Precision Measurement of Optical Pulsation using a Cherenkov Telescope

Abstract

During 2003, a camera designed to measure the optical pulsations of pulsars was installed on a telescope of the H.E.S.S. array. The array is designed for gamma-ray astronomy in the ~100 GeV - 100 TeV energy regime. The aims of this exercise were two-fold: to prove the pulsar timing capabilities of H.E.S.S. on all relevant time-scales, and to explore the possibility of performing sensitive optical pulsar measurements using the ~100 m^2 mirror of a Cherenkov telescope. Measurements of the Crab pulsar with this instrument demonstrate an order of magnitude sensitivity improvement over previous attempts using Cherenkov telescopes. Here we describe the design and performance of the system and discuss design considerations for future instruments of this type.

Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics, 14 pages, 7 figures

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• Study of the photon flux from the night sky at La Palma and Namibia, in the wavelength region relevant for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes
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• Cherenkov Telescopes as Optical Telescopes for Bright Sources: Today's Specialised Thirty Metre Telescopes?
• Stellar intensity interferometry over kilometer baselines: Laboratory simulation of observations with the Cherenkov Telescope Array
• On the Use of Cherenkov Telescopes for Outer Solar System Body Occultations
• Interstellar communication. XI. Short pulse duration limits of optical SETI
• Simulated Gamma-Ray Pulse Profile of the Crab Pulsar with the Cherenkov Telescope Array
• Detection of VHE Gamma Radiation from the Pulsar Wind Nebula MSH 15-52 with H.E.S.S
• Flickers, Bursts, and Dips: Detecting Rapid Variability with the g(2) Autocorrelation Function