ASTRI is a Flagship Project led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. The main objective of the ASTRI project is to develop a prototype of the Small Size class Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) in a dual-mirror conf
iguration (SST-2M). The ASTRI SST-2M is an end-to-end prototype that will be fully developed by the ASTRI Collaboration from the optics design and manufacturing to the focal plane camera, from the structure of the mount to all the needed software. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be placed at the INAF M.G. Fracastoro observing station in Serra La Nave on the Etna Mountain near Catania, Italy. The technological solutions adopted will be tested on field: observations of the Crab Nebula and of other sources will be essential part of the science verification phase, with the aim to assess the achievement of the scientific requirements. In the following we present the Serra La Nave site together with all the auxiliary instruments needed for atmospheric monitoring and characterization, calibration and science verification of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype.
ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) is a flagship project of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. Within this framework, INAF is currently developing a wide field of view (9.6 degrees in diameter) e
nd-to-end prototype of the CTA small-size telescope (SST), devoted to the investigation of the energy range from a fraction of TeV up to tens of TeVs, and scheduled to start data acquisition in 2014. For the first time, a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical design will be adopted on a Cherenkov telescope, in order to obtain a compact optical configuration. A second challenging, but innovative technical solution consists of a modular focal surface camera based on Silicon photo-multipliers with a logical pixel size of 6.2mm x 6.2mm. Here we describe the current status of the project, the expected performance, and its possible evolution in terms of an SST mini-array. This CTA-SST precursor, composed of a few SSTs and developed in collaboration with CTA international partners, could not only peruse the technological solutions adopted by ASTRI, but also address a few scientific test cases that are discussed in detail.
GAW is a path-finder experiment to test the feasibility of a new generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes that join high flux sensitivity with large field of view capability using Fresnel lens, stereoscopic observational approach, and s
ingle photon counting mode. GAW is an array of three telescopes that will be erected at the Calar Alto Observatory site (Spain, 2150 m a.s.l.). To evaluate the performance of GAW, a consistent data--set has been simulated, including a Crab-like source observation, and a proper image analysis code has been developed, as described in this contribution. The expected performance of GAW are also reported, mainly for what concerns effective area, angular resolution, Cherenkov flux as function of the core distance, ability in the gamma/proton separation, and sensitivity. The first telescope realization, foreseen within the end of this year, will allow to verify if the parameters used in the analysis are in agreement with the real performance of the GAW apparatus.
