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arXiv · astro-ph/0110572

GAW (Gamma Air Watch): a novel imaging Cherenkov telescope

Abstract

GAW (Gamma Air Watch) is a new imaging Cherenkov telescope designed for observation of very high-energy gamma-ray sources. GAW will be equipped with a 3 meter diameter Fresnel lens as light collector and with an array of 300 multi-anode photomultipliers at the focal plane. The pixel size will be 4 arcmin wide for a total field of view of 10.5 degrees. Whith respect to the planned imaging Cherenkov telescopes (CANGAROO III, HESS, MAGIC, VERITAS) GAW follows a different approach for what concerns both the optical system and the detection working mode: the Cherenkov light collector is a single acrylic flat Fresnel lens (instead of mirrors) that allows to achieve wide field of view; the photomultipliers operate in single photoelectron counting mode (instead of charge integration). The single photoelectron counting mode allows to reach a low energy threshold of ~200 GeV, in spite of the relatively small dimension of the GAW optic system.

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G. Cusumano, G. Agnetta, B. Biondo, O. Catalano, S. Giarrusso, G. Gugliotta, L. La Fata, M. C. Maccarone, A. Mangano, T. Mineo, F. Russo, B. Sacco. 2001-10-26. GAW (Gamma Air Watch): a novel imaging Cherenkov telescope. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0110572

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