MEGA records and images γ-rays by completely tracking Compton and Pair creation events in a stack of double-sided Si-strip track detectors surrounded by a pixelated CsI calorimeter. A scaled down prototype has been built and we describe technical details of its design and properties. Results from calibrations using radioactive sources and from measurements with an accelerator generated, fully polarized, γ-ray beam are presented and an outlook to future plans with MEGA is given

High Accuracy, High Energy He-Erd Analysis of H,C, and T

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Browning, James F.; Langley, Robert A.; Doyle, Barney L.; Banks, James C.; Wampler, William R.

1999-01-01

A new analysis technique using high-energy helium ions for the simultaneous elastic recoil detection of all three hydrogen isotopes in metal hydride systems extending to depths of several microm's is presented. Analysis shows that it is possible to separate each hydrogen isotope in a heavy matrix such as erbium to depths of 5 microm using incident 11.48MeV 4 He 2 ions with a detection system composed of a range foil and ΔE-E telescope detector. Newly measured cross sections for the elastic recoil scattering of 4 He 2 ions from protons and deuterons are presented in the energy range 10 to 11.75 MeV for the laboratory recoil angle of 30degree

Dark Matter Searches with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meurer, Christine

2008-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, successfully launched on June 11th, 2008, is the next generation satellite experiment for high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. The main instrument, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), with a wide field of view (>2 sr), a large effective area (>8000 cm 2 at 1 GeV), sub-arcminute source localization, a large energy range (20 MeV-300 GeV) and a good energy resolution (close to 8% at 1 GeV), has excellent potential to either discover or to constrain a Dark Matter signal. The Fermi LAT team pursues complementary searches for signatures of particle Dark Matter in different search regions such as the galactic center, galactic satellites and subhalos, the milky way halo, extragalactic regions as well as the search for spectral lines. In these proceedings we examine the potential of the LAT to detect gamma-rays coming from Weakly Interacting Massive Particle annihilations in these regions with special focus on the galactic center region.

Trigger electronics of the new Fluorescence Detectors of the Telescope Array Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tameda, Yuichiro; Taketa, Akimichi; Smith, Jeremy D.; Tanaka, Manobu; Fukushima, Masaki; Jui, Charles C.H.; Kadota, Ken'ichi; Kakimoto, Fumio; Matsuda, Takeshi; Matthews, John N.; Ogio, Shoichi; Sagawa, Hiroyuki; Sakurai, Nobuyuki; Shibata, Tatsunobu; Takeda, Masahiro; Thomas, Stanton B.; Tokuno, Hisao; Tsunesada, Yoshiki

2009-01-01

The Telescope Array Project is an experiment designed to observe Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays via a 'hybrid' detection technique utilizing both fluorescence light detectors (FDs) and scintillator surface particle detectors (SDs). We have installed three FD stations and 507 SDs in the Utah desert, and initiated observations from March 2008. The northern FD station reuses 14 telescopes from the High Resolution Fly's Eye, HiRes-I station. Each of the two southern FD stations contains 12 new telescopes utilizing new FADC electronics. Each telescope is instrumented with a camera composed of 256 PMTs. Since the detectors are composed of many PMTs and each PMT detects fluorescence photons together with the vast amount of night sky background, a sophisticated triggering system is required. In this paper, we describe the trigger electronics of these new FD stations. We also discuss performance of the FDs with this triggering system, in terms of efficiencies and apertures for various detector configurations.

Nustar: Bringing the High-Energy Universe into Focus

Science.gov (United States)

Fineberg, Larry

2016-01-01

This is a presentation to students at the University of Florida in the Small Satellite Design Club. The subject matter is the NuSTAR mission and covers topics about the spacecraft itself and the launch campaign. NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is the first focusing high-energy X-ray mission. Studies the hottest, densest, most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Purpose is to search for black holes, map the remnants of stellar explosions, and study the most extreme active galaxies.

Telescopic multi-resolution augmented reality

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Jeffrey; Frenchi, Christopher; Szu, Harold

2014-05-01

To ensure a self-consistent scaling approximation, the underlying microscopic fluctuation components can naturally influence macroscopic means, which may give rise to emergent observable phenomena. In this paper, we describe a consistent macroscopic (cm-scale), mesoscopic (micron-scale), and microscopic (nano-scale) approach to introduce Telescopic Multi-Resolution (TMR) into current Augmented Reality (AR) visualization technology. We propose to couple TMR-AR by introducing an energy-matter interaction engine framework that is based on known Physics, Biology, Chemistry principles. An immediate payoff of TMR-AR is a self-consistent approximation of the interaction between microscopic observables and their direct effect on the macroscopic system that is driven by real-world measurements. Such an interdisciplinary approach enables us to achieve more than multiple scale, telescopic visualization of real and virtual information but also conducting thought experiments through AR. As a result of the consistency, this framework allows us to explore a large dimensionality parameter space of measured and unmeasured regions. Towards this direction, we explore how to build learnable libraries of biological, physical, and chemical mechanisms. Fusing analytical sensors with TMR-AR libraries provides a robust framework to optimize testing and evaluation through data-driven or virtual synthetic simulations. Visualizing mechanisms of interactions requires identification of observable image features that can indicate the presence of information in multiple spatial and temporal scales of analog data. The AR methodology was originally developed to enhance pilot-training as well as `make believe' entertainment industries in a user-friendly digital environment We believe TMR-AR can someday help us conduct thought experiments scientifically, to be pedagogically visualized in a zoom-in-and-out, consistent, multi-scale approximations.

Muon imaging of volcanoes with Cherenkov telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Carbone, Daniele; Catalano, Osvaldo; Cusumano, Giancarlo; Del Santo, Melania; La Parola, Valentina; La Rosa, Giovanni; Maccarone, Maria Concetta; Mineo, Teresa; Pareschi, Giovanni; Sottile, Giuseppe; Zuccarello, Luciano

2017-04-01

The quantitative understanding of the inner structure of a volcano is a key feature to model the processes leading to paroxysmal activity and, hence, to mitigate volcanic hazards. To pursue this aim, different geophysical techniques are utilized, that are sensitive to different properties of the rocks (elastic, electrical, density). In most cases, these techniques do not allow to achieve the spatial resolution needed to characterize the shallowest part of the plumbing system and may require dense measurements in active zones, implying a high level of risk. Volcano imaging through cosmic-ray muons is a promising technique that allows to overcome the above shortcomings. Muons constantly bombard the Earth's surface and can travel through large thicknesses of rock, with an energy loss depending on the amount of crossed matter. By measuring the absorption of muons through a solid body, one can deduce the density distribution inside the target. To date, muon imaging of volcanic structures has been mainly achieved with scintillation detectors. They are sensitive to noise sourced from (i) the accidental coincidence of vertical EM shower particles, (ii) the fake tracks initiated from horizontal high-energy electrons and low-energy muons (not crossing the target) and (iii) the flux of upward going muons. A possible alternative to scintillation detectors is given by Cherenkov telescopes. They exploit the Cherenkov light emitted when charged particles (like muons) travel through a dielectric medium, with velocity higher than the speed of light. Cherenkov detectors are not significantly affected by the above noise sources. Furthermore, contrarily to scintillator-based detectors, Cherenkov telescopes permit a measurement of the energy spectrum of the incident muon flux at the installation site, an issue that is indeed relevant for deducing the density distribution inside the target. In 2014, a prototype Cherenkov telescope was installed at the Astrophysical Observatory of Serra

Philosophical explorations on energy transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geerts, Robert-Jan

2017-01-01

This dissertation explores energy transition from a philosophical perspective. It puts forward the thesis that energy production and consumption are so intimately intertwined with society that the transition towards a sustainable alternative will involve more than simply implementing novel

Relay telescope for high power laser alignment system

Science.gov (United States)

Dane, C. Brent; Hackel, Lloyd; Harris, Fritz B.

2006-09-19

A laser system includes an optical path having an intracavity relay telescope with a telescope focal point for imaging an output of the gain medium between an image location at or near the gain medium and an image location at or near an output coupler for the laser system. A kinematic mount is provided within a vacuum chamber, and adapted to secure beam baffles near the telescope focal point. An access port on the vacuum chamber is adapted for allowing insertion and removal of the beam baffles. A first baffle formed using an alignment pinhole aperture is used during alignment of the laser system. A second tapered baffle replaces the alignment aperture during operation and acts as a far-field baffle in which off angle beams strike the baffle a grazing angle of incidence, reducing fluence levels at the impact areas.

Exploring ultrashort high-energy electron-induced damage in human carcinoma cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rigaud, O.; Fortunel, N.O.; Vaigot, P.; Cadio, E.; Martin, M.T.; Lundh, O.; Faure, J.; Rechatin, C.; Malka, V.; Gauduel, Y.A.

2010-01-01

In conventional cancer therapy or fundamental radiobiology research, the accumulated knowledge on the complex responses of healthy or diseased cells to ionizing radiation is generally obtained with low-dose rates. Under these radiation conditions, the time spent for energy deposition is very long compared with the dynamics of early molecular and cellular responses. The use of ultrashort pulsed radiation would offer new perspectives for exploring the 'black box' aspects of long irradiation profiles and favouring the selective control of early damage in living targets. Several attempts were previously performed using nanosecond or picosecond pulsed irradiations on various mammalian cells and radiosensitive mutants at high dose rate. The effects of single or multi-pulsed radiations on cell populations were generally analyzed in the framework of dose survival curves or characterized by 2D imaging of γ-H2AX foci and no increase in cytotoxicity was shown compared with a delivery at a conventional dose rate. Moreover, when multi-shot irradiations were performed, the overall time needed to obtain an integrated dose of several Grays again overlapped with the multi-scale dynamics of bio-molecular damage-repair sequences and cell signalling steps. Ideally, a single-shot irradiation delivering a well-defined energy profile, via a very short temporal window, would permit the approach of a real-time investigation of early radiation induced molecular damage within the confined spaces of cell compartments. Owing to the potential applications of intense ultrashort laser for radiation therapy, the model of the A431 carcinoma cell line was chosen. An ultrafast single-shot irradiation strategy was carried out with these radio-resistant human skin carcinoma cells, using the capacity of an innovating laser-plasma accelerator to generate quasi mono-energetic femtosecond electron bunches in the MeV domain and to deliver a very high dose rate of 10 13 Gy s -1 per pulse. The alkaline comet

Development and Performances of the Magic Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Dazzi, F.; Mariotti, M.; Moralejo, A.; Peruzzo, L.; Saggion, A.; Tonello, N.

2002-11-01

The MAGIC Collaboration is building an imaging Čerenkov telescope at La Palma site (2200 m a.s.l.), in the Canary Islands, to observe gamma rays in the hundred-GeV region. The MAGIC telescope, with its reflecting parabolic dish, 17 m in diameter, and a two-level pattern trigger designed to cope with severe trigger rates, is the Čerenkov telescope with the lowest envisaged energy threshold. Due to its lightweight alto-azimuthal mounting, MAGIC can be repositioned in less than 30 seconds, becoming the only detector, with an adequate effective area, capable to observe GRB phenomena above 30 GeV. MAGIC telescope is characterised by a 30 GeV energy threshold and a sensitivity of 6×l0-11 cm-2s-1 for a 5σ-detection in 50-hours of observation. In this report, some future scientific goals for MAGIC will be highlighted and the technical development for the main elements of the telescope will be detailed. Special emphasis will be given to the construction of the individual metallic mirrors which form the reflecting surface and the development of the fast pattern-recognition trigger.

Fermi observations of high-energy gamma-ray emission from GRB 080916C.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdo, A A; Ackermann, M; Arimoto, M; Asano, K; Atwood, W B; Axelsson, M; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Band, D L; Barbiellini, G; Baring, M G; Bastieri, D; Battelino, M; Baughman, B M; Bechtol, K; Bellardi, F; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Bhat, P N; Bissaldi, E; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Bogaert, G; Bogart, J R; Bonamente, E; Bonnell, J; Borgland, A W; Bouvier, A; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Briggs, M S; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Burnett, T H; Burrows, D; Busetto, G; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Ceccanti, M; Cecchi, C; Celotti, A; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Cominsky, L R; Connaughton, V; Conrad, J; Costamante, L; Cutini, S; Deklotz, M; Dermer, C D; de Angelis, A; de Palma, F; Digel, S W; Dingus, B L; do Couto E Silva, E; Drell, P S; Dubois, R; Dumora, D; Edmonds, Y; Evans, P A; Fabiani, D; Farnier, C; Favuzzi, C; Finke, J; Fishman, G; Focke, W B; Frailis, M; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Gasparrini, D; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giebels, B; Giglietto, N; Giommi, P; Giordano, F; Glanzman, T; Godfrey, G; Goldstein, A; Granot, J; Greiner, J; Grenier, I A; Grondin, M-H; Grove, J E; Guillemot, L; Guiriec, S; Haller, G; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; Hayashida, M; Hays, E; Hernando Morat, J A; Hoover, A; Hughes, R E; Jóhannesson, G; Johnson, A S; Johnson, R P; Johnson, T J; Johnson, W N; Kamae, T; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Kavelaars, A; Kawai, N; Kelly, H; Kennea, J; Kerr, M; Kippen, R M; Knödlseder, J; Kocevski, D; Kocian, M L; Komin, N; Kouveliotou, C; Kuehn, F; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Landriu, D; Larsson, S; Latronico, L; Lavalley, C; Lee, B; Lee, S-H; Lemoine-Goumard, M; Lichti, G G; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lott, B; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, P; Madejski, G M; Makeev, A; Marangelli, B; Mazziotta, M N; McBreen, S; McEnery, J E; McGlynn, S; Meegan, C; Mészáros, P; Meurer, C; Michelson, P F; Minuti, M; Mirizzi, N; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, A A; Monte, C; Monzani, M E; Moretti, E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Nakamori, T; Nelson, D; Nolan, P L; Norris, J P; Nuss, E; Ohno, M; Ohsugi, T; Okumura, A; Omodei, N; Orlando, E; Ormes, J F; Ozaki, M; Paciesas, W S; Paneque, D; Panetta, J H; Parent, D; Pelassa, V; Pepe, M; Perri, M; Pesce-Rollins, M; Petrosian, V; Pinchera, M; Piron, F; Porter, T A; Preece, R; Rainò, S; Ramirez-Ruiz, E; Rando, R; Rapposelli, E; Razzano, M; Razzaque, S; Rea, N; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reposeur, T; Reyes, L C; Ritz, S; Rochester, L S; Rodriguez, A Y; Roth, M; Ryde, F; Sadrozinski, H F-W; Sanchez, D; Sander, A; Saz Parkinson, P M; Scargle, J D; Schalk, T L; Segal, K N; Sgrò, C; Shimokawabe, T; Siskind, E J; Smith, D A; Smith, P D; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Stamatikos, M; Starck, J-L; Stecker, F W; Steinle, H; Stephens, T E; Strickman, M S; Suson, D J; Tagliaferri, G; Tajima, H; Takahashi, H; Takahashi, T; Tanaka, T; Tenze, A; Thayer, J B; Thayer, J G; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Torres, D F; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Turri, M; Tuvi, S; Usher, T L; van der Horst, A J; Vigiani, L; Vilchez, N; Vitale, V; von Kienlin, A; Waite, A P; Williams, D A; Wilson-Hodge, C; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Wu, X F; Yamazaki, R; Ylinen, T; Ziegler, M

2009-03-27

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are highly energetic explosions signaling the death of massive stars in distant galaxies. The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Observatory together record GRBs over a broad energy range spanning about 7 decades of gammaray energy. In September 2008, Fermi observed the exceptionally luminous GRB 080916C, with the largest apparent energy release yet measured. The high-energy gamma rays are observed to start later and persist longer than the lower energy photons. A simple spectral form fits the entire GRB spectrum, providing strong constraints on emission models. The known distance of the burst enables placing lower limits on the bulk Lorentz factor of the outflow and on the quantum gravity mass.

Fermi Observations of high-energy gamma-ray emissions from GRB 080916C

CERN Document Server

Abdo, A A; Arimoto, M; Asano, K; Atwood, W B; Axelsson, M; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Band, D L; Barbiellini, Guido; Baring, Matthew G; Bastieri, Denis; Battelino, M; Baughman, B M; Bechtol, K; Bellardi, F; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Bhat, P N; Bissaldi, E; Blandford, R D; Bloom, Elliott D; Bogaert, G; Bogart, J R; Bonamente, E; Bonnell, J; Borgland, A W; Bouvier, A; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Briggs, M S; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Burnett, Thompson H; Burrows, David N; Busetto, Giovanni; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Ceccanti, M; Cecchi, C; Celotti, Annalisa; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C.C.Teddy; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, Johann; Cominsky, Lynn R; Connaughton, V; Conrad, J; Costamante, L; Cutini, S; DeKlotz, M; Dermer, C D; De Angelis, Alessandro; de Palma, F; Digel, S W; Dingus, B L; do Couto e Silva, Eduardo; Drell, P S; Dubois, R; Dumora, D; Edmonds, Y; Evans, P A; Fabiani, D; Farnier, C; Favuzzi, C; Finke, Justin D; Fishman, G; Focke, W B; Frailis, M; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Gasparrini, D; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giebels, B; Giglietto, N; Giommi, P; Giordano, F; Glanzman, Thomas Lynn; Godfrey, Gary L; Goldstein, A; Granot, J; Greiner, J; Grenier, I A; Grondin, M H; Grove, J.Eric; Guillemot, L; Guiriec, S; Haller, G; Hanabata, Y; Harding, Alice K; Hayashida, M; Hays, Elizabeth A; Hernando Morata, J A; Hoover, A; Hughes, R E; Johannesson, G; Johnson, A S; Johnson, R P; Johnson, T J; Johnson, W N; Kamae, Tsuneyoshi; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Kavelaars, A; Kawai, N; Kelly, H; Kennea, J; Kerr, M; Kippen, R M; Knodlseder, J; Kocevski, D; Kocian, M L; Komin, N; Kouveliotou, C; Kuehn, Frederick Gabriel Ivar; Kuss, Michael; Lande, J; Landriu, D; Larsson, S; Latronico, L; Lavalley, C; Lee, B; Lee, S H; Lemoine-Goumard, M; Lichti, G G; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lott, B; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, Pasquale; Madejski, G M; Makeev, A; Marangelli, B; Mazziotta, M N; McBreen, Sheila; McEnery, J E; McGlynn, S; Meegan, C; Miszaros, P; Meurer, C; Michelson, P F; Minuti, M; Mirizzi, N; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, A A; Monte, C; Monzani, M E; Moretti, E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, Igor Vladimirovich; Murgia, Simona; Nakamori, T; Nelson, D; Nolan, P L; Norris, J P; Nuss, E; Ohno, M; Ohsugi, Takashi; Okumura, Akira; Omodei, N; Orlando, E; Ormes, J F; Ozaki, M; Paciesas, W S; Paneque, D; Panetta, J H; Parent, D; Pelassa, V; Pepe, M; Perri, M; Pesce-Rollins, M; Petrosian, Vahe; Pinchera, M; Piron, F; Porter, Troy A; Preece, R; Rainr, S; Ramirez-Ruiz, E; Rando, R; Rapposelli, E; Razzano, M; Razzaque, Soebur; Rea, N; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reposeur, Thierry; Reyes, Luis C; Ritz, S; Rochester, L S; Rodriguez, A Y; Roth, M; Ryde, F; Sadrozinski, H F W; Sanchez, D; Sander, A; Parkinson, P.M.Saz; Scargle, J D; Schalk, T L; Segal, K N; Sgro, C; Shimokawabe, T; Siskind, E J; Smith, D A; Smith, P D; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Stamatikos, M; Starck, Jean-Luc; Stecker, Floyd William; Steinle, H; Stephens, T E; Strickman, M S; Suson, Daniel J; Tagliaferri, G.; Tajima, Hiroyasu; Takahashi, H; Takahashi, T; Tanaka, T; Tenze, A; Thayer, J B; Thayer, J G; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Torres, Diego F; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Turri, M; Tuvi, S; Usher, T L; van der Horst, A J; Vigiani, L; Vilchez, N; Vitale, V; von Kienlin, A; Waite, A P; Williams, D A; Wilson-Hodge, C; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Wu, X F; Yamazaki, R; Ylinen, T; Ziegler, M

2009-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are highly energetic explosions signaling the death of massive stars in distant galaxies. The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Observatory together record GRBs over a broad energy range spanning about 7 decades of gammaray energy. In September 2008, Fermi observed the exceptionally luminous GRB 080916C, with the largest apparent energy release yet measured. The high-energy gamma rays are observed to start later and persist longer than the lower energy photons. A simple spectral form fits the entire GRB spectrum, providing strong constraints on emission models. The known distance of the burst enables placing lower limits on the bulk Lorentz factor of the outflow and on the quantum gravity mass.

Measured reflectance of graded multilayer mirrors designed for astronomical hard X-ray telescopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Finn Erland; Craig, W.W.; Windt, D.L.

2000-01-01

Future astronomical X-ray telescopes, including the balloon-borne High-Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) and the Constellation-X Hard X-ray Telescope (Con-X HXT) plan to incorporate depth-graded multilayer coatings in order to extend sensitivity into the hard X-ray (10 less than or similar to E less......-graded W/Si multilayers optimized for broadband performance up to 69.5 keV (WK-edge). These designs are ideal for both the HEFT and Con-X HXT applications. We compare the measurements to model calculations to demonstrate that the reflectivity can be well described by the intended power law distribution...

The ASTRI mini-array within the future Cherenkov Telescope Array

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vercellone Stefano

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA is a large collaborative effort aimed at the design and operation of an observatory dedicated to very high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics in the energy range from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV, which will yield about an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity with respect to the current major arrays (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS. Within this framework, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics is leading the ASTRI project, whose main goals are the design and installation on Mt. Etna (Sicily of an end-to-end dual-mirror prototype of the CTA small size telescope (SST and the installation at the CTA Southern site of a dual-mirror SST mini-array composed of nine units with a relative distance of about 300 m. The innovative dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical solution adopted for the ASTRI Project allows us to substantially reduce the telescope plate-scale and, therefore, to adopt silicon photo-multipliers as light detectors. The ASTRI mini-array is a wider international effort. The mini-array, sensitive in the energy range 1–100 TeV and beyond with an angular resolution of a few arcmin and an energy resolution of about 10–15%, is well suited to study relatively bright sources (a few × 10−12 erg cm−2 s−1 at 10 TeV at very high energy. Prominent sources such as extreme blazars, nearby well-known BL Lac objects, Galactic pulsar wind nebulae, supernovae remnants, micro-quasars, and the Galactic Center can be observed in a previously unexplored energy range. The ASTRI mini-array will extend the current IACTs sensitivity well above a few tens of TeV and, at the same time, will allow us to compare our results on a few selected targets with those of current (HAWC and future high-altitude extensive air-shower detectors.

Prospects for PWNe and SNRs science with the ASTRI mini-array of pre-production small-sized telescopes of the Cherenkov telescope array

Science.gov (United States)

Burtovoi, A.; Zampieri, L.; Giuliani, A.; Bigongiari, C.; Di Pierro, F.; Stamerra, A.

2017-01-01

The development and construction of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) opens up new opportunities for the study of very high energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) sources. As a part of CTA, the ASTRI project, led by INAF, has one of the main goals to develop one of the mini-arrays of CTA pre-production telescopes, proposed to be installed at the CTA southern site. Thanks to the innovative dual-mirror optical design of its small-sized telescopes, the ASTRI mini-array will be characterized by a large field of view, an excellent angular resolution and a good sensitivity up to energies of several tens of TeV. Pulsar wind nebulae, along with Supernova Remnants, are among the most abundant sources that will be identified and investigated, with the ultimate goal to move significantly closer to an understanding of the origin of cosmic rays (CR). As part of the ongoing effort to investigate the scientific capabilities for both CTA as a whole and the ASTRI mini-array, we performed simulations of the Vela X region. We simulated its extended VHE γ-ray emission using the results of the detailed H.E.S.S. analysis of this source. We estimated the resolving capabilities of the diffuse emission and the detection significance of the pulsar with both CTA as a whole and the ASTRI mini-array. Moreover with these instruments it will be possible to observe the high-energy end of SNRs spectrum, searching for particles with energies near the cosmic-rays "knee" (E ˜ 1015 eV). We simulated a set of ASTRI mini-array observations for one young and an evolved SNRs in order to test the capabilities of this instrument to discover and study PeVatrons on the Galactic plane.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Infrastructure for the ASTRI SST-2M telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Gianotti, F.; Tacchini, A.; Leto, G.; Martinetti, E.; Bruno, P.; Bellassai, G.; Conforti, V.; Gallozzi, S.; Mastropietro, M.; Tanci, C.; Malaguti, G.; Trifoglio, M.

2016-08-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground-based observatories for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing the Cherenkov Small Size Telescope ASTRI SST- 2M end-to-end prototype telescope within the framework of the International Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project. The ASTRI prototype has been installed at the INAF observing station located in Serra La Nave on Mt. Etna, Italy. Furthermore a mini-array, composed of nine of ASTRI telescopes, has been proposed to be installed at the Southern CTA site. Among the several different infrastructures belonging the ASTRI project, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment is dedicated to operations of computing and data storage, as well as the control of the entire telescope, and it is designed to achieve the maximum efficiency for all performance requirements. Thus a complete and stand-alone computer centre has been designed and implemented. The goal is to obtain optimal ICT equipment, with an adequate level of redundancy, that might be scaled up for the ASTRI mini-array, taking into account the necessary control, monitor and alarm system requirements. In this contribution we present the ICT equipment currently installed at the Serra La Nave observing station where the ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be operated. The computer centre and the control room are described with particular emphasis on the Local Area Network scheme, the computing and data storage system, and the

Exploring nuclear reactions relevant to Stellar and Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis using High-Energy-Density plasmas at OMEGA and the NIF

Science.gov (United States)

Gatu Johnson, M.

2017-10-01

Thermonuclear reaction rates and nuclear processes have been explored traditionally by means of accelerator experiments, which are difficult to execute at conditions relevant to Stellar Nucleosynthesis (SN) and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). High-Energy-Density (HED) plasmas closely mimic astrophysical environments and are an excellent complement to accelerator experiments in exploring SN and BBN-relevant nuclear reactions. To date, our work using HED plasmas at OMEGA and NIF has focused on the complementary 3He+3He, T+3He and T +T reactions. First studies of the T +T reaction indicated the significance of the 5He ground-state resonance in the T +T neutron spectrum. Subsequent T +T experiments showed that the strength of this resonance varies with center-of-mass (c-m) energy in the range of 16-50 keV, a variation that is not fundamentally understood. Studies of the 3He+3He and T+3He reactions have also been conducted at OMEGA at c-m energies of 165 keV and 80 keV, respectively, and the results revealed three things. First, a large cross section for the T+3He- γ branch can be ruled out as an explanation for the anomalously high abundance of 6Li in primordial material. Second, the results contrasted to theoretical modeling indicate that the mirror-symmetry assumption is not enough to capture the differences between T +T and 3He+3He reactions. Third, the elliptical spectrum assumed in the analysis of 3He+3He data obtained in accelerator experiments is incorrect. Preliminary data from recent experiments at the NIF exploring the 3He+3He reaction at c-m energies of 60 keV and 100 keV also indicate that the underlying physics changes with c-m energy. In this talk, we describe these findings and future directions for exploring light-ion reactions at OMEGA and the NIF. The work was supported in part by the US DOE, LLE, and LLNL.

