The analysis of ring images produced by muons in an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) provides a powerful and precise method to calibrate the IACT optical throughput and monitor its ...optical point-spread function (PSF). First proposed by the Whipple Collaboration in the early 1990s, this method has been refined by the so-called second generation of IACT experiments: H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS. We review here the progress made with these instruments and investigate the applicability of the method as the primary throughput calibration method for the different telescope types forming the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). We find several additional systematic effects not yet taken into account by previous authors and propose several new analytical methods to include these in the analysis. Slight modifications in hardware and analysis need to be made to ensure that such a calibration works as accurately as required for the CTA. We derive analytic estimates for the expected muon data rates for optical throughput calibration, camera pixel flat-fielding, and monitoring of the optical PSF. The achievable statistical and systematic uncertainties of the method are also assessed.
Context
. We are operating an elastic light detecting and ranging system (LIDAR) for the monitoring of atmospheric conditions during regular observations of the MAGIC telescopes.
Aims
. We present ...and evaluate methods for converting aerosol extinction profiles, obtained with the LIDAR, into corrections of the reconstructed gamma-ray event energy and instrument response functions of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes.
Methods
. We assess the performance of these correction schemes with almost seven years of Crab Nebula data obtained with the MAGIC telescopes under various zenith angles and different aerosol extinction scenarios of Cherenkov light.
Results
. The methods enable the reconstruction of data taken under nonoptimal atmospheric conditions with aerosol transmissions down to ~0.65 with systematic uncertainties comparable to those for data taken under optimal conditions. For the first time, the correction of data affected by clouds has been included in the assessment. The data can also be corrected when the transmission is lower than 0.65, but the results are less accurate and suffer from larger systematics.
Abstract
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), currently under construction, is the next-generation very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory, providing the coverage for photons in the ...energy range 20GeV to 300TeV. CTAO will increase detection sensitivity in the 100 GeV to 10TeV range by a factor of 5 — 10 with respect to present experiments. CTAO retrieves the properties of very-high-energy gamma-rays by measuring Cherenkov light emitted by atmospheric showers of secondary particles that incident gamma rays produce in upper layers of the atmosphere. The key for reaching the required energy measurement accuracy is a precise knowledge of the atmospheric transmittance for Cherenkov light, which can be obtained using a dedicated Raman LIDAR. The device should operate at 355nm (near the maximum of Cherenkov light spectrum) and have the capability of taking data at specific azimuth and zenith angles up to distances of 30 km, so that atmospheric transmission along all possible air-shower directions can be determined. The
Barcelona Raman LIDAR
(BRL) is the official CTAO Pathfinder prototype, developed for atmospheric characterization of the Northern CTAO Site at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on the Canary island of La Palma. BRL was deployed at ORM for extensive on-field tests between February 2021 and May 2022. We report on the commissioning results, including the remote operation capabilities of the system and its contribution to the understanding of atmospheric phenomena during its deployment period. In particular, we report on the properties of the volcanic plume from the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on 22 September 2021.
We present results from a case study comparing different multivariate classification methods. The input is a set of Monte Carlo data, generated and approximately triggered and pre-processed for an ...imaging gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope. Such data belong to two classes, originating either from incident gamma rays or caused by hadronic showers. There is only a weak discrimination between signal (gamma) and background (hadrons), making the data an excellent proving ground for classification techniques.
The data and methods are described, and a comparison of the results is made. Several methods give results comparable in quality within small fluctuations, suggesting that they perform at or close to the Bayesian limit of achievable separation. Other methods give clearly inferior or inconclusive results. Some problems that this study can not address are also discussed.
Abstract
Gamma-ray astronomy has become one of the main experimental ways to test the modified dispersion relations (MDRs) of photons in vacuum, obtained in some attempts to formulate a theory of ...quantum gravity. The MDRs in use imply time delays that depend on the energy and that increase with distance following some function of redshift. The use of transient, or variable, distant and highly energetic sources already allows us to set stringent limits on the energy scale related to this phenomenon, usually thought to be of the order of the Planck energy, but robust conclusions on the existence of MDR-related propagation effects still require the analysis of a large population of sources. In order to gather the biggest sample of sources possible for MDR searches at teraelectronvolt energies, the H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS collaborations enacted a joint task force to combine all their relevant data to constrain the quantum gravity energy scale. In the present article, the likelihood method used to combine the data and provide a common limit is described in detail and tested through simulations of recorded data sets for a gamma-ray burst, three flaring active galactic nuclei, and two pulsars. Statistical and systematic errors are assessed and included in the likelihood as nuisance parameters. In addition, a comparison of two different formalisms for distance dependence of the time lags is performed for the first time. In a second article, to appear later, the method will be applied to all relevant data from the three experiments.
