Schwarzschild-Couder telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array: Development of the Optical System

TL;DR

The paper discusses the development of a novel Schwarzschild-Couder optical system for Cherenkov telescopes, aiming to improve imaging resolution and field-of-view for high-energy gamma-ray observations.

Contribution

It introduces the design and development status of a Schwarzschild-Couder optical system for Cherenkov telescopes, enhancing imaging and field-of-view capabilities.

Findings

Successful design of the SC optical system

Prototype development at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

Potential for improved gamma-ray imaging

Abstract

The CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) is the next generation ground-based experiment for very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations. It will integrate several tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) with different apertures into a single astronomical instrument. The US part of the CTA collaboration has proposed and is developing a novel IACT design with a Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) aplanatic two mirror optical system. In comparison with the traditional single mirror Davies-Cotton IACT the SC telescope, by design, can accommodate a wide field-of-view, with significantly improved imaging resolution. In addition, the reduced plate scale of an SC telescope makes it compatible with highly integrated cameras assembled from silicon photo multipliers. In this submission we report on the status of the development of the SC optical system, which is part of the effort to construct a full-scale prototype telescope of this type at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona.