The Prototype
The ASTRI telescope operating at Serra la Nave is a prototype and as such its primary purpose is to test the technological solutions. However, it is also a complete and working telescope that can collect, archive and analyze all the collected events with a dedicated software, producing scientific results. It is expected to reveal a source with flow and spectrum equal to that of Crab in about 15 hours with 5 sigma.
The Mini-array
The mini-array of 9 telescopes has a competitive performance with current energy arrays over some TeVs such as H.E.S.S, MAGIC and VERITAS. As shown in figure 1, the sensitivity of the mini-array of ASTRI is about a factor of 3-5 better than that of H.E.S.S above 50 TeV for 50 hours of integration. This will allow, for example, to discriminate models of hadronic or lepton emission in a remnant supernova such as RCW 86, as shown in figure 2.
Figure 1 – Click on image for an high resolution image
Figure 2 – Click on image for an high resolution image
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