A neutrino with energy ∼290 TeV, IceCube-170922A, was detected in coincidence with the BL Lac object TXS 0506+056 during enhanced gamma-ray activity, with chance coincidence being rejected at ∼3 ...level. We monitored the object in the very-high-energy (VHE) band with the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescopes for ∼41 hr from 1.3 to 40.4 days after the neutrino detection. Day-timescale variability is clearly resolved. We interpret the quasi-simultaneous neutrino and broadband electromagnetic observations with a novel one-zone lepto-hadronic model, based on interactions of electrons and protons co-accelerated in the jet with external photons originating from a slow-moving plasma sheath surrounding the faster jet spine. We can reproduce the multiwavelength spectra of TXS 0506+056 with neutrino rate and energy compatible with IceCube-170922A, and with plausible values for the jet power of . The steep spectrum observed by MAGIC is concordant with internal γγ absorption above ∼100 GeV entailed by photohadronic production of a ∼290 TeV neutrino, corroborating a genuine connection between the multi-messenger signals. In contrast to previous predictions of predominantly hadronic emission from neutrino sources, the gamma-rays can be mostly ascribed to inverse Compton upscattering of external photons by accelerated electrons. The X-ray and VHE bands provide crucial constraints on the emission from both accelerated electrons and protons. We infer that the maximum energy of protons in the jet comoving frame can be in the range ∼1014 - 1018 eV.
Reflecting on Čerenkov reflections Fargion, D; Gaug, M; Oliva, P
Journal of physics. Conference series,
05/2008, Volume:
110, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
MAGIC, as well as HESS and VERITAS, is a Čerenkov Telescope unveiling γ-ray sources above 60 GeV at vertical within noisy (hadronic) airshowering sky. These telescopes while facing the horizons may ...reveal rarest blazing UHECR as well as far fluorescence tails of downward PeV-EeV hadronic airshowers. Few of these inclined airshowers blazing on axis are spread by the geomagnetic field into twin spots. These twin flashes and their morphology may tag the UHECR origination site. There is a rich window of such reflecting Čerenkov lights visible by Telescopes on top of Mountains as MAGIC (and partially VERITAS): the reflections from the nearby ground (possibly enhanced by rain or snow, ice white cover), from the Sea and from the cloudy sky; in particular, these cloudy sheets may lay above or below the observer. MAGIC looking downward to the clouds or the snow, may well reveal blazing Moliere disks diffusing Čerenkov spots (few events per night). Because of geomagnetic forces and splitting of the inclined air-shower, one should reveal for the first time (at tens PeV or above) Čerenkov airshowers whose flashes are skimming the MAGIC nearby Sea and opened into twin spots. Their morphology may tag the UHECR origination, its consequent cross-section and composition. Magic telescopes looking upward into cloudy sky may observe very rare up-going UHE Tau, originated by UHE PeVs neutrinos skimming earth, air-showering into sky, reflecting into clouds. In particular Glashow resonant antineutrinos electron hitting into Earth electrons may lead to gauged boson W−, whose decay (inside the Earth) may produce a τ + τ 3, which later escape and decay in air is producing Čerenkov lights; these flashes may blaze into the clouds above MAGIC as upward dot spots. The Magic energy threshold for such UHE Neutrinos showers rises to PeV values. EeV UHE tau neutrinos by guaranteed GZK UHECR secondaries 6, 16, via the muon-tau flavor mixing, may skim the Earth, produce UHE tau particles whose escape in air and decay in flight may blaze Magic or reflect Čerenkov light at opposite far cloudy sky edges. Any collaboration (MAGIC,HESS,VERITAS) will be willing to dedicate cloudy time to UHECR physics since nothing else can be done in that time. These reflections may open a totally new UHECR spectroscopy while unveiling a rare, but loud Tau Neutrino astronomy 10, 8.
Abstract
It is widely believed that the bulk of the Galactic cosmic rays is accelerated in supernova remnants (SNRs). However, no observational evidence of the presence of particles of PeV energies ...in SNRs has yet been found. The young historical SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) appears as one of the best candidates to study acceleration processes. Between 2014 December and 2016 October, we observed Cas A with the MAGIC telescopes, accumulating 158 h of good quality data. We derived the spectrum of the source from 100 GeV to 10 TeV. We also analysed ∼8 yr of Fermi-LAT to obtain the spectral shape between 60 MeV and 500 GeV. The spectra measured by the LAT and MAGIC telescopes are compatible within the errors and show a clear turn-off (4.6σ) at the highest energies, which can be described with an exponential cut-off at
$E_c = 3.5(^{+1.6}_{-1.0})_{{\rm stat}} (^{+0.8}_{-0.9})_{{\rm sys}}$
TeV. The gamma-ray emission from 60 MeV to 10 TeV can be attributed to a population of high-energy protons with a spectral index of ∼2.2 and an energy cut-off at ∼10 TeV. This result indicates that Cas A is not contributing to the high energy (∼PeV) cosmic ray sea in a significant manner at the present moment. A one-zone leptonic model fails to reproduce by itself the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution. Besides, if a non-negligible fraction of the flux seen by MAGIC is produced by leptons, the radiation should be emitted in a region with a low magnetic field (B⪅180 μG) like in the reverse shock.
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