High-contrast imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT): testbed design and coronagraph developments

Science.gov (United States)

N'Diaye, Mamadou; Choquet, E.; Pueyo, L.; Elliot, E.; Perrin, M. D.; Wallace, J.; Anderson, R. E.; Carlotti, A.; Groff, T. D.; Hartig, G. F.; Kasdin, J.; Lajoie, C.; Levecq, O.; Long, C.; Macintosh, B.; Mawet, D.; Norman, C. A.; Shaklan, S.; Sheckells, M.; Sivaramakrishnan, A.; Soummer, R.

2014-01-01

We present a new high-contrast imaging testbed designed to provide complete solutions for wavefront sensing and control and starlight suppression with complex aperture telescopes (NASA APRA; Soummer PI). This includes geometries with central obstruction, support structures, and/or primary mirror segmentation. Complex aperture telescopes are often associated with large telescope designs, which are considered for future space missions. However, these designs makes high-contrast imaging challenging because of additional diffraction features in the point spread function. We present a novel optimization approach for the testbed optical and opto-mechanical design that minimizes the impact of both phase and amplitude errors from the wave propagation of testbed optics surface errors. This design approach allows us to define the specification for the bench optics, which we then compare to the manufactured parts. We discuss the testbed alignment and first results. We also present our coronagraph design for different testbed pupil shapes (AFTA or ATLAST), which involves a new method for the optimization of Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraphs (APLC).

ANTARES: An Undersea Neutrino telescope

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

The ANTARES (Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and ${Abyss}$ environmental RESearch) deep-sea neutrino telescope is designed to search for neutrinos of astrophysical origin. Neutrinos are unique probes of the high energy universe; being neutral they are not deflected by magnetic fields and interacting weakly they can readily escape from the densest regions of the universe. Potential sources of neutrino are galactic (e.g supernova remnants, micro-quasars) and extra-galactic (e.g active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursters). Annihilation of dark matter particles in the Sun or Galactic Centre is another well motivated potential source of extra terrestrial neutrinos. The ANTARES detector is located 40 km off the coast of Toulon (France) at a depth of 2475m in the Mediterranean Sea. Being located in the Northern hemisphere it studies the Southern sky and in particular has the Galactic Centre in its field of view. Since 2006, the detector has operated continuously in a partial configuration. The detector was compl...

Status of the GILDA project for the 30 MeV-100 GeV high energy gamma ray astrophysics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casolino, M.; Sparvoli, R.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P. [Rome Univ. `Tor Vergata` (Italy)]|[INFN, Rome (Italy); Barbiellini, G. [Trieste Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Trieste (Italy); Fuglesang, C. [ESA-EAC, Cologne (Germany); Ozerov, Yu.V.; Zemskov, V.M.; Zverev, V.G.; Galper, A.M. [Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1995-09-01

High energy gamma-ray astrophysics has greatly developed in the last few years because of the results of EGRET, on the Compton gamma ray observatory. The satellite observations have shown the importance of continuing the investigation of high energy gamma radiation but the emerging of new astrophysical and cosmological problems require for future experiments the realization of telescopes with parameters significatively improved with respect to the previous missions. In a traditional point of view, this is achieved with the increase of the length L of the device and, consequently, the mass of the telescope and satellite (growing as L{sup 3}). Such kinds of experiments are becoming rather expensive and are approaching the maximum value in cost, satellite mass and consuming resources. The telescope project GILDA presented in this paper is based on the use of silicon strip detectors. The silicon technique consents to obtain a much wider solid angle aperture; in this way there is more sensitivity without a growing in the size of the

Status of the GILDA project for the 30 MeV-100 GeV high energy gamma ray astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casolino, M.; Sparvoli, R.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Barbiellini, G.; Fuglesang, C.; Ozerov, Yu.V.; Zemskov, V.M.; Zverev, V.G.; Galper, A.M.

1995-01-01

High energy gamma-ray astrophysics has greatly developed in the last few years because of the results of EGRET, on the Compton gamma ray observatory. The satellite observations have shown the importance of continuing the investigation of high energy gamma radiation but the emerging of new astrophysical and cosmological problems require for future experiments the realization of telescopes with parameters significatively improved with respect to the previous missions. In a traditional point of view, this is achieved with the increase of the length L of the device and, consequently, the mass of the telescope and satellite (growing as L 3 ). Such kinds of experiments are becoming rather expensive and are approaching the maximum value in cost, satellite mass and consuming resources. The telescope project GILDA presented in this paper is based on the use of silicon strip detectors. The silicon technique consents to obtain a much wider solid angle aperture; in this way there is more sensitivity without a growing in the size of the

GRANITE- A steroscopic imaging Chernkov telescope system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shubnell, M.; Akerlof, C.W.; Cawley, M.F.; Chantell, M.; Fegan, D.J.; Fennell, S.; O'Flaherty, K.S.; Freeman, S.; Frishman, D.; Gaidos, J.A.; Hagan, J.; Harris, K.; Hillas, A.M.; Kerrick, A.D.; Lamb, R.C.; Lappin, T.; Lawrence, M.A.; Levy, H.; Lewis, D.A.; Meyer, D.I.; Mohanty, G.; Punch, M.; Reynolds, P.T.; Rovero, A.C.; Sembroski, G.; Weaverdyck, C.; Weekes, T.C.; Whitaker, T.; Wilson, C.

1993-01-01

A second 10 meter class imaging telescope was constructed on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, the site of the original 10 meter Whipple Cherenkov telescope. The twin telescope system with a 140 meter base line will allow both a reduction in the energy threshold and an improvement in the rejection of the hardonic background. The new telescope started operation in December 1991. With the final completion of the first installation stage (GRANITE I) during spring 92, it is now operating simultaneously with the orginal reflector. We describe in this paper design and construction of the new instrument and demonstrate the capability of the experiment to record coincident events

High Energy Observational Investigations of Supernova Remnants and their Interactions with Surroundings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chung-Yue Hui

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Here we review the effort of Fermi Asian Network (FAN in exploring the supernova remnants (SNRs with state-of-art high energy observatories, including Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, in the period of 2011- 2012. Utilizing the data from Fermi LAT, we have discovered the GeV emission at the position of the Galactic SNR Kes 17 which provides evidence for the hadronic acceleration. Our study also sheds light on the propagation of cosmic rays from their acceleration site to the intersteller medium. We have also launched an identification campaign of SNR candidates in the Milky Way, in which a new SNR G308.3-1.4 have been uncovered with our Chandra observation. Apart from the remnant, we have also discovered an associated compact object at its center. The multiwavelength properties of this X-ray source suggest it can possibly be the compact binary that survived a supernova explosion.

Detection of extended galactic sources with an underwater neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leisos, A.; Tsirigotis, A. G.; Tzamarias, S. E.; Lenis, D.

2014-01-01

In this study we investigate the discovery capability of a Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescope to Galactic extended sources. We focus on the brightest HESS gamma rays sources which are considered also as very high energy neutrino emitters. We use the unbinned method taking into account both the spatial and the energy distribution of high energy neutrinos and we investigate parts of the Galactic plane where nearby potential neutrino emitters form neutrino source clusters. Neutrino source clusters as well as isolated neutrino sources are combined to estimate the observation period for 5 sigma discovery of neutrino signals from these objects

TeV gravity at neutrino telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Illana, J.I.; Masip, M.; Meloni, D.

2005-01-01

Cosmogenic neutrinos reach the Earth with energies around 10 9 GeV, and their interactions with matter will be measured in upcoming experiments (Auger, IceCube). Models with extra dimensions and the fundamental scale at the TeV could imply signals in these experiments. In particular, the production of microscopic black holes by cosmogenic neutrinos has been extensively studied in the literature. Here we make a complete analysis of gravity-mediated interactions at larger distances, where they can be calculated in the eikonal approximation. In these processes a neutrino of energy E ν interacts elastically with a parton inside a nucleon, loses a small fraction y of its energy, and starts a hadronic shower of energy yE ν ν . We analyze the ultraviolet dependence and the relevance of graviton emission in these processes, and show that they are negligible. We also study the energy distribution of cosmogenic events in AMANDA and IceCube and the possibility of multiple-bang events. For any neutrino flux, the observation of an enhanced rate of neutral current events above 100 TeV in neutrino telescopes could be explained by TeV-gravity interactions. The values of the fundamental scale of gravity that IceCube could reach are comparable to those to be explored at the LHC

High-energy photons and neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dar, A.

1998-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope has recently discovered thousands of gigantic cometlike objects in a ring around the central star in the nearest planetary nebula. It is assumed that such circumstellar rings exist around the majority of stars. Collisions of relativistic debris from gamma-ray bursts (GRB) in dense stellar regions with such gigantic cometlike objects, which have been stripped off from the circumstellar rings by gravitational perturbations, produce detectable fluxes of high energy γ rays and neutrinos from GRBs

Discovery and characterization of the first low-peaked and intermediate-peaked BL Lacertae objects in the very high energy {gamma}-ray regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berger, Karsten

2009-12-19

20 years after the discovery of the Crab Nebula as a source of very high energy {gamma}-rays, the number of sources newly discovered above 100 GeV using ground-based Cherenkov telescopes has considerably grown, at the time of writing of this thesis to a total of 81. The sources are of different types, including galactic sources such as supernova remnants, pulsars, binary systems, or so-far unidentified accelerators and extragalactic sources such as blazars and radio galaxies. The goal of this thesis work was to search for {gamma}-ray emission from a particular type of blazars previously undetected at very high {gamma}-ray energies, by using the MAGIC telescope. Those blazars previously detected were all of the same type, the so-called high-peaked BL Lacertae objects. The sources emit purely non-thermal emission, and exhibit a peak in their radio-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution at X-ray energies. The entire blazar population extends from these rare, low-luminosity BL Lacertae objects with peaks at X-ray energies to the much more numerous, high-luminosity infrared-peaked radio quasars. Indeed, the low-peaked sources dominate the source counts obtained from space-borne observations at {gamma}-ray energies up to 10 GeV. Their spectra observed at lower {gamma}-ray energies show power-law extensions to higher energies, although theoretical models suggest them to turn over at energies below 100 GeV. This opened the quest for MAGIC as the Cherenkov telescope with the currently lowest energy threshold. In the framework of this thesis, the search was focused on the prominent sources BL Lac, W Comae and S5 0716+714, respectively. Two of the sources were unambiguously discovered at very high energy {gamma}-rays with the MAGIC telescope, based on the analysis of a total of about 150 hours worth of data collected between 2005 and 2008. The analysis of this very large data set required novel techniques for treating the effects of twilight conditions on the data quality

Discovery and characterization of the first low-peaked and intermediate-peaked BL Lacertae objects in the very high energy γ-ray regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, Karsten

2009-01-01

20 years after the discovery of the Crab Nebula as a source of very high energy γ-rays, the number of sources newly discovered above 100 GeV using ground-based Cherenkov telescopes has considerably grown, at the time of writing of this thesis to a total of 81. The sources are of different types, including galactic sources such as supernova remnants, pulsars, binary systems, or so-far unidentified accelerators and extragalactic sources such as blazars and radio galaxies. The goal of this thesis work was to search for γ-ray emission from a particular type of blazars previously undetected at very high γ-ray energies, by using the MAGIC telescope. Those blazars previously detected were all of the same type, the so-called high-peaked BL Lacertae objects. The sources emit purely non-thermal emission, and exhibit a peak in their radio-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution at X-ray energies. The entire blazar population extends from these rare, low-luminosity BL Lacertae objects with peaks at X-ray energies to the much more numerous, high-luminosity infrared-peaked radio quasars. Indeed, the low-peaked sources dominate the source counts obtained from space-borne observations at γ-ray energies up to 10 GeV. Their spectra observed at lower γ-ray energies show power-law extensions to higher energies, although theoretical models suggest them to turn over at energies below 100 GeV. This opened the quest for MAGIC as the Cherenkov telescope with the currently lowest energy threshold. In the framework of this thesis, the search was focused on the prominent sources BL Lac, W Comae and S5 0716+714, respectively. Two of the sources were unambiguously discovered at very high energy γ-rays with the MAGIC telescope, based on the analysis of a total of about 150 hours worth of data collected between 2005 and 2008. The analysis of this very large data set required novel techniques for treating the effects of twilight conditions on the data quality. This was successfully achieved

Measurement of the diffuse atmospheric and cosmic γ-radiation in the energy range 1-10 MeV by a balloon carried Compton-telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lichti, G.

1975-01-01

The operation and design of a low-energy γ-compton telescope, developed and constructed at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, are reported on. For energies of about 1 MeV, the telescope has an energy resolution of 30% (FWHM) and an angular resolution of +- 20 0 . In spite of the low efficiency of only about 0.5%, the vertical γ-flux could be measured for the first time in two balloon flights, and the extragalactic origin of the diffuse component of the cosmic γ-radiation could be demonstrated. The energy spectrum of this radiation was measured. The result is compared with measurements of other experiments, and theoretical models to describe the origin of this radiation are discussed. (orig.) [de

Transforming Our Understanding of the X-ray Universe: The Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer (IXPE)

Science.gov (United States)

Weisskopf, Martin C.; Bellazzini, Ronaldo; Costa, Enrico; Matt, Giorgio; Marshall, Herman; ODell, Stephen L.; Pavlov, George; Ramsey, Brian; Romani, Roger

2014-01-01

Accurate X-ray polarimetry can provide unique information on high-energy-astrophysical processes and sources. As there have been no meaningful X-ray polarization measurements of cosmic sources since our pioneering work in the 1970's, the time is ripe to explore this new parameter space in X-ray astronomy. To accomplish this requires a well-calibrated and well understood system that-particularly for an Explorer mission-has technical, cost, and schedule credibility. The system that we shall present satisfies these conditions, being based upon completely calibrated imaging- and polarization-sensitive detectors and proven X-ray-telescope technology.

WorldWide Telescope in High School Astronomy Competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Constantin, Ana-Maria; Goodman, A. A.; Udomprasert, P. S.

2014-01-01

This project aims to improve astronomy education at the high school level, and to increase awareness in astronomy for pre-university students, on an international scale. In 2013, the WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors Program began a collaboration with the International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), which was held in the city of Volos, Greece in August 2013. Now at its VIIth edition, IOAA is the largest annual astronomy competition for high school students, and it consists of one team task and three individual ones - Theoretical, Data Analysis, and Observational. Each of the participating countries (35 in 2013, compared to 21 in 2007) is responsible for selecting up to five representative students for the International round. IOAA is meant to promote future collaborations between these students, and to encourage friendships inside a global scientific community. Ana-Maria Constantin, a current Harvard undergraduate student and a former medalist of IOAA, represented WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors in Greece by giving a talk on the advantages of using WWT as a tool for research and education. As a result, the President and the International Board of the Olympiad have expressed support for including WWT in the competition for future editions. WWTA is working with the Organizing Board for next year’s competition in Romania, to include WWT as a testing tool. This poster will summarize key points from the WWTA presentation in Greece, present ideas for WWT-based activities in future IOAA competitions, and outline plans for new collaborations from representatives of Sri Lanka, Poland, Bangladesh, and Colombia. Given the positive feedback we have received after the presentation in Greece, we are also considering future implementations of WWT in summer research camps for high school students, such as the Summer Science Program.

Studying the high energy cosmic radiation: contributions to its detection and to the exploration of its origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamanna, Giovanni

2009-01-01

The Astro-particle Physics is a discipline where scientists from both the astrophysics and the particle physics communities meets to investigate the Universe aiming to answer to fundamental questions in the field of physics, cosmology and astrophysics. The high energy astrophysics domain, which explores the extremes sources where the larger collective transfer of energy take place, studies the most energetic cosmic radiation as privileged messengers of the history of the Universe. My research path, summarized in this work, is made of personal contributions in the development of new detection technologies, in the data analysis, perspectives and phenomenological studies about the scientific purposes of large experiments: e.g. AMS, ANTARES, HESS, CTA, POLAR. My contributions are the results of research activities in coherence with two main scientific goals in the context of the astro-particle physics domain: - The implication of the high energy cosmic radiation measurement for the investigation on the nature and distribution of the dark matter; - The investigation of the origin of the galactic cosmic radiation for the understanding of the most energetic processes in the Universe. (author)

High-Level Design Space and Flexibility Exploration for Adaptive, Energy-Efficient WCDMA Channel Estimation Architectures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoltán Endre Rákossy

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the fast changing wireless communication standards coupled with strict performance constraints, the demand for flexible yet high-performance architectures is increasing. To tackle the flexibility requirement, software-defined radio (SDR is emerging as an obvious solution, where the underlying hardware implementation is tuned via software layers to the varied standards depending on power-performance and quality requirements leading to adaptable, cognitive radio. In this paper, we conduct a case study for representatives of two complexity classes of WCDMA channel estimation algorithms and explore the effect of flexibility on energy efficiency using different implementation options. Furthermore, we propose new design guidelines for both highly specialized architectures and highly flexible architectures using high-level synthesis, to enable the required performance and flexibility to support multiple applications. Our experiments with various design points show that the resulting architectures meet the performance constraints of WCDMA and a wide range of options are offered for tuning such architectures depending on power/performance/area constraints of SDR.

Very-high-energy gamma rays from a distant quasar: how transparent is the universe?

Science.gov (United States)

Albert, J; Aliu, E; Anderhub, H; Antonelli, L A; Antoranz, P; Backes, M; Baixeras, C; Barrio, J A; Bartko, H; Bastieri, D; Becker, J K; Bednarek, W; Berger, K; Bernardini, E; Bigongiari, C; Biland, A; Bock, R K; Bonnoli, G; Bordas, P; Bosch-Ramon, V; Bretz, T; Britvitch, I; Camara, M; Carmona, E; Chilingarian, A; Commichau, S; Contreras, J L; Cortina, J; Costado, M T; Covino, S; Curtef, V; Dazzi, F; De Angelis, A; De Cea Del Pozo, E; de Los Reyes, R; De Lotto, B; De Maria, M; De Sabata, F; Mendez, C Delgado; Dominguez, A; Dorner, D; Doro, M; Errando, M; Fagiolini, M; Ferenc, D; Fernández, E; Firpo, R; Fonseca, M V; Font, L; Galante, N; López, R J García; Garczarczyk, M; Gaug, M; Goebel, F; Hayashida, M; Herrero, A; Höhne, D; Hose, J; Hsu, C C; Huber, S; Jogler, T; Kneiske, T M; Kranich, D; La Barbera, A; Laille, A; Leonardo, E; Lindfors, E; Lombardi, S; Longo, F; López, M; Lorenz, E; Majumdar, P; Maneva, G; Mankuzhiyil, N; Mannheim, K; Maraschi, L; Mariotti, M; Martínez, M; Mazin, D; Meucci, M; Meyer, M; Miranda, J M; Mirzoyan, R; Mizobuchi, S; Moles, M; Moralejo, A; Nieto, D; Nilsson, K; Ninkovic, J; Otte, N; Oya, I; Panniello, M; Paoletti, R; Paredes, J M; Pasanen, M; Pascoli, D; Pauss, F; Pegna, R G; Perez-Torres, M A; Persic, M; Peruzzo, L; Piccioli, A; Prada, F; Prandini, E; Puchades, N; Raymers, A; Rhode, W; Ribó, M; Rico, J; Rissi, M; Robert, A; Rügamer, S; Saggion, A; Saito, T Y; Salvati, M; Sanchez-Conde, M; Sartori, P; Satalecka, K; Scalzotto, V; Scapin, V; Schmitt, R; Schweizer, T; Shayduk, M; Shinozaki, K; Shore, S N; Sidro, N; Sierpowska-Bartosik, A; Sillanpää, A; Sobczynska, D; Spanier, F; Stamerra, A; Stark, L S; Takalo, L; Tavecchio, F; Temnikov, P; Tescaro, D; Teshima, M; Tluczykont, M; Torres, D F; Turini, N; Vankov, H; Venturini, A; Vitale, V; Wagner, R M; Wittek, W; Zabalza, V; Zandanel, F; Zanin, R; Zapatero, J

2008-06-27

The atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope MAGIC, designed for a low-energy threshold, has detected very-high-energy gamma rays from a giant flare of the distant Quasi-Stellar Radio Source (in short: radio quasar) 3C 279, at a distance of more than 5 billion light-years (a redshift of 0.536). No quasar has been observed previously in very-high-energy gamma radiation, and this is also the most distant object detected emitting gamma rays above 50 gigaelectron volts. Because high-energy gamma rays may be stopped by interacting with the diffuse background light in the universe, the observations by MAGIC imply a low amount for such light, consistent with that known from galaxy counts.

Laser fusion and high energy density science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodama, Ryosuke

2005-01-01

High-power laser technology is now opening a variety of new fields of science and technology using laser-produced plasmas. The laser plasma is now recognized as one of the important tools for the investigation and application of matter under extreme conditions, which is called high energy density science. This chapter shows a variety of applications of laser-produced plasmas as high energy density science. One of the more attractive industrial and science applications is the generation of intense pulse-radiation sources, such as the generation of electro-magnetic waves in the ranges of EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) to gamma rays and laser acceleration of charged particles. The laser plasma is used as an energy converter in this regime. The fundamental science applications of high energy density physics are shown by introducing laboratory astrophysics, the equation of state of high pressure matter, including warm dense matter and nuclear science. Other applications are also presented, such as femto-second laser propulsion and light guiding. Finally, a new systematization is proposed to explore the possibility of the high energy density plasma application, which is called high energy plasma photonics''. This is also exploration of the boundary regions between laser technology and beam optics based on plasma physics. (author)

Search for high energy cosmic neutrino point sources with ANTARES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halladjian, G.

2010-01-01

The aim of this thesis is the search for high energy cosmic neutrinos emitted by point sources with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The detection of high energy cosmic neutrinos can bring answers to important questions such as the origin of cosmic rays and the γ-rays emission processes. In the first part of the thesis, the neutrino flux emitted by galactic and extragalactic sources and the number of events which can be detected by ANTARES are estimated. This study uses the measured γ-ray spectra of known sources taking into account the γ-ray absorption by the extragalactic background light. In the second part of the thesis, the absolute pointing of the ANTARES telescope is evaluated. Being located at a depth of 2475 m in sea water, the orientation of the detector is determined by an acoustic positioning system which relies on low and high frequency acoustic waves measurements between the sea surface and the bottom. The third part of the thesis is a search for neutrino point sources in the ANTARES data. The search algorithm is based on a likelihood ratio maximization method. It is used in two search strategies; 'the candidate sources list strategy' and 'the all sky search strategy'. Analysing 2007+2008 data, no discovery is made and the world's best upper limits on neutrino fluxes from various sources in the Southern sky are established. (author)

Observation of high energy electrons and protons in the South Atlantic geomagnetic anomaly by Ohzora Satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagata, K.; Murakami, H.; Nakamoto, A.; Hasebe, N.; Kikuche, J.; Doke, T.

1988-01-01

Observed results of the high energy electrons (0.19 - 3.2 MeV) and protons (0.58 - 35 MeV) of the South Atlantic Geomagnetic Anomaly are presented. Two silicon Δ E-E telescopes on the ohzora satellite (EXOS-C, 1984-15A) were used to observe the high energy particle and the maximum intensity of electrons and protons. The powers of energy spectra above 1 MeV have different values from energy region below 1 MeV. The electron and proton intensities are greatest at pitch angle maximized at 90 0 . (author) [pt

Undergraduate Education with the WIYN 0.9-m Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Pilachowski, Catherine A.

2017-01-01

Several models have been explored at Indiana University Bloomington for undergraduate student engagement in astronomy using the WIYN 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak. These models include individual student research projects using the telescope, student observations as part of an observational techniques course for majors, and enrichment activities for non-science majors in general education courses. Where possible, we arrange for students to travel to the telescope. More often, we are able to use simple online tools such as Skype and VNC viewers to give students an authentic observing experience. Experiences with the telescope motivate students to learn basic content in astronomy, including the celestial sphere, the electromagnetic spectrum, telescopes and detectors, the variety of astronomical objects, date reduction processes, image analysis, and color image creation and appreciation. The WIYN 0.9-m telescope is an essential tool for our program at all levels of undergraduate education

High energy photons and neutrinos from gamma ray bursts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dar, A.

1998-01-01

The Hubble space telescope has recently discovered thousands of gigantic comet-like objects in a ring around the central star in the nearest planetary nebula. It is suggested that such circumstellar rings exist around most of stars. Collisions of the relativistic debris from gamma ray bursts in dense stellar regions with such gigantic comet-like objects, which have been stripped off from the circumstellar rings by gravitational perturbations, produce detectable fluxes of high energy gamma-rays and neutrinos from gamma ray bursts

Space telescopes capturing the rays of the electromagnetic spectrum

CERN Document Server

English, Neil

2017-01-01

Space telescopes are among humankind’s greatest scientific achievements of the last fifty years. This book describes the instruments themselves and what they were designed to discover about the Solar System and distant stars. Exactly how these telescopes were built and launched and the data they provided is explored. Only certain kinds of radiation can penetrate our planet's atmosphere, which limits what we can observe. But with space telescopes all this changed. We now have the means to "see" beyond Earth using ultraviolet, microwave, and infrared rays, X-rays and gamma rays. In this book we meet the pioneers and the telescopes that were built around their ideas. This book looks at space telescopes not simply chronologically but also in order of the electromagnetic spectrum, making it possible to understand better why they were made.

Very high energy gamma-ray astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weekes, T.C.

