A Compact High Energy Camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

M. K. Daniel; R. J. White; D. Berge; J. Buckley; P. M. Chadwick; G. Cotter; S. Funk; T. Greenshaw; N. Hidaka; J. Hinton; J. Lapington; S. Markoff; P. Moore; S. Nolan; S. Ohm; A. Okumura; D. Ross; L. Sapozhnikov; J. Schmoll; P. Sutcliffe; J. Sykes; H. Tajima; G. S. Varner; J. Vandenbroucke; J. Vink; D. Williams

arXiv · 1307.2807

A Compact High Energy Camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

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Abstract

The Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) is a camera-development project involving UK, US, Japanese and Dutch institutes for the dual-mirror Small-Sized Telescopes (SST-2M) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Two CHEC prototypes, based on different photosensors are funded and will be assembled and tested in the UK over the next ~18 months. CHEC is designed to record flashes of Cherenkov light lasting from a few to a hundred nanoseconds, with typical RMS image width and length of ~0.2 x 1.0 degrees, and has a 9 degree field of view. The physical camera geometry is dictated by the telescope optics: a curved focal surface with radius of curvature 1m and diameter ~35cm is required. CHEC is designed to work with both the ASTRI and GATE SST-2M telescope structures and will include an internal LED flasher system for calibration. The first CHEC prototype will be based on multi-anode photomultipliers (MAPMs) and the second on silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs or MPPCs). The first prototype will soon be installed on the ASTRI SST-2M prototype structure on Mt. Etna.

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M. K. Daniel, R. J. White, D. Berge, J. Buckley, P. M. Chadwick, G. Cotter, S. Funk, T. Greenshaw, N. Hidaka, J. Hinton, J. Lapington, S. Markoff, P. Moore, S. Nolan, S. Ohm, A. Okumura, D. Ross, L. Sapozhnikov, J. Schmoll, P. Sutcliffe, J. Sykes, H. Tajima, G. S. Varner, J. Vandenbroucke, J. Vink, D. Williams. 2013-07-10. A Compact High Energy Camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.2807

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