The ASTRI Mini-Array is a collaborative international effort led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) to develop, build and operate a facility of nine Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes of the four meters class to study astronomical sources emitting very high energy gamma-rays in the TeV spectral band. The ASTRI Mini- Array is currently under construction on the island of Tenerife at the Observatorio del Teide based on a host agreement with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. The telescopes are alt-azimuthal with an innovative aplanatic dual mirror optical configuration. The first telescope of the ASTRI Mini-Array, named ASTRI-1, was installed at the end of summer 2022. In this paper we report on the results of the opto-mechanical characterization of the telescope. In particular, we analyzed the mechanical behavior of the telescope and we measured the pointing and tracking performance that resulted within the requirements. We tested the procedure to align and focus the panels of the primary mirror automatically. All the software procedures to run the telescope and perform these analyses were also tested.
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will include telescopes of three different sizes, the smallest of which are the Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs). In particular, the SSTs will be installed at the southern site of CTAO, on the Chilean Andes, and will cover the highest energy range of CTAO (up to ~300 TeV). The SSTs are developed by an international consortium of institutes that will provide them as an in-kind contribution to CTAO. The optical design of the SSTs is based on a Schwarzschild-Couder-like dual-mirror polynomial configuration, with a primary aperture of 4.3m diameter. They are equipped with a focal plane camera based on SiPM detectors covering a field of view of ~9°. The preliminary design of the SST telescopes was evaluated and approved during the Product Review (PR) organised with CTAO in February 2023. The SST project is now going through a consolidation phase leading to the finalisation and submission of the final design to the Critical Design Review (CDR), expected to occur late 2024, after which the production and construction of the telescopes will begin leading to a delivery of the telescopes to CTAO southern site starting at the end of 2025-early 2026 onward. In this contribution we will present the progress of the SST programme, including the results of the PDR, the consolidation phase of the project and the plan up to the on-site integration of the telescopes.
The ASTRI Stellar Intensity Interferometry Instrument (SI3) is a fast single photon counting instrument for performing intensity interferometry observations of bright stars with the ASTRI Mini-Array. SI3 is designed to perform accurate measurements of single photon arrival times (1ns) in a narrow optical bandwidth (1-8nm) centered at a wavelength in the range 420-500nm. The instrument will exploit the 36 simultaneous baselines over distances between 100m and 700m of the ASTRI Mini-Array to achieve angular resolutions below 100 microarcsec. At this level of resolution it turns out to be possible to reveal details on the surface and of the environment surrounding bright stars on the sky. During 2023 SI3 underwent a significant redesign, with an optical fiber positioned on the focal plane to feed the detectors and electronics. Here we present this new baseline design of SI3, and the motivations behind this choice, including the possibility of future upgrades of the instrument with dedicated front-end electronics and channel multiplexing. We will also show the first results of the target selection procedure based on simulations. Stars with angular diameters of less than 500- 600 microarcseconds up to about magnitude 4.5 will be observable. Thanks to the 36 simultaneous baselines, accurate (up to ∼1%) angular measurements can be obtained with 10-30 hours of observations. This accuracy can rival with that obtained with other arrays of Cherenkov telescopes, despite the smaller collecting area of a single ASTRI telescope.
KEYWORDS: Software development, Telescopes, Data modeling, Computer architecture, Control systems, Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, Data acquisition, Data archive systems, Design, Cameras
The Astrophysics with Italian Replicating Technology Mirrors (ASTRI) Mini-Array is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and devoted to imaging atmospheric Cherenkov light for very-high γ-ray astrophysics, detection of cosmic-rays, and stellar Hambury-Brown intensity interferometry. The project is deploying an array of nine dual-mirror aplanatic imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of 4-m class at the Teide Observatory on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Based on SiPM sensors, the focal plane camera covers an unprecedented field of view of 10.5 deg in diameter. The array is most sensitive to γ-ray radiation above 1 up to 200 TeV, with an angular resolution of 3 arcmin, better than the current particle arrays, such as LHAASO and HAWC. We describe the overall software architecture of the ASTRI Mini-Array and the software engineering approach for its development. The software covers the entire life cycle of the Mini-Array, from scheduling to remote operations, data acquisition, and processing until data dissemination. The on-site control software allows remote array operations from different locations, including automated reactions to critical conditions. All data are collected every night, and the array trigger is managed post facto. The high-speed networking connection between the observatory site and the Data Center in Rome allows for ready data availability for stereoscopic event reconstruction, data processing, and almost real-time science products generation.