1989-01-01

It is apparent that very high gamma-ray astronomy, at the very end of the electromagnetic spectrum, is just at the threshold of becoming an important channel of astronomical information. The author discusses how, to fully develop, it requires telescopes with improved minimum flux sensitivity; development of techniques that characterize the nature of the primary; more overlapping observations to remove any question of the reality of the detected phenomenon; more consistency in the application of statistics among experimenters and more openness about methods used; development of models that will predict the phenomenon to be expected rather than explain what has been observed; and more accurate calibrations to determine absolute fluxes and energies

The Timepix Telescope for High Performance Particle Tracking

CERN Document Server

Akiba, Kazuyoshi; van Beuzekom, Martin; van Beveren, Vincent; Borghi, Silvia; Boterenbrood, Henk; Buytaert, Jan; Collins, Paula; Dosil Suárez, Alvaro; Dumps, Raphael; Eklund, Lars; Esperante, Daniel; Gallas, Abraham; Gordon, Hamish; van der Heijden, Bas; Hombach, Christoph; Hynds, Daniel; John, Malcolm; Leflat, Alexander; Li, Yi Ming; Longstaff, Ian; Morton, Alexander; Nakatsuka, Noritsugu; Nomerotski, Andre; Parkes, Chris; Perez Trigo, Eliseo; Plackett, Richard; Reid, Matthew M; Rodriguez Perez, Pablo; Schindler, Heinrich; Szumlak, Tomasz; Tsopelas, Panagiotis; Vázquez Sierra, Carlos; Velthuis, Jaap; Wysokinski, Michal

2013-01-01

The Timepix particle tracking telescope has been developed as part of the LHCb VELO Upgrade project, supported by the Medipix Collaboration and the AIDA framework. It is a primary piece of infrastructure for the VELO Upgrade project and is being used for the development of new sensors and front end technologies for several upcoming LHC trackers and vertexing systems. The telescope is designed around the dual capability of the Timepix ASICs to provide information about either the deposited charge or the timing information from tracks traversing the 14 x 14mm matrix of 55 x 55 um pixels. The rate of reconstructed tracks available is optimised by taking advantage of the shutter driven readout architecture of the Timepix chip, operated with existing readout systems. Results of tests conducted in the SPS North Area beam facility at CERN show that the telescope typically provides reconstructed track rates during the beam spills of between 3.5 and 7.5 kHz, depending on beam conditions. The tracks are time stamped wi...

FERMI OBSERVATIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM GRB 080825C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Asano, K.; Atwood, W. B.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Ballet, J.; Band, D. L.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bhat, P. N.; Bissaldi, E.; Bonamente, E.

2009-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has opened a new high-energy window in the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here we present a thorough analysis of GRB 080825C, which triggered the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), and was the first firm detection of a GRB by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). We discuss the LAT event selections, background estimation, significance calculations, and localization for Fermi GRBs in general and GRB 080825C in particular. We show the results of temporal and time-resolved spectral analysis of the GBM and LAT data. We also present some theoretical interpretation of GRB 080825C observations as well as some common features observed in other LAT GRBs.

Commissioning and First Operation of the Cryogenics for the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST)

CERN Document Server

Barth, K; Passardi, Giorgio; Pezzetti, M; Pirotte, O; Stewart, L; Vullierme, B; Walckiers, L; Zioutas, Konstantin

2004-01-01

A new experiment, the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) was installed and commissioned in 2002. Its aim is to experimentally prove the existence of an as yet hypothetical particle predicted by theory as a solution of the strong CP problem and possible candidate for galactic dark matter. The heart of the detector consists of a decommissioned 10-m long LHC superconducting dipole prototype magnet, providing a magnetic field of up to 9.5 T. The whole telescope assembly is aligned with high precision to the core of the sun. If they exist, axions could be copiously produced in the core of the sun and converted into photons within the transverse magnetic field of the telescope. The converted low-energy solar axion spectrum, peaked around a mean energy of 4.4 keV, can then be focused by a special x-ray mirror system and detected by low-background photon detectors, installed on each end of the telescopes twin beam pipes. This paper describes the external and proximity cryogenic system and magnet commissioning as well ...

Relevance of axionlike particles for very-high-energy astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Angelis, Alessandro; Galanti, Giorgio; Roncadelli, Marco

2011-01-01

Several extensions of the standard model and, in particular, superstring theories suggest the existence of axionlike particles (ALPs), which are very light spin-zero bosons with a two-photon coupling. As a consequence, photon-ALP oscillations occur in the presence of an external magnetic field, and ALPs can lead to observable effects on the measured photon spectrum of astrophysical sources. An intriguing situation arises when blazars are observed in the very-high-energy (VHE) band--namely, above 100 GeV--as it is the case with the presently operating Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes H.E.S.S, Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope, Collaboration of Australia and Nippon for a Gamma Ray Observatory in the Outback III, and VERITAS. The extragalactic background light produced by galaxies during cosmic evolution gives rise to a source dimming which becomes important in the VHE band and increases with energy, since hard photons from a blazar scatter off soft extragalactic background light photons thereby disappearing into e + e - pairs. This dimming can be considerably reduced by photon-ALP oscillations, and since they are energy independent the resulting blazar spectra become harder than expected. We consider throughout a scenario first proposed by De Angelis, Roncadelli, and Mansutti in which the above strategy is implemented with photon-ALP oscillations triggered by large-scale magnetic fields, and we systematically investigate its implications for VHE blazars. We find that for ALPs lighter than 5·10 -10 eV the photon survival probability is larger than predicted by conventional physics above a few hundred GeV. Specifically, a boost factor of 10 can easily occur for sources at large distance and large energy, e.g. at 8 TeV for the blazar 1ES 0347-121 at redshift z=0.188. This is a clear-cut prediction which can be tested with the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array and the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Experiment (HAWC) water Cherenkov �

High energy astrophysical techniques

CERN Document Server

Poggiani, Rosa

2017-01-01

This textbook presents ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, cosmic ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy, and gravitational wave astronomy as distinct research areas, focusing on the astrophysics targets and the requirements with respect to instrumentation and observation methods. The purpose of the book is to bridge the gap between the reference books and the specialized literature. For each type of astronomy, the discussion proceeds from the orders of magnitude for observable quantities. The physical principles of photon and particle detectors are then addressed, and the specific telescopes and combinations of detectors, presented. Finally the instruments and their limits are discussed with a view to assisting readers in the planning and execution of observations. Astronomical observations with high-energy photons and particles represent the newest additions to multimessenger astronomy and this book will be of value to all with an interest in the field.

Deployment of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope wide-field upgrade

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Gary J.; Drory, Niv; Good, John M.; Lee, Hanshin; Vattiat, Brian L.; Kriel, Herman; Ramsey, Jason; Bryant, Randy; Elliot, Linda; Fowler, Jim; Häuser, Marco; Landiau, Martin; Leck, Ron; Odewahn, Stephen; Perry, Dave; Savage, Richard; Schroeder Mrozinski, Emily; Shetrone, Matthew; DePoy, D. L.; Prochaska, Travis; Marshall, J. L.; Damm, George; Gebhardt, Karl; MacQueen, Phillip J.; Martin, Jerry; Armandroff, Taft; Ramsey, Lawrence W.

2016-07-01

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is an innovative large telescope, located in West Texas at the McDonald Observatory. The HET operates with a fixed segmented primary and has a tracker, which moves the four-mirror corrector and prime focus instrument package to track the sidereal and non-sidereal motions of objects. We have completed a major multi-year upgrade of the HET that has substantially increased the pupil size to 10 meters and the field of view to 22 arcminutes by replacing the corrector, tracker, and prime focus instrument package. The new wide field HET will feed the revolutionary integral field spectrograph called VIRUS, in support of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX§), a new low resolution spectrograph (LRS2), an upgraded high resolution spectrograph (HRS2), and later the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF). The upgrade is being commissioned and this paper discusses the completion of the installation, the commissioning process and the performance of the new HET.

A low cost, high performance, 1.2m off-axis telescope built with NG-Xinetics silicon carbide

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, Justin J.; Wellman, John A.; Egan, Richard G.; Wollensak, Richard J.

2011-09-01

The search for extrasolar habitable planets is one of three major astrophysics priorities identified for the next decade. These missions demand very high performance visible-wavelength optical imaging systems. Such high performance space telescopes are typically extremely expensive and can be difficult for government agencies to afford in today's economic climate, and most lower cost systems offer little benefit because they fall short on at least one of the following three key performance parameters: imaging wavelength, total system-level wavefront error and aperture diameter. Northrop Grumman Xinetics has developed a simple, lightweight, low-cost telescope design that will address the near-term science objectives of this astrophysics theme with the required optical performance, while reducing the telescope cost by an order of magnitude. Breakthroughs in SiC mirror manufacturing, integrated wavefront sensing, and high TRL deformable mirror technology have finally been combined within the same organization to offer a complete end-to-end telescope system in the lower end of the Class D cost range. This paper presents the latest results of real OAP polishing and metrology data, an optimized optical design, and finite element derived WFE

Bursts of the Crab Nebula gamma-ray emission at high and ultra-high energies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidvansky A.S.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Characteristics of the flares of gamma rays detected from the Crab Nebula by the AGILE and Fermi-LAT satellite instruments are compared with those of a gamma ray burst recorded by several air shower arrays on February 23, 1989 and with one recent observation made by the ARGO-YBJ array. It is demonstrated that though pulsar-periodicity and energy spectra of emissions at 100 MeV (satellite gamma ray telescopes and 100 TeV (EAS arrays are different, their time structures seem to be similar. Moreover, maybe the difference between “flares” and “waves” recently found in the Crab Nebula emission by the AGILE team also exists at ultra-high energies.

Liverpool Telescope and Liverpool Telescope 2

Science.gov (United States)

Copperwheat, C. M.; Steele, I. A.; Barnsley, R. M.; Bates, S. D.; Clay, N. R.; Jermak, H.; Marchant, J. M.; Mottram, C. J.; Piascik, A.; Smith, R. J.

2016-12-01

The Liverpool Telescope is a fully robotic optical/near-infrared telescope with a 2-metre clear aperture, located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma. The telescope is owned and operated by Liverpool John Moores University, with financial support from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council. The telescope began routine science operations in 2004 and is a common-user facility with time available through a variety of committees via an open, peer reviewed process. Seven simultaneously mounted instruments support a broad science programme, with a focus on transient follow-up and other time domain topics well suited to the characteristics of robotic observing. Development has also begun on a successor facility, with the working title `Liverpool Telescope 2', to capitalise on the new era of time domain astronomy which will be brought about by the next generation of survey facilities such as LSST. The fully robotic Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture and an improved response time. In this paper we provide an overview of the current status of both facilities.

The TACTIC atmospheric Cherenkov imaging telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koul, R.; Tickoo, A.K.; Kaul, S.K.; Kaul, S.R.; Kumar, N.; Yadav, K.K.; Bhatt, N.; Venugopal, K.; Goyal, H.C.; Kothari, M.; Chandra, P.; Rannot, R.C.; Dhar, V.K.; Koul, M.K.; Kaul, R.K.; Kotwal, S.; Chanchalani, K.; Thoudam, S.; Chouhan, N.; Sharma, M.; Bhattacharyya, S.; Sahayanathan, S.

2007-01-01

The TACTIC (TeV Atomospheric Cherenkov Telescope with Imaging Camera) γ-ray telescope, equipped with a light collector of area ∼9.5m 2 and a medium resolution imaging camera of 349 pixels, has been in operation at Mt. Abu, India, since 2001. This paper describes the main features of its various subsystems and its overall performance with regard to (a) tracking accuracy of its two-axes drive system, (b) spot size of the light collector, (c) back-end signal processing electronics and topological trigger generation scheme, (d) data acquisition and control system and (e) relative and absolute gain calibration methodology. Using a trigger field-of-view of 11x11 pixels (∼3.4 a tx3.4 a t), the telescope records a cosmic ray event rate of ∼2.5Hz at a typical zenith angle of 15 a t. Monte Carlo simulation results are also presented in the paper for comparing the expected performance of the telescope with actual observational results. The consistent detection of a steady signal from the Crab Nebula above ∼1.2TeV energy, at a sensitivity level of ∼5.0σ in ∼25h, along with excellent matching of its energy spectrum with that obtained by other groups, reassures that the performance of the TACTIC telescope is quite stable and reliable. Furthermore, encouraged by the detection of strong γ-ray signals from Mrk 501 (during 1997 and 2006 observations) and Mrk 421 (during 2001 and 2005-2006 observations), we believe that there is considerable scope for the TACTIC telescope to monitor similar TeV γ-ray emission activity from other active galactic nuclei on a long-term basis

Performance of the front-end electronics of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aguilar, J. A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Jesus, A. C. Assis; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J-J; Auer, R.; Baret, B.; Basa, S.; Bazzotti, M.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bigongiari, C.; Bou-Cabo, M.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Brown, A.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Camarena, F.; Capone, A.; Caponetto, L.; Carloganu, C.; Carminati, G.; Carr, J.; Castorina, E.; Cavasinni, V.; Cecchini, S.; Chaleil, Th; Charvis, [No Value; Chiarusi, T.; Sen, N. Chon; Circella, M.; Costantini, H.; Cottini, N.; Coyle, P.; Curtil, C.; De Bonis, G.; de Botton, N.; Dekeyser, I.; Delagnes, E.; Deschamps, A.; Distefano, C.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Druillole, F.; Eberl, T.; Emanuele, U.; Ernenwein, J-P; Escoffier, S.; Falchini, E.; Fehr, F.; Feinstein, F.; Flaminio, V.; Fopma, J.; Fratini, K.; Fritsch, U.; Fuda, J-L; Gay, P.; Giacomelli, G.; Gomez-Gonzalez, J. P.; Graf, K.; Guillard, G.; Halladjian, G.; Hallewell, G.; Hoffmann, C.; van Haren, H.; Heijboer, A. J.; Hello, Y.; Hernandez-Rey, J. J.; Herold, B.; Hoessl, J.; de Jong, M.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Katz, U.; Kooijman, P.; Kopper, C.; Kouchner, A.; Kretschmer, W.; Lachartre, D.; Lafoux, H.; Lahmann, R.; Lamare, P.; Lambard, G.; Larosa, G.; Laschinsky, H.; Le Provost, H.; Le Van Suu, A.; Lefevre, D.; Legou, T.; Lelaizant, G.; Lim, G.; Lo Presti, D.; Loehner, H.; Loucatos, S.; Lucarelli, F.; Mangano, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez-Mora, J. A.; Mazure, A.; Monmarthe, E.; Montaruli, T.; Morganti, M.; Moscoso, L.; Motz, H.; Naumann, C.; Neff, M.; Olivetto, Ch; Ostasch, R.; Palioselitis, D.; Pavala, G. E.; Payre, P.; Petrovic, J.; Piattelli, P.; Picot-Clemente, N.; Picq, C.; Pineau, J-P; Poinsignon, J.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Presani, E.; Racca, C.; Radu, A.; Reed, C.; Rethore, F.; Riccobene, G.; Richardt, C.; Rujoiu, M.; Russo, G. V.; Salesa, F.; Sapienza, P.; Schoeck, F.; Schuller, J. P.; Shanidze, R.; Simeone, F.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, Th.; Tamburini, C.; Tasca, L.; Toscano, S.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Vannoni, G.; Vecchi, M.; Vernin, P.; Wijnker, G.; de Wolf, E.; Yepes, H.; Zaborov, D.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zuniga, J.

2010-01-01

ANTARES is a high-energy neutrino telescope installed in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2475 m. It consists of a three-dimensional array of optical modules, each containing a large photomultiplier tube. A total of 2700 front-end ASICs named analogue ring samplers (ARS) process the phototube

Grazing incidence Fe-line telescopes using W/B4C multilayers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Joensen, K. D.; Gorenstein, P.; Christensen, Finn Erland

1995-01-01

The loss of throughput observed at higher energies for traditional grazing-incidence X-ray telescopes coated with high-Z elements can be partly countered by employing multilayers on the outermost reflectors. Using 8-keV reflectivity data from a periodic W/B4C multilayer, the expected performance...

Application of the image calorimeter in the high energy gamma astronomy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casolino, M.; Sparvoli, R.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P. [Rome Univ. `Tor Vergata` (Italy). Dip. di Fisica]|[INFN, Sezione Univ. `Tor Vergata`, Rome (Italy); Carlson, P. [Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden); Fuglesang, C. [ESA-EAC, Cologne (Germany); Ozerov, Yu.V.; Zemskov, V.M.; Zverev, V.G.; Galper, A.M. [Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1995-09-01

The capability of registration of the primary high energy cosmic ray gamma emission by a gamma-telescope made of an image calorimeter is shown in this paper. The problem of triggering and off-line identification of primary particles by the analysis of the electromagnetic showers induced in the calorimeter is under consideration. The estimations of the background flux of delayed secondaries induced by nuclear interactions are presented too.

Neutrino telescopes sensitivity to dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albuquerque, I.F.M.; Lamoureux, J.; Smoot, G.F.

2002-01-01

The nature of the dark matter of the Universe is yet unknown and most likely is connected with new physics. The search for its composition is underway through direct and indirect detection. Fundamental physical aspects such as energy threshold, geometry and location are taken into account to investigate proposed neutrino telescopes of km3 volume sensitivities to dark matter. These sensitivities are just sufficient to test a few weakly interacting massive particle scenarios. Telescopes of km3 volume, such as IceCube, can definitely discover or exclude superheavy (M>1010 GeV) strong interacting massive particles (simpzillas). Smaller neutrino telescopes such as ANTARES, AMANDA-II and NESTOR can probe a large region of simpzilla parameter space

Technologies for the exploration of highly mineralized geothermal resources

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhasov, A. B.; Alkhasova, D. A.; Ramazanov, A. Sh.; Kasparova, M. A.

2017-09-01

The prospects of the integrated processing of the high-parameter geothermal resources of the East Ciscaucasia of artesian basin (ECAB) with the conversion of their heat energy into electric energy at a binary geoPP and the subsequent extraction of solved chemical compounds from thermal waters are evaluated. The most promising areas for the exploration such resources are overviewed. The integrated exploration of hightemperature hydrogeothermal brines is a new trend in geothermal power engineering, which can make it possible to significantly increase the production volume of hydrogeothermal resources and develop the geothermal field at a higher level with the realization of the energy-efficient advanced technologies. The large-scale exploration of brines can solve the regional problems of energy supply and import substitution and fulfill the need of Russia in food and technical salt and rare elements. The necessity of the primary integrated exploration of the oil-field highly mineralized brines of the South Sukhokumskii group of gas-oil wells of Northern Dagestan was shown in view of the exacerbated environmental problems. Currently, the oil-field brines with the radioactive background exceeding the allowable levels are discharged at disposal fields. The technological solutions for their deactivation and integrated exploration are proposed. The realization of the proposed technological solutions provides 300 t of lithium carbonate, 1650 t of caustic magnesite powder, 27300 t of chemically precipitated chalk, 116100 t of food salt, and up to 1.4 mln m3 of desalinated water from oil-field brines yearly. Desalinated water at the output of a geotechnological complex can be used for different economic needs, which is important for the arid North Caucasus region, where the fresh water deficiency is acute, especially in its plain part within the ECAB.

HIGH-RESOLUTION LINEAR POLARIMETRIC IMAGING FOR THE EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chael, Andrew A.; Johnson, Michael D.; Narayan, Ramesh; Doeleman, Sheperd S. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Wardle, John F. C. [Brandeis University, Physics Department, Waltham, MA 02454 (United States); Bouman, Katherine L., E-mail: achael@cfa.harvard.edu [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2016-09-20

Images of the linear polarizations of synchrotron radiation around active galactic nuclei (AGNs) highlight their projected magnetic field lines and provide key data for understanding the physics of accretion and outflow from supermassive black holes. The highest-resolution polarimetric images of AGNs are produced with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Because VLBI incompletely samples the Fourier transform of the source image, any image reconstruction that fills in unmeasured spatial frequencies will not be unique and reconstruction algorithms are required. In this paper, we explore some extensions of the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) to linear polarimetric VLBI imaging. In contrast to previous work, our polarimetric MEM algorithm combines a Stokes I imager that only uses bispectrum measurements that are immune to atmospheric phase corruption, with a joint Stokes Q and U imager that operates on robust polarimetric ratios. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique on 7 and 3 mm wavelength quasar observations from the VLBA and simulated 1.3 mm Event Horizon Telescope observations of Sgr A* and M87. Consistent with past studies, we find that polarimetric MEM can produce superior resolution compared to the standard CLEAN algorithm, when imaging smooth and compact source distributions. As an imaging framework, MEM is highly adaptable, allowing a range of constraints on polarization structure. Polarimetric MEM is thus an attractive choice for image reconstruction with the EHT.

Overview of lunar detection of ultra-high energy particles and new plans for the SKA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

James, Clancy W.; Alvarez-Muñiz, Jaime; Bray, Justin D.; Buitink, Stijn; Dagkesamanskii, Rustam D.; Ekers, Ronald D.; Falcke, Heino; Gayley, Ken; Huege, Tim; Mevius, Maaijke; Mutel, Rob; Scholten, Olaf; Spencer, Ralph; ter Veen, Sander; Winchen, Tobias

2017-01-01

The lunar technique is a method for maximising the collection area for ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic ray and neutrino searches. The method uses either ground-based radio telescopes or lunar orbiters to search for Askaryan emission from particles cascading near the lunar surface. While experiments

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (2/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 1000 TeV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. In these lectures we present the recent observational results from HiRes, Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory as well as (some of) the possible astrophysical origins of UHECR. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (1/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 1000 TeV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. In these lectures we present the recent observational results from HiRes, Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory as well as (some of) the possible astrophysical origins of UHECR. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (3/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 1000 TeV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. In these lectures we present the recent observational results from HiRes, Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory as well as (some of) the possible astrophysical origins of UHECR. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

The South Pole Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruhl, J.E.; Ade, P.A.R.; Carlstrom, J.E.; Cho, H.M.; Crawford,T.; Dobbs, M.; Greer, C.H.; Halverson, N.W.; Holzapfel, W.L.; Lanting,T.M.; Lee, A.T.; Leitch, E.M.; Leong, J.; Lu, W.; Lueker, M.; Mehl, J.; Meyer, S.S.; Mohr, J.J.; Padin, S.; Plagge, T.; Pryke, C.; Runyan, M.C.; Schwan, D.; Sharp, M.K.; Spieler, H.; Staniszewski, Z.; Stark, A.A.

2004-11-04

A new 10 meter diameter telescope is being constructed for deployment at the NSF South Pole research station. The telescope is designed for conducting large-area millimeter and sub-millimeter wave surveys of faint, low contrast emission, as required to map primary and secondary anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. To achieve the required sensitivity and resolution, the telescope design employs an off-axis primary with a 10 m diameter clear aperture. The full aperture and the associated optics will have a combined surface accuracy of better than 20 microns rms to allow precision operation in the submillimeter atmospheric windows. The telescope will be surrounded with a large reflecting ground screen to reduce sensitivity to thermal emission from the ground and local interference. The optics of the telescope will support a square degree field of view at 2mm wavelength and will feed a new 1000-element micro-lithographed planar bolometric array with superconducting transition-edge sensors and frequency-multiplexed readouts. The first key project will be to conduct a survey over 4000 degrees for galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect. This survey should find many thousands of clusters with a mass selection criteria that is remarkably uniform with redshift. Armed with redshifts obtained from optical and infrared follow-up observations, it is expected that the survey will enable significant constraints to be placed on the equation of state of the dark energy.

Aplanatic telescopes based on Schwarzschild optical configuration: from grazing incidence Wolter-like x-ray optics to Cherenkov two-mirror normal incidence telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Sironi, Giorgia

2017-09-01

. Moreover, other Cherenkov telescopes based on Schwarzschild-Couder solutions are currently being completed at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona, USA and at the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon. In this paper we will review the Karl Schwarzschild solution and its application to grazing incidence and Cherenkov telescopes, discussing on future applications in the field of high-energy astronomy.

Silicon pore optics for future x-ray telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Wille, Eric; Bavdaz, Marcos; Wallace, Kotska; Shortt, Brian; Collon, Maximilien; Ackermann, Marcelo; Günther, Ramses; Olde Riekerink, Mark; Koelewijn, Arenda; Haneveld, Jeroen; van Baren, Coen; Erhard, Markus; Kampf, Dirk; Christensen, Finn; Krumrey, Michael; Freyberg, Michael; Burwitz, Vadim

2017-11-01

Lightweight X-ray Wolter optics with a high angular resolution will enable the next generation of X-ray telescopes in space. The candidate mission ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics) required a mirror assembly of 1 m2 effective area (at 1 keV) and an angular resolution of 10 arcsec or better. These specifications can only be achieved with a novel technology like Silicon Pore Optics, which is being developed by ESA together with a consortium of European industry. Silicon Pore Optics are made of commercial Si wafers using process technology adapted from the semiconductor industry. We present the recent upgrades made to the manufacturing processes and equipment, ranging from the manufacture of single mirror plates towards complete focusing mirror modules mounted in flight configuration, and results from first vibration tests. The performance of the mirror modules is tested at X-ray facilities that were recently extended to measure optics at a focal distance up to 20 m.

Optical Design of the STAR-X Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Timo T.; Zhang, William W.; McClelland, Ryan S.

2017-01-01

Top-level science goals of the Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research eXplorer (STAR-X) include: investigations of most violent explosions in the universe, study of growth of black holes across cosmic time and mass scale, and measure how structure formation heats majority of baryons in the universe. To meet these goals, the field-of-view of the telescope should be about 1 square-degree, the angular resolution should be 5 arc-seconds or below across large part of the field-of-view. The on-axis effective area at 1 KeV should be about 2,000 sq cm. Payload cost and launch considerations limit the outer diameter, focal length, and mass to 1.3 meters, 5 meters, and 250 kilograms, respectively. Telescope design is based on a segmented meta-shell approach we have developed at Goddard Space Flight Center for the STAR-X telescope. The telescope shells are divided into 30-degree segments. Individual telescopes and meta-shells are nested inside each other to meet the effective area requirements in 0.5 - 6.0 KeV range. We consider Wolter-Schwarzschild, and Modified-Wolter-Schwarzschild telescope designs as basic building blocks of the nested STAR-X telescope. These designs offer an excellent resolution over a large field of views. Nested telescopes are vulnerable to stray light problems. We have designed a multi-component baffle system to eliminate direct and single-reflection light paths inside the telescopes. Large number of internal and external baffle vane structures are required to prevent stray rays from reaching the focal plane. We have developed a simple ray-trace based tool to determine the dimensions and locations of the baffles. In this paper, we present the results of our trade studies, baffle design studies, and optical performance analyses of the STAR-X telescope.

Ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope with thermal light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Wenlin; Han Shensheng

2011-01-01

As important observation tools, telescopes are very useful in remote observations. We report a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of ghost telescope scheme and show that, by measuring the intensity correlation of two light fields and only changing the position of the detector in the reference path, ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope can be obtained even if a single-pixel detector is fixed in Fresnel region of the object. Differences between conventional telescope and ghost telescope are also discussed.

