Observation of the Crab Nebula with the Single-Mirror Small-Size Telescope stereoscopic system at low altitude
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Single-Mirror Small-Size Telescope (SST-1M) stereoscopic system is composed of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) designed to deliver optimal performance for gamma-ray astronomy in the multi-TeV energy range. It features a 4-m diameter tessellated mirror dish and an innovative SiPM-based camera. Its optical system features a 4-m diameter spherical mirror dish based on the Davies-Cotton design, maintaining a good image quality over a large field of view (FoV), while minimizing optical aberrations. In 2022, two SST-1M telescopes were installed at the Ondřejov Observatory, Czech Republic at an altitude of 510 meters above sea level, collecting data for commissioning and astronomical observations since then. We present the first SST-1M observations of the Crab Nebula, conducted between September 2023 and March 2024 in both mono and stereoscopic modes. During this observation period, 46 hours for the SST-1M-1 and 52 hours for the SST-1M-2 were collected (of which 33 hours were in stereoscopic mode). In this work, we used the Crab Nebula observation to validate the expected performance of the instrument, as evaluated by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations that were carefully tuned to account for instrumental and atmospheric effects. We determined that the energy threshold at the analysis level for the zenith angles below 30° is 1 TeV for mono mode and 1.3 TeV for stereo mode. The energy and angular resolutions were approximately 20% and 0.18° for mono mode and 10% and 0.10° for stereo mode, respectively. We present an off-axis performance assessment of the instrument and a detailed study of the systematic uncertainties. The full simulation results for the telescope and its camera are compared to the data for the first time, enabling a deeper understanding of the SST-1M array performance.
Authors: C. Alispach, A. Araudo, M. Balbo, V. Beshley, J. Blažek, J. Borkowski, S. Boula, T. Bulik, F. Cadoux, S. Casanova, A. Christov, J. Chudoba, L. Chytka, P. Čechvala, P. Dědic, D. della Volpe, Y. Favre, M. Garczarczyk, L. Gibaud, T. Gieras, E. Glowacki, P. Hamal, M. Heller, M. Hrabovský, P. Janeček, M. Jelínek, V. Jílek, J. Juryšek, V. Karas, B. Lacave, E. Lyard, E. Mach, D. Mandát, W. Marek, S. Michal, J. Michałowski, M. Miroń, R. Moderski, T. Montaruli, A. Muraczewski, S. R. Muthyala, A. L. Müller, A. Nagai, K. Nalewajski, D. Neise, J. Niemiec, M. Nikołajuk, V. Novotný, M. Ostrowski, M. Palatka, M. Pech, M. Prouza, P. Schovanek, V. Sliusar, Ł. Stawarz, R. Sternberger, M. Stodulska, J. Świerblewski, P. Świerk, J. Štrobl, T. Tavernier, P. Trávníček, I. Troyano Pujadas, J. Vícha, R. Walter, K. Ziętara
Institutions: University of Geneva, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Pidstryhach Institute for Applied Problems of Mechanics and Mathematics, FZU - Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, University of Warsaw, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, University of Białystok, Czech Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, ETH Zurich, Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Charles University, Jagiellonian University
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Design Studies of CTA cameras for gamma-ray detection and High-Energy Multi-Messenger Data Center, Cherenkov Telescope Array - participation of the Czech Republic, G2677629327, G2678520069, G3810236772, Swiss contribution to the construction of innovative cameras for middle and small size telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, G4396925471, G4562948936, Extension of Scientific Potential of Gamma-ray Observatory SWGO by Cherenkov Telescopes, G545007060, G679317963, G7253040719, The operation of the first CTA prototypes of telescopes and their cameras, G8140083606, G884207649, G948983577
OpenAlex ID: W6921902413
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