Abstract
We have developed a standard UV-LED light source mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), so-called the Opt-copter, for the calibration of the fluorescence detectors (FDs) of the Telescope Array experiment. The positioning accuracy of the UAV controlled by GPS is ~ 10 cm, which enables a precision calibration of the pointing directions of the FD phototubes. We report the hardware details of the device and the status of data analysis.
Highlights
The Telescope Array (TA) experiment located in Utah, USA aims at observing ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies greater than 1018 eV
TA utilizes two types of detectors, the fluorescent detectors (FDs) in three stations that measure fluorescens photons emitted by air molecules along a cosmic ray shower, and the surface detectors (SDs) that measure shower particles at the ground
We developed a FD calibration system with a high-luminosity UV LED mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) controlled by GPS with the accuracy of ∼ 10 cm
Summary
The Telescope Array (TA) experiment located in Utah, USA aims at observing ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies greater than 1018 eV. This report deals with the calibration systems for the TA FDs. The accuracy of the optical systems and phototube gains are key in the determination of arrival directions and energies of cosmic rays. One of the common methods to calibrate pointing directions of optical sensors is to use light sources whose positions are previously known with good accuracies, like stars. Its position stability and portability enables us to calibrate the optical system of our FDs with good pointing accuracies by a single standard light source for all the FDs at the three sites separated by 35 km each other.
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