Bonn 2001 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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T: Teilchenphysik

T 101: Kosmische Strahlung 1

T 101.5: Vortrag

Montag, 26. März 2001, 17:15–17:30, HS I

Design studies and performance estimates for H.E.S.S. — •Alexander Konopelko — Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg

At present, the ground-based astronomy of very high energy (VHE) (E>100 GeV) gamma-rays experiences a challenging transition phase caused by the substantial upgrading of its observational instrumentation. Recently the HEGRA collaboration has evidently demonstrated the power of arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and initiated a number of complementary projects, such as H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System), CANGAROO IV, VERITAS. The common philosophy of those projects is based on the stereoscopic observations of air showers with a number of imaging telescopes simultaneously. Such observations allow to reduce substantially the effective energy threshold of detected gamma-ray showers; to improve the angular and energy resolution for individual gamma-rays; to gain in suppression of the cosmic ray background. An interesting issue is an optimum layout of the telescope in the array. I will discuss the results of specific calculations made for H.E.S.S. and summarize the expected sensitivity of H.E.S.S. (phase I) as an array of four 12 m imaging telescopes with the energy threshold below 100 GeV.