Evidence for Dark Energy from the Cosmic Microwave Background Alone Using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Lensing Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwin, Blake D.; Dunkley, Joanna; Das, Sudeep; Appel, John W.; Bond, J. Richard; Carvalho, C. Sofia; Devlin, Mark J.; Duenner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joesph J.;

Evidence for dark energy from the cosmic microwave background alone using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope lensing measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwin, Blake D; Dunkley, Joanna; Das, Sudeep; Appel, John W; Bond, J Richard; Carvalho, C Sofia; Devlin, Mark J; Dünner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W; Hajian, Amir; Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hincks, Adam D; Hlozek, Renée; Hughes, John P; Irwin, Kent D; Klein, Jeff; Kosowsky, Arthur; Marriage, Tobias A; Marsden, Danica; Moodley, Kavilan; Menanteau, Felipe; Niemack, Michael D; Nolta, Michael R; Page, Lyman A; Parker, Lucas; Reese, Erik D; Schmitt, Benjamin L; Sehgal, Neelima; Sievers, Jon; Spergel, David N; Staggs, Suzanne T; Swetz, Daniel S; Switzer, Eric R; Thornton, Robert; Visnjic, Katerina; Wollack, Ed

2011-07-08

For the first time, measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) alone favor cosmologies with w = -1 dark energy over models without dark energy at a 3.2-sigma level. We demonstrate this by combining the CMB lensing deflection power spectrum from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope with temperature and polarization power spectra from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The lensing data break the geometric degeneracy of different cosmological models with similar CMB temperature power spectra. Our CMB-only measurement of the dark energy density Ω(Λ) confirms other measurements from supernovae, galaxy clusters, and baryon acoustic oscillations, and demonstrates the power of CMB lensing as a new cosmological tool.

Exploration of Plasma Jets Approach to High Energy Density Physics. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Chiping [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

2013-08-26

High-energy-density laboratory plasma (HEDLP) physics is an emerging, important area of research in plasma physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics, and particle acceleration. While the HEDLP regime occurs at extreme conditions which are often found naturally in space but not on the earth, it may be accessible by colliding high intensity plasmas such as high-energy-density plasma jets, plasmoids or compact toroids from plasma guns. The physics of plasma jets is investigated in the context of high energy density laboratory plasma research. This report summarizes results of theoretical and computational investigation of a plasma jet undergoing adiabatic compression and adiabatic expansion. A root-mean-squared (rms) envelope theory of plasma jets is developed. Comparison between theory and experiment is made. Good agreement between theory and experiment is found.

Black holes at neutrino telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowalski, M.; Ringwald, A.; Tu, H.

2002-01-01

In scenarios with extra dimensions and TeV-scale quantum gravity, black holes are expected to be produced in the collision of light particles at center-of-mass energies above the fundamental Planck scale with small impact parameters. Black hole production and evaporation may thus be studied in detail at the large hadron collider (LHC). But even before the LHC starts operating, neutrino telescopes such as AMANDA/IceCube, ANTARES, Baikal, and RICE have an opportunity to search for black hole signatures. Black hole production in the scattering of ultrahigh energy cosmic neutrinos on nucleons in the ice or water may initiate cascades and through-going muons with distinct characteristics above the Standard Model rate. In this Letter, we investigate the sensitivity of neutrino telescopes to black hole production and compare it to the one expected at the Pierre Auger Observatory, an air shower array currently under construction, and at the LHC. We find that, already with the currently available data, AMANDA and RICE should be able to place sensible constraints in black hole production parameter space, which are competitive with the present ones from the air shower facilities Fly's Eye and AGASA. In the optimistic case that a ultrahigh energy cosmic neutrino flux significantly higher than the one expected from cosmic ray interactions with the cosmic microwave background radiation is realized in nature, one even has discovery potential for black holes at neutrino telescopes beyond the reach of LHC. (orig.)

Tritel: 3D silicon detector telescope used for space dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pazmandi, T.; Hirn, A.; Deme, S.; Apathy, I.; Csoke, A.; Bodnar, L.

2006-01-01

One of the many risks of long-duration space flights is the excessive exposure to cosmic radiation, which has great importance particularly during solar flares and higher solar activity. Radiation weighting factor, which is a function of the linear energy transfer of the radiation, is used to convert absorbed dose to equivalent dose. Since space radiation mainly consists of charged heavy particles, the equivalent dose differs significantly from the absorbed dose. The objectives of this project are to develop and manufacture a three-axis silicon detector telescope (Tritel), and to develop software for data evaluation of the measured energy deposition spectra. The 3 D silicon telescope should be the first such device used for measuring the dose astronauts are subjected to. Research and development began in the K.F.K.I. Atomic Energy Research Institute several years ago. The geometric parameters of the 3 D silicon Let telescope were defined, results of previous measurements were used as a benchmark. Features of various types and sizes of telescopes were analyzed. Elements of the Tritel telescope system, issues of the electronic block diagram, requirements for the mechanical construction and possibilities of data handling and data evaluation are analyzed in this paper. First results of the calibrations are presented as well. (authors)

A Compact Cosmic Ray Telescope using Silicon Photomultipliers for use in High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Luis; Elizondo, Leonardo; Shelor, Mark; Cervantes, Omar; Fan, Sewan; Ritt, Stefan

2016-03-01

Over the years, the QuarkNet and the LBL Cosmic Ray Project have helped trained thousands of high school students and teachers to explore cosmic ray physics. To get high school students in the Salinas, CA area also excited about cosmic rays, we constructed a cosmic ray telescope as a physics outreach apparatus. Our apparatus includes a pair of plastic scintillators coupled to silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) and a coincidence circuit board. We designed and constructed custom circuit boards for mounting the SiPM detectors, the high voltage power supplies and coincidence AND circuit. The AND logic signals can be used for triggering data acquisition devices including an oscilloscope, a waveform digitizer or an Arduino microcontroller. To properly route the circuit wire traces, the circuit boards were layout in Eagle and fabricated in-house using a circuit board maker from LPKF LASER, model Protomat E33. We used a Raspberry Pi computer to control a fast waveform sampler, the DRS4 to digitize the SiPM signal waveforms. The CERN PAW software package was used to analyze the amplitude and time distributions of SiPM detector signals. At this conference, we present our SiPM experimental setup, circuit board fabrication procedures and the data analysis work flow. AIP Megger's Award, Dept. of Ed. Title V Grant PO31S090007.

An Exploration Perspective of Beamed Energy Propulsion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cole, John

2008-01-01

The Vision for Exploration is currently focused on flying the Space Shuttle safely to complete our Space Station obligations, retiring the Shuttle in 2010, then returning humans to the Moon and learning how to proceed to Mars and beyond. The NASA budget still includes funds for science and aeronautics but the primary focus is on human exploration. Fiscal constraints have led to pursuing exploration vehicles that use heritage hardware, particularly existing boosters and engines, with the minimum modifications necessary to satisfy mission requirements. So, pursuit of immature technologies is not currently affordable by NASA. Beamed energy is one example of an immature technology, from a human exploration perspective, that may eventually provide significant benefits for human exploration of space, but likely not in the near future. Looking to the more distant future, this paper will examine some of the criteria that must be achieved by beamed energy propulsion to eventually contribute to human exploration of the solar system. The analysis focuses on some of the implications of increasing the payload fraction of a launch vehicle, with a quick look at trans-lunar injection. As one would expect, there is potential for benefit, and there are concerns. The analysis concludes with an assessment of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for some beamed energy propulsion components, indicating that TRL 2 is close to being completed

Simulation of the Simbol-X Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauvin, M.; Roques, J. P.

2009-01-01

We have developed a simulation tool for a Wolter I telescope operating in formation flight. The aim is to understand and predict the behavior of the Simbol-X instrument. As the geometry is variable, formation flight introduces new challenges and complex implications. Our code, based on Monte Carlo ray tracing, computes the full photon trajectories up to the detector plane, along with the relative drifts of the two spacecrafts. It takes into account angle and energy dependent interactions of the photons with the mirrors and applies to any grazing incidence telescope. The resulting images of simulated sources from 0.1 keV to 100 keV allow us to optimize the configuration of the instrument and to assess the performance of the Simbol-X telescope.

Simulation of the Simbol-X Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Chauvin, M.; Roques, J. P.

2009-05-01

We have developed a simulation tool for a Wolter I telescope operating in formation flight. The aim is to understand and predict the behavior of the Simbol-X instrument. As the geometry is variable, formation flight introduces new challenges and complex implications. Our code, based on Monte Carlo ray tracing, computes the full photon trajectories up to the detector plane, along with the relative drifts of the two spacecrafts. It takes into account angle and energy dependent interactions of the photons with the mirrors and applies to any grazing incidence telescope. The resulting images of simulated sources from 0.1 keV to 100 keV allow us to optimize the configuration of the instrument and to assess the performance of the Simbol-X telescope.

Swift Burst Alert Telescope Data Products and Analysis Software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krimm, Hans A.; Barbier, Louis M.; Barthelmy, Scott D.; Cummings, Jay R.; Gehrels, Neil; Parsons, Ann M.; Tueller, Jack; Fenimore, Edward E.; Palmer, David M.; Hullinger, Derek D.; Markwardt, Craig B.

2004-01-01

The Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on the Swift gamma-ray burst mission serves as the GRB trigger for Swift as well as a sensitive imaging telescope for the energy range of 15-150 keV. All BAT data products will be available to the astronomical community along with a complete set of analysis tools. Gamma-ray burst data products include rapid discovery messages delivered immediately via the GRB Coordinates Network, and event-by-event data from which light curves and spectra of the burst are generated. During nominal operations, the instrument provides accumulated survey histograms with 5-minute time sampling and appropriate energy resolution. These survey accumulations are analyzed in a pipeline to detect new sources and derive light curves of known sources. The 5-minute surveys will also be combined to produce the BAT all sky hard X-ray survey. In addition, the instrument accumulates high time resolution light curves of the brightest BAT sources in multiple energy bands, which are merged into a source light curve database on the ground. The BAT science data products and analysis tools will be described in this paper

High energy resolution characteristics on 14MeV neutron spectrometer for fusion experimental reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iguchi, Tetsuo [Tokyo Univ., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Nuclear Engineering Research Lab.; Takada, Eiji; Nakazawa, Masaharu

1996-10-01

A 14MeV neutron spectrometer suitable for an ITER-like fusion experimental reactor is now under development on the basis of a recoil proton counter telescope principle in oblique scattering geometry. To verify its high energy resolution characteristics, preliminary experiments are made for a prototypical detector system. The comparison results show reasonably good agreement and demonstrate the possibility of energy resolution of 2.5% in full width at half maximum for 14MeV neutron spectrometry. (author)

High Average Power, High Energy Short Pulse Fiber Laser System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Messerly, M J

2007-11-13

Recently continuous wave fiber laser systems with output powers in excess of 500W with good beam quality have been demonstrated [1]. High energy, ultrafast, chirped pulsed fiber laser systems have achieved record output energies of 1mJ [2]. However, these high-energy systems have not been scaled beyond a few watts of average output power. Fiber laser systems are attractive for many applications because they offer the promise of high efficiency, compact, robust systems that are turn key. Applications such as cutting, drilling and materials processing, front end systems for high energy pulsed lasers (such as petawatts) and laser based sources of high spatial coherence, high flux x-rays all require high energy short pulses and two of the three of these applications also require high average power. The challenge in creating a high energy chirped pulse fiber laser system is to find a way to scale the output energy while avoiding nonlinear effects and maintaining good beam quality in the amplifier fiber. To this end, our 3-year LDRD program sought to demonstrate a high energy, high average power fiber laser system. This work included exploring designs of large mode area optical fiber amplifiers for high energy systems as well as understanding the issues associated chirped pulse amplification in optical fiber amplifier systems.

Evaluation of the discovery potential of an underwater Mediterranean neutrino telescope taking into account the estimated directional resolution and energy of the reconstructed tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leisos, A.; Tsirigotis, A.G.; Tzamarias, S.E.

2013-01-01

We report on the development of search methods for point-like and extended neutrino sources, utilizing the tracking and energy estimation capabilities of an underwater, Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescope (VLVnT). We demonstrate that the developed techniques offer a significant improvement on the telescope's discovery potential. We also present results on the potential of the Mediterranean KM3NeT to discover galactic neutrino sources

Telescope Innovations Improve Speed, Accuracy of Eye Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

One of the main components of NASA's vision for the future of space exploration will actually have a keen eye for the past. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled to launch in 2018, will have spectacular sight, after it reaches orbit, one of its main goals is to observe the first galaxies that formed in the early universe. "JWST offers new capabilities in the infrared well beyond what we can see from current telescopes, either on the ground or in space. It will let us explore the early universe, extrasolar planets, and really, all branches of astrophysics," says Lee Feinberg, optical telescope element manager for the JWST at Goddard Space Flight Center. Building such a keen space telescope is an astronomic task. Because JWST will gaze over such incredible distances, it requires very large mirrors. In fact, the primary mirror will be more than two stories in diameter and consists of 18 separate segments. Each segment must be perfectly smooth, flat, and scratch-free in order to deliver a view 13 billion light years away. Construction of the 18 mirror segments involved measuring, grinding, polishing, and testing - and more measuring, grinding, polishing, and testing - and more measuring, grinding, polishing, and testing (you get the idea). One of the most time consuming steps of the mirror development process, the grinding phase, can take years.

High Energy Neutrinos from the Cold: Status and Prospects of the IceCube Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

IceCube Collaboration; Portello-Roucelle, Cecile; Collaboration, IceCube

2008-01-01

The primary motivation for building neutrino telescopes is to open the road for neutrino astronomy, and to offer another observational window for the study of cosmic ray origins. Other physics topics, such as the search for WIMPs, can also be developed with neutrino telescope. As of March 2008, the IceCube detector, with half of its strings deployed, is the world largest neutrino telescope taking data to date and it will reach its completion in 2011. Data taken with the growing detector are being analyzed. The results of some of these works are summarized here. AMANDA has been successfully integrated into IceCube data acquisition system and continues to accumulate data. Results obtained using only AMANDA data taken between the years 2000 and 2006 are also presented. The future of IceCube and the extensions in both low and high energy regions will finally be discussed in the last section

Extending the search for high-energy muon neutrinos from GRBs with ANTARES

CERN Multimedia

2017-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are transient sources, potential sites of cosmic-rays acceleration: they are expected to produce high-energy neutrinos in pγ interactions through the decay of charged mesons, thus they constitute promising targets for neutrino telescopes. A search for muon neutrinos from GRBs using 9 years of ANTARES data is here presented, assuming particle acceleration at internal shocks, as expected in the fireball model.

Characterization and commissioning of the SST-1M camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aguilar, J.A. [Université Libre Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels (Belgium); DPNC - Université de Genéve, 24 Quai Ernest Ansermet, Genéve (Switzerland); Department of Information Technologies, Jagiellonian University, ul. prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza 11, 30–348 Kraków (Poland); Bilnik, W. [AGH University of Science and Technology, al.Mickiewicza 30, Kraków (Poland); Department of Information Technologies, Jagiellonian University, ul. prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza 11, 30–348 Kraków (Poland); Błocki, J. [Instytut Fizyki Jadrowej im. H. Niewodniczańskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk, ul. Radzikowskiego 152, 31–342 Kraków (Poland); Department of Information Technologies, Jagiellonian University, ul. prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza 11, 30–348 Kraków (Poland); Bogacz, L. [Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, ul. Orla 171, 30–244 Kraków (Poland); Department of Information Technologies, Jagiellonian University, ul. prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza 11, 30–348 Kraków (Poland); and others

2017-02-11

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next generation very high energy gamma-rays observatory, will consist of three types of telescopes: large (LST), medium (MST) and small (SST) size telescopes. The SSTs are dedicated to the observation of gamma-rays with energy between a few TeV and a few hundreds of TeV. The SST array is expected to have 70 telescopes of different designs. The single-mirror small size telescope (SST-1 M) is one of the proposed telescope designs under consideration for the SST array. It will be equipped with a 4 m diameter segmented mirror dish and with an innovative camera based on silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). The challenge is not only to build a telescope with exceptional performance but to do it foreseeing its mass production. To address both of these challenges, the camera adopts innovative solutions both for the optical system and readout. The Photo-Detection Plane (PDP) of the camera is composed of 1296 pixels, each made of a hollow, hexagonal light guide coupled to a hexagonal SiPM designed by the University of Geneva and Hamamatsu. As no commercial ASIC would satisfy the CTA requirements when coupled to such a large sensor, dedicated preamplifier electronics have been designed. The readout electronics also use an innovative approach in gamma-ray astronomy by adopting a fully digital approach. All signals coming from the PDP are digitized in a 250 MHz Fast ADC and stored in ring buffers waiting for a trigger decision to send them to the pre-processing server where calibration and higher level triggers will decide whether the data are stored. The latest generation of FPGAs is used to achieve high data rates and also to exploit all the flexibility of the system. As an example each event can be flagged according to its trigger pattern. All of these features have been demonstrated in laboratory measurements on realistic elements and the results of these measurements will be presented in this contribution.

The KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Margiotta, Annarita

2014-12-01

KM3NeT is a deep-sea research infrastructure being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It will host the next generation Cherenkov neutrino telescope and nodes for a deep sea multidisciplinary observatory, providing oceanographers, marine biologists, and geophysicists with real time measurements. The neutrino telescope will complement IceCube in its field of view and exceed it substantially in sensitivity. Its main goal is the detection of high energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. The detector will have a modular structure with six building blocks, each consisting of about 100 Detection Units (DUs). Each DU will be equipped with 18 multi-PMT digital optical modules. The first phase of construction has started and shore and deep-sea infrastructures hosting the future KM3NeT detector are being prepared in offshore Toulon, France and offshore Capo Passero on Sicily, Italy. The technological solutions for the neutrino detector of KM3NeT and the expected performance of the neutrino telescope are presented and discussed. - Highlights: • A deep-sea research infrastructure is being built in the Mediterranean Sea. • It will host a km{sup 3}-size neutrino telescope and a deep-sea multidisciplinary observatory. • The main goal of the neutrino telescope is the search for Galactic neutrino sources. • A major innovation is adopted in the design of the optical module. • 31 3 in. photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) will be hosted in the same glass sphere.

Potential of the McMath-Pierce 1.6-Meter Solar Telescope for Speckle Interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Harshaw, Richard; Jones, Gregory; Wiley, Edward; Boyce, Patrick; Branston, Detrick; Rowe, David; Genet, Russell

2015-09-01

We explored the aiming and tracking accuracy of the McMath-Pierce 1.6 m solar telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory as part of an investigation of using this telescope for speckle interferometry of close visual double stars. Several slews of various lengths looked for hysteresis in the positioning system (we found none of significance) and concluded that the 1.6 m telescope would make a useful telescope for speckle interferometry.

First measurement of the VESUVIO neutron spectrum in the 30-80 MeV energy range using a Proton Recoil Telescope technique

Science.gov (United States)

Cazzaniga, C.; Tardocchi, M.; Croci, G.; Frost, C.; Giacomelli, L.; Grosso, G.; Hjalmarsson, A.; Rebai, M.; Rhodes, N. J.; Schooneveld, E. M.; Gorini, G.

2013-11-01

Measurements of the fast neutron energy spectrum at the ISIS spallation source are reported. The measurements were performed with a Proton Recoil Telescope consisting of a thin plastic foil placed in the neutron beam and two scintillator detectors. Results in the neutron energy range 30 MeV < En < 80 MeV are in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron spectrum.

The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roming, Peter; Hunsberger, S.D.; Nousek, John; Mason, Keith

2001-01-01

The Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) provides the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer with the capability of quickly detecting and characterizing the optical and ultraviolet properties of gamma ray burst counterparts. The UVOT design is based on the design of the Optical Monitor on XMM-Newton. It is a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with microchannel plate intensified charged-coupled devices (MICs) that deliver sub-arcsecond imaging. These MICs are photon-counting devices, capable of detecting low intensity signal levels. When flown above the atmosphere, the UVOT will have the sensitivity of a 4m ground based telescope, attaining a limiting magnitude of 24 for a 1000 second observation in the white light filter. A rotating filter wheel allows sensitive photometry in six bands spanning the UV and visible, which will provide photometric redshifts of objects in the 1-3.5z range. For bright counterparts, such as the 9th magnitude GRB990123, or for fainter objects down to 17th magnitude, two grisms provide low-resolution spectroscopy

Review of lunar telescope studies at MSFC

Science.gov (United States)

Hilchey, John D.; Nein, Max E.

1993-09-01

In the near future astronomers can take advantage of the lunar surface as the new 'high ground' from which to study the universe. Optical telescopes placed and operated on the lunar surface would be successors to NASA's Great Observatories. Four telescopes, ranging in aperture from a 16-m, IR/Vis/UV observatory down to a 1-m, UV 'transit' instrument, have been studied by the Lunar Telescope Working Group and the LUTE (lunar telescope ultraviolet experiment) Task Team of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). This paper presents conceptual designs of the telescopes, provides descriptions of the telescope subsystem options selected for each concept, and outlines the potential evolution of their science capabilities.

Recoil-proton fast-neutron counter telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pavan, P.; Toniolo, D.; Zago, G.; Zannoni, R. (Padua Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica); Galeazzi, G.; Bressanini, G.

1981-12-01

A recoil-proton neutron counter telescope is described composed of a solid-state silicon transmission detector and a NE 102 A plastic scintillator, measuring the energy loss, the energy of the recoil protons and the time of flight between the two detectors. The counter exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams of energy from 6 to 20 MeV presents a low background and a moderate energy resolution. Its absolute efficiency is calculated up to 50 MeV.

Recoil-proton fast-neutron-counter telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galeazzi, G.; Pavan, P.; Toniolo, D.; Zago, G.; Zannoni, R.; Bressanini, G.

1981-01-01

A proton-recoil neutron counter telescope is described composed of a solid state silicon transmission detector and a NE 102 A plastic scintillator, measuring the energy loss, the energy of the recoil protons and the time-of-flight between the two detectors. The counter exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams of energy from 6 to 20 MeV, presents a low background and a moderate energy resolution. Its absolute efficiency is calculated up to 50 MeV.

The History of Ground-Based Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astrophysics with the Atmospheric Air Cherenkov Telescope Technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mirzoyan, Razmik

2013-06-15

In the recent two decades the ground-based technique of imaging atmosphericescopes has established itself as a powerful new discipline in science. As of today some ∼ 150 sources of gamma rays of very different types, of both galactic and extragalactic origin, have been discovered due to this technique. The study of these sources is providing clues to many basic questions in astrophysics, astro-particle physics, physics of cosmic rays and cosmology. The current generation of telescopes, despite the young age of the technique, offers a solid performance. The technique is still maturing, leading to the next generation large instrument known under the name Cherenkov Telescope Array. The latter's sensitivity will be an order of magnitude higher than that of the currently best instruments VERITAS, H.E.S.S. and MAGIC. This article is devoted to outlining the milestones in a long history that step-by-step have given shape to this technique and have brought about today's successful source marathon.

Design and end-to-end modelling of a deployable telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Dolkens, Dennis; Kuiper, Hans

2017-09-01

Deployable optics have the potential of revolutionizing the field of high resolution Earth Observation. By offering the same resolutions as a conventional telescope, while using a much smaller launch volume and mass, the costs of high resolution image data can be brought down drastically. In addition, the technology will ultimately enable resolutions that are currently unattainable due to limitations imposed by the size of launcher fairings. To explore the possibilities and system complexities of a deployable telescope, a concept study was done to design a competitive deployable imager. A deployable telescope was designed for a ground sampling distance of 25 cm from an orbital altitude of 550 km. It offers an angular field of view of 0.6° and has a panchromatic channel as well as four multispectral bands in the visible and near infrared spectrum. The optical design of the telescope is based on an off-axis Korsch Three Mirror Anastigmat. A freeform tertiary mirror is used to ensure a diffraction limited image quality for all channels, while maintaining a compact design. The segmented primary mirror consists of four tapered aperture segments, which can be folded down during launch, while the secondary mirror is mounted on a deployable boom. In its stowed configuration, the telescope fits within a quarter of the volume of a conventional telescope reaching the same resolution. To reach a diffraction limited performance while operating in orbit, the relative position of each individual mirror segment must be controlled to a fraction of a wavelength. Reaching such tolerances with deployable telescope challenging, due to inherent uncertainties in the deployment mechanisms. Adding to the complexity is the fact that the telescope will be operating in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) where it will be exposed to very dynamic thermal conditions. Therefore, the telescope will be equipped with a robust calibration system. Actuators underneath the primary mirror will be controlled using

RE Data Explorer: Informing Variable Renewable Energy Grid Integration for Low Emission Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cox, Sarah L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-11-08

The RE Data Explorer, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is an innovative web-based analysis tool that utilizes geospatial and spatiotemporal renewable energy data to visualize, execute, and support analysis of renewable energy potential under various user-defined scenarios. This analysis can inform high-level prospecting, integrated planning, and policy making to enable low emission development.

Inverse problem for extragalactic transport of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ptuskin, V.S.; Rogovaya, S.I.; Zirakashvili, V.N.

2015-01-01

The energy spectra and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are changing in a course of propagation in the expanding Universe filled with background radiation. We developed a numerical code for solution of inverse problem for cosmic-ray transport equations that allows the determination of average source spectra of different nuclei from the cosmic ray spectra observed at the Earth. Employing this approach, the injection spectra of protons and Iron nuclei in extragalactic sources are found assuming that only these species are accelerated at the source. The data from the Auger experiment and the combined data from the Telescope Array + HiRes experiments are used to illustrate the method

Inverse problem for extragalactic transport of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ptuskin, V.S.; Rogovaya, S.I.; Zirakashvili, V.N., E-mail: vptuskin@izmiran.ru, E-mail: rogovaya@izmiran.ru, E-mail: zirak@izmiran.ru [Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IZMIRAN), Troitsk, Moscow, 142190 (Russian Federation)

2015-03-01

The energy spectra and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are changing in a course of propagation in the expanding Universe filled with background radiation. We developed a numerical code for solution of inverse problem for cosmic-ray transport equations that allows the determination of average source spectra of different nuclei from the cosmic ray spectra observed at the Earth. Employing this approach, the injection spectra of protons and Iron nuclei in extragalactic sources are found assuming that only these species are accelerated at the source. The data from the Auger experiment and the combined data from the Telescope Array + HiRes experiments are used to illustrate the method.

High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO)-2

Science.gov (United States)

1982-01-01

This artist's concept depicts the High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO)-2 in orbit. The HEAO-2, the first imaging and largest x-ray telescope built to date, was capable of producing actual photographs of x-ray objects. Shortly after launch, the HEAO-2 was nicknamed the Einstein Observatory by its scientific experimenters in honor of the centernial of the birth of Albert Einstein, whose concepts of relativity and gravitation have influenced much of modern astrophysics, particularly x-ray astronomy. The HEAO-2, designed and developed by TRW, Inc. under the project management of the Marshall Space Flight Center, was launched aboard an Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle on November 13, 1978. The HEAO-2 was originally identified as HEAO-B but the designation was changed once the spacecraft achieved orbit.

Evolution of the Deep-space Galactic Cosmic Ray Lineal Energy Transfer Spectrum through Tissue Equivalent Plastic

Science.gov (United States)

Case, A. W.; Kasper, J. C.; Spence, H. E.; Golightly, M. J.; Schwadron, N. A.; Mazur, J. E.; Blake, J. B.; Looper, M. D.; Townsend, L.; Zeitlin, C. J.

