Calibration and Performance Validation of the SST-1M Telescopes Using Crab Nebula Observations

TL;DR

This paper details the calibration and validation of the SST-1M Cherenkov telescopes' performance using Crab Nebula observations, demonstrating their capability for high-energy gamma-ray astronomy with SiPM sensors.

Contribution

It introduces the calibration procedure and performance validation of the SST-1M telescopes, highlighting their effective operation with SiPM sensors under various conditions.

Findings

Successful calibration of SiPM sensors.

Validated telescope performance with Crab Nebula data.

Enhanced observation capabilities under moonlight conditions.

Abstract

SST-1M is a prototype single mirror Small Sized Cherenkov Telescope designed for very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy. With a 4 meter primary mirror and a 5.6 meter focal length, it provides a wide 9 degree optical field of view, optimized for detecting VHE gamma-rays from 1 TeV to several hundred TeV. Its focal plane is equipped with DigiCam, a fully digital trigger and readout camera made of 1296 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels. The use of SiPM sensors enables observation under high night sky background (NSB) conditions, significantly enhancing the instrument's duty cycle and allowing observations under moonlight. Currently, two SST-1M telescopes are deployed at the Ond\v rejov Observatory in the Czech Republic, operating in stereo, at 510 m altitude, to observe astrophysical sources. This contribution presents the SiPM calibration procedure and performance validation of the instrument, based on updated results from Crab Nebula observations.