arXiv subjects

S. Giarrusso

Publications and source records attributed to S. Giarrusso.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

GAW - An Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope with Large Field of View

GAW, acronym for Gamma Air Watch, is a Research and Development experiment in the TeV range, whose main goal is to explore the feasibility of large field of view Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. GAW is an array of three relatively small telescopes (2.13 m diameter) which differs from the existing and presently planned projects in two main features: the adoption of a refractive optics system as light collector and the use of single photoelectron counting as detector working mode. The optics system allows to achieve a large field of view (24x24 squared degrees) suitable for surveys of large sky regions. The single photoelectron counting mode in comparison with the charge integration mode improves the sensitivity by permitting also the reconstruction of events with a small number of collected Cherenkov photons. GAW, which is a collaboration effort of Research Institutes in Italy, Portugal and Spain, will be erected in the Calar Alto Observatory (Sierra de Los Filabres - Andalucia, Spain), at 2150 m a.s.l.). The first telescope will be settled within Autumn 2007. This paper shows the main characteristics of the experiment and its expected performance.

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arXiv2007

Detection of the Cherenkov light diffused by Sea Water with the ULTRA Experiment

The study of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays represents one of the most challenging topic in the Cosmic Rays and in the Astroparticle Physics fields. The interaction of primary particles with atmospheric nuclei produces a huge Extensive Air Shower together with isotropic emission of UV fluorescence light and highly directional Cherenkov photons, that are reflected/diffused isotropically by the impact on the Earth's surface or on high optical depth clouds. For space-based observations, detecting the reflected Cherenkov signal in a delayed coincidence with the fluorescence light improves the accuracy of the shower reconstruction in space and in particular the measurement of the shower maximum, giving a strong signature for discriminating hadrons and neutrinos, and helping to estimate the primary chemical composition. Since the Earth's surface is mostly covered by water, the ULTRA (UV Light Transmission and Reflection in the Atmosphere)experiment has been designed to provide the diffusing properties of sea water, overcoming the lack of information in this specific field. A small EAS array, made up of 5 particle detectors, and an UV optical device, have been coupled to detect in coincidence both electromagnetic and UV components. The detector was in operation from May to December, 2005, in a small private harbor in Capo Granitola (Italy); the results of these measurements in terms of diffusion coefficient and threshold energy are presented here.

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arXiv2007

Gamma Air Watch (GAW): the electronics and trigger concept

GAW proposes a new approach for the detection and measurement of the Cherenkov light produced by GeV/TeV gamma rays traversing the Earth atmosphere which imposes specific requirements on the electronics design. The focal surface of the GAW telescope consists of a matrix of multi-anode photomultipliers. The large number of active channels (of the order of 10^5) makes it basically a large UV sensitive digital camera with high resolution imaging capability. The limited amount of space available, due to the large number of channels, requires a compact design with minimal distance between the elements of the focal surface. The front-end electronics uses the single photoelectron counting technique to capture the Cherenkov light. The data acquisition is based on free-running data taking method. Self-triggering capability for each telescope is assured by detecting an excess of active pixels, in a 10ns time frame, inside overlapping trigger areas covering the whole focal surface. In this paper we describe the GAW electronics, as well as the trigger concept and implementation.

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arXiv2006

Results from the ULTRA experiment in the framework of the EUSO project

The detection of Cerenkov light from EAS in a delayed coincidence with fluorescence light gives a strong signature to discriminate protons and neutrinos in cosmic rays. For this purpose, the ULTRA experiment has been designed with 2 detectors: a small EAS array (ETscope) and an UV optical device including wide field (Belenos) and narrow field (UVscope) Cerenkov light detectors. The array measures the shower size and the arrival direction of the incoming EAS, while the UV devices, pointing both to zenith and nadir, are used to determine the amount of direct and diffused coincident Cerenkov light. This information, provided for different diffusing surfaces, will be used to verify the possibility of detecting from Space the Cerenkov light produced by UHECRs with the EUSO experiment, on board the ISS.

