B. Sabirov

KLYPVE/TUS space experiments for study of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays

The KLYPVE space experiment has been proposed to study the energy spectrum, composition, and arrival direction of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECR) by detecting from satellites the atmosphere fluorescence and scattered Cherenkov light produced by EAS, initiated by UHECR particles. The TUS setup is a prototype KLYPVE instrument. The aim of the TUS experiment is to detect dozens of UHECR events in the energy region of the GZK cutoff, to measure the light background, to test the atmosphere control methods, and to study stability of the optical materials, PMTs, and other instrumental parts in space environment.

PREPARATION OF THE TUS SPACE EXPERIMENT FOR UHECR STUDY

We report on the current status of the TUS space mission project: its goals and the progress achieved so far. The Fresnel mirrors design, performed checks and their production are discussed. Also we discuss our future plans including auxiliary analysis of the fluorescence light yield measured this year by LAPP (Annecy), JINR (Dubna) and LIP (Lisbon) MACFLY Collaboration.

The TAIGA Experiment: From Cosmic Ray Physics to Gamma Astronomy in the Tunka Valley

The article presents the relevance and advantages of the new gamma observatory TAIGA (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy), which is being constructed in the Tunka Valley 50 km from Lake Baikal. Various detectors of the six TAIGA gamma observatory arrays register the Cherenkov and radio radiation, as well as the electron and muon components of EAS. The primary objective of the TAIGA gamma observatory is to study the high-energy part of the gamma-ray spectrum, in particular, in order to search for Galactic PeVatrons. The energy, direction, and position of the EAS axis are reconstructed in the observatory based on the data of the wide-angle Cherenkov detectors of the TAIGA-HiSCORE experiment. Taking into account this information, the gamma quanta are distinguished from the hadron background using the data obtained by the muon detectors and telescopes that register the EAS image in the Cherenkov light. In this hybrid mode of operation, the atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes can operate in the mono-mode, and the distance between them can be increased to 800–1000 m, which makes it possible to construct an array with an area of 5 km2 and more at relatively low cost and in a short time. By 2019, the first stage of the gamma observatory with an area of 1 km2 will be constructed; its expected integral sensitivity for detecting the gamma radiation with an energy of 100 TeV at observation of the source for 300 hours will be approximately

TAIGA-HiSCORE: results from the first two operation seasons

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Camera of the first TAIGA-IACT: construction and calibration

10–13 TeV cm–2s–1.

Commissioning the joint operation of the wide angle timing HiSCORE Cherenkov array with the first IACT of the TAIGA experimen

We report the first ground-based observation of the CATS-LIDAR onboard the ISS by the TAIGA-HiSCORE gamma-ray facility, and the MASTER-Tunka Robotic telescope. HiSCORE detects unscattered laser light directly from the ISS, at up to km-scale distance from the laser beam spot on ground. The ISS-LIDAR turns out to be a unique calibration tool, in particular to verify the absolute astronomical pointing of HiSCORE. We detected the LIDAR for 11 ISS-passages; among these were observations of forward scattering of the laser beam in dense clouds, which might carry information complementary to the LIDAR technique. We expect other air Cherenkov installations like IACTs to benefit from this light source.

Search for gamma-ray emission above 50 TeV from Crab Nebula with the TAIGA detector

The very to ultra high energy gamma-ray regime up to several 100 TeV is the key to spectrally resolve the cutoff regime of the long-sought Pevatrons, the Galactic cosmic-ray PeV accelerators. One component of the TAIGA hybrid detector is the TAIGA-HiSCORE shower-front sampling timing array, which currently consists of 28 wide angle (0.6\,sr) air Cherenkov timing stations distributed on an area of 0.25 km

Software design for the TAIGA-IACT telescope pointing and control system

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