Göttingen 2012 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 93: Gammaastronomie 5

T 93.3: Talk

Friday, March 2, 2012, 09:00–09:15, ZHG 008

Monitoring blazars with FACT — •Karl Mannheim — Lehrstuhl für Astronomie, Universität Würzburg, Campus Hubland Nord, Emil -Fischer-Str. 31, 97074 Würzburg

The FACT collaboration operates an imaging air-Cherenkov telescope on La Palma optimized for monitoring bright blazars. Recently, the collaboration reported a technological breakthrough. For the first time, avalanche photo diodes operated in Geiger mode have been employed in the camera. The low power consumption, high quantum efficiency, and high reliability of the novel semi-conductor based camera is the key to robotic operation needed for monitoring. Moreover, linearity permits observations even during moon light. Analysis of gamma-ray lightcurves of blazars holds the key to understand particle acceleration and its relation to the central engine.