The CAT Imaging Telescope for Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Abstract

The CAT (Cherenkov Array at Themis) imaging telescope, equipped with a very-high-definition camera (546 fast phototubes with 0.12 degrees spacing surrounded by 54 larger tubes in two guard rings) started operation in Autumn 1996 on the site of the former solar plant Themis (France). Using the atmospheric Cherenkov technique, it detects and identifies very high energy gamma-rays in the range 250 GeV to a few tens of TeV. The instrument, which has detected three sources (Crab nebula, Mrk 421 and Mrk 501), is described in detail.

24 pages, 15 figures. submitted to Elsevier Preprint

References in corpus (2)

• Very High Energy Gamma Rays from PSR1706-44
• A new analysis method for very high definition Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes as applied to the CAT telescope

Cited by in corpus (30)

• Design Concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
• Calibration of cameras of the H.E.S.S. detector
• VERITAS: the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
• A Monte Carlo Template based analysis for Air-Cherenkov Arrays
• The optical system of the H.E.S.S. imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, Part I: layout and components of the system
• Temporal and spectral gamma-ray properties of Mkn421 above 250 GeV from CAT observations between 1996 and 2000
• Modelling the TeV gamma-ray spectra of two low redshift AGNs: Mkn 501 and Mkn 421
• Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy
• Ground-based detectors in very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy
• Measurement of the Crab Flux Above 60 GeV with the CELESTE Cherenkov Telescope
• A new analysis method for very high definition Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes as applied to the CAT telescope
• The bulk Lorentz factor crisis of TeV blazars : evidence for an inhomogeneous pileup energy distribution ?
• Unveiling the X-ray/TeV engine in Mkn 421
• The optical reflector system for the CANGAROO-II imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope
• TeV blazar gamma-ray emission produced by a cooling pile-up particle energy distribution function
• Detection of the BL Lac object 1ES1426+428 in the Very High Energy gamma-ray band by the CAT Telescope from 1998-2000
• Very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy: A 23-year success story in high-energy astroparticle physics
• Introduction to high-energy gamma-ray astronomy
• Using Muon Rings for the Calibration of the Cherenkov Telescope Array: A Systematic Review of the Method and its Potential Accuracy
• Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy: history and development of techniques
• Air Cherenkov Methods in Cosmic Rays: A Review and Some History
• Simultaneous radio-interferometric and high-energy TeV observations of the gamma-ray blazar Mkn 421
• Bokeh Mirror Alignment for Cherenkov Telescopes
• Technological Novelties of Ground-Based Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astrophysics with the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
• A Template-based $\gamma$-ray Reconstruction Method for Air Shower Arrays
• Normalized and Asynchronous Mirror Alignment for Cherenkov Telescopes
• Monte Carlo studies on the sensitivity of the HEGRA imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescope system in observations of extended gamma-ray sources
• Wavelet Imaging Cleaning Method for Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
• H.E.S.S.: The High Energy Stereoscopic System
• Mirror Position Determination for the Alignment of Cherenkov Telescopes