2011-12-01

The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation is an energetic particle telescope that resides on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, currently in a 50 km circular lunar polar orbit. The telescope consists of 6 silicon semi-conductor detectors placed in pairs that surround two pieces of Tissue Equivalent Plastic (TEP), which serve to absorb energy from particles as they transit through the instrument. Particles with energies greater than 12 MeV/nucleon can penetrate the outermost shield and be measured by the instrument. The primary measurement made by the instrument is of the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) of energetic particles as they transit through the telescope. CRaTER measures the LET spectrum with unprecedented energy resolution and has done so during a period of historically low solar activity that led to record high intensities of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR). These LET spectra are used to study changes in the properties of the incoming particles, and to make detailed measurements of the radiation doses human explorers will experience in deep space on missions to the moon, to asteroids, or to Mars. We present LET spectra accumulated during 2009 and 2010. We show how the LET spectrum evolves through the instrument as the GCR interact with the TEP. Due to the importance of these measurements for human effects, our extensive absolute calibration procedures are presented. Of particular note is a significant reduction in the flux of particles with LET greater than 10 keV/um for detectors that lie deeper within the telescope stack, due to the attenuation of high LET particles within the TEP. By measuring this attenuation we can estimate the depth in human tissue where the highest LET particles that are most likely to cause genetic damage pose the greatest threat to humans in space.

Twelve Years of Education and Public Outreach with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Cominsky, Lynn R.; McLin, K. M.; Simonnet, A.; Fermi E/PO Team

2013-04-01

During the past twelve years, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has supported a wide range of Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) activities, targeting K-14 students and the general public. The purpose of the Fermi E/PO program is to increase student and public understanding of the science of the high-energy Universe, through inspiring, engaging and educational activities linked to the mission’s science objectives. The E/PO program has additional more general goals, including increasing the diversity of students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline, and increasing public awareness and understanding of Fermi science and technology. Fermi's multi-faceted E/PO program includes elements in each major outcome category: ● Higher Education: Fermi E/PO promotes STEM careers through the use of NASA data including research experiences for students and teachers (Global Telescope Network), education through STEM curriculum development projects (Cosmology curriculum) and through enrichment activities (Large Area Telescope simulator). ● Elementary and Secondary education: Fermi E/PO links the science objectives of the Fermi mission to well-tested, customer-focused and NASA-approved standards-aligned classroom materials (Black Hole Resources, Active Galaxy Education Unit and Pop-up book, TOPS guides, Supernova Education Unit). These materials have been distributed through (Educator Ambassador and on-line) teacher training workshops and through programs involving under-represented students (after-school clubs and Astro 4 Girls). ● Informal education and public outreach: Fermi E/PO engages the public in sharing the experience of exploration and discovery through high-leverage multi-media experiences (Black Holes planetarium and PBS NOVA shows), through popular websites (Gamma-ray Burst Skymap, Epo's Chronicles), social media (Facebook, MySpace), interactive web-based activities (Space Mysteries, Einstein@Home) and activities by

Results from the ANTARES neutrino telescope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spurio M.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ANTARES is the largest neutrino telescope in the Northern hemisphere, running in its final configuration since 2008. After the discovery of a cosmic neutrino diffuse flux by the IceCube detector, the search for its origin has become a key mission in high-energy astrophysics. The ANTARES sensitivity is large enough to constrain the origin of the IceCube excess from regions extended up to 0.2 sr in the Southern sky. The Southern sky has been studied searching for point-like objects, for extended regions of emission (as the Galactic plane and for signal from transient objects selected through multimessenger observations. Upper limits are presented assuming different spectral indexes for the energy spectrum of neutrino sources. In addition, ANTARES provides results on studies of the sky in combination with different multimessenger experiments, on atmospheric neutrinos, on the searches for rare particles in the cosmic radiation (such as magnetic monopoles and nuclearites, and on Earth and Sea science. Particularly relevant are the searches for Dark Matter: the limits obtained for the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section overcome that of existing direct-detection experiments. The recent results, widely discussed in dedicated presentations during the 7th edition of the Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescope Workshop (VLVνT-2015, are highlighted in this paper.

Muon Detector R&D in Telescope Array Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Nonaka, T.; Takamura, M.; Honda, K.; Matthews, J. N.; Ogio, S.; Sakurai, N.; Sagawa, H.; Stokes, B. T.; Tsujimoto, M.; Yashiro, K.

The Telescope Array (TA) experiment, located in the western desert of Utah, U.S.A., at 39.38° north and 112.9° west, is collecting data of ultra high energy cosmic rays in the energy range 1018-1020 eV. The experiment has a Surface Detector (SD) array surrounded by three Fluorescence Detector (FD) stations to enable simultaneous detection of shower particles and fluorescence photons generated by the extensive air shower. Measurement of shower particles at the ground level, with different absorber thickness, enables a more detailed studies of the experiment's energy scale and of hadron interaction models. In this report, we present a design and the first observation result of a surface muon detector using lead plates and concrete as absorbers.

Correlations between background events of the LSD 23.02.87 detector and Baksan telescope registered

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekseev, E.N.; Alekseeva, L.N.; Zakidyshev, V.N.

1989-01-01

After publishing the results of analysis of time correlations between events of the LSD installation and two gravitational antennas detected in the time range 1:45-3:45 UT on 23.02.87 the exchange of experimental data between LSD and the Baksan telescope was performed. Joint analysis of data from the LSD and Baksan telescope installations recorded in 1:45-3:45 UT on 23.02.87 has shown the presence of correlation between natural radioactivity and high-energy cosmic muons

High-Energy Physics: Exit America?

CERN Multimedia

Seife, Charles

2005-01-01

Budget cuts and cancellations threaten to end U.S. exploration of the particle frontier. Fermilab's Tevatron, due to shut down around 200, could be the last large particle accelerator in the United States; the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva should ensure European dominance of high-energy physics (3 pages)

Scientific Performance of a Nano-satellite MeV Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lucchetta, Giulio; Berlato, Francesco; Rando, Riccardo; Bastieri, Denis; Urso, Giorgio, E-mail: giulio.lucchetta@desy.de, E-mail: fberlato@mpe.mpg.de [Dipartimento di Fisica and Astronomia “G. Galilei,” Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy)

2017-05-01

Over the past two decades, both X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy have experienced great progress. However, the region of the electromagnetic spectrum around ∼1 MeV is not so thoroughly explored. Future medium-sized gamma-ray telescopes will fill this gap in observations. As the timescale for the development and launch of a medium-class mission is ∼10 years, with substantial costs, we propose a different approach for the immediate future. In this paper, we evaluate the viability of a much smaller and cheaper detector: a nano-satellite Compton telescope, based on the CubeSat architecture. The scientific performance of this telescope would be well below that of the instrument expected for the future larger missions; however, via simulations, we estimate that such a compact telescope will achieve a performance similar to that of COMPTEL.

High-precision photometry by telescope defocusing - IV

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Southworth, John; Hinse, T. C.; Dominik, M.

2012-01-01

We present photometric observations of four transits in the WASP-17 planetary system, obtained using telescope defocusing techniques and with scatters reaching 0.5 mmag per point. Our revised orbital period is 4.0 ± 0.6 s longer than previous measurements, a difference of 6.6σ, and does not suppo...

High-Energy Emission from Rotation-Powered Pulsars

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, Alice K.

2007-01-01

Thirty-five years after the discovery of rotation-powered pulsars, we still do not understand their pulsed emission at any wavelength. In the last few years there have been some fundamental developments in acceleration and emission models. I will review both the basic physics of the models as well as the latest developments in understanding the high-energy emission of rotation-powered pulsars. Special and general relativistic effects play important roles in pulsar emission, from inertial frame-dragging near the stellar surface to aberration, time-of-flight and retardation of the magnetic field near the light cylinder. Understanding how these effects determine what we observe at different wavelengths is critical to unraveling the emission physics. Fortunately two new gamma-ray telescopes, AGILE and GLAST, with launches expected this year will detect many new gamma-ray pulsars and test the predictions of these models with unprecedented sensitivity and energy resolution for gamma-rays in the range of 30 MeV to 300 GeV.

Next-generation Event Horizon Telescope developments: new stations for enhanced imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Palumbo, Daniel; Johnson, Michael; Doeleman, Sheperd; Chael, Andrew; Bouman, Katherine

2018-01-01

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a multinational Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) network of dishes joined to resolve general relativistic behavior near a supermassive black hole. The imaging quality of the EHT is largely dependent upon the sensitivity and spatial frequency coverage of the many baselines between its constituent telescopes. The EHT already contains many highly sensitive dishes, including the crucial Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), making it viable to add smaller, cheaper telescopes to the array, greatly improving future capabilities of the EHT. We develop tools for optimizing the positions of new dishes in planned arrays. We also explore the feasibility of adding small orbiting dishes to the EHT, and develop orbital optimization tools for space-based VLBI imaging. Unlike the Millimetron mission planned to be at L2, we specifically treat near-earth orbiters, and find rapid filling of spatial frequency coverage across a large range of baseline lengths. Finally, we demonstrate significant improvement in image quality when adding small dishes to planned arrays in simulated observations.

Exploring energy consumption and demand in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Ying; Xia, Yan

2012-01-01

China has been experiencing industrialization and urbanization since reform and opening of its economy in 1978. Energy consumption in the country has featured issues such as a coal-dominated energy mix, low energy efficiency and high emissions. Thus, it is of great importance to explore the factors driving the increase in energy consumption in the past two decades and estimate the potential for decreasing energy demands in the future. In this paper a hybrid energy input–output model is used to decompose driving factors to identify how these factors impact changes in energy intensity. A modified RAS approach is applied to project energy requirements in a BAU scenario and an alternative scenario. The results show that energy input mix, industry structure and technology improvements have major influences on energy demand. Energy demand in China will continue to increase at a rapid rate if the economy develops as in the past decades, and is projected to reach 4.7 billion tce in 2020. However, the huge potential for a decrease cannot be neglected, since growth could be better by adjusting the energy mix and industrial structure and enhancing technology improvements. The total energy demand could be less than 4.0 billion tce in 2020. -- Highlights: ► In this paper a hybrid energy input–output model is used to decompose driving factors to China’s energy intensity change. ► A modified RAS approach is applied to project energy requirements in China. ► The results show that energy input mix, industry structure and technology improvements have major influences on energy demand. ► Energy demand in China will reach 4.7 billion ton in 2020 if the economy develops as in the past decades. ► There is a huge potential for a decrease of energy demand by adjusting the energy mix and industrial structure and enhancing technology improvements.

Astroclimatic characterization of Vallecitos: a candidate site for the Cherenkov Telescope Array at San Pedro Mártir

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tovmassian, G.; Hernandez, M.-S.; Ochoa, J.L.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Mandát, D.; Pech, M.; Frayn, I.P.; Colorado, E.; Murillo, J.M.; Ceseña, U.; Garcia, B.; Lee, W.H.; Bulik, T.; Garczarczyk, M.; Fruck, C.; Costantini, H.; Cieslar, M.; Aune, T.; Vincent, S.; Carr, J.; Serre, N.; Janeček, Petr; Haefner, D.

2016-01-01

Roč. 128, č. 961 (2016), 1-13, č. článku 035004. ISSN 0004-6280 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LG14019; GA MŠk LE13012; GA MŠk LM2015046 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : high energy gama rays * Cherencov telescopes * site characterization Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 4.446, year: 2016

Parametric cost models for space telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Dollinger, Courtnay

2017-11-01

Multivariable parametric cost models for space telescopes provide several benefits to designers and space system project managers. They identify major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades. They enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment. And, they provide a basis for estimating total project cost. A survey of historical models found that there is no definitive space telescope cost model. In fact, published models vary greatly [1]. Thus, there is a need for parametric space telescopes cost models. An effort is underway to develop single variable [2] and multi-variable [3] parametric space telescope cost models based on the latest available data and applying rigorous analytical techniques. Specific cost estimating relationships (CERs) have been developed which show that aperture diameter is the primary cost driver for large space telescopes; technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and increasing mass reduces cost.

Parametric Cost Models for Space Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Dollinger, Courtney

2010-01-01

Multivariable parametric cost models for space telescopes provide several benefits to designers and space system project managers. They identify major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades. They enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment. And, they provide a basis for estimating total project cost. A survey of historical models found that there is no definitive space telescope cost model. In fact, published models vary greatly [1]. Thus, there is a need for parametric space telescopes cost models. An effort is underway to develop single variable [2] and multi-variable [3] parametric space telescope cost models based on the latest available data and applying rigorous analytical techniques. Specific cost estimating relationships (CERs) have been developed which show that aperture diameter is the primary cost driver for large space telescopes; technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and increasing mass reduces cost.

TALC, a new deployable concept for a 20 m far-infrared space telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durand, Gilles; Sauvage, Marc; Rodriguez, Louis; Ronayette, Samuel; Reveret, Vincent; Aussel, Herve; Pantin, Eric; Berthe, Michel; Martignac, Jerome; Motte, Frederique; Talvard, Michel; Minier, Vincent; Scola, Loris; Carty, Michael

2014-01-01

TALC, Thin Aperture Light Collector is a 20 m space observatory project exploring some unconventional optical solutions (between the single dish and the interferometer) allowing the resolving power of a classical 27 m telescope. With TALC, the principle is to remove the central part of the prime mirror dish, cut the remaining ring into 24 sectors and store them on top of one-another. The aim of this far infrared telescope is to explore the 600 μm to 100 μm region. With this approach we have shown that we can store a ring-telescope of outer diameter 20 m and ring thickness of 3 m inside the fairing of Ariane 5 or Ariane 6. The general structure is the one of a bicycle wheel, whereas the inner sides of the segments are in compression to each other and play the rule of a rim. The segments are linked to each other using a pantograph scissor system that let the segments extend from a pile of dishes to a parabolic ring keeping high stiffness at all time during the deployment. The inner corners of the segments are linked to a central axis using spokes as in a bicycle wheel. The secondary mirror and the instrument box are built as a solid unit fixed at the extremity of the main axis. The tensegrity analysis of this structure shows a very high stiffness to mass ratio, resulting into 3 Hz Eigen frequency. The segments will consist of two composite skins and honeycomb CFRP structure build by replica process. Solid segments will be compared to deformable segments using the controlled shear of the rear surface. The adjustment of the length of the spikes and the relative position of the side of neighbor segments let control the phasing of the entire primary mirror. The telescope is cooled by natural radiation. It is protected from sun radiation by a large inflatable solar screen, loosely linked to the telescope. The orientation is performed by inertia-wheels. This telescope carries a wide field bolometer camera using cryo-cooler at 0.3 K as one of the main instruments. This

TALC: a new deployable concept for a 20m far-infrared space telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Durand, Gilles; Sauvage, Marc; Bonnet, Aymeric; Rodriguez, Louis; Ronayette, Samuel; Chanial, Pierre; Scola, Loris; Révéret, Vincent; Aussel, Hervé; Carty, Michael; Durand, Matthis; Durand, Lancelot; Tremblin, Pascal; Pantin, Eric; Berthe, Michel; Martignac, Jérôme; Motte, Frédérique; Talvard, Michel; Minier, Vincent; Bultel, Pascal

2014-08-01

TALC, Thin Aperture Light Collector is a 20 m space observatory project exploring some unconventional optical solutions (between the single dish and the interferometer) allowing the resolving power of a classical 27 m telescope. With TALC, the principle is to remove the central part of the prime mirror dish, cut the remaining ring into 24 sectors and store them on top of one-another. The aim of this far infrared telescope is to explore the 600 μm to 100 μm region. With this approach we have shown that we can store a ring-telescope of outer diameter 20m and ring thickness of 3m inside the fairing of Ariane 5 or Ariane 6. The general structure is the one of a bicycle wheel, whereas the inner sides of the segments are in compression to each other and play the rule of a rim. The segments are linked to each other using a pantograph scissor system that let the segments extend from a pile of dishes to a parabolic ring keeping high stiffness at all time during the deployment. The inner corners of the segments are linked to a central axis using spokes as in a bicycle wheel. The secondary mirror and the instrument box are built as a solid unit fixed at the extremity of the main axis. The tensegrity analysis of this structure shows a very high stiffness to mass ratio, resulting into 3 Hz Eigen frequency. The segments will consist of two composite skins and honeycomb CFRP structure build by replica process. Solid segments will be compared to deformable segments using the controlled shear of the rear surface. The adjustment of the length of the spikes and the relative position of the side of neighbor segments let control the phasing of the entire primary mirror. The telescope is cooled by natural radiation. It is protected from sun radiation by a large inflatable solar screen, loosely linked to the telescope. The orientation is performed by inertia-wheels. This telescope carries a wide field bolometer camera using cryocooler at 0.3K as one of the main instruments. This

THE HIGH ENERGY BUDGET ALLOCATIONS IN SHOCKS AND GAMMA RAY BURSTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eichler, David; Guetta, Dafne; Pohl, Martin

2010-01-01

The statistical distribution of energies among particles responsible for long gamma-ray burst (GRB) emission is analyzed in light of recent results of the Fermi Observatory. The all-sky flux, F γ , recorded by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is shown, despite its larger energy range, to be not significantly larger than that reported by the Burst and Transient Explorer, suggesting a relatively small flux in the 3-30 MeV energy range. The present-day energy input rate in γ-rays recorded by the GBM from long GRBs is found, assuming star formation rates in the literature, to be W-dot(0)=0.5 F γ H/c=5x10 42 erg Mpc -3 yr -1 . The Large Area Telescope fluence, when observed, is about 5%-10% per decade of the total, in good agreement with the predictions of saturated, nonlinear shock acceleration. The high-energy component of long GRBs, as measured by Fermi, is found to contain only ∼10 -2.5 of the energy needed to produce ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) above 4 EeV, assuming the latter to be extragalactic, when various numerical factors are carefully included, if the cosmic-ray source spectrum has a spectral index of -2. The observed γ-ray fraction of the required UHECR energy is even smaller if the source spectrum is softer than E -2 . The AMANDA II limits rule out such a GRB origin for UHECRs if much more than 10 -2 of the cosmic-ray energy goes into neutrinos that are within, and simultaneous with, the γ-ray beam. It is suggested that 'orphan' neutrinos out of the γ-ray beam might be identifiable via orphan afterglow or other wide angle signatures of GRBs in lieu of coincidence with prompt γ-rays, and it is recommended that feasible single neutrino trigger criteria be established to search for such coincidences.

Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genet, R.M.; Boyd, L.J.; Kissell, K.E.; Crawford, D.L.; Hall, D.S.; BDM Corp., McLean, VA; Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ; Dyer Observatory, Nashville, TN)

1987-01-01

Automatic observatories have the potential of gathering sizable amounts of high-quality astronomical data at low cost. The Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service (APT Service) has realized this potential and is routinely making photometric observations of a large number of variable stars. However, without observers to provide on-site monitoring, it was necessary to incorporate special quality checks into the operation of the APT Service at its multiple automatic telescope installation on Mount Hopkins. 18 references

Construction of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Rimmele, T. R.; Keil, S.; McMullin, J.; Knölker, M.; Kuhn, J. R.; Goode, P. R.; Rosner, R.; Casini, R.; Lin, H.; Tritschler, A.; Wöger, F.; ATST Team

2012-12-01

The 4m Advance Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the most powerful solar telescope and the world's leading ground-based resource for studying solar magnetism that controls the solar wind, flares, coronal mass ejections and variability in the Sun's output. The project has entered its construction phase. Major subsystems have been contracted. As its highest priority science driver ATST shall provide high resolution and high sensitivity observations of the dynamic solar magnetic fields throughout the solar atmosphere, including the corona at infrared wavelengths. With its 4m aperture, ATST will resolve features at 0.″03 at visible wavelengths and obtain 0.″1 resolution at the magnetically highly sensitive near infrared wavelengths. A high order adaptive optics system delivers a corrected beam to the initial set of state-of-the-art, facility class instrumentation located in the Coudé laboratory facility. The initial set of first generation instruments consists of five facility class instruments, including imagers and spectro-polarimeters. The high polarimetric sensitivity and accuracy required for measurements of the illusive solar magnetic fields place strong constraints on the polarization analysis and calibration. Development and construction of a four-meter solar telescope presents many technical challenges, including thermal control of the enclosure, telescope structure and optics and wavefront control. A brief overview of the science goals and observational requirements of the ATST will be given, followed by a summary of the design status of the telescope and its instrumentation, including design status of major subsystems, such as the telescope mount assembly, enclosure, mirror assemblies, and wavefront correction

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATION OF SUPERNOVA REMNANT S147

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katsuta, J.; Uchiyama, Y.; Tanaka, T.; Tajima, H.; Bechtol, K.; Funk, S.; Lande, J. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Hanabata, Y. [Department of Physical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526 (Japan); Lemoine-Goumard, M. [Universite Bordeaux 1, CNRS/IN2p3, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, 33175 Gradignan (France); Takahashi, T., E-mail: katsuta@slac.stanford.edu, E-mail: uchiyama@slac.stanford.edu [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan)

2012-06-20

We present an analysis of gamma-ray data obtained with the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region around supernova remnant (SNR) S147 (G180.0-1.7). A spatially extended gamma-ray source detected in an energy range of 0.2-10 GeV is found to coincide with SNR S147. We confirm its spatial extension at >5{sigma} confidence level. The gamma-ray flux is (3.8 {+-} 0.6) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -8} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, corresponding to a luminosity of 1.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 34} (d/1.3 kpc){sup 2} erg s{sup -1} in this energy range. The gamma-ray emission exhibits a possible spatial correlation with the prominent H{alpha} filaments of SNR S147. There is no indication that the gamma-ray emission comes from the associated pulsar PSR J0538+2817. The gamma-ray spectrum integrated over the remnant is likely dominated by the decay of neutral {pi} mesons produced through the proton-proton collisions in the filaments. The reacceleration of the pre-existing cosmic rays and subsequent adiabatic compression in the filaments is sufficient to provide the energy density required of high-energy protons.

Space Telescope maintenance and refurbishment

Science.gov (United States)

Trucks, H. F.

1983-01-01

The Space Telescope (ST) represents a new concept regarding spaceborne astronomical observatories. Maintenance crews will be brought to the orbital worksite to make repairs and replace scientific instruments. For major overhauls the telescope can be temporarily returned to earth with the aid of the Shuttle. It will, thus, be possible to conduct astronomical studies with the ST for two decades or more. The five first-generation scientific instruments used with the ST include a wide field/planetary camera, a faint object camera, a faint object spectrograph, a high resolution spectrograph, and a high speed photometer. Attention is given to the optical telescope assembly, the support systems module, aspects of mission and science operations, unscheduled maintenance, contingency orbital maintenance, planned on-orbit maintenance, ground maintenance, ground refurbishment, and ground logistics.

The Mini-EUSO telescope on the ISS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scotti, Valentina, E-mail: scottiv@na.infn.it; Osteria, Giuseppe

2017-02-11

The Mini-EUSO project aims to perform observations of the UV-light night emission from Earth. The UV background produced in atmosphere is a key measurement for any experiment aiming at the observation of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECR) from space, the most energetic component of the cosmic radiation. The Mini-EUSO instrument will be placed within the International Space Station (ISS) in the Russian Module and measures through a UV transparent window. The instrument comprises a compact telescope with a large field of view, based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses for increased light collection. The light is focused onto an array of photo-multipliers and the resulting signal is converted into digital, processed and stored via the electronics subsystems on-board. The instrument is designed and built by the members of the JEM-EUSO collaboration. JEM-EUSO is a wide-angle refractive UV telescope being proposed for attachment to the ISS, which has been designed to address basic problems of fundamental physics and high-energy astrophysics investigating the nature of cosmic rays with energies above 10{sup 20} eV. Mini-EUSO will be able to study beside EECRs a wide range of scientific phenomena including atmospheric physics, strange quark matter and bioluminescence. The mission is approved by the Italian Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency. Scientific, technical and programmatic aspects of this project will be described.

A focal plane detector design for a wide-band Laue-lens telescope

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caroli, E.; Auricchio, N.; Amati, L.

2005-01-01

, and the detection of nuclear and annihilation lines. Recently the development of high energy Laue lenses with broad energy bandpasses from 60 to 600 keV have been proposed for a Hard X ray focusing Telescope (HAXTEL) in order to study the X-ray continuum of celestial sources. The required focal plane detector...... should have high detection efficiency over the entire operative range, a spatial resolution of about 1 mm, an energy resolution of a few keV at 500 keV and a sensitivity to linear polarization. We describe a possible configuration of the focal plane detector based on several CdTe/CZT pixelated layers......The energy range above 60 keV is important for the study of many open problems in high energy astrophysics such as the role of Inverse Compton with respect to synchrotron or thermal processes in GRBs, non thermal mechanisms in SNR, the study of the high energy cut-offs in AGN spectra...

Recent results from a Si/CdTe semiconductor Compton telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Takaaki; Watanabe, Shin; Takeda, Shin'ichiro; Oonuki, Kousuke; Mitani, Takefumi; Nakazawa, Kazuhiro; Takashima, Takeshi; Takahashi, Tadayuki; Tajima, Hiroyasu; Sawamoto, Naoyuki; Fukazawa, Yasushi; Nomachi, Masaharu

2006-01-01

We are developing a Compton telescope based on high-resolution Si and CdTe detectors for astrophysical observations in sub-MeV/MeV gamma-ray region. Recently, we constructed a prototype Compton telescope which consists of six layers of double-sided Si strip detectors (DSSDs) and CdTe pixel detectors to demonstrate the basic performance of this new technology. By irradiating the detector with gamma rays from radio isotope sources, we have succeeded in Compton reconstruction of images and spectra. The obtained angular resolution is 3.9 o (FWHM) at 511keV, and the energy resolution is 14keV (FWHM) at the same energy. In addition to the conventional Compton reconstruction, i.e., drawing cones in the sky, we also demonstrated a full reconstruction by tracking Compton recoil electrons using the signals detected in successive Si layers. By irradiating 137 Cs source, we successfully obtained an image and a spectrum of 662keV line emission with this method. As a next step, development of larger DSSDs with a size of 4cmx4cm is under way to improve the effective area of the Compton telescope. We are also developing a new low-noise analog ASIC to handle the increasing number of channels. Initial results from these two new technologies are presented in this paper as well

Reducing the Requirements and Cost of Astronomical Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, W. Scott; Whitakter, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Limits on astronomical telescope apertures are being rapidly approached. These limits result from logistics, increasing complexity, and finally budgetary constraints. In an historical perspective, great strides have been made in the area of aperture, adaptive optics, wavefront sensors, detectors, stellar interferometers and image reconstruction. What will be the next advances? Emerging data analysis techniques based on communication theory holds the promise of yielding more information from observational data based on significant computer post-processing. This paper explores some of the current telescope limitations and ponders the possibilities increasing the yield of scientific data based on the migration computer post-processing techniques to higher dimensions. Some of these processes hold the promise of reducing the requirements on the basic telescope hardware making the next generation of instruments more affordable.

