Performances of the CAT imaging telescope and some preliminary results on Mkn 180 and the Crab - Towards a Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Detector V

A. Barrau , R. Bazer-Bachi , H. Cabot , L M. Chounet (1) , G. Debiais , B. Degrange (1) , J P. Dezalay , A. Djannati-Atai , D. Dumora (2) , P. Espigat (3) , Benoît Fabre , P. Fleury (1) , G. Fontaine (1) , R. George , C. Ghesquiere (3) , P. Goret , C. Gouiffes , I A. Grenier , L. Iacoucci (1) , S. Le Bohec (1) , I. Malet , C. Meynadier , P. Munz , T A. Palfrey , E. Pare (1) , Y. Pons (4) , M. Punch (3) , J. Quebert (2) , K. Ragan (2) , C. Renault , M. Rivoal (4) , L. Rob , P. Schovanek , D. Smith (2) , J P. Tavernet (4) , J. Vrana (1)

1 LLR - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
2 CENBG - Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
3 PCC (UMR 7553) - Physique Corpusculaire et Cosmologie
4 LPNHE - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

The CAT imaging telesope, which uses the Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique to observe TeV gamma-ray sources, has been operating since September 1996. Located in southern France, it features a fine grained camera consisting of 546 PMT with a pixel size of 0.12 degrees. Strong gamma-ray signals from Mkn 501 above 200 GeV were detected during observations made in April 1997. The high signal/noise ratio for these data enables direct characterization of the gamma-ray images as recorded in the camera. These results are used to validate the Monte-Carlo simulations of the response of the telescope to gamma-ray showers and to improve its performances. Observational results on Mkn 180 and the Crab nebula spectrum are presented.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

A. Barrau, R. Bazer-Bachi, H. Cabot, L M. Chounet, G. Debiais, et al.. Performances of the CAT imaging telescope and some preliminary results on Mkn 180 and the Crab - Towards a Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Detector V. Kruger Park international workshop on TeV Gamma-Ray Astrophysics, Aug 1997, Kruger Park, South Africa. pp.1-6. ⟨in2p3-00013320⟩