Upgrading the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope camera to a wide-field, high-resolution instrument

Adams, C.; Ambrosi, G.; Ambrosio, M.; Aramo, C.; Benbow, W.; Bertucci, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Bitossi, M.; Boiano, A.; Bonavolonta, C.; Bose, R.; Brill, A.; Buckley, J. H.; Caprai, M.; Covault, C. E.; Di Venere, L.; Feng, Q.; Fiandrini, E.; Gent, A.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Halliday, R.; Hervet, O.; Hughes, G.; Humensky, T. B.; Ionica, M.; Jin, W.; Kaaret, P.; Kieda, D.; Kim, B.; Licciulli, F.; Loporchio, S.; Masone, V.; Meures, T.; Mode, B. A. W.; Mukherjee, R.; Okumura, A.; Otte, N.; Pantaleo, F. R.; Paoletti, R.; Petrashyk, A.; Powell, J.; Powell, K.; Ribeiro, D.; Rugliancich, A.; Santander, M.; Shang, R.; Stevenson, B.; Stiaccini, L.; Taylor, L. P.; Tosti, L.; Vagelli, V.; Valentino, M.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vassiliev, V.; Wilcox, P.; Williams, D. A.

The Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) is a candidate technology for a medium-sized telescope within the Cherenkov Telescope Array. It is expected to yield substantial improvements in field of view and image resolution compared to traditional telescopes based on Davies-Cotton optics. To match the improved optical resolution, challenging requirements of high channel count and density at low power consumption have to be met by the camera. An initial prototype camera, with 1600 pixels spanning a 2.7? field of view, was installed on the prototype SCT in 2018. A project is now underway to upgrade the camera by increasing its pixel count and field of view by factors of 7 and 3, respectively (to 11,328 pixels and 8.0?). At the same time, the electronics design is being improved in order to lower the gamma-ray energy threshold and thereby provide an instrument especially well-suited for scientific studies related to extended sources and multimessenger astronomy.

Upgrading the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope camera to a wide-field, high-resolution instrument / Adams, C.; Ambrosi, G.; Ambrosio, M.; Aramo, C.; Benbow, W.; Bertucci, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Bitossi, M.; Boiano, A.; Bonavolonta, C.; Bose, R.; Brill, A.; Buckley, J. H.; Caprai, M.; Covault, C. E.; Di Venere, L.; Feng, Q.; Fiandrini, E.; Gent, A.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Halliday, R.; Hervet, O.; Hughes, G.; Humensky, T. B.; Ionica, M.; Jin, W.; Kaaret, P.; Kieda, D.; Kim, B.; Licciulli, F.; Loporchio, S.; Masone, V.; Meures, T.; Mode, B. A. W.; Mukherjee, R.; Okumura, A.; Otte, N.; Pantaleo, F. R.; Paoletti, R.; Petrashyk, A.; Powell, J.; Powell, K.; Ribeiro, D.; Rugliancich, A.; Santander, M.; Shang, R.; Stevenson, B.; Stiaccini, L.; Taylor, L. P.; Tosti, L.; Vagelli, V.; Valentino, M.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vassiliev, V.; Wilcox, P.; Williams, D. A.. - In: POS PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENCE. - ISSN 1824-8039. - ELETTRONICO. - 358:(2021). (Intervento presentato al convegno 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019 tenutosi a Madison, WI nel July 24 - August 1, 2019).