A compact and light-weight refractive telescope for the observation of extensive air showers

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Published 25 July 2018 © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab
, , Citation T. Bretz et al 2018 JINST 13 P07024 DOI 10.1088/1748-0221/13/07/P07024

1748-0221/13/07/P07024

Abstract

A general purpose instrument for imaging of Cherenkov light or fluorescence light emitted by extensive air showers is presented. Its refractive optics allows for a compact and light-weight design with a wide field-of-view of 12°. The optical system features a 0.5 m diameter Fresnel lens and a camera with 61 pixels composed of Winston cones and large-sized 6x6 mm2 photo sensors. As photo sensors, semi conductor light sensors (SiPMs) are utilized. The camera provides a high photon detection efficiency together with robust operation. The enclosed optics permit operation in regions of harsh environmental conditions. The low price of the telescope allows the production of a large number of telescopes and the application of the instrument in various projects, such as FAMOUS for the Pierre Auger Observatory, HAWC's Eye for HAWC or IceAct for IceCube. In this paper the novel design of this telescope and first measurements are presented.

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10.1088/1748-0221/13/07/P07024