MRI-R2 Consortium: Development of Improved Instrumentation for the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory

MRI-R2 联盟：为 VERITAS 伽马射线天文台开发改进仪器

• 批准号: 0960242
• 负责人: David Kieda
• 金额: $ 163.35万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-04-15 至 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0960242&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; R2; Consortium; Development; Improved

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). It will provide funds to improve the capabilities of the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory. Located at the F.L Whipple Observatory near Amado, AZ, the VERITAS Observatory is one of only three ground-based gamma-ray observatories in the world with sensitivity at the level of 1% of the Crab Nebula flux, and the only such facility available to U.S. researchers. VERITAS consists of an array of four, 12-meter diameter Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, which record the faint flashes of Cherenkov light resulting from the interactions of Very High Energy gamma rays in the Earth's atmosphere.The three proposed upgrades will substantially enhance every VERITAS science goal. The primary outcomes will be to lower the energy threshold of VERITAS and improve its sensitivity:- Camera Upgrade: replacing the photo-detectors in the VERITAS cameras with more efficient, super-bialkali devices will increase the overall Cherenkov photon collection efficiency by 50%, equivalent to increasing the mirror diameters to more than 14 m, but at a substantially lower cost;- Trigger Upgrade: replacing the telescope-level trigger system with a more sophisticated, FPGA-based device will allow faster coincidence windows and provide a path toward a future topological array-level trigger;- Optical Monitoring/ Intensity Interferometry Upgrade: equipping the telescopes with a fast central photodetector with continuous high speed data acquisition will enable photometric, timing, and interferometric measurements of sources in the optical (U/V) bands. This brings a unique scientific capability that does not exist on any other ground-based gamma-ray observatory. The broader impacts of this proposal include strengthening the VERITAS Collaboration's Education and Outreach programs. Additional activities include the University of Utah's vigorous undergraduate research program and initiatives, led by the Adler Planetarium, to develop interactive visualization tools which explain and illustrate the very high energy Universe to a broad audience.

该奖项根据 2009 年《美国复苏和再投资法案》（公法 111-5）提供资金。它将提供资金来提高 VERITAS 伽马射线天文台的能力。 VERITAS 天文台位于亚利桑那州阿马多附近的 F.L Whipple 天文台，是世界上仅有的三个灵敏度达到蟹状星云通量 1% 水平的地面伽马射线天文台之一，也是唯一一个可用于美国研究人员。 VERITAS 由四个直径 12 米的大气成像切伦科夫望远镜阵列组成，这些望远镜记录了地球大气中极高能伽马射线相互作用产生的切伦科夫光的微弱闪光。拟议的三项升级将大大增强 VERITAS 的每一项科学目标。主要成果将是降低 VERITAS 的能量阈值并提高其灵敏度：- 相机升级：用更高效的超级双碱设备替换 VERITAS 相机中的光电探测器将使整体切伦科夫光子收集效率提高 50%，相当于将镜子直径增加到 14 m 以上，但成本大大降低； - 触发升级：用更复杂的基于 FPGA 的设备替换望远镜级触发系统将允许更快的重合窗口并提供通向未来拓扑阵列级触发的道路；-光学监测/强度干涉测量升级：为望远镜配备具有连续高速数据采集功能的快速中央光电探测器，将能够对光学（U/V）光源进行光度、定时和干涉测量。 ）乐队。这带来了任何其他地面伽马射线天文台所不具备的独特科学能力。该提案的更广泛影响包括加强 VERITAS Collaboration 的教育和外展计划。其他活动包括犹他大学由阿德勒天文馆领导的充满活力的本科生研究计划和举措，旨在开发交互式可视化工具，向广大受众解释和说明极高能量的宇宙。