FACT—The first Cherenkov telescope using a G-APD camera for TeV gamma-ray astronomy

✍ Scribed by H. Anderhub; M. Backes; A. Biland; A. Boller; I. Braun; T. Bretz; S. Commichau; V. Commichau; M. Domke; D. Dorner; A. Gendotti; O. Grimm; H. von Gunten; D. Hildebrand; U. Horisberger; J.-H. Köhne; T. Krähenbühl; D. Kranich; B. Krumm; E. Lorenz; W. Lustermann; K. Mannheim; D. Neise; F. Pauss; D. Renker; W. Rhode; M. Rissi; M. Ribordy; U. Röser; L.S. Stark; J.-P. Stucki; O. Tibolla; G. Viertel; P. Vogler; K. Warda; Q. Weitzel

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 352 KB
• Volume: 639
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0168-9002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.10.081

✦ Synopsis

Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) bear the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT). We are currently building the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) by refurbishing an old IACT with a mirror area of 9.5 square meters and are constructing a new, finepixelized camera using novel G-APDs. The main goal is to evaluate the performance of a complete system by observing very high energy gamma-rays from the Crab Nebula. This is an important field test to check the feasibility of G-APD-based cameras to replace at some time the PMT-based cameras of planned future IACTs like AGIS and CTA. In this article, we present the basic design of such a camera as well as some important details.