A pointing solution for the medium size telescopes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

TL;DR

This paper presents a CCD-camera based pointing calibration method for medium size telescopes in the Cherenkov Telescope Array, including technical implementation and test results demonstrating its effectiveness.

Contribution

It introduces a novel CCD-camera calibration approach for MSTs and provides detailed implementation and validation results from a year-long test at the prototype.

Findings

Calibration precision achieved with simulated data

Successful real-data calibration during test runs

Implementation details for the CCD-camera pointing solution

Abstract

The pointing capability of a telescope in the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a crucial aspect in the calibration of the instrument. It describes how a position in the sky is transformed to the focal plane of the telescope and allows precise directional reconstructions of atmospheric particle showers. The favoured approach for pointing calibrations of the Medium Size Telescopes (MST) is the utilisation of an CCD-camera installed in the centre of the dish, which images the night sky and the focal plane simultaneously. The technical implementation of this solution and test results taken over a period of one year at the MST prototype in Berlin/Adlershof are presented. Investigations of pointing calibration precision with simulated data and real data taken during test runs of the prototype telescope will also be shown.