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arXiv2005

GAW, Gamma Air Watch - A Large Field of View Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov

GAW, acronym for Gamma Air Watch, is a path-finder experiment to test the feasibility of a new generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes that join high flux sensitivity with large field of view capability. GAW is conceived as an array of three identical imaging telescopes disposed at the vertexes of an equilateral triangle, about 80 m side. Two main features characterize GAW with respect to all the existing and presently planned ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. The first difference concerns the optics system: GAW uses a Fresnel refractive lens (2.13 m diameter) as light collector instead of classical reflective mirror. The second main difference is the detection working mode used: the detector at the focal surface operates in single photoelectron counting mode instead of the usual charge integration one. The GAW array is planned to be located at the Calar Alto Observatory site, Spain, 2150 m a.s.l. During its first phase, only 6x6 degrees of the focal plane detector will be implemented; moving it along the field of view, the sensitivity of the telescopes will be tested observing the Crab Nebula with on-axis and off-axis pointing up to 20 deg and with energy threshold of 300 GeV and energy peak of 700 GeV. As path-finder, GAW will also monitor the Very High Energy activity of some flaring Blazars as well as will follow-up GLAST detections at high energies. In a second phase, the focal plane will be enlarged to cover a field of view of 24 deg (full); pointing along different North-South directions, GAW would reach a survey of 360x60 degrees region of the sky. GAW is a collaboration effort of Research Institutes in Italy, Portugal and Spain.

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arXiv2001

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

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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arXiv2000

BeppoSAX observation of the transient X-ray pulsar GS 1843+00

We present the results from both the timing and spectroscopic analysis of the transient X-ray pulsar GS 1843+00 observed by the BeppoSAX satellite on 1997 April 4, when the source was at a luminosity of ~10^{37} erg s^{-1}. GS 1843+00 shows a very hard spectrum that is well fitted by an absorbed power law (N_H \~2.3 10^{22} cm^{-2}) modified by a high energy cut-off above 6 keV. The source shows a small pulse amplitude in the whole energy band. The pulse profile evolves with energy from a double-peaked to single-peaked shape. The barycentric pulse period is 29.477+/-0.001 s.

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arXiv1999

A BeppoSAX study of the pulsating transient X0115+63: the first X-ray spectrum with four cyclotron harmonic features

The recurrent hard pulsating X-ray transient §was observed with \B on March 19, when the source was at a 2--10 keV flux level of $\sim$310~mCrab. We report on the high energy spectrum of the source, concentrating on cyclotron resonant scattering features. The spectrum is strongly pulse phase dependent and absorption features are detected at virtually all phases. In particular, four absorption-like features at 12.74 keV, 24.16 keV, 35.74 keV, and 49.5 keV are observed in the descending edge of the main peak of the pulse profile. The ratios between the centroid energies of the lines with respect to the first are 1:(1.9):(2.8):(3.9). These values are close to the harmonic relation expected from cyclotron resonant scattering in a strong magnetic field, when relativistic effects are taken into account. The equivalent widths of the second, third, and fourth harmonics are found to be larger than that of the first harmonic, confirming the key role of two-photon processes in the spectral formation. These results provide the first evidence for {\it four harmonically spaced lines} in the spectrum of an accreting X-ray pulsar, yielding the clearest confirmation to date of their magnetic origin.

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arXiv1997

BeppoSAX observations of PKS 0528+134

We report on the BeppoSAX observations of the gamma-ray blazar PKS 0528+134 performed in Feb and Mar 1997, during a multiwavelength campaign involving EGRET and ground based telescopes. The source was in a faint and hard state, with energy spectral index alpha=0.48+-0.04 between 0.1 and 10 keV, and [2-10] keV flux of 2.7E-12 erg/cm2/s. No significant variability was observed. The source was detected in the 20-120 keV band by the PDS, with a flux lying slightly above the extrapolation from lower X-ray energies. Comparing this low state with previous higher states of the source, there is an indication that the X-ray spectrum hardens and the gamma-ray spectrum steepens when the source is fainter.