Grazing incidence Fe-line telescopes using W/B4C multilayers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Joensen, Karsten D.; Gorenstein, Paul; Christensen, Finn Erland

1994-01-01

Traditional high-Z coated X-ray telescopes for the >= 1 keV range all have a loss of throughput with higher energies, owing to the inverse proportionality between the critical angle and energy. We have shown that this can, to some degree, be countered by employing multilayers on the outermost....... Depending on the specifics of the design, a factor 3 - 5 increased throughput was obtained in a narrow energy band, or a 30 - 100% increase in a wider-band. This throughput ia gained at the expense of the throughput at 2 - 4 keV, which is reduced by 20 - 30%....

Modeling the electron-proton telescope on Solar Orbiter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boden, Sebastian; Steinhagen, Jan; Kulkarni, S.R.; Tammen, Jan; Elftmann, Robert; Martin, Cesar; Ravanbakhsh, Ali; Boettcher, Stephan; Seimetz, Lars; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F. [Christian-Albrechts-Universitaet, Kiel (Germany)

2014-07-01

The Electron Proton Telescope (EPT) is one of four sensors in the Energetic Particle Detector suite for Solar Orbiter. It investigates low energy electrons and protons of solar events in an energy range from 20 - 400 keV for electrons and 20 keV - 7 MeV for protons. It distinguishes electrons from protons using a magnet/foil technique with silicon detectors. There will be two EPT units, each with double-barreled telescopes, one looking sunwards/antisunwards and the other north/south. We set up a Monte Carlo model of EPT using the GEANT4 framework, which we can use to simulate interactions of energetic particles in the sensor. Here we present simulation results of the energy coverage for different ion species, and we study how it is possible to distinguish between them.

The STAR-X X-Ray Telescope Assembly (XTA)

Science.gov (United States)

McClelland, Ryan S.; Bautz, Mark W.; Bonafede, Joseph A.; Miller, Eric D.; Saha, Timo T.; Solly, Peter M.; Zhang, William W.

2017-01-01

The Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research eXplorer (STAR-X) science goals are to discover what powers the most violent explosions in the Universe, understand how black holes grow across cosmic time and mass scale, and measure how structure formation heats the majority of baryons in the Universe. To achieve these goals, STAR-X requires a powerful X-ray telescope with a large field of view, large collecting area, and excellent point spread function. The STAR-X instrument, the X-Ray Telescope Assembly (XTA), meets these requirements using a powerful X-ray mirror technology based on precision-polished single crystal silicon and a mature CCD detector technology. The XTA is composed of three major subsystems: an X-ray Mirror Assembly (MA) of high resolution, lightweight mirror segments fabricated out of single crystal silicon; a Focal Plane Assembly (FPA) made of back-illuminated CCD's capable of detecting X-rays with excellent quantum efficiency; and a composite Telescope Tube that structurally links the MA and FPA. The MA consists of 5,972 silicon mirror segments mounted into five subassemblies called meta-shells. A meta-shell is constructed from an annular central structural shell covered with interlocking layers of mirror segments. This paper describes the requirements, design, and analysis of the XTA subsystems with particular focus on the MA.

Ground-based VHE γ ray astronomy with air Cherenkov imaging telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, R.

2000-01-01

The history of astronomy has been one of the scientific discovery following immediately the introduction of new technology. In this report, we will review shortly the basic development of the atmospheric air Cherenkov light detection technique, particularly the imaging telescope technique, which in the last years led to the firm establishment of a new branch in experimental astronomy, namely ground-based very high-energy (VHE) γ ray astronomy. Milestones in the technology and in the analysis of imaging technique will be discussed. The design of the 17 m diameter MAGIC Telescope, being currently under construction, is based on the development of new technologies for all its major parts and sets new standards in the performance of the ground-based γ detectors. MAGIC is one of the next major steps in the development of the technique being the first instrument that will allow one to carry out measurements also in the not yet investigated energy gap i.e. between 10 and 300 GeV

First measurement of the VESUVIO neutron spectrum in the 30–80 MeV energy range using a Proton Recoil Telescope technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cazzaniga, C; Tardocchi, M; Croci, G; Grosso, G; Rebai, M; Gorini, G; Frost, C; Rhodes, N J; Schooneveld, E M; Giacomelli, L; Hjalmarsson, A

2013-01-01

Measurements of the fast neutron energy spectrum at the ISIS spallation source are reported. The measurements were performed with a Proton Recoil Telescope consisting of a thin plastic foil placed in the neutron beam and two scintillator detectors. Results in the neutron energy range 30 MeV n < 80 MeV are in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron spectrum

Advanced X-Ray Telescope Mirrors Provide Sharpest Focus Ever

Science.gov (United States)

1997-03-01

's science mission. "We will observe X-rays generated when stars are torn apart by the incredibly strong gravity around massive black holes in the centers of galaxies," added Tananbaum. On a larger scale, the telescope will play a vital role in answering fundamental questions about the universe. "The superior quality of the mirrors will allow us to see and measure the details of hot gas clouds in clusters of galaxies, giving us a much better idea of the age and size of the universe," said Dr. Leon Van Speybroeck, Telescope Scientist at the Smithsonian Observatory. "These same observations also will measure the amount of dark matter present, providing unique insight into one of nature's great puzzles," said Van Speybroeck. A second phase of testing is now underway at Marshall. Calibration of the observatory's science instruments began in mid-February. "This phase of testing," said Weisskopf, "includes two focal plane instruments and two sets of gratings used to analyze images and energy distributions from cosmic sources seen by the telescope." Working around the clock, test teams are taking measurements and studying results. "It is very exciting," said Weisskopf. "With more than 1,200 measurements taken, there is already a tremendous amount of information for study." The calibration process will end around late April. The mirror assembly then will be shipped to TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, CA -- NASA's prime contractor for the program -- for integration into the spacecraft. The science instruments will remain at Marshall for several more weeks of testing before being shipped to Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation in Boulder, CO, where they will be integrated into the science instrument module before being shipped to TRW. The Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility is scheduled for launch in August 1998 and will join NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Compton Gamma-ray Observatory in exploring the universe. Marshall manages development of the observatory

Telescope Networks in Education: Where We Are Now and Where We Are Headed

Science.gov (United States)

Freed, R.

2017-12-01

Remote telescopes have become more common and accessible over the past 20 years as technology has evolved, and there has been a corresponding interest in bringing telescopes and astronomy into the educational arena. Numerous telescope networks (i.e. Las Cumbres Observatory, the Faulkes Telescopes, Skynet, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics MicroObservatory, the SPIRIT Telescopes, iTelescope, telescope.org and others) as well as curriculum development groups and national and international programs have been developed during this time to connect students and the public with the technology and the science. While some programs and networks have come and gone, we are now at a time where sustainable communities of practice around astronomical research, ground-based telescope networks, and education can take hold and grow. The global connectivity that today's technology affords makes possible many more types of astronomical studies than in previous decades as we now have the capacity for continual sky coverage in both hemispheres by larger numbers of people and larger telescopes. Astronomy is one of few scientific fields that captures the imagination of the masses and as an undergraduate general science course it is often the last exposure to formal science that students will have and as such can play a critical role in STEM education. As the advances in computer and space exploration technologies continue, and the amount of data coming from remote observatories and space exploration missions increases astronomically, integrating remote telescope networks into educational settings, in tandem with teaching students and the general public about the nature and processes of scientific inquiry is vital not only for the field of astronomy but in helping to develop a generation of critical thinkers and informed citizens.

Simulated gamma-ray pulse profile of the Crab pulsar with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Burtovoi, A.; Zampieri, L.

2016-07-01

We present simulations of the very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray light curve of the Crab pulsar as observed by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The CTA pulse profile of the Crab pulsar is simulated with the specific goal of determining the accuracy of the position of the interpulse. We fit the pulse shape obtained by the Major Atmospheric Gamma-Ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescope with a three-Gaussian template and rescale it to account for the different CTA instrumental and observational configurations. Simulations are performed for different configurations of CTA and for the ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) mini-array. The northern CTA configuration will provide an improvement of a factor of ˜3 in accuracy with an observing time comparable to that of MAGIC (73 h). Unless the VHE spectrum above 1 TeV behaves differently from what we presently know, unreasonably long observing times are required for a significant detection of the pulsations of the Crab pulsar with the high-energy-range sub-arrays. We also found that an independent VHE timing analysis is feasible with Large Size Telescopes. CTA will provide a significant improvement in determining the VHE pulse shape parameters necessary to constrain theoretical models of the gamma-ray emission of the Crab pulsar. One of such parameters is the shift in phase between peaks in the pulse profile at VHE and in other energy bands that, if detected, may point to different locations of the emission regions.

Search for new light bosons in high energy astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wouters, Denis

2014-01-01

High-Energy astronomy studies the most violent phenomena in the universe with observations in a large spectrum of energies ranging from X rays to very high energy gamma rays (1 keV - 100 TeV). Such phenomena could be for instance supernovae explosions and their remnants, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae or ultra relativistic jets formation by active galactic nuclei. Understanding these phenomena requires to use well-known particle physics processes. By means of high energy photons, studying such phenomena enables one to search for physics beyond the standard model. Concepts regarding the emission and propagation of high-energy photons are introduced and applied to study their emission by extragalactic sources and to constrain the extragalactic background light which affects their propagation. In this thesis, these high-energy extragalactic emitters are observed in order to search for new light bosons such as axion-like particles (ALPs). The theoretical framework of this family of hypothetical particles is reviewed as well as the associated phenomenology. In particular, because of their coupling to two photons, ALPs oscillate with photons in an external magnetic field. A new signature of such oscillations in turbulent magnetic fields, under the form of stochastic irregularities in the source energy spectrum, is introduced and discussed. A search for ALPs with the HESS telescopes with this new signature is presented, resulting in the first constraints on ALPs parameters coming from high-energy astronomy. Current constraints on ALPs at very low masses are improved by searching for the same signature in X-ray observations. An extension of these constraints to scalar field models for modified gravity in the framework of dark energy is then discussed. The potential of the search for ALPs with CTA, the prospected gamma-ray astronomy instrument, is eventually studied; in particular, a new observable is proposed that relies on the high number of sources that are expected to

Modular and Reusable Power System Design for the BRRISON Balloon Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Truesdale, Nicholas A.

High altitude balloons are emerging as low-cost alternatives to orbital satellites in the field of telescopic observation. The near-space environment of balloons allows optics to perform near their diffraction limit. In practice, this implies that a telescope similar to the Hubble Space Telescope could be flown for a cost of tens of millions as opposed to billions. While highly feasible, the design of a balloon telescope to rival Hubble is limited by funding. Until a prototype is proven and more support for balloon science is gained, projects remain limited in both hardware costs and man hours. Thus, to effectively create and support balloon payloads, engineering designs must be efficient, modular, and if possible reusable. This thesis focuses specifically on a modular power system design for the BRRISON comet-observing balloon telescope. Time- and cost-saving techniques are developed that can be used for future missions. A modular design process is achieved through the development of individual circuit elements that span a wide range of capabilities. Circuits for power conversion, switching and sensing are designed to be combined in any configuration. These include DC-DC regulators, MOSFET drivers for switching, isolated switches, current sensors and voltage sensing ADCs. Emphasis is also given to commercially available hardware. Pre-fabricated DC-DC converters and an Arduino microcontroller simplify the design process and offer proven, cost-effective performance. The design of the BRRISON power system is developed from these low-level circuits elements. A board for main power distribution supports the majority of flight electronics, and is extensible to additional hardware in future applications. An ATX computer power supply is developed, allowing the use of a commercial ATX motherboard as the flight computer. The addition of new capabilities is explored in the form of a heater control board. Finally, the power system as a whole is described, and its overall

FERMI OBSERVATIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM GRB 090217A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Bhat, P. N.; Briggs, M. S.; Bissaldi, E.; Bonamente, E.; Brigida, M.

2010-01-01

The Fermi observatory is advancing our knowledge of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) through pioneering observations at high energies, covering more than seven decades in energy with the two on-board detectors, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). Here, we report on the observation of the long GRB 090217A which triggered the GBM and has been detected by the LAT with a significance greater than 9σ. We present the GBM and LAT observations and on-ground analyses, including the time-resolved spectra and the study of the temporal profile from 8 keV up to ∼1 GeV. All spectra are well reproduced by a Band model. We compare these observations to the first two LAT-detected, long bursts GRB 080825C and GRB 080916C. These bursts were found to have time-dependent spectra and exhibited a delayed onset of the high-energy emission, which are not observed in the case of GRB 090217A. We discuss some theoretical implications for the high-energy emission of GRBs.

Tradespace investigation of strategic design factors for large space telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Karlow, Brandon; Jewison, Christopher; Sternberg, David; Hall, Sherrie; Golkar, Alessandro

2015-04-01

Future large telescope arrays require careful balancing of satisfaction across the stakeholders' community. Development programs usually cannot afford to explicitly address all stakeholder tradeoffs during the conceptual design stage, but rather confine the analysis to performance, cost, and schedule discussions, treating policy and budget as constraints defining the envelope of the investigation. Thus, it is of interest to develop an integrated stakeholder analysis approach to explicitly address the impact of all stakeholder interactions on the design of large telescope arrays to address future science and exploration needs. This paper offers a quantitative approach for modeling some of the stakeholder influences relevant to large telescope array designs-the linkages between a given mission and the wider NASA community. The main goal of the analysis is to explore the tradespace of large telescope designs and understand the effects of different design decisions in the stakeholders' network. Proposed architectures that offer benefits to existing constellations of systems, institutions, and mission plans are expected to yield political and engineering benefits for NASA stakeholders' wider objectives. If such synergistic architectures are privileged in subsequent analysis, regions of the tradespace that better meet the needs of the wider NASA community can be selected for further development.

Electron Energy Distribution in Hotspots of Cygnus A:Filling the Gap with Spitzer Space Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stawarz, L.; Cheung, C.C.; Harris, D.E.; Ostrowski, M.

2007-01-01

Here we present Spitzer Space Telescope imaging of Cyg A with the Infrared Array Camera at 4.5 (micro)m and 8.0 (micro)m, resulting in the detection of the high-energy tails or cut-offs in the synchrotron spectra for all four hotspots of this archetype radio galaxy. When combined with the other data collected (and re-analyzed) from the literature, our observations allow for detailed modeling of the broad-band (radio-to-X-ray) emission for the brightest spots A and D. We confirm that the X-ray flux detected previously from these features is consistent with the synchrotron self-Compton radiation for the magnetic field intensity B ∼ 170 (micro)G in spot A, and B ∼ 270 (micro)G in spot D. We also find that the energy density of the emitting electrons is most likely larger by a factor of a few than the energy density of the hotspots magnetic field. We construct energy spectra of the radiating ultrarelativistic electrons. We find that for both hotspots A and D these spectra are consistent with a broken power-law extending from at least 100MeV up to ∼ 100GeV, and that the spectral break corresponds almost exactly to the proton rest energy of ∼ 1GeV. We argue that the shape of the electron continuum most likely reflects two different regimes of the electron acceleration process taking place at mildly relativistic shocks, rather than resulting from radiative cooling and/or absorption e.ects. In this picture the protons inertia defines the critical energy for the hotspot electrons above which Fermi-type acceleration processes may play a major role, but below which the operating acceleration mechanism has to be of a different type. At energies ∼> 100 GeV, the electron spectra cut-off/steepen again, most likely as a result of spectral aging due to radiative loss effects. We discuss several implications of the presented analysis for the physics of extragalactic jets

Extremes of the jet-accretion power relation of blazars, as explored by NuSTAR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sbarrato, T.; Ghisellini, G.; Tagliaferri, G.

2016-01-01

.366) and B0222+185 (at z = 2.690) have been observed twice by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) simultaneously with Swift/X-ray Telescope, showing different variability behaviours. We found that NuSTAR is instrumental to explore the variability of powerful high-redshift blazars, even when...

Space telescope phase B definition study. Volume 2A: Science instruments, high speed point/area photometer

Science.gov (United States)

1976-01-01

The analysis and preliminary design of a high speed point/area photometer for the space telescope are summarized. The scientific objectives, photometer requirements, and design concepts are presented.

High-Energy Astrophysics with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Pretz, John; HAWC Collaboration

2013-04-01

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, under construction at Sierra Negra in the state of Puebla, Mexico, consists of a 22500 square meter area of water Cherenkov detectors: water tanks instrumented with light-sensitive photomultiplier tubes. The experiment is used to detect energetic secondary particles reaching the ground when a 50 GeV to 100 TeV cosmic ray or gamma ray interacts in the atmosphere above the experiment. By timing the arrival of particles on the ground, the direction of the original primary particle may be resolved with an error of between 1.0 (50 GeV) and 0.1 (10 TeV) degrees. Gamma-ray primaries may be distinguished from cosmic ray background by identifying the penetrating particles characteristic of a hadronic particle shower. The instrument is 10% complete and is performing as expected, with 30% of the channels anticipated by the summer of 2013. HAWC will complement existing Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes and space-based gamma-ray telescopes with its extreme high-energy sensitivity and its large field-of-view. The observatory will be used to study particle acceleration in Pulsar Wind Nebulae, Supernova Remnants, Active Galactic Nuclei and Gamma-ray Bursts. Additionally, the instrument can be used to probe dark matter annihilation in halo and sub-halos of the galaxy. We will present the sensitivity of the HAWC instrument in the context of the main science objectives. We will also present the status of the deployment including first data from the instrument and prospects for the future.

Theory Summary: Very High Energy Cosmic Rays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarkar Subir

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This is a summary of ISVHECRI 2012 from a theorist’s perspective. A hundred years after their discovery, there is renewed interest in very high energy cosmic raysand their interactions which can provide unique information on new physics well beyond the Standard Model if only we knew how to unambiguously decipher the experimental data. While the observational situation has improved dramatically on the past decade with regard to both improved statistics and better understood systematics, the long standing questions regarding the origin of cosmic rays remain only partially answered, while further questions have been raised by new data. A recent development discussed at this Symposium is the advent of forward physics data from several experiments at the LHC, which have broadly vindicated the air shower simulation Monte Carlos currently in use and reduced their uncertainties further. Nevertheless there is still a major extrapolation required to interpret the highest energy air showers observed which appear to be undergoing a puzzling change in their elemental composition, even casting doubt on whether the much vaunted GZK cutoff has indeedbeen observed. The situation is further compounded by the apparent disagreement between Auger and Telescope Array data. A crucial diagnostic will be provided by the detection of the accompanying ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos — two intriguing events have recently been recorded by IceCube.

UPPER LIMITS FROM FIVE YEARS OF BLAZAR OBSERVATIONS WITH THE VERITAS CHERENKOV TELESCOPES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Archambault, S. [Physics Department, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Archer, A.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V. [Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States); Benbow, W.; Cerruti, M. [Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Amado, AZ 85645 (United States); Bird, R. [School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 (Ireland); Biteau, J. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Buchovecky, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Byrum, K. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Chen, X. [Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm (Germany); Ciupik, L. [Astronomy Department, Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL 60605 (United States); Connolly, M. P. [School of Physics, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway (Ireland); Cui, W.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States); Eisch, J. D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States); Errando, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia University, NY 10027 (United States); Falcone, A. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Fleischhack, H., E-mail: wystan.benbow@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: matteo.cerruti@lpnhe.in2p3.fr, E-mail: caajohns@ucsc.edu [DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Collaboration: VERITAS collaboration; and others

2016-06-01

Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) γ -ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of ∼570 hr. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi -Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi -LAT catalog that are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have spectroscopic distance estimates. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample, we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data set, which shows a 4 σ excess.

UPPER LIMITS FROM FIVE YEARS OF BLAZAR OBSERVATIONS WITH THE VERITAS CHERENKOV TELESCOPES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archambault, S.; Archer, A.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V.; Benbow, W.; Cerruti, M.; Bird, R.; Biteau, J.; Buchovecky, M.; Byrum, K.; Chen, X.; Ciupik, L.; Connolly, M. P.; Cui, W.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P.; Eisch, J. D.; Errando, M.; Falcone, A.; Fleischhack, H.

2016-01-01

Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) γ -ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of ∼570 hr. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi -Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi -LAT catalog that are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have spectroscopic distance estimates. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample, we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data set, which shows a 4 σ excess.

Rise to SUMMIT: the Sydney University Multiple-Mirror Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Anna M.; Davis, John

2000-07-01

The Sydney University Multiple Mirror Telescope (SUMMIT) is a medium-sized telescope designed specifically for high resolution stellar spectroscopy. Throughout the design emphasis has been placed on high efficiency at low cost. The telescope consists of four 0.46 m diameter mirrors mounted on a single welded steel frame. Specially designed mirror cells support and point each mirror, allowing accurate positioning of the images on optical fibers located at the foci of the mirrors. Four fibers convey the light to the future location of a high resolution spectrograph away from the telescope in a stable environment. An overview of the commissioning of the telescope is presented, including the guidance and automatic mirror alignment and focussing systems. SUMMIT is located alongside the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer at the Paul Wild Observatory, near Narrabri, Northern New South Wales.

The Solar-A soft X-ray telescope experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Acton, L.; Bruner, M.; Brown, W.; Lemen, J.; Hirayama, T.

1988-01-01

The Japanese Solar-A mission for the study of high energy solar physics is timed to observe the sun during the next activity maximum. This small spacecraft includes a carefully coordinated complement of instruments for flare studies. In particular, the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) will provide X-ray images of flares with higher sensitivity and time resolution than have been available before. This paper describes the scientific capabilities of the SXT and illustrates its application to the study of an impulsive compact flare.

University of Arizona High Energy Physics Program at the Cosmic Frontier 2014-2016

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

abate, alex [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); cheu, elliott [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

2016-10-24

This is the final technical report from the University of Arizona High Energy Physics program at the Cosmic Frontier covering the period 2014-2016. The work aims to advance the understanding of dark energy using the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Progress on the engineering design of the power supplies for the LSST camera is discussed. A variety of contributions to photometric redshift measurement uncertainties were studied. The effect of the intergalactic medium on the photometric redshift of very distant galaxies was evaluated. Computer code was developed realizing the full chain of calculations needed to accurately and efficiently run large-scale simulations.

University of Arizona High Energy Physics Program at the Cosmic Frontier 2014-2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abate, Alex; Cheu, Elliott

2016-01-01

This is the final technical report from the University of Arizona High Energy Physics program at the Cosmic Frontier covering the period 2014-2016. The work aims to advance the understanding of dark energy using the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Progress on the engineering design of the power supplies for the LSST camera is discussed. A variety of contributions to photometric redshift measurement uncertainties were studied. The effect of the intergalactic medium on the photometric redshift of very distant galaxies was evaluated. Computer code was developed realizing the full chain of calculations needed to accurately and efficiently run large-scale simulations.

Searches for Dark Matter with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

The nature of dark matter is a longstanding enigma of physics; it may consist of particles beyond the Standard Model that are still elusive to experiments. Among indirect search techniques, which look for stable products from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, or from axions coupling to high-energy photons, observations of the gamma-ray sky have come to prominence over the last few years, because of the excellent sensitivity and full-sky coverage of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. The LAT energy range from 20 MeV to above 300 GeV is particularly well suited for searching for products of the interactions of dark matter particles. In this talk I will describe targets studied for evidence of dark matter with the LAT, and review the status of searches performed with up to six years of LAT data. I will also discuss the factors that determine the sensitivities of these searches, including the magnitudes of the signals and the relevant backgrounds, c...

Optical identifications of celestial high energy sources with the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turriziani, Sara

2012-01-01

To ascertain the nature of celestial high energy sources, it is crucial to identify their optical counterparts. However, the currently available astronomical public optical databases do not provide an adequate support for a systematic high energy sources identification work. In particular, the optical limiting magnitude represents a severe limitation since the deepest flux limits reached by X-ray surveys require of course similarly deeper optical catalogs to homogeneously sample the available parameter space. Nonetheless, dedicated spectroscopic campaigns are being carried out successfully with the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), a 4-m class telescope. To set up a winning observational campaign, the first and most important step is to define a strong science case, as it will allow for selections of good targets for observations: the key is to increase the identification efficiency while keeping down the required telescope time. In this context, as the Principal Investigator, I will give an overview of the first spectroscopic campaign carried out at the TNG to identify Swift X-ray serendipitous sources, and I will show the valuable results achieved with only one night of observations. As a second example, I will review the strategy for the northern-sky classification of candidate blazars associated to unidentified Fermi γ-ray sources, and I will show the results coming from the related observational campaign at TNG I have been involved during the last two years.

Modular Orbital Demonstration of an Evolvable Space Telescope (MODEST)

Science.gov (United States)

Baldauf, Brian; Conti, Alberto

2016-01-01

The "Search for Life" via imaging of exoplanets is a mission that requires extremely stable telescopes with apertures in the 10 m to 20 m range. The High Definition Space Telescope (HDST) envisioned for this mission would have an aperture >10 m, which is a larger payload than what can be delivered to space using a single launch vehicle. Building and assembling the mirror segments enabling large telescopes will likely require multiple launches and assembly in space. Space-based telescopes with large apertures will require major changes to system architectures.The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) for HDST is a primary mission cost driver. Enabling and affordable solutions for this next generation of large aperture space-based telescope are needed.This paper reports on the concept for the Modular Orbital Demonstration of an Evolvable Space Telescope (MODEST), which demonstrates on-orbit robotic and/or astronaut assembly of a precision optical telescope in space. It will also facilitate demonstration of active correction of phase and mirror shape. MODEST is proposed to be delivered to the ISS using standard Express Logistics Carriers (ELCs) and can mounted to one of a variety of ISS pallets. Post-assembly value includes space, ground, and environmental studies, and a testbed for new instruments. This demonstration program for next generation mirror technology provides significant risk reduction and demonstrates the technology in a six-mirror phased telescope. Other key features of the demonstration include the use of an active primary optical surface with wavefront feedback control that allows on-orbit optimization and demonstration of precise surface control to meet optical system wavefront and stability requirements.MODEST will also be used to evaluate advances in lightweight mirror and metering structure materials such as SiC or Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer that have excellent mechanical and thermal properties, e.g. high stiffness, high modulus, high thermal

A recoil-proton fast-neutron counter telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavan, P.; Toniolo, D.; Zago, G.; Zannoni, R.; Galeazzi, G.; Bressanini, G.

1981-01-01

A recoil-proton neutron counter telescope is described composed of a solid-state silicon transmission detector and a NE 102 A plastic scintillator, measuring the energy loss, the energy of the recoil protons and the time of flight between the two detectors. The counter exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams of energy from 6 to 20 MeV presents a low background and a moderate energy resolution. Its absolute efficiency is calculated up to 50 MeV. (author)

The future of high energy gamma ray astronomy and its potential astrophysical implications

Science.gov (United States)

Fichtel, C. E.

1982-01-01

Future satellites should carry instruments having over an order of magnitude greater sensitivity than those flown thus far as well as improved energy and angular resolution. The information to be obtained from these experiments should greatly enhance knowledge of: the very energetic and nuclear processes associated with compact objects; the structure of our galaxy; the origin and dynamic pressure effects of the cosmic rays; the high energy particles and energetic processes in other galaxies; and the degree of matter-antimatter symmetry of the universe. The relevant aspects of extragalactic gamma ray phenomena are emphasized along with the instruments planned. The high energy gamma ray results of forthcoming programs such as GAMMA-1 and the Gamma Ray Observatory should justify even more sophisticated telescopes. These advanced instruments might be placed on the space station currently being considered by NASA.

