GAW - An Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope with Large Field of View

TL;DR

GAW is a novel atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array with a large field of view and single photoelectron detection, designed for efficient sky surveys and improved sensitivity in the TeV gamma-ray range.

Contribution

The paper introduces GAW, a new Cherenkov telescope array using refractive optics and single photoelectron counting, enabling large sky coverage and enhanced sensitivity.

Findings

Large field of view (24x24 degrees) achieved

Improved sensitivity through single photoelectron counting

Feasibility demonstrated for survey applications

Abstract

GAW, acronym for Gamma Air Watch, is a Research and Development experiment in the TeV range, whose main goal is to explore the feasibility of large field of view Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. GAW is an array of three relatively small telescopes (2.13 m diameter) which differs from the existing and presently planned projects in two main features: the adoption of a refractive optics system as light collector and the use of single photoelectron counting as detector working mode. The optics system allows to achieve a large field of view (24x24 squared degrees) suitable for surveys of large sky regions. The single photoelectron counting mode in comparison with the charge integration mode improves the sensitivity by permitting also the reconstruction of events with a small number of collected Cherenkov photons. GAW, which is a collaboration effort of Research Institutes in Italy, Portugal and Spain, will be erected in the Calar Alto Observatory (Sierra de Los Filabres - Andalucia, Spain), at 2150 m a.s.l.). The first telescope will be settled within Autumn 2007. This paper shows the main characteristics of the experiment and its expected performance.