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On-site mirror facet condensation measurements for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Abstract:

The Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT) has provided very important discoveries in Very High Energy (VHE) γ-ray astronomy for the last two decades, being exploited mainly by experiments such as H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS. The same technique will be used by the next generation of γ-ray telescopes, Cherenkov Telescope Array - CTA, which is conceived to be an Observatory composed by two arrays strategically placed in both hemispheres, one in the Northern and one in the Southern. Each site will consist of several tens of Cherenkov telescopes of different sizes and will be equipped with about 10000 m2 of reflective surface. Because of its large size, the reflector of a Cherenkov telescope is composed of many individual mirror facets. Cherenkov telescopes operate without any protective system from weather conditions therefore it is important to understand how the reflective surfaces behave under different environmental conditions. This paper describes a study of the behavior of the mirrors in the presence of water vapor condensation. The operational time of a telescope is reduced by the presence of condensation on the mirror surface, therefore, to control and to monitor the formation of condensation is an important issue for IACT observatories. We developed a method based on pictures of the mirrors to identify the areas with water vapor condensation. The method is presented here and we use it to estimate the time and area two mirrors had condensation when exposed to the environmental conditions in the Argentinean site. The study presented here shows important guidelines in the selection procedure of mirror technologies and shows an innovative monitoring tool to be used in future Cherenkov telescopes.