MRI-R2 Consortium: Development of Improved Instrumentation for the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。它将为提高VERITAS伽玛射线天文台的能力提供资金。VERITAS天文台位于亚利桑那州阿马多附近的f.l.惠普尔天文台，是世界上仅有的三个地面伽玛射线天文台之一，灵敏度为蟹状星云通量的1%，也是唯一可供美国研究人员使用的设施。VERITAS由4个直径12米的成像大气切伦科夫望远镜组成，它记录了地球大气中高能伽马射线相互作用产生的切伦科夫光的微弱闪光。提出的三个升级将大大提高VERITAS的每一个科学目标。主要成果将是降低VERITAS的能量阈值并提高其灵敏度：-相机升级：用更高效的超双碱设备替换VERITAS相机中的光电探测器，将使整体切伦科夫光子收集效率提高50%，相当于将反射镜直径增加到14米以上，但成本大大降低；-触发器升级：用更复杂的基于fpga的设备取代望远镜级触发器系统，将允许更快的巧合窗口，并为未来的拓扑阵列级触发器提供路径；-光学监测/强度干涉测量升级：为望远镜配备快速中央光电探测器，实现连续高速数据采集，将实现光学（U/V）波段光源的光度、定时和干涉测量。这带来了一种独特的科学能力，这是任何其他地面伽玛射线天文台所不存在的。该提案的更广泛影响包括加强VERITAS协作的教育和推广计划。其他活动还包括犹他大学由阿德勒天文馆牵头开展的充满活力的本科生研究项目和倡议，以开发交互式可视化工具，向广大观众解释和说明高能宇宙。

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.