KEYWORDS: Data modeling, Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, Control systems, Software development, Telescopes, Data processing, Data archive systems, Data acquisition, Calibration, Computer architecture
The ASTRI Mini-Array is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and devoted to the imaging of atmospheric Cherenkov light for very-high gamma-ray astronomy. The project is deploying an array of 9 telescopes sensitive above 1 TeV. In this contribution, we present the architecture of the software that covers the entire life cycle of the observatory, from scheduling to remote operations and data dissemination. The high-speed networking connection available between the observatory site, at the Canary Islands, and the Data Center in Rome allows for ready data availability for stereo triggering and data processing.
The ASTRI Mini-Array is an International collaboration, led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, that is constructing and operating an array of nine Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes to study gamma-ray sources at very high energy and perform optical stellar intensity interferometry (SII) observations. Angular resolutions below 100 microarcsec are achievable with stellar intensity interferometry, using telescopes separated by hundreds to thousands of meters baselines. At this level of resolution it turns out to be possible to reveal details on the surface and of the environment surrounding bright stars on the sky. The ASTRI Mini-Array will provide a suitable infrastructure for performing these measurements thanks to the capabilities offered by its 9 telescopes, which provide 36 simultaneous baselines over distances between 100 m and 700 m. After providing an overview of the scientific context and motivations for performing SII science with the ASTRI Mini-Array telescopes, we present the baseline design for the ASTRI Stellar Intensity Interferometry Instrument, a fast single photon counting instrument that will be mounted on the ASTRI telescopes and dedicated to performing SII observations of bright stars.
The ASTRI Mini-Array is a gamma-ray experiment led by INAF with the partnership of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Fundacion Galileo Galilei, University of Sao Paulo, North-West University S.A., and Observatoire de Geneve. It is being implemented at the Observatorio del Teide Tenerife. The nine (9) Cherenkov dual-mirror aplanatic telescopes of 4 m diameter are positioned at an average distance from each other of 160 m. Thanks to the unprecedented field-of-view (10.5 deg) of the ASTRI telescopes, the MA will allow us to observe the gamma-ray sky from a few up to a few hundred TeVs with competitive flux sensitivity and enhanced angular resolution. The curved focal plane of the camera is covered with SiPM sensors and is equipped with fast front-end electronics. The control SW will allow us to operate the Mini-array remotely, while a dedicated off-site Data Center in Italy will process the scientific products every night. The ASTRI Mini-Array represents a pivotal instrument to perform groundbreaking measurements very soon. In this paper, we will review the implementation plan of the ASTRI Mini-Array and report on the ongoing construction.
The ASTRI Mini-Array is a project of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) to construct and operate an observatory to study astronomical sources emitting in the TeV spectral band. The ASTRI Mini-Array is under construction and consists of an array of nine innovative Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes located at the Teide Astronomical Observatory, operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, on Mount Teide (~2400 m a.s.l.) in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). In the project framework, we have implemented a Product Assurance (PA) programme, which defines the strategy and the organization for the management of the quality control. It defines the applicable quality requirements for design, procurement, AIT, and verification, and the guidelines to manage the acceptance of the deliverable items provided by the external suppliers. In the case of HW items, the PA programme provides requirements regarding the monitoring of manufacturing process and qualification activities, as well as the item identification, inspection and storage. For SW components, we have provided a dedicated Quality Assurance plan, and detailed guidelines to drive the whole software development life cycle. We paid particular attention to the management of non-conformances and requests for deviations/waivers, since these are very critical in the case of external industrial partners. In this work we present the layout and contents of the ASTRI Mini-Array PA programme, describing the organization adopted within ASTRI for its management and reporting some examples of how it has been applied up to now.
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