Design and Operation of FACT -- The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope
Abstract
The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is designed to detect cosmic gamma-rays with energies from several hundred GeV up to about 10 TeV using the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique. In contrast to former or existing telescopes, the camera of the FACT telescope is comprised of solid-state Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) instead of photomultiplier tubes for photo detection. It is the first full-scale device of its kind employing this new technology. The telescope is operated at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain) since fall 2011. This paper describes in detail the design, construction and operation of the system, including hardware and software aspects. Technical experiences gained after one year of operation are discussed and conclusions with regard to future projects are drawn.
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Cite
@article{arxiv.1304.1710,
title = {Design and Operation of FACT -- The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope},
author = {H. Anderhub and M. Backes and A. Biland and V. Boccone and I. Braun and T. Bretz and J. Buß and F. Cadoux and V. Commichau and L. Djambazov and D. Dorner and S. Einecke and D. Eisenacher and A. Gendotti and O. Grimm and H. von Gunten and C. Haller and D. Hildebrand and U. Horisberger and B. Huber and K. -S. Kim and M. L. Knoetig and J. H. K"ohne and T. Kr"ahenb"uhl and B. Krumm and M. Lee and E. Lorenz and W. Lustermann and E. Lyard and K. Mannheim and M. Meharga and K. Meier and T. Montaruli and D. Neise and F. Nessi-Tedaldi and A. -K. Overkemping and A. Paravac and F. Pauss and D. Renker and W. Rhode and M. Ribordy and U. R"oser and J. -P. Stucki and J. Schneider and T. Steinbring and F. Temme and J. Thaele and S. Tobler and G. Viertel and P. Vogler and R. Walter and K. Warda and Q. Weitzel and M. Z"anglein},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1304.1710},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
Corresponding authors: T. Bretz and Q. Weitzel