A Medium Sized Schwarzschild-Couder Cherenkov Telescope Mechanical Design Proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

• Published in: arXiv.org 2015-09
• Main Authors: Byrum, K, Humensky, T B, Benbow, W, Cameron, R, Criswell, S, Errando, M, Guarino, V, Kaaret, P, Kieda, D, Mukherjee, R, Naumann, D, Nieto, D, Northrop, R, Okumura, A, Roache, E, Rousselle, J, Schlenstedt, S, Sternberger, R, Vassiliev, V, Wakely, S, Zhao, H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angular resolution; Arrays; Cotton; Field of view; Gamma rays; Ground-based observation; Northern Hemisphere; Observatories; Optical design; Telescopes
• ISSN: 2331-8422

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an international next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. CTA will be implemented as southern and northern hemisphere arrays of tens of small, medium and large-sized imaging Cherenkov telescopes with the goal of improving the sensitivity over the current-generation experiments by an order of magnitude. CTA will provide energy coverage from ~20 GeV to more than 300 TeV. The Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) medium size (9.5m) telescopes will feature a novel aplanatic two-mirror optical design capable of accommodating a wide field-of-view with significantly improved angular resolution as compared to the traditional Davies-Cotton optical design. A full-scale prototype SC medium size telescope structure has been designed and will be constructed at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona during the fall of 2015. concentrate on the novel features of the design.