A telescope for observation from space of extreme lightnings in the upper atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, S.; Artikova, S.; Chung, T.; Garipov, G.; Jeon, J.A.; Jeong, S.; Jin, J.Y.; Khrenov, B.A.; Kim, J.E.; Kim, M.; Kim, Y.K.; Klimov, P.; Lee, J.; Lee, H.Y.; Na, G.W.; Oh, S.J.; Panasyuk, M.; Park, I.H.; Park, J.H.; Park, Y.-S.

2008-01-01

A new type of telescope with a wide field-of-view and functions of fast zoom-in has been introduced. Two kinds of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) micromirrors, digital and analog, are used for reflectors of the telescope, placed at different focal lengths. We apply this technology to the observation from space of TLE (Transient Luminous Events), extremely large transient sparks occurring at the upper atmosphere. TLE are one type of important backgrounds to be understood for future space observation of UHECR (Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays). The launch of the payload carried by a Russian microsatellite is foreseen in the middle of 2008

A triple telescope for the simultaneous identification of light and heavy reaction products

CERN Document Server

Moura, M M D; Alonso, E E; Souza, F A; Fujii, R J; Morais, O B D; Szanto, E M; Szanto de Toledo, A; Carlin, N

2001-01-01

Sixteen triple telescopes were developed to be used in the study of light heavy-ion nuclear reactions at the University of Sao Paulo Pelletron Laboratory, with the purpose of providing simultaneous identification of light and heavy reaction products. Each telescope consists of one ionization chamber, one Si detector and one CsI detector with photodiode readout. The telescopes are encapsulated in such a way that they can be utilized in different setup geometries depending on the kind of experiment being performed. Results for the ionization chambers energy loss resolution, Si and CsI detectors energy resolution and general performance are presented.

Development of the focal plane PNCCD camera system for the X-ray space telescope eROSITA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meidinger, Norbert; Andritschke, Robert; Ebermayer, Stefanie; Elbs, Johannes; Haelker, Olaf; Hartmann, Robert; Herrmann, Sven; Kimmel, Nils; Schaechner, Gabriele; Schopper, Florian; Soltau, Heike; Strueder, Lothar; Weidenspointner, Georg

2010-01-01

A so-called PNCCD, a special type of CCD, was developed twenty years ago as focal plane detector for the XMM-Newton X-ray astronomy mission of the European Space Agency ESA. Based on this detector concept and taking into account the experience of almost ten years of operation in space, a new X-ray CCD type was designed by the 'MPI semiconductor laboratory' for an upcoming X-ray space telescope, called eROSITA (extended Roentgen survey with an imaging telescope array). This space telescope will be equipped with seven X-ray mirror systems of Wolter-I type and seven CCD cameras, placed in their foci. The instrumentation permits the exploration of the X-ray universe in the energy band from 0.3 up to 10 keV by spectroscopic measurements with a time resolution of 50 ms for a full image comprising 384x384 pixels. Main scientific goals are an all-sky survey and investigation of the mysterious 'Dark Energy'. The eROSITA space telescope, which is developed under the responsibility of the 'Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial physics', is a scientific payload on the new Russian satellite 'Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma' (SRG). The mission is already approved by the responsible Russian and German space agencies. After launch in 2012 the destination of the satellite is Lagrange point L2. The planned observational program takes about seven years. We describe the design of the eROSITA camera system and present important test results achieved recently with the eROSITA prototype PNCCD detector. This includes a comparison of the eROSITA detector with the XMM-Newton detector.

Technological Aspects of Creating Large-size Optical Telescopes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Sychev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A concept of the telescope creation, first of all, depends both on a choice of the optical scheme to form optical radiation and images with minimum losses of energy and information and on a choice of design to meet requirements for strength, stiffness, and stabilization characteristics in real telescope operation conditions. Thus, the concept of creating large-size telescopes, certainly, involves the use of adaptive optics methods and means.The level of technological capabilities to realize scientific and engineering ideas define a successful development of large-size optical telescopes in many respects. All developers pursue the same aim that is to raise an amount of information by increasing a main mirror diameter of the telescope.The article analyses the adaptive telescope designs developed in our country. Using a domestic ACT-25 telescope as an example, it considers creation of large-size optical telescopes in terms of technological aspects. It also describes the telescope creation concept features, which allow reaching marginally possible characteristics to ensure maximum amount of information.The article compares a wide range of large-size telescopes projects. It shows that a domestic project to create the adaptive ACT-25 super-telescope surpasses its foreign counterparts, and there is no sense to implement Euro50 (50m and OWL (100m projects.The considered material gives clear understanding on a role of technological aspects in development of such complicated optic-electronic complexes as a large-size optical telescope. The technological criteria of an assessment offered in the article, namely specific informational content of the telescope, its specific mass, and specific cost allow us to reveal weaknesses in the project development and define a reserve regarding further improvement of the telescope.The analysis of results and their judgment have shown that improvement of optical largesize telescopes in terms of their maximum

Modulated High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Micro-quasar Cygnus X-3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A.A.; Cheung, C.C.; Dermer, C.D.; Grove, J.E.; Johnson, W.N.; Lovellette, M.N.; Makeev, A.; Ray, P.S.; Strickman, M.S.; Wood, K.S.; Abdo, A.A.; Cheung, C.C.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R.D.; Bloom, E.D.; Borgland, A.W.; Cameron, R.A.; Chiang, J.; Claus, R.; Digel, S.W.; Silva, E.D.E.; Drell, P.S.; Dubois, R.; Focke, W.B.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Hayashida, M.; Johannesson, G.; Johnson, A.S.; Kamae, T.; Kocian, M.L.; Lande, J.; Madejski, G.M.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Monzani, M.E.; Moskalenko, I.V.; Murgia, S.; Nolan, P.L.; Paneque, D.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Rochester, L.S.; Romani, R.W.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J.B.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T.L.; Waite, A.P.; Wang, P.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R.D.; Bloom, E.D.; Borgland, A.W.; Cameron, R.A.; Chiang, J.; Claus, R.; Digel, S.W.; Silva, E.D.E.; Drell, P.S.; Dubois, R.; Focke, W.B.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Hayashida, M.; Johannesson, G.; Johnson, A.S.; Kamae, T.; Kocian, M.L.; Lande, J.; Madejski, G.M.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Monzani, M.E.; Moskalenko, I.V.; Murgia, S.; Nolan, P.L.; Paneque, D.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Rochester, L.S.; Romani, R.W.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J.B.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T.L.; Waite, A.P.; Wang, P.; Axelsson, M.; Hjalmarsdotter, L.; Axelsson, M.; Conrad, J.; Hjalmarsdotter, L.; Jackson, M.S.; Meurer, C.; Ryde, F.; Ylinen, T.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Brez, A.; Kuss, M.; Latronico, L.; Omodei, N.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Razzano, M.; Sgro, C.; Ballet, J.; Casandjian, J.M.; Chaty, S.; Corbel, S.; Grenier, I.A.; Koerding, E.; Rodriguez, J.; Starck, J.L.; Tibaldo, L.

2009-01-01

Micro-quasars are accreting black holes or neutron stars in binary systems with associated relativistic jets. Despite their frequent outburst activity, they have never been unambiguously detected emitting high-energy gamma rays. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has detected a variable high-energy source coinciding with the position of the x-ray binary and micro-quasar Cygnus X-3. Its identification with Cygnus X-3 is secured by the detection of its orbital period in gamma rays, as well as the correlation of the LAT flux with radio emission from the relativistic jets of Cygnus X-3. The gamma-ray emission probably originates from within the binary system, opening new areas in which to study the formation of relativistic jets. (authors)

A gas-silicon telescope for medium-heavy ion detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozik, T.; Buschmann, J.; Neudold, M.

1985-12-01

A ΔE-E telescope for the identification of medium-heavy ions is presented. The specific energy loss is measured with a gas ionization chamber, and the residual energy is determined with a silicon surface barrier detector. The main features of the collecting electrical field and the timing properties of the device are discussed under theoretical aspects. The gas supply system, its electronic control unit, and the operating procedures are described. Two different versions of the coincidence electronics are shown. The experimental performance of the gas-silicon telescope is demonstrated and is found to be close to the best Z-resolution which can be obtained with this technique. (orig.) [de

The Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, R.N.; Baars, J.W.M.

1990-01-01

To exploit the potential of submillimeter astronomy, the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) will be located at an altitude of 3178 meters on Emerald Peak 75 miles northeast of Tucson in Southern Arizona. The instrument is an altazimuth mounted f/13.8 Cassegrain homology telescope with two Nasmyth and bent Cassegrain foci. It will have diffraction limited performance at a wavelength of 300 microns and an operating overall figure accuracy of 15 microns rms. An important feature of the SMT is the construction of the primary and secondary reflectors out of aluminum-core CFRP face sheet sandwich panels, and the reflector backup structure and secondary support out of CFRP structural elements. This modern technology provides both a means for reaching the required precision of the SMT for both night and day operation (basically because of the low coefficient of thermal expansion and high strength-to-weight ratio of CFRP) and a potential route for the realization of lightweight telescopes of even greater accuracy in the future. The SMT will be the highest accuracy radio telescope ever built (at least a factor of 2 more accurate than existing telescopes). In addition, the SMT will be the first 10 m-class submillimeter telescope with a surface designed for efficient measurements at the important 350 microns wavelength atmospheric window. 9 refs

Depth of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Induced Air Shower Maxima Measured by the Telescope Array Black Rock and Long Ridge FADC Fluorescence Detectors and Surface Array in Hybrid Mode

Science.gov (United States)

Abbasi, R. U.; Abe, M.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Allen, M.; Azuma, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Blake, S. A.; Cady, R.; Cheon, B. G.; Chiba, J.; Chikawa, M.; di Matteo, A.; Fujii, T.; Fujita, K.; Fukushima, M.; Furlich, G.; Goto, T.; Hanlon, W.; Hayashi, M.; Hayashi, Y.; Hayashida, N.; Hibino, K.; Honda, K.; Ikeda, D.; Inoue, N.; Ishii, T.; Ishimori, R.; Ito, H.; Ivanov, D.; Jeong, H. M.; Jeong, S. M.; Jui, C. C. H.; Kadota, K.; Kakimoto, F.; Kalashev, O.; Kasahara, K.; Kawai, H.; Kawakami, S.; Kawana, S.; Kawata, K.; Kido, E.; Kim, H. B.; Kim, J. H.; Kim, J. H.; Kishigami, S.; Kitamura, S.; Kitamura, Y.; Kuzmin, V.; Kuznetsov, M.; Kwon, Y. J.; Lee, K. H.; Lubsandorzhiev, B.; Lundquist, J. P.; Machida, K.; Martens, K.; Matsuyama, T.; Matthews, J. N.; Mayta, R.; Minamino, M.; Mukai, K.; Myers, I.; Nagasawa, K.; Nagataki, S.; Nakamura, R.; Nakamura, T.; Nonaka, T.; Oda, H.; Ogio, S.; Ogura, J.; Ohnishi, M.; Ohoka, H.; Okuda, T.; Omura, Y.; Ono, M.; Onogi, R.; Oshima, A.; Ozawa, S.; Park, I. H.; Pshirkov, M. S.; Rodriguez, D. C.; Rubtsov, G.; Ryu, D.; Sagawa, H.; Sahara, R.; Saito, K.; Saito, Y.; Sakaki, N.; Sakurai, N.; Scott, L. M.; Seki, T.; Sekino, K.; Shah, P. D.; Shibata, F.; Shibata, T.; Shimodaira, H.; Shin, B. K.; Shin, H. S.; Smith, J. D.; Sokolsky, P.; Stokes, B. T.; Stratton, S. R.; Stroman, T. A.; Suzawa, T.; Takagi, Y.; Takahashi, Y.; Takamura, M.; Takeda, M.; Takeishi, R.; Taketa, A.; Takita, M.; Tameda, Y.; Tanaka, H.; Tanaka, K.; Tanaka, M.; Thomas, S. B.; Thomson, G. B.; Tinyakov, P.; Tkachev, I.; Tokuno, H.; Tomida, T.; Troitsky, S.; Tsunesada, Y.; Tsutsumi, K.; Uchihori, Y.; Udo, S.; Urban, F.; Wong, T.; Yamamoto, M.; Yamane, R.; Yamaoka, H.; Yamazaki, K.; Yang, J.; Yashiro, K.; Yoneda, Y.; Yoshida, S.; Yoshii, H.; Zhezher, Y.; Zundel, Z.; Telescope Array Collaboration

2018-05-01

The Telescope Array (TA) observatory utilizes fluorescence detectors and surface detectors (SDs) to observe air showers produced by ultra high energy cosmic rays in Earth’s atmosphere. Cosmic-ray events observed in this way are termed hybrid data. The depth of air shower maximum is related to the mass of the primary particle that generates the shower. This paper reports on shower maxima data collected over 8.5 yr using the Black Rock Mesa and Long Ridge fluorescence detectors in conjunction with the array of SDs. We compare the means and standard deviations of the observed {X}\\max distributions with Monte Carlo {X}\\max distributions of unmixed protons, helium, nitrogen, and iron, all generated using the QGSJet II-04 hadronic model. We also perform an unbinned maximum likelihood test of the observed data, which is subjected to variable systematic shifting of the data {X}\\max distributions to allow us to test the full distributions, and compare them to the Monte Carlo to see which elements are not compatible with the observed data. For all energy bins, QGSJet II-04 protons are found to be compatible with TA hybrid data at the 95% confidence level after some systematic {X}\\max shifting of the data. Three other QGSJet II-04 elements are found to be compatible using the same test procedure in an energy range limited to the highest energies where data statistics are sparse.

New Constraints on ΩM, ΩΛ, and w from an Independent Set of 11 High-Redshift Supernovae Observed with the Hubble Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Knop, R. A.; Aldering, G.; Amanullah, R.; Astier, P.; Blanc, G.; Burns, M. S.; Conley, A.; Deustua, S. E.; Doi, M.; Ellis, R.; Fabbro, S.; Folatelli, G.; Fruchter, A. S.; Garavini, G.; Garmond, S.; Garton, K.; Gibbons, R.; Goldhaber, G.; Goobar, A.; Groom, D. E.; Hardin, D.; Hook, I.; Howell, D. A.; Kim, A. G.; Lee, B. C.; Lidman, C.; Mendez, J.; Nobili, S.; Nugent, P. E.; Pain, R.; Panagia, N.; Pennypacker, C. R.; Perlmutter, S.; Quimby, R.; Raux, J.; Regnault, N.; Ruiz-Lapuente, P.; Sainton, G.; Schaefer, B.; Schahmaneche, K.; Smith, E.; Spadafora, A. L.; Stanishev, V.; Sullivan, M.; Walton, N. A.; Wang, L.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Yasuda, N.

2003-11-01

We report measurements of ΩM, ΩΛ, and w from 11 supernovae (SNe) at z=0.36-0.86 with high-quality light curves measured using WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This is an independent set of high-redshift SNe that confirms previous SN evidence for an accelerating universe. The high-quality light curves available from photometry on WFPC2 make it possible for these 11 SNe alone to provide measurements of the cosmological parameters comparable in statistical weight to the previous results. Combined with earlier Supernova Cosmology Project data, the new SNe yield a measurement of the mass density ΩM=0.25+0.07-0.06(statistical)+/-0.04 (identified systematics), or equivalently, a cosmological constant of ΩΛ=0.75+0.06-0.07(statistical)+/-0.04 (identified systematics), under the assumptions of a flat universe and that the dark energy equation-of-state parameter has a constant value w=-1. When the SN results are combined with independent flat-universe measurements of ΩM from cosmic microwave background and galaxy redshift distortion data, they provide a measurement of w=-1.05+0.15-0.20(statistical)+/-0.09 (identified systematic), if w is assumed to be constant in time. In addition to high-precision light-curve measurements, the new data offer greatly improved color measurements of the high-redshift SNe and hence improved host galaxy extinction estimates. These extinction measurements show no anomalous negative E(B-V) at high redshift. The precision of the measurements is such that it is possible to perform a host galaxy extinction correction directly for individual SNe without any assumptions or priors on the parent E(B-V) distribution. Our cosmological fits using full extinction corrections confirm that dark energy is required with P(ΩΛ>0)>0.99, a result consistent with previous and current SN analyses that rely on the identification of a low-extinction subset or prior assumptions concerning the intrinsic extinction distribution. Based in part on

A satellite born charged particles telescope for the study of cosmic ray nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Pascale, M.P. [Rome Univ. `Tor Vergata` (Italy)]|[INFN, Rome (Italy); Bocciolini, M. [Florence Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Florence (Italy); Barbiellini, G.; Boezio, M. [Trieste Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Trieste (Italy); Bellotti, R.; Cafagna, F. [Bari Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Bari (Italy)

1995-09-01

The description of the high energy particle telescope NINA for the study of cosmic ray nuclei is presented. The instrument will be installed on board of the Resource 01 satellite and will fly on a polar orbit at 690 Km. The telescope consists on a pile of 16 detecting planes each of them is composed by two silicon strip detectors with perpendicular strips and has a total area of 60x60mm{sup 2}. The experiment goals are the study of cosmic ray protons and nuclei in the energy range 12-100 MeV/amu. It will be sensitive to the anomalous component and will also make the observation of the large solar flare events and geophysical phenomena as well. This experiment is the first step of the program RIM whose goal is the satellite study of anti particles in primary cosmic rays.

The slewing mirror telescope of the Ultra Fast Flash Observatory Pathfinder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, S.; Ahmad, S.; Barrillon, P.

2012-01-01

The Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) is a key telescope of Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) space project to explore the first sub-minute or sub-seconds early photons from the Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) afterglows. As the realization of UFFO, 20kg of UFFO-Pathfinder (UFFO-P) is going to be on board...... the Russian Lomonosov satellite in November 2012 by Soyuz-2 rocket. Once the UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope (UBAT) detects the GRBs, Slewing mirror (SM) will slew to bring new GRB into the SMT’s field of view rather than slewing the entire spacecraft. SMT can give a UV/Optical counterpart position...

An atmospheric turbulence and telescope simulator for the development of AOLI

Science.gov (United States)

Puga, Marta; López, Roberto; King, David; Oscoz, Alejandro

2014-08-01

AOLI, Adaptive Optics Lucky Imager, is the next generation of extremely high resolution instruments in the optical range, combining the two more promising techniques: Adaptive optics and lucky imaging. The possibility of reaching fainter objects at maximum resolution implies a better use of weak energy on each lucky image. AOLI aims to achieve this by using an adaptive optics system to reduce the dispersion that seeing causes on the spot and therefore increasing the number of optimal images to accumulate, maximizing the efficiency of the lucky imaging technique. The complexity of developments in hardware, control and software for in-site telescope tests claim for a system to simulate the telescope performance. This paper outlines the requirements and a concept/preliminary design for the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) and atmospheric turbulence simulator. The design consists of pupil resemble, a variable intensity point source, phase plates and a focal plane mask to assist in the alignment, diagnostics and calibration of AOLI wavefront sensor, AO loop and science detectors, as well as enabling stand-alone test operation of AOLI.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY NEUTRINO ASTRONOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter K. F. Grieder

2013-12-01

Full Text Available We outline the current situation in ultrahigh energy (UHE cosmic ray physics, pointing out the remaining problems, in particular the puzzle concerning the origin of the primary radiation and the role of neutrino astronomy for locating the sources. Various methods for the detection of UHE neutrinos are briefly described and their merits compared. We give an account of the achievements of the existing optical Cherenkov neutrino telescopes, outline the possibility of using air fluorescence and particle properties of air showers to identify neutrino induced events, and discuss various pioneering experiments employing radio and acoustic detection of extremely energetic neutrinos. The next generation of space, ground and sea based neutrino telescopes now under construction or in the planning phase are listed.

The Anti-Coincidence Detector for the GLAST Large Area Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moiseev, A.A.; Hartman, R.C.; Ormes, J.F.; Thompson, D.J.; Amato, M.J.; Johnson, T.E.; Segal, K.N.; Sheppard, D.A.

2007-03-23

This paper describes the design, fabrication and testing of the Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD) for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT). The ACD is LAT's first-level defense against the charged cosmic ray background that outnumbers the gamma rays by 3-5 orders of magnitude. The ACD covers the top and 4 sides of the LAT tracking detector, requiring a total active area of {approx}8.3 square meters. The ACD detector utilizes plastic scintillator tiles with wave-length shifting fiber readout. In order to suppress self-veto by shower particles at high gamma-ray energies, the ACD is segmented into 89 tiles of different sizes. The overall ACD efficiency for detection of singly charged relativistic particles entering the tracking detector from the top or sides of the LAT exceeds the required 0.9997.

Nuclear Energy in Space Exploration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seaborg, Glenn T.

1968-01-01

Nuclear space programs under development by the Atomic Energy Commission are reviewed including the Rover Program, systems for nuclear rocket propulsion and, the SNAP Program, systems for generating electric power in space. The letters S-N-A-P stands for Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power. Some of the projected uses of nuclear systems in space are briefly discussed including lunar orbit, lunar transportation from lunar orbit to lunar surface and base stations; planetary exploration, and longer space missions. The limitations of other sources of energy such as solar, fuel cells, and electric batteries are discussed. The excitement and visionary possibilities of the Age of Space are discussed.

Contemporaneous VLBA 5 GHz Observations of Large Area Telescope Detected Blazars

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-10

on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is a wide-field telescope covering the energy range from about 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. It has been... energies via inverse Compton processes (e.g., Björnsson 2010; Tavecchio et al. 2011; Abdo et al. 2011). Meier (2005) expected several reconnection...Astrophys. Space Sci. Libr ., 285, 109 Healey, S. E., Romani, R. W., Cotter, G., et al. 2008, ApJS, 175, 97 Healey, S. E., Romani, R. W., Taylor, G. B

THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE ON ORBIT: EVENT CLASSIFICATION, INSTRUMENT RESPONSE FUNCTIONS, AND CALIBRATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ackermann, M. [Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Bechtol, K.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bogart, J. R.; Borgland, A. W.; Bottacini, E. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Albert, A. [Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Atwood, W. B.; Bouvier, A. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Axelsson, M. [Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Baldini, L. [Universita di Pisa and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Barbiellini, G. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy); Bastieri, D. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy); Bellazzini, R. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bissaldi, E. [Institut fuer Astro- und Teilchenphysik and Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Leopold-Franzens-Universitaet Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Bonamente, E., E-mail: echarles@slac.stanford.edu, E-mail: luca.baldini@pi.infn.it, E-mail: rando@pd.infn.it [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy); and others

2012-11-15

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view, high-energy {gamma}-ray telescope, covering the energy range from 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. During the first years of the mission, the LAT team has gained considerable insight into the in-flight performance of the instrument. Accordingly, we have updated the analysis used to reduce LAT data for public release as well as the instrument response functions (IRFs), the description of the instrument performance provided for data analysis. In this paper, we describe the effects that motivated these updates. Furthermore, we discuss how we originally derived IRFs from Monte Carlo simulations and later corrected those IRFs for discrepancies observed between flight and simulated data. We also give details of the validations performed using flight data and quantify the residual uncertainties in the IRFs. Finally, we describe techniques the LAT team has developed to propagate those uncertainties into estimates of the systematic errors on common measurements such as fluxes and spectra of astrophysical sources.

A major electronics upgrade for the H.E.S.S. Cherenkov telescopes 1-4

CERN Document Server

Giavitto, G; Balzer, A.; Berge, D.; Brun, F.; Chaminade, T.; Delagnes, E.; Fontaine, G.; Füßling, M.; Giebels, B.; Glicenstein, J.F.; Gräber, T.; Hinton, J.A.; Jahnke, A.; Klepser, S.; Kossatz, M.; Kretzschmann, A.; Lefranc, V.; Leich, H.; Lüdecke, H.; Manigot, P.; Marandon, V.; Moulin, E.; de, M.; Nayman, P.; Penno, M.; Ross, D.; Salek, D.; Schade, M.; Schwab, T.; Simoni, R.; Stegmann, C.; Thornhill, J.; Toussenel, F.

2015-01-01

The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is an array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) located in the Khomas Highland in Namibia. It consists of four 12-m telescopes (CT1-4), which started operations in 2003, and a 28-m diameter one (CT5), which was brought online in 2012. It is the only IACT system featuring telescopes of different sizes, which provides sensitivity for gamma rays across a very wide energy range, from ~30 GeV up to ~100 TeV. Since the camera electronics of CT1-4 are much older than the one of CT5, an upgrade is being carried out; first deployment was in 2015, full operation is planned for 2016. The goals of this upgrade are threefold: reducing the dead time of the cameras, improving the overall performance of the array and reducing the system failure rate related to aging. Upon completion, the upgrade will assure the continuous operation of H.E.S.S. at its full sensitivity until and possibly beyond the advent of CTA. In the design of the new components, several CTA con...

THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE ON ORBIT: EVENT CLASSIFICATION, INSTRUMENT RESPONSE FUNCTIONS, AND CALIBRATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Bechtol, K.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bogart, J. R.; Borgland, A. W.; Bottacini, E.; Albert, A.; Atwood, W. B.; Bouvier, A.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bellazzini, R.; Bissaldi, E.; Bonamente, E.

2012-01-01

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view, high-energy γ-ray telescope, covering the energy range from 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. During the first years of the mission, the LAT team has gained considerable insight into the in-flight performance of the instrument. Accordingly, we have updated the analysis used to reduce LAT data for public release as well as the instrument response functions (IRFs), the description of the instrument performance provided for data analysis. In this paper, we describe the effects that motivated these updates. Furthermore, we discuss how we originally derived IRFs from Monte Carlo simulations and later corrected those IRFs for discrepancies observed between flight and simulated data. We also give details of the validations performed using flight data and quantify the residual uncertainties in the IRFs. Finally, we describe techniques the LAT team has developed to propagate those uncertainties into estimates of the systematic errors on common measurements such as fluxes and spectra of astrophysical sources.

The MAGIC gamma-ray telescope: status and first results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, Enrique

2006-01-01

MAGIC, a 17 m diameter Cherenkov telescope for gamma ray astronomy, has recently been commissioned at the Roque de los Muchachos site in the Island of La Palma, of the Canary Islands. The telescope was proposed in 1998 with the goal of lowering the threshold of observation of gamma rays by ground detectors to 20-30 GeV energies. This paper describes its main design features, its physics objectives and its first operations

Proxy magnetometry with the Dutch Open Telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rutten, R.J.; Hammerschlag, R.H.; Sütterlin, P.; Bettonvil, F.C.M.

1999-01-01

Superb movies from the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on La Palma have proven the validity of the open concept of this innovative telescope for high-resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere. A five- camera speckle-burst registration system is being installed that should permit consistent and

NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program Energy Storage Project Battery Technology Development

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Concha M.; Miller, Thomas B.; Mercer, Carolyn R.; Jankovsky, Amy L.

