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MACHETE: A transit imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope to survey half of the very high energy γ -ray sky

2015/07/09 by J. Cortina, R. López-Coto, A. Moralejo · 23 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Angular resolution (graph drawing) #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Cherenkov Telescope Array #Cherenkov radiation #Crab Nebula #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Detector #Field of view #Flux (metallurgy) #Gamma ray #Gamma-ray astronomy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Night sky #Optics #Physics #Sky #Telescope #Transit (satellite) #astro-ph.IM

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2015.07.001

published in Astroparticle Physics 72, 46-54 (Elsevier BV) · Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics

arxiv created 2015/07/09 · openalex publication_date 2015/07/09 · arxiv updated 2015/08/26 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Current Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes for Very High Energy γ-ray astrophysics are pointing instruments with a Field of View up to a few tens of sq deg. We propose to build an array of two non-steerable (drift) telescopes. Each of the telescopes would have a camera with a FOV of 5×60 sq deg oriented along the meridian. About half of the sky drifts through this FOV in a year. We have performed a Montecarlo simulation to estimate the performance of this instrument. We expect it to survey this half of the sky with an integral flux sensitivity of ∼0.77% of the steady flux of the Crab Nebula in 5 years, an analysis energy threshold of ∼150 GeV and an angular resolution of ∼0.1. For astronomical objects that transit over the telescope for a specific night, we can achieve an integral sensitivity of 12% of the Crab Nebula flux in a night, making it a very powerful tool to trigger further observations of variable sources using steerable IACTs or instruments at other wavelengths.

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