Calibration and performance of the STAR Muon Telescope Detector using cosmic rays

We report the timing and spatial resolution from the Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) installed in the STAR experiment at RHIC. Cosmic ray muons traversing the STAR detector have an average transverse momentum of 6 GeV/c. Due to their very small multiple scattering, these cosmic muons provide an ideal tool to calibrate the detectors and measure their timing and spatial resolution. The values obtained were ~100 ps and ~1-2 cm, respectively. These values are comparable to those obtained from cosmic-ray bench tests and test beams.