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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 51: Experimental Techniques in Astroparticle Physics 2

T 51.5: Talk

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 17:15–17:30, T-H36

Pointing accuracy of the roving laser system for the energy calibration of the Pierre Auger Observatory* — •Alina Nasr Esfahani — Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, Wuppertal, Germany

The Fluorescence Detector (FD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides a nearly model independent measurement of the energy of primary cosmic rays. This FD energy measurement sets the energy scale of the Surface Detector, its precision thereby factors into the systematic uncertainties of practically all scientific results from the Observatory.
By firing a laser with known energy output in front of the FD telescopes the energy calibration obtained from other methods can be cross-checked independently. The camera response to the laser closely resembles its response to a real cosmic ray shower providing a valuable end-to-end calibration. The laser system includes components to expand and depolarize the laser beam to optimize the scattering in the atmosphere and detection by the FD camera. We built the roving laser system by utilizing a telescope mount as a carrier for the laser. Angular precision measurements show that this greatly improves the pointing accuracy, which has been a significant source of uncertainty in previous campaigns. The precision requirements for a sufficient reduction of systematic uncertainties compared to previous systems are based on the analysis of laser simulations.

*Supported by the BMBF Verbundforschung Astroteilchenphysik (Vorhaben 05A20PX1).