Verification of the optical system of the 9.7-m prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope

C. Adams; R. Alfaro; G. Ambrosi; M. Ambrosio; C. Aramo; W. Benbow; B. Bertucci; E. Bissaldi; M. Bitossi; A. Boiano; C. Bonavolontà; R. Bose; A. Brill; J. H. Buckley; K. Byrum; R. A. Cameron; M. Capasso; M. Caprai; C. E. Covault; L. Di Venere; S. Fegan; Q. Feng; E. Fiandrini; A. Furniss; M. Garczarczyk; F. Garfias; A. Gent; N. Giglietto; F. Giordano; M. M. González; R. Halliday; O. Hervet; G. Hughes; T. B. Humensky; M. Ionica; A. Iriarte; W. Jin; P. Kaarat; D. Kieda; B. Kim; F. Licciulli; M. Limon; S. Loporchio; V. Masone; T. Meures; B. A. W. Mode; R. Mukherjee; D. Nieto; A. Okumura; N. Otte; N. La Palombara; F. R. Pantaleo; R. Paoletti; G. Pareschi; A. Petrashyk; J. Powell; K. Powell; D. Ribeiro; E. Roache; J. Rousselle; A. Rugliancich; J. Ruíz-Díaz-Soto; M. Santander; S. Schlenstedt; S. Scuderi; R. Shang; G. Sironi; B. Stevenson; L. Stiaccini; L. P. Taylor; L. Tosti; G. Tovmassian; V. Vagelli; M. Valentino; J. Vandenbroucke; V. V. Vassiliev; S. P. Wakely; P. Wilcox; D. A. Williams; P. Yu

doi:10.1117/12.2568134

20 August 2020 Verification of the optical system of the 9.7-m prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope

C. Adams, R. Alfaro, G. Ambrosi, M. Ambrosio, C. Aramo, W. Benbow, B. Bertucci, E. Bissaldi, M. Bitossi, A. Boiano, C. Bonavolontà, R. Bose, A. Brill, J. H. Buckley, K. Byrum, R. A. Cameron, M. Capasso, M. Caprai, C. E. Covault, L. Di Venere, S. Fegan, Q. Feng, E. Fiandrini, A. Furniss, M. Garczarczyk, F. Garfias, A. Gent, N. Giglietto, F. Giordano, M. M. González, R. Halliday, O. Hervet, G. Hughes, T. B. Humensky, M. Ionica, A. Iriarte, W. Jin, P. Kaarat, D. Kieda, B. Kim, F. Licciulli, M. Limon, S. Loporchio, V. Masone, T. Meures, B. A. W. Mode, R. Mukherjee, D. Nieto, A. Okumura, N. Otte, N. La Palombara, F. R. Pantaleo, R. Paoletti, G. Pareschi, A. Petrashyk, J. Powell, K. Powell, D. Ribeiro, E. Roache, J. Rousselle, A. Rugliancich, J. Ruíz-Díaz-Soto, M. Santander, S. Schlenstedt, S. Scuderi, R. Shang, G. Sironi, B. Stevenson, L. Stiaccini, L. P. Taylor, L. Tosti, G. Tovmassian, V. Vagelli, M. Valentino, J. Vandenbroucke, V. V. Vassiliev, S. P. Wakely, P. Wilcox, D. A. Williams, P. Yu

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11488, Optical System Alignment, Tolerancing, and Verification XIII; 1148805 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2568134
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

For the first time in the history of ground-based y-ray astronomy, the on-axis performance of the dual mirror, aspheric, aplanatic Schwarzschild-Couder optical system has been demonstrated in a 9:7-m aperture imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope. The novel design of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT) is motivated by the need of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory to have the ability to perform wide (≥8°) field-of-view observations simultaneously with superior imaging of atmospheric cascades (resolution of 0:067 per pixel or better). The pSCT design, if implemented in the CTA installation, has the potential to improve significantly both the x-ray angular resolution and the off-axis sensitivity of the observatory, reaching nearly the theoretical limit of the technique and thereby making a major impact on the CTA observatory sky survey programs, follow-up observations of multi-messenger transients with poorly known initial localization, as well as on the spatially resolved spectroscopic studies of extended x-ray sources. This contribution reports on the initial alignment procedures and point-spread-function results for the challenging segmented aspheric primary and secondary mirrors of the pSCT.

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C. Adams, R. Alfaro, G. Ambrosi, M. Ambrosio, C. Aramo, W. Benbow, B. Bertucci, E. Bissaldi, M. Bitossi, A. Boiano, C. Bonavolontà, R. Bose, A. Brill, J. H. Buckley, K. Byrum, R. A. Cameron, M. Capasso, M. Caprai, C. E. Covault, L. Di Venere, S. Fegan, Q. Feng, E. Fiandrini, A. Furniss, M. Garczarczyk, F. Garfias, A. Gent, N. Giglietto, F. Giordano, M. M. González, R. Halliday, O. Hervet, G. Hughes, T. B. Humensky, M. Ionica, A. Iriarte, W. Jin, P. Kaarat, D. Kieda, B. Kim, F. Licciulli, M. Limon, S. Loporchio, V. Masone, T. Meures, B. A. W. Mode, R. Mukherjee, D. Nieto, A. Okumura, N. Otte, N. La Palombara, F. R. Pantaleo, R. Paoletti, G. Pareschi, A. Petrashyk, J. Powell, K. Powell, D. Ribeiro, E. Roache, J. Rousselle, A. Rugliancich, J. Ruíz-Díaz-Soto, M. Santander, S. Schlenstedt, S. Scuderi, R. Shang, G. Sironi, B. Stevenson, L. Stiaccini, L. P. Taylor, L. Tosti, G. Tovmassian, V. Vagelli, M. Valentino, J. Vandenbroucke, V. V. Vassiliev, S. P. Wakely, P. Wilcox, D. A. Williams, and P. Yu "Verification of the optical system of the 9.7-m prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope", Proc. SPIE 11488, Optical System Alignment, Tolerancing, and Verification XIII, 1148805 (20 August 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2568134

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