2010-01-01

Technical Interchange Meeting was held at Saft America s Research and Development facility in Cockeysville, Maryland on Sept 28th-29th, 2010. The meeting was attended by Saft, contractors who are developing battery component materials under contracts awarded through a NASA Research Announcement (NRA), and NASA. This briefing presents an overview of the components being developed by the contractor attendees for the NASA s High Energy (HE) and Ultra High Energy (UHE) cells. The transition of the advanced lithium-ion cell development project at NASA from the Exploration Technology Development Program Energy Storage Project to the Enabling Technology Development and Demonstration High Efficiency Space Power Systems Project, changes to deliverable hardware and schedule due to a reduced budget, and our roadmap to develop cells and provide periodic off-ramps for cell technology for demonstrations are discussed. This meeting gave the materials and cell developers the opportunity to discuss the intricacies of their materials and determine strategies to address any particulars of the technology.

High Energy Density Sciences with High Power Lasers at SACLA

Science.gov (United States)

Kodama, Ryosuke

2013-10-01

One of the interesting topics on high energy density sciences with high power lasers is creation of extremely high pressures in material. The pressures of more than 0.1 TPa are the energy density corresponding to the chemical bonding energy, resulting in expectation of dramatic changes in the chemical reactions. At pressures of more than TPa, most of material would be melted on the shock Hugoniot curve. However, if the temperature is less than 1eV or lower than a melting point at pressures of more than TPa, novel solid states of matter must be created through a pressured phase transition. One of the interesting materials must be carbon. At pressures of more than TPa, the diamond structure changes to BC and cubic at more than 3TPa. To create such novel states of matter, several kinds of isentropic-like compression techniques are being developed with high power lasers. To explore the ``Tera-Pascal Science,'' now we have a new tool which is an x-ray free electron laser as well as high power lasers. The XFEL will clear the details of the HED states and also efficiently create hot dense matter. We have started a new project on high energy density sciences using an XFEL (SACLA) in Japan, which is a HERMES (High Energy density Revolution of Matter in Extreme States) project.

The surface detector array of the Telescope Array experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abu-Zayyad, T. [University of Utah, High Energy Astrophysics Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Aida, R. [University of Yamanashi, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, Kofu, Yamanashi (Japan); Allen, M.; Anderson, R. [University of Utah, High Energy Astrophysics Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Azuma, R. [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J.W.; Bergman, D.R.; Blake, S.A.; Cady, R. [University of Utah, High Energy Astrophysics Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Cheon, B.G. [Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J. [Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba (Japan); Chikawa, M. [Kinki University, Higashi Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Cho, E.J. [Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, W.R. [Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Fujii, H. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Fujii, T. [Osaka City University, Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Fukuda, T. [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Fukushima, M. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan); University of Tokyo, Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan); Gorbunov, D. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation); and others

2012-10-11

The Telescope Array (TA) experiment, located in the western desert of Utah, USA, is designed for the observation of extensive air showers from extremely high energy cosmic rays. The experiment has a surface detector array surrounded by three fluorescence detectors to enable simultaneous detection of shower particles at ground level and fluorescence photons along the shower track. The TA surface detectors and fluorescence detectors started full hybrid observation in March, 2008. In this article we describe the design and technical features of the TA surface detector.

The surface detector array of the Telescope Array experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abu-Zayyad, T.; Aida, R.; Allen, M.; Anderson, R.; Azuma, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J.W.; Bergman, D.R.; Blake, S.A.; Cady, R.; Cheon, B.G.; Chiba, J.; Chikawa, M.; Cho, E.J.; Cho, W.R.; Fujii, H.; Fujii, T.; Fukuda, T.; Fukushima, M.; Gorbunov, D.

2012-01-01

The Telescope Array (TA) experiment, located in the western desert of Utah, USA, is designed for the observation of extensive air showers from extremely high energy cosmic rays. The experiment has a surface detector array surrounded by three fluorescence detectors to enable simultaneous detection of shower particles at ground level and fluorescence photons along the shower track. The TA surface detectors and fluorescence detectors started full hybrid observation in March, 2008. In this article we describe the design and technical features of the TA surface detector.

FERMI/LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DISCOVERY OF GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM THE FLAT-SPECTRUM RADIO QUASAR PKS 1454-354

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Atwood, W. B.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Baughman, B. M.; Bogaert, G.; Bonamente, E.; Brigida, M.

2009-01-01

We report the discovery by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope of high-energy γ-ray (GeV) emission from the flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1454-354 (z = 1.424). On 2008 September 4, the source rose to a peak flux of (3.5 ± 0.7) x 10 -6 ph cm -2 s -1 (E > 100 MeV) on a timescale of hours and then slowly dropped over the following 2 days. No significant spectral changes occurred during the flare. Fermi/LAT observations also showed that PKS 1454-354 is the most probable counterpart of the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1500-3509. Multiwavelength measurements performed during the following days (7 September with Swift; 6-7 September with the ground-based optical telescope Automated Telescope for Optical Monitoring; 13 September with the Australia Telescope Compact Array) resulted in radio, optical, UV, and X-ray fluxes greater than archival data, confirming the activity of PKS 1454-354.

Miniaturization of high-energy physics detectors. Vol. 14

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefanini, A.

1983-01-01

Continued experimental research in high-energy physics requires the reduction in size and cost of the advanced technical equipment involved. A new technology is rapidly evolving that promises to replace today's massive high-energy physics instruments--which may be composed of several thousand tons of sensitive parts--with miniaturized equivalents. Smaller, less expensive apparatus would create more opportunities for research worldwide, and many types of experiments now considered impractical could then be carried out. Scientists and engineers from many countries have contributed to this volume to provide a broad panorama of the new miniaturization technology in high-energy physics. They describe a wide range of new instruments and their applications, discuss limitations and technological problems, and explore the connections between technology and progress in the field of high-energy physics

The space telescope: A study of NASA, science, technology, and politics

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Robert William

1989-01-01

Scientific, technological, economic, and political aspects of NASA efforts to orbit a large astronomical telescope are examined in a critical historical review based on extensive interviews with participants and analysis of published and unpublished sources. The scientific advantages of large space telescopes are explained; early plans for space observatories are summarized; the history of NASA and its major programs is surveyed; the redesign of the original Large Space Telescope for Shuttle deployability is discussed; the impact of the yearly funding negotiations with Congress on the development of the final Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is described; and the implications of the HST story for the future of large space science projects are explored. Drawings, photographs, a description of the HST instruments and systems, and lists of the major contractors and institutions participating in the HST program are provided.

Foundations of high-energy-density physics physical processes of matter at extreme conditions

CERN Document Server

Larsen, Jon

2017-01-01

High-energy-density physics explores the dynamics of matter at extreme conditions. This encompasses temperatures and densities far greater than we experience on Earth. It applies to normal stars, exploding stars, active galaxies, and planetary interiors. High-energy-density matter is found on Earth in the explosion of nuclear weapons and in laboratories with high-powered lasers or pulsed-power machines. The physics explored in this book is the basis for large-scale simulation codes needed to interpret experimental results whether from astrophysical observations or laboratory-scale experiments. The key elements of high-energy-density physics covered are gas dynamics, ionization, thermal energy transport, and radiation transfer, intense electromagnetic waves, and their dynamical coupling. Implicit in this is a fundamental understanding of hydrodynamics, plasma physics, atomic physics, quantum mechanics, and electromagnetic theory. Beginning with a summary of the topics and exploring the major ones in depth, thi...

Enumeration of Mars years and seasons since the beginning of telescopic exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Piqueux, Sylvain; Byrne, Shane; Titus, Timothy N.; Hansen, Candice J.; Kieffer, Hugh H.

2015-01-01

A clarification for the enumeration of Mars Years prior to 1955 is presented, along with a table providing the Julian dates associated with Ls = 0° for Mars Years -183 (beginning of the telescopic study of Mars) to 100. A practical algorithm for computing Ls as a function of the Julian Date is provided. No new science results are presented

LHC project. Exploring the smallest world with the highest energy beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kondo, Takahiko; Kobayashi, Tomio

2007-01-01

The LHC accelerator at CERN will be completed soon and the experiments are about to start, making it possible to explore the TeV energy region for the first time in human history. There exists a clear reason why the TeV region is especially important for experimental exploration. The Higgs particle, the last elusive element of the Standard Model, will be discovered with very high probability. In addition there are high chances to discover signs of new physics beyond the Standard Model such as SUSY particles. Dark matter may be discovered. As an introduction of the mini-special issue for LHC, its goals and history is briefly reviewed, followed by a description on LHC accelerator, four LHC experiments as well as the contributions by Japan. (author)

First results of the Test-Bed Telescopes (TBT) project: Cebreros telescope commissioning

Science.gov (United States)

Ocaña, Francisco; Ibarra, Aitor; Racero, Elena; Montero, Ángel; Doubek, Jirí; Ruiz, Vicente

2016-07-01

The TBT project is being developed under ESA's General Studies and Technology Programme (GSTP), and shall implement a test-bed for the validation of an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario within the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The goal of the project is to provide two fully robotic telescopes, which will serve as prototypes for development of a future network. The system consists of two telescopes, one in Spain and the second one in the Southern Hemisphere. The telescope is a fast astrograph with a large Field of View (FoV) of 2.5 x 2.5 square-degrees and a plate scale of 2.2 arcsec/pixel. The tube is mounted on a fast direct-drive mount moving with speed up to 20 degrees per second. The focal plane hosts a 2-port 4K x 4K back-illuminated CCD with readout speeds up to 1MHz per port. All these characteristics ensure good survey performance for transients and fast moving objects. Detection software and hardware are optimised for the detection of NEOs and objects in high Earth orbits (objects moving from 0.1-40 arcsec/second). Nominal exposures are in the range from 2 to 30 seconds, depending on the observational strategy. Part of the validation scenario involves the scheduling concept integrated in the robotic operations for both sensors. Every night it takes all the input needed and prepares a schedule following predefined rules allocating tasks for the telescopes. Telescopes are managed by RTS2 control software, that performs the real-time scheduling of the observation and manages all the devices at the observatory.1 At the end of the night the observing systems report astrometric positions and photometry of the objects detected. The first telescope was installed in Cebreros Satellite Tracking Station in mid-2015. It is currently in the commissioning phase and we present here the first results of the telescope. We evaluate the site characteristics and the performance of the TBT Cebreros

Multichannel Poisson denoising and deconvolution on the sphere: application to the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, J.; Starck, J. L.; Casandjian, J. M.; Fadili, J.; Grenier, I.

2012-10-01

A multiscale representation-based denoising method for spherical data contaminated with Poisson noise, the multiscale variance stabilizing transform on the sphere (MS-VSTS), has been previously proposed. This paper first extends this MS-VSTS to spherical two and one dimensions data (2D-1D), where the two first dimensions are longitude and latitude, and the third dimension is a meaningful physical index such as energy or time. We then introduce a novel multichannel deconvolution built upon the 2D-1D MS-VSTS, which allows us to get rid of both the noise and the blur introduced by the point spread function (PSF) in each energy (or time) band. The method is applied to simulated data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the main instrument of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which detects high energy gamma-rays in a very wide energy range (from 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV), and whose PSF is strongly energy-dependent (from about 3.5 at 100 MeV to less than 0.1 at 10 GeV).

Exploring public perceptions of energy security risks in the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demski, Christina; Poortinga, Wouter; Pidgeon, Nick

2014-01-01

Along with climate change and affordability, concerns about energy security are key drivers behind proposals for major energy system change in the UK and numerous other countries. Unlike climate change we know very little about how the public thinks and feels about this aspect of sustainability and energy policy. Beyond engaging critically with conceptual and theoretical discussions, empirical data from two surveys (Cardiff postal survey, N=520; online UK survey, N=499) using a ten item energy security scale are presented and discussed. Here we show that aspects of energy security are certainly of concern to the UK public, with particularly high concern around dependence on fossil fuels/imports and relatively lower expressed concern for actual disruption of energy supply. However public concerns around energy security are only emerging, and likely to change depending on the context in which it is discussed (e.g. in comparison to climate change). In addition, findings from public interviews are used to further contextualise the survey findings, showing unfamiliarity among the UK public with regards to the term “energy security”. We discuss implications, and further work that would be useful for understanding public perceptions in more depth. - highlights: • Exploring public views on energy security using a 10 item scale. • Concerns over energy security is relatively high but susceptible to framing. • Patterns of concern for different energy security aspects examined. • The term energy security is unfamiliar, only an emerging concern among UK publics. • Further discussion on the meanings and implications of these perceptions

The Cherenkov Telescope Array production system for Monte Carlo simulations and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Arrabito, L.; Bernloehr, K.; Bregeon, J.; Cumani, P.; Hassan, T.; Haupt, A.; Maier, G.; Moralejo, A.; Neyroud, N.; pre="for the"> CTA Consortium, DIRAC Consortium,

2017-10-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), an array of many tens of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes deployed on an unprecedented scale, is the next-generation instrument in the field of very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. An average data stream of about 0.9 GB/s for about 1300 hours of observation per year is expected, therefore resulting in 4 PB of raw data per year and a total of 27 PB/year, including archive and data processing. The start of CTA operation is foreseen in 2018 and it will last about 30 years. The installation of the first telescopes in the two selected locations (Paranal, Chile and La Palma, Spain) will start in 2017. In order to select the best site candidate to host CTA telescopes (in the Northern and in the Southern hemispheres), massive Monte Carlo simulations have been performed since 2012. Once the two sites have been selected, we have started new Monte Carlo simulations to determine the optimal array layout with respect to the obtained sensitivity. Taking into account that CTA may be finally composed of 7 different telescope types coming in 3 different sizes, many different combinations of telescope position and multiplicity as a function of the telescope type have been proposed. This last Monte Carlo campaign represented a huge computational effort, since several hundreds of telescope positions have been simulated, while for future instrument response function simulations, only the operating telescopes will be considered. In particular, during the last 18 months, about 2 PB of Monte Carlo data have been produced and processed with different analysis chains, with a corresponding overall CPU consumption of about 125 M HS06 hours. In these proceedings, we describe the employed computing model, based on the use of grid resources, as well as the production system setup, which relies on the DIRAC interware. Finally, we present the envisaged evolutions of the CTA production system for the off-line data processing during CTA operations and

First detections of nebula with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope and study of their pulsars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grondin, M.H.

2010-07-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was launched on 2008 June 11, carrying the Large Area Telescope (LAT), sensitive to gamma-rays in the 20 MeV - 300 GeV energy range. The Crab Nebula had been detected and studied in the 70 MeV - 30 GeV band using the CGRO-EGRET experiment, but no pulsar wind nebula (PWN) had ever been firmly identified in the high energy gamma-ray domain. PWNe are powered by the constant injection of a relativistic wind of electrons and positrons from their central pulsars. These charged particles are accelerated at the shock front forming the PWN and emit photons which can be observed along the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including the high energy gamma-ray domain. Data provided by the Fermi-LAT during the first two years of the mission have allowed the detection and the identification of three PWNe and their associated pulsars (Crab Nebula, Vela X and MSH 15-52) as well as the PWN HESS J1825-137 discovered by ground-based experiments sensitive to very high energy gamma-rays. Results of temporal, spectral and morphological analyses of the pulsar/PWN systems detected by Fermi- LAT, as well as results of systematic studies performed first around every gamma-ray pulsar detected by the LAT and secondly around every very high energy source identified as a PWN or a PWN candidate are presented in this dissertation. These studies bring new insights and constraints on the physical properties of the sources as well as on emitting processes in pulsar magnetospheres and in PWNe. (author)

On the possiblity of using vertically pointing Central Laser Facilities to calibrate the Cherenkov Telescope Array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaug, Markus

2014-01-01

A Central Laser Facility is a system composed of a laser placed at a certain distance from a light-detector array, emitting fast light pulses, typically in the vertical direction, with the aim to calibrate that array. During calibration runs, all detectors are pointed towards the same portion of the laser beam at a given altitude. Central Laser Facilities are used for various currently operating ultra-high-energy cosmic ray and imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays. In view of the future Cherenkov Telescope Array, a similar device could provide a fast calibration of the whole installation at different wavelengths. The relative precision (i.e. each individual telescope with respect to the rest of the array is expected) to be better than 5%, while an absolute calibration should reach a precisions of 6–11%, if certain design requirements are met. Additionally, a preciser monitoring of the sensitivity of each telescope can be made on time-scales of days to years

Muon telescope based on Micromegas detectors: From design to data acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lázaro Ignacio

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We describe the basis of the muon telescope used within the Temporal Tomography Densitometric by the Measure of Muons (T2DM2 project developed in the LSBB URL facilities. The telescope allows measuring the flux of muons, as well as their energy and origin for the characterization of spatial and temporal rock density variations.

γ-ray telescopes using conversions to e+e- pairs: event generators, angular resolution and polarimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Gros, P.; Bernard, D.

2017-02-01

We benchmark various available event generators in Geant4 and EGS5 in the light of ongoing projects for high angular-resolution pair-conversion telescopes at low energy. We compare the distributions of key kinematic variables extracted from the geometry of the three final state particles. We validate and use as reference an exact generator using the full 5D differential cross-section of the conversion process. We focus in particular on the effect of the unmeasured recoiling nucleus on the angular resolution. We show that for high resolution trackers, the choice of the generator affects the estimated resolution of the telescope. We also show that the current available generator are unable to describe accurately a linearly polarised photon source.

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations (TAToO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dornic, Damien; Brunner, Jurgen; Basa, Stephane; Al Samarai, Imen; Bertin, Vincent; Boer, Michel; Busto, Jose; Escoffier, Stephanie; Klotz, Alain; Mazure, Alain; Vallage, Bertrand

2011-01-01

The ANTARES telescope has the opportunity to detect transient neutrino sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, flares of active galactic nuclei. In order to enhance the sensitivity to these sources, we have developed a new detection method based on the follow-up by optical telescopes of 'golden' neutrino events, such as neutrino doublets coincident in time and space or single neutrinos of very high energy. The ANTARES collaboration has therefore implemented a very fast on-line reconstruction with a good angular resolution. These characteristics allow us to trigger an optical telescope network. Since February 2009, ANTARES is sending alert triggers once or twice per month to the two 25 cm robotic telescope of TAROT. This optical follow-up of such special events would not only give access to the nature of the sources, but also would improve the sensitivity to transient neutrino sources.

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations (TAToO)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dornic, Damien, E-mail: dornic@cppm.in2p3.f [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); IFIC, Edificios Investigacion de Paterna, CSIC-Universitat de Valenciaa, Apdo. de correos 22085, 46071 Valencia (Spain); Brunner, Jurgen [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Basa, Stephane [LAM, BP8, Traverse du siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12 (France); Al Samarai, Imen; Bertin, Vincent [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Boer, Michel [OHP, 04870 Saint Michel de l' Observatoire (France); Busto, Jose; Escoffier, Stephanie [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Klotz, Alain [OHP, 04870 Saint Michel de l' Observatoire (France); CESR, Observatiore Midi-Pyrenees, CNRS Universite de Toulouse, BP4346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 04 (France); Mazure, Alain [LAM, BP8, Traverse du siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12 (France); Vallage, Bertrand [CEA-IRFU, Centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

2011-01-21

The ANTARES telescope has the opportunity to detect transient neutrino sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, flares of active galactic nuclei. In order to enhance the sensitivity to these sources, we have developed a new detection method based on the follow-up by optical telescopes of 'golden' neutrino events, such as neutrino doublets coincident in time and space or single neutrinos of very high energy. The ANTARES collaboration has therefore implemented a very fast on-line reconstruction with a good angular resolution. These characteristics allow us to trigger an optical telescope network. Since February 2009, ANTARES is sending alert triggers once or twice per month to the two 25 cm robotic telescope of TAROT. This optical follow-up of such special events would not only give access to the nature of the sources, but also would improve the sensitivity to transient neutrino sources.

Design of a high-magnification and low-aberration compact catadioptric telescope for the Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave interferometric detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buy, C; Barsuglia, M; Tacca, M; Genin, E; Gouaty, R

2017-01-01

Advanced Virgo is a major upgrade of the Virgo gravitational-wave detector, aiming to increase its sensitivity by an order of magnitude. Among the main modifications of the instrument, the size of the laser beam inside the central area has been roughly doubled. Consequently, the input/output optics systems have been re-designed. Due to the overall Advanced Virgo optical scheme, high-magnification and compact telescopes are needed. These telescopes also have to fulfill stringent requirements in terms of aberrations, separation of secondary beams and scattered light. In this paper we describe the design of the Advanced Virgo telescopes and their estimated performances in terms of tuning capability and optical properties. (paper)

GISOT: a giant solar telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Hammerschlag, Robert H.; von der Lühe, Oskar F.; Bettonvil, Felix C.; Jägers, Aswin P.; Snik, Frans

2004-10-01

A concept is presented for an extremely large high-resolution solar telescope with an aperture of 11 m and diffraction limited for visual wavelengths. The structure of GISOT will be transparent to wind and placed on a transparent stiff tower. For efficient wind flushing, all optics, including the primary mirror, will be located above the elevation axis. The aperture will be of the order of 11 m, not rotatively symmetrical, but of an elongated shape with dimensions 11 x 4 m. It consists of a central on-axis 4 m mirror with on both sides 3 pieces of 2 m mirrors. The optical layout will be kept simple to guarantee quality and minimize stray light. A Coudé room for instruments is planned below the telescope. The telescope will not be housed in a dome-like construction, which interferes with the open principle. Instead the telescope will be protected by a foldable tent construction with a diameter of the order of 30 m, which doesn"t form any obstruction during observations, but can withstand the severe weather circumstances on mountain sites. Because of the nature of the solar scene, extremely high resolution in only one dimension is sufficient to solve many exciting problems in solar physics and in this respect the concept of GISOT is very promising.

Matter effects on the flavor conversions of solar neutrinos and high-energy astrophysical neutrinos

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Guo-yuan; Liu, Jun-Hao; Zhou, Shun

2018-06-01

Can we observe the solar eclipses in the neutrino light? In principle, this is possible by identifying the lunar matter effects on the flavor conversions of solar neutrinos when they traverse the Moon before reaching the detectors at the Earth. Unfortunately, we show that the lunar matter effects on the survival probability of solar 8B neutrinos are suppressed by an additional factor of 1.2%, compared to the day-night asymmetry. However, we point out that the matter effects on the flavor conversions of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, when they propagate through the Sun, can be significant. Though the flavor composition of high-energy neutrinos can be remarkably modified, it is quite challenging to observe such effects even in the next-generation of neutrino telescopes.

The EEE Project: a sparse array of telescopes for the measurement of cosmic ray muons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rocca, P. La; Abbrescia, M.; Avanzini, C.; Baldini, L.; Ferroli, R. Baldini; Batignani, G.; Bossini, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cicalò, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Coccetti, F.; Corvaglia, A.; Gruttola, D. De; Pasquale, S. De; Bencivenni, G.; Dreucci, M.; Fabbri, F.L.; Coccia, E.; Giovanni, A. Di; D'Incecco, M.

2016-01-01

The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) Project is meant to be the most extensive experiment to detect secondary cosmic particles in Italy. To this aim, more than 50 telescopes have been built at CERN and installed in high schools distributed all over the Italian territory. Each EEE telescope comprises three large area Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs) and is capable of reconstructing the trajectories of the charged particles traversing it with a good angular resolution. The excellent performance of the EEE telescopes allows a large variety of studies, from measuring the local muon flux in a single telescope, to detecting extensive air showers producing time correlations in the same metropolitan area, to searching for large-scale correlations between showers detected in telescopes tens, hundreds or thousands of kilometers apart. In addition to its scientific goal, the EEE Project also has an educational and outreach objective, its aim being to motivate young people by involving them directly in a real experiment. High school students and teachers are involved in the construction, testing and start-up of the EEE telescope in their school, then in its maintenance and data-acquisition, and later in the analysis of the data. During the last couple of years a great boost has been given to the EEE Project through the organization of simultaneous and centralized data taking with the whole telescope array. The raw data from all telescopes are transferred to CNAF (Bologna), where they are reconstructed and stored. The data are currently being analyzed, looking at various topics: variation of the rate of cosmic muons with time, upward going muons, muon lifetime, search for anisotropies in the muon angular distribution and for time coincidences between stations. In this paper an overall description of the experiment is given, including the design, construction and performance of the telescopes. The operation of the whole array is also presented by showing the most recent

ANTARES: An underwater neutrino observatory for the exploration of both the deep Ocean and the deep Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escoffier, Stephanie

2012-01-01

Neutrino astronomy is a new and unique method to explore the Universe. It is full of promises, such as improving our knowledge on cosmic accelerators or distinguishing unambiguously between hadronic and electronic acceleration mechanisms of very high energy cosmic rays. In this document the issues of neutrino astronomy are introduced and an overview of current and former neutrino telescopes is given, with a description of the performance results expected from the ANTARES underwater detector. My research path is marked by contributions to the detector calibration and by studies of the trigger system with the development of a new data selection algorithm. The potential for discovery of the ANTARES telescope is then illustrated with two analyses, one dedicated to the research of high-energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursters and the other dedicated to the search for magnetic monopoles. Within this dissertation, I also discuss the opportunity offered by a submarine detector to understand the deep-sea environment. Indeed, ANTARES is a multidisciplinary, permanent marine observatory bringing its brick to the edifice of the global understanding of physical phenomena and biological oceanography in the context of global changes. I illustrate these remarks with studies on marine bioluminescence observed by ANTARES and its connection to the dense water formation originating from the Gulf of Lion. (author)

Optical design of a Michelson wide-field multiple-aperture telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Cassaing, Frederic; Sorrente, Beatrice; Fleury, Bruno; Laubier, David

2004-02-01

Multiple-Aperture Optical Telescopes (MAOTs) are a promising solution for very high resolution imaging. In the Michelson configuration, the instrument is made of sub-telescopes distributed in the pupil and combined by a common telescope via folding periscopes. The phasing conditions of the sub-pupils lead to specific optical constraints in these subsystems. The amplitude of main contributors to the wavefront error (WFE) is given as a function of high level requirements (such as field or resolution) and free parameters, mainly the sub-telescope type, magnification and diameter. It is shown that for the periscopes, the field-to-resolution ratio is the main design driver and can lead to severe specifications. The effect of sub-telescopes aberrations on the global WFE can be minimized by reducing their diameter. An analytical tool for the MAOT design has been derived from this analysis, illustrated and validated in three different cases: LEO or GEO Earth observation and astronomy with extremely large telescopes. The last two cases show that a field larger than 10 000 resolution elements can be covered with a very simple MAOT based on Mersenne paraboloid-paraboloid sub-telescopes. Michelson MAOTs are thus a solution to be considered for high resolution wide-field imaging, from space or ground.

Tracking Water-Use in Colorado's Energy Exploration and Development

Science.gov (United States)

Halamka, T. A.; Ge, S.