D. Neise

Design and Operation of FACT -- The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope

The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is designed to detect cosmic gamma-rays with energies from several hundred GeV up to about 10 TeV using the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique. In contrast to former or existing telescopes, the camera of the FACT telescope is comprised of solid-state Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) instead of photomultiplier tubes for photo detection. It is the first full-scale device of its kind employing this new technology. The telescope is operated at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain) since fall 2011. This paper describes in detail the design, construction and operation of the system, including hardware and software aspects. Technical experiences gained after one year of operation are discussed and conclusions with regard to future projects are drawn.

Calibration and performance of the photon sensor response of FACT — the first G-APD Cherenkov telescope

The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is the first in-operation test of the performance of silicon photo detectors in Cherenkov Astronomy. For more than two years it is operated on La Palma, Canary Islands (Spain), for the purpose of long-term monitoring of astrophysical sources. For this, the performance of the photo detectors is crucial and therefore has been studied in great detail. Special care has been taken for their temperature and voltage dependence implementing a correction method to keep their properties stable. Several measurements have been carried out to monitor the performance. The measurements and their results are shown, demonstrating the stability of the gain below the percent level. The resulting stability of the whole system is discussed, nicely demonstrating that silicon photo detectors are perfectly suited for the usage in Cherenkov telescopes, especially for long-term monitoring purpose.

A novel camera type for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy based on Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes

Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (G-APD) are promising new sensors for light detection in atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. In this paper, the design and commissioning of a 36-pixel G-APD prototype camera is presented. The data acquisition is based on the Domino Ring Sampling (DRS2) chip. A sub-nanosecond time resolution has been achieved. Cosmic-ray induced air showers have been recorded using an imaging mirror setup, in a self-triggered mode. This is the first time that such measurements have been carried out with a complete G-APD camera.

FACT - The G-APD revolution in Cherenkov astronomy

Since two years, the FACT telescope is operating on the Canary Island of La Palma. Apart from its purpose to serve as a monitoring facility for the brightest TeV blazars, it was built as a major step to establish solid state photon counters as detectors in Cherenkov astronomy. The camera of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telesope comprises 1440 Geiger-mode avalanche photo diodes (G-APD), equipped with solid light guides to increase the effective light collection area of each sensor. Since no sense-line is available, a special challenge is to keep the applied voltage stable although the current drawn by the G-APD depends on the flux of night-sky background photons significantly varying with ambient light conditions. Methods have been developed to keep the temperature and voltage dependent response of the G-APDs stable during operation. As a cross-check, dark count spectra with high statistics have been taken under different environmental conditions. In this presentation, the project, the developed methods and the experience from two years of operation of the first G-APD based camera in Cherenkov astronomy under changing environmental conditions will be presented.

FACT — LONGTERM MONITORING OF BRIGHT TeV BLAZARS

Since October 2011, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is operated successfully on the Canary Island of La Palma. Apart from the proof of principle for the use of G-APDs in Cherenkov telescopes, the major goal of the project is the dedicated long-term monitoring of a small sample of bright TeV blazars. The unique properties of G-APDs permit stable observations also during strong moon light. Thus a superior sampling density is provided on time scales at which the blazar variability amplitudes are expected to be largest, as exemplified by the spectacular variations of Mrk 501 observed in June 2012. While still in commissioning, FACT monitored bright blazars like Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 during the past 1.5 years so far. Preliminary results including the Mrk 501 flare from June 2012 will be presented.

FACT - operation of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope

Since more than two years, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is operating successfully at the Canary Island of La Palma. Apart from its purpose to serve as a monitoring facility for the brightest TeV blazars, it was built as a major step to establish solid state photon counters as detectors in Cherenkov astronomy. The camera of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telesope comprises 1440 Geiger-mode avalanche photo diodes (G-APD aka. MPPC or SiPM) for photon detection. Since properties as the gain of G-APDs depend on temperature and the applied voltage, a realtime feedback system has been developed and implemented. To correct for the change introduced by temperature, several sensors have been placed close to the photon detectors. Their read out is used to calculate a corresponding voltage offset. In addition to temperature changes, changing current introduces a voltage drop in the supporting resistor network. To correct changes in the voltage drop introduced by varying photon flux from the night-sky background, the current is measured and the voltage drop calculated. To check the stability of the G-APD properties, dark count spectra with high statistics have been taken under different environmental conditions and been evaluated.

Electronics for the camera of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) for ground based gamma-ray astronomy

Within the FACT project, we construct a new type of camera based on Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (G-APDs). Compared to photomultipliers, G-APDs are more robust, need a lower operation voltage and have the potential of higher photon-detection efficiency and lower cost, but were never fully tested in the harsh environments of Cherenkov telescopes. The FACT camera consists of 1440 G-APD pixels and readout channels, based on the DRS4 (Domino Ring Sampler) analog pipeline chip and commercial Ethernet components. Preamplifiers, trigger system, digitization, slow control and power converters are integrated into the camera.

FACT: A novel camera for Cherenkov telescopes for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy

The field of gamma-ray astronomy has expanded rapidly during the last decade. In the energy regime from 100 GeV up to several TeV, Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) are the most sensitive detectors. Presently all IACTs use photomultiplier tubes for light detection, but for future projects Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) are very promising alternatives. In order to demonstrate their potential, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) collaboration has constructed an IACT camera comprising 1440 G-APDs. By means of specially designed light concentrators the collection area of each sensor is enlarged. The entire electronics for analog signal processing, digitization and triggering is fully integrated into the camera body. Event data are sent via Ethernet to the counting house. The FACT camera was installed during fall 2011 at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma, Canary Islands (Spain), on a refurbished telescope mount.

FACT — STATUS AND FIRST RESULTS

FACT is the first imaging Cherenkov telescope based on a camera using solid state photosensors (Geigermode Avalanche Photodiodes G-APD aka SiPM). Since October 2011, it has been taking data regularly. Apart from commissioning and calibration measurements, it has already started regular operation, where the main goal is to do long-term monitoring of bright TeV blazars. In June 2012, a flare of Mrk 501 was observed. Thanks to the robustness of the G-APDs, observations can be carried out during strong moon light without aging of the sensors. This improves the duty cycle of the instrument and provides better statistics for long-term light curves. The telescope, situated on the Canary Island of La Palma, is operated, already now, remotely from central Europe. For the future, robotic operation is planned. We report on our experiences during the commissioning, and we present first results from the first 1.5 years of observations.