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.

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。它将提供资金来提高Veritas伽马射线观测站的能力。 Veritas天文台位于AZ Amado附近的F.L Whipple天文台，是世界上仅有的三个基于地面的伽马射线观测站之一，其敏感性为1％的螃蟹星云通量，也是美国研究人员唯一可用的设施。 Veritas由四个，12米直径的成像大气Cherenkov望远镜组成，这些望远镜记录了由地球大气中非常高的能量伽玛射线相互作用而导致的Cherenkov光的微弱闪光。拟议的三个提议的升级将大大增强每个Veritas科学目标。主要结果将是降低Veritas的能量阈值并提高其敏感性： - 相机升级：用更有效的超级bialkali设备更换Veritas摄像机中的光探测器，将整体Cherenkov光子收集效率提高50％，等于增加镜子的成本，但要增加14 m的成本，但要增加。 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)乐队。这带来了独特的科学能力，在任何其他基于地面的伽马射线天文台上都不存在。该提案的更广泛影响包括加强Veritas合作的教育和外展计划。其他活动包括犹他大学的有力的本科研究计划和由阿德勒天文馆领导的计划，以开发交互式可视化工具，这些工具为广泛的受众解释并说明了很高的​​能量宇宙。