Verification of the optical system of the 9.7-m prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope

Adams, C.; Alfaro, R.; 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.; Byrum, K.; Cameron, R. A.; Capasso, M.; Caprai, M.; Covault, C. E.; Di Venere, L.; Fegan, S.; Feng, Q.; Fiandrini, E.; Furniss, A.; Garczarczyk, M.; Garfias, F.; Gent, A.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Gonzalez, M. M.; Halliday, R.; Hervet, O.; Hughes, G.; Humensky, T. B.; Ionica, M.; Iriarte, A.; Jin, W.; Kaarat, P.; Kieda, D.; Kim, B.; Licciulli, F.; Limon, M.; Loporchio, S.; Masone, V.; Meures, T.; Mode, B. A. W.; Mukherjee, R.; Nieto, D.; Okumura, A.; Otte, N.; La Palombara, N.; Pantaleo, F. R.; Paoletti, R.; Pareschi, G.; Petrashyk, A.; Powell, J.; Powell, K.; Ribeiro, D.; Roache, E.; Rousselle, J.; Rugliancich, A.; Ruiz-Diaz-Soto, J.; Santander, M.; Schlenstedt, S.; Scuderi, S.; Shang, R.; Sironi, G.; Stevenson, B.; Stiaccini, L.; Taylor, L. P.; Tosti, L.; Tovmassian, G.; Vagelli, V.; Valentino, M.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vassiliev, V. V.; Wakely, S. P.; Wilcox, P.; Williams, D. A.; Yu, P.

doi:10.1117/12.2568134

For the first time in the history of ground-based x-ray astronomy, the on-axis performance of the dual mirror, aspheric, aplanatic Schwarzschild-Couder optical system has been demonstrated in a 9:7-m aperture imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope. The novel design of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT) is motivated by the need of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory to have the ability to perform wide (≥8°) field-of-view observations simultaneously with superior imaging of atmospheric cascades (resolution of 0:067 per pixel or better). The pSCT design, if implemented in the CTA installation, has the potential to improve significantly both the x-ray angular resolution and the off-axis sensitivity of the observatory, reaching nearly the theoretical limit of the technique and thereby making a major impact on the CTA observatory sky survey programs, follow-up observations of multi-messenger transients with poorly known initial localization, as well as on the spatially resolved spectroscopic studies of extended x-ray sources. This contribution reports on the initial alignment procedures and point-spread-function results for the challenging segmented aspheric primary and secondary mirrors of the pSCT.

Verification of the optical system of the 9.7-m prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope / Adams, C.; Alfaro, R.; 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.; Byrum, K.; Cameron, R. A.; Capasso, M.; Caprai, M.; Covault, C. E.; Di Venere, L.; Fegan, S.; Feng, Q.; Fiandrini, E.; Furniss, A.; Garczarczyk, M.; Garfias, F.; Gent, A.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Gonzalez, M. M.; Halliday, R.; Hervet, O.; Hughes, G.; Humensky, T. B.; Ionica, M.; Iriarte, A.; Jin, W.; Kaarat, P.; Kieda, D.; Kim, B.; Licciulli, F.; Limon, M.; Loporchio, S.; Masone, V.; Meures, T.; Mode, B. A. W.; Mukherjee, R.; Nieto, D.; Okumura, A.; Otte, N.; La Palombara, N.; Pantaleo, F. R.; Paoletti, R.; Pareschi, G.; Petrashyk, A.; Powell, J.; Powell, K.; Ribeiro, D.; Roache, E.; Rousselle, J.; Rugliancich, A.; Ruiz-Diaz-Soto, J.; Santander, M.; Schlenstedt, S.; Scuderi, S.; Shang, R.; Sironi, G.; Stevenson, B.; Stiaccini, L.; Taylor, L. P.; Tosti, L.; Tovmassian, G.; Vagelli, V.; Valentino, M.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vassiliev, V. V.; Wakely, S. P.; Wilcox, P.; Williams, D. A.; Yu, P.. - STAMPA. - 11488:(2020). (Intervento presentato al convegno Optical System Alignment, Tolerancing, and Verification XIII 2020 tenutosi a Virtual Meeting (USA) nel August 24, 2020 - September 4, 2020) [10.1117/12.2568134].