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arXiv1997

The Vela X-1 pulse-averaged spectrum as observed by BeppoSAX

We report on the 20 ksec observation of Vela X-1 performed by BeppoSAX on 1996 July 14 during its Science Verification Phase. We observed the source in two intensity states, characterized by a change in luminosity of a factor ~ 2, and a change in absorption of a factor ~ 10. The single Narrow Field Instrument pulse-averaged spectra are well fit by a power law with significantly different indices. This is in agreement with the observed changes of slope in the wide-band spectrum: a first change of slope at ~ 10 keV, and a second one at ~ 35 keV. To mimic this behaviour we used a double power law modified by an exponential cutoff --- the so-called NPEX model --- to fit the whole 2-100 keV continuum. This functional is able to adequately describe the data, expecially the low intensity state. We found an absorption-like feature at ~ 57 keV, very well visible in the ratio performed with the Crab spectrum. We interpreted this feature as a cyclotron resonance, corresponding to a neutron star surface magnetic strength of 4.9 x 10^12 Gauss. The BeppoSAX data do not require the presence of a cyclotron resonance at ~ 27 keV as found in earlier works.

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arXiv1997

A BeppoSAX observation of 3C273: broadband spectrum and detection of a low-energy absorption feature

We report the results of a 3C273 observation performed during the Science Verification Phase (SVP) of the BeppoSax satellite. The broad-band spectrum is well represented by a power-law between 1 keV and 200 keV. The spectral slope is flat (Γ~1.6) with a weak emission line at ~ 6.4 keV (rest frame) of EW ~ 30 eV. Below 1 keV, a deviation from a power-law due to an absorption feature plus a soft component is present. This is the first time that a feature in absorption at ~ 0.5 keV (observer frame) is unambiguously detected in 3C273.

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arXiv1997

BeppoSAX observation of the X-ray binary pulsar Vela X-1

We report on the spectral (pulse averaged) and timing analysis of the ~ 20 ksec observation of the X-ray binary pulsar Vela X-1 performed during the BeppoSAX Science Verification Phase. The source was observed in two different intensity states: the low state is probably due to an erratic intensity dip and shows a decrease of a factor ~ 2 in intensity, and a factor 10 in Nh. We have not been able to fit the 2-100 keV continuum spectrum with the standard (for an X--ray pulsar) power law modified by a high energy cutoff because of the flattening of the spectrum in ~ 10-30 keV. The timing analysis confirms previous results: the pulse profile changes from a five-peak structure for energies less than 15 keV, to a simpler two-peak shape at higher energies. The Fourier analysis shows a very complex harmonic component: up to 23 harmonics are clearly visible in the power spectrum, with a dominant first harmonic for low energy data, and a second one as the more prominent for energies greater than 15 keV. The aperiodic component in the Vela X-1 power spectrum presents a knee at about 1 Hz. The pulse period, corrected for binary motion, is 283.206 +/- 0.001 sec.

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arXiv1997

Discovery of the X-Ray Afterglow of the Gamma-Ray Burst of February 28 1997

Here we report the discovery in the X-ray band of the first afterglow of a gamma-ray burst. It was detected and quickly positioned by the Beppo-SAX satellite on 1997 February 28 (GRB970228). The X-ray afterglow source was detected with the X-ray telescopes aboard the same satellite about eight hours after the burst and faded away in a few days with a power law decay function. The energetic content of the X-ray afterglow results to be a significant fraction of gamma-ray burst energetics. The Beppo-SAX detection and fast imaging of GRB970228 started a multiwavelength campaign that lead to the identification of a fading optical source in a position consistent with the X-ray source.

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