Context. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the most advanced facility designed for Cherenkov Astronomy. ASTRI SST-2M has been developed as a demonstrator for the Small Size Telescope in ...the context of the upcoming CTA. Its main innovation consists in the optical layout which implements the Schwarzschild-Couder configuration and is fully validated for the first time. The ASTRI SST-2M optical system represents the first qualified example of a two-mirror telescope for Cherenkov Astronomy. This configuration permits us to (i) maintain high optical quality across a large field of view; (ii) demagnify the plate scale; and (iii) exploit new technological solutions for focal plane sensors. Aims. The goal of the paper is to present the optical qualification of the ASTRI SST-2M telescope. The qualification has been obtained measuring the point spread function (PSF) sizes generated in the focal plane at various distances from the optical axis. These values have been compared with the performances expected by design. Methods. After an introduction on Gamma-ray Astronomy from the ground, the optical design of ASTRI SST-2M and how it has been implemented is discussed. Moreover, the description of the set-up used to qualify the telescope over the full field of view is shown. Results. We report the results of the first–light optical qualification. The required specification of a flat PSF of ~ 10 arcmin in a large field of view (~ 10°) has been demonstrated. These results validate the design specifications, opening a new scenario for Cherenkov Gamma-ray Astronomy and, in particular, for the detection of high-energy (5–300 TeV) gamma rays and wide-field observations with CTA.
We investigate the physical properties of 10 blazars at redshift greater than 2 detected in the 3-yr all-sky survey performed by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board the Swift satellite. We find ...that the jets of these blazars are among the most powerful known. Furthermore, the mass of their central black hole, inferred from the optical–ultraviolet bump, exceeds a few billions of solar masses, with accretion luminosities being a large fraction of the Eddington one. We compare their properties with those of the brightest blazars of the 3-month survey performed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi satellite. We find that the BAT blazars have more powerful jets, more luminous accretion discs and larger black hole masses than LAT blazars. These findings can be simply understood on the basis of the blazar sequence, which suggests that the most powerful blazars have a spectral energy distribution with a high-energy peak at MeV (or even sub-MeV) energies. This implies that the most extreme blazars can be found more efficiently in hard X-rays, rather than in the high-energy γ-ray band. We then discuss the implications of our findings for future missions, such as the New Hard X-ray Mission (NHXM) and especially the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission which, during its planned 2-yr all-sky survey, is expected to detect thousands of blazars, with a few of them at z≳ 6.
A
bstract
This article describes BabyIAXO, an intermediate experimental stage of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO), proposed to be sited at DESY. IAXO is a large-scale axion helioscope that ...will look for axions and axion-like particles (ALPs), produced in the Sun, with unprecedented sensitivity. BabyIAXO is conceived to test all IAXO subsystems (magnet, optics and detectors) at a relevant scale for the final system and thus serve as prototype for IAXO, but at the same time as a fully-fledged helioscope with relevant physics reach itself, and with potential for discovery. The BabyIAXO magnet will feature two 10 m long, 70 cm diameter bores, and will host two detection lines (optics and detector) of dimensions similar to the final ones foreseen for IAXO. BabyIAXO will detect or reject solar axions or ALPs with axion-photon couplings down to
g
aγ
∼ 1
.
5 × 10
−
11
GeV
−
1
, and masses up to
m
a
∼ 0
.
25 eV. BabyIAXO will offer additional opportunities for axion research in view of IAXO, like the development of precision x-ray detectors to identify particular spectral features in the solar axion spectrum, and the implementation of radiofrequency-cavity-based axion dark matter setups.
We report on the first detection of very high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula by a Cherenkov telescope in dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) configuration. This result has been ...achieved by means of the 4 m ASTRI-Horn telescope, operated on Mt. Etna, Italy, and developed in the context of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory preparatory phase. The dual-mirror SC design is aplanatic and characterized by a small plate scale, which allows us to implement large cameras with a large field of view, with small-size pixel sensors and a high level of compactness. The curved focal plane of the ASTRI camera is covered by silicon photo-multipliers, managed by an unconventional front-end electronic system that is based on a customized peak-sensing detector mode. The system includes internal and external calibration systems, hardware and software for control and acquisition, and the complete data archiving and processing chain. These observations of the Crab Nebula were carried out in December 2018 during the telescope verification phase for a total observation time (after data selection) of 24.4 h, equally divided between on- and off-axis source exposure. The camera system was still under commission and its functionality was not yet completely exploited. Furthermore, due to recent eruptions of the Etna Volcano, the mirror reflection efficiency was reduced. Nevertheless, the observations led to the detection of the source with a statistical significance of 5.4
σ
above an energy threshold of ∼3 TeV. This result provides an important step toward the use of dual-mirror systems in Cherenkov gamma-ray astronomy. A pathfinder mini-array based on nine ASTRI-like telescopes with a large field-of-view is in the course of implementation.
We measure the correlation between the arrival directions of the highest energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory with the position of the galaxies in the H i Parkes All-Sky Survey ...(HIPASS) catalogue, weighted for their H i flux and Auger exposure. The use of this absorption-free catalogue, complete also along the Galactic plane, allows us to use all the Auger events. The correlation is significant, being 86.2 per cent for the entire sample of H i galaxies, and becoming 99 per cent when considering the richest galaxies in H i content or 98 per cent with those lying between 40 and 55 Mpc. We interpret this result as the evidence that spiral galaxies are the hosts of the producers of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and we briefly discuss the classical (i.e. energetic and distant) long gamma-ray burst (GRBs), short GRBs, as well as newly born or late-flaring magnetars as possible sources of the Auger events. With the caveat that these events are still very few, and the theoretical uncertainties are conspicuous, we found that newly born magnetars are the best candidates. If so, they could also be associated with sub-energetic, spectrally soft, nearby, long GRBs. We finally discuss why there is a clustering of Auger events in the direction on the radio galaxy Cen A and an absence of events in the direction of the radio galaxy M87.
A conjugate heat-transfer model is presented based on the two-population entropic lattice Boltzmann method. The present approach relies on the extension of Grad's boundary conditions to the ...two-population model for thermal flows, as well as on the appropriate exact conjugate heat-transfer condition imposed at the fluid-solid interface. The simplicity and efficiency of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), and in particular of the entropic multirelaxation LBM, are retained in the present approach, thus enabling simulations of turbulent high Reynolds number flows and complex wall boundaries. The model is validated by means of two-dimensional parametric studies of various setups, including pure solid conduction, conjugate heat transfer with a backward-facing step flow, and conjugate heat transfer with the flow past a circular heated cylinder. Further validations are performed in three dimensions for the case of a turbulent flow around a heated mounted cube.
Dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) telescopes are based on highly aspherical optics, and they represent a novel design in the world of very high energy astrophysics. This work addresses the ...realization and the qualification of the secondary mirror for an SC telescope, named ASTRI, developed in the context of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory. The discussion surveys the overall development from the early design concept to the final acceptance optical tests.
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