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Journal of astronomical telescopes, instruments, and systems 8(01), 014007-1 (2022). doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.014007, The prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT) is a candidate for a medium-sized telescope in the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The pSCT is based on a novel dual mirror optics design which reduces the plate scale and allows for the use of silicon photomultipliers as photodetectors. The prototype pSCT camera currently has only the central sector instrumented with 25 camera modules (1600 pixels), providing a 2.68$^{\circ}$ field of view (FoV). The camera electronics are based on custom TARGET (TeV array readout with GSa/s sampling and event trigger) application specific integrated circuits. Field programmable gate arrays sample incoming signals at a gigasample per second. A single backplane provides camera-wide triggers. An upgrade of the pSCT camera is in progress, which will fully populate the focal plane. This will increase the number of pixels to 11,328, the number of backplanes to 9, and the FoV to 8.04$^{\circ}$. Here we give a detailed description of the pSCT camera, including the basic concept, mechanical design, detectors, electronics, current status and first light., Published by SPIE, [Bellingham, Wash.]

SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, San Diego, United States, 11 Aug 2019 - 15 Aug 2019; Journal of astronomical telescopes, instruments, and systems 8, 014005 (2022). doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.014005, The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next ground-based γ-ray observatory in the TeV γ-ray spectral region operating with the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique. It is based on almost 70 telescopes of different class diameters - LST, MST and SST of 23, 12, and 4 m, respectively - to be installed in two sites in the two hemispheres (at La Palma, Canary Islands, and near Paranal, Chile). Several thousands of reflecting mirror tiles larger than 1 m$^2$ will be produced for realizing the segmented primary mirrors of a so large number of telescopes. Almost in parallel, the ASTRI Mini-Array (MA) is being implemented in Tenerife (Canary Islands), composed of nine 4 m diameter dual-mirror Cherenkov telescopes (very similar to the SSTs). We completed the mirror production for all nine telescopes of the ASTRI MA and two MST telescopes (400 segments in total) using the cold glass slumping replication technology. The results related to the quality achieved with a so large-scale production are presented, also discussing the adopted testing methods and approaches. They will be very useful for the adoption and optimization of the quality assurance process for the huge production (almost 3000 m$^2$ of reflecting surface) of the MST and SST CTA telescopes., Published by SPIE, [Bellingham, Wash.]

Current generation Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) like HESS, MAGIC and VERITAS, operated in array-mode, have opened a new astronomical window in high energy gamma-ray band from a few tens GeV to a hundred TeV, allowing to observe the most energetic phenomena on going in our Universe. New generation arrays like ASTRI, with its 9 small-class telescopes operated at Tenerife, Canary Islands, and the very ambitious Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO - with its two sites at the northern and southern hemispheres and about 70 telescopes of different classes) will need to fabricate a few thousand square meters of reflective segments of about 1 m2 area and different shapes for making the primary mirrors. Different low-cost technologies have been used so far, like the direct figuring and polishing of glass slabs, the diamond turning of pre-formed aluminum sandwiched panels and the replica of thin glass foils for making composite sandwiched mirrors. In this paper we will present a further alternative solution, based on the replica of aluminum foils - precoated with a high reflectivity and durability multilayer film - for making sandwiched mirrors. This approach will simplify a lot the production chain, allowing us to make low-cost panels entirely made of aluminum. The method of production of the aluminum replicated panels is discussed and the preliminary performance results obtained with a prototype mirror presented.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next-generation ground-based observatory for very-high-energy gamma rays. One candidate design for CTA's medium-sized telescopes consists of the Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT), featuring innovative dual-mirror optics. The SCT project has built and is currently operating a 9.7-m prototype SCT (pSCT) at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO); such optical design enables the use of a compact camera with state-of-the art silicon photomultiplier detectors. A partially-equipped camera has recently successfully detected the Crab Nebula with a statistical significance of 8.6 standard deviations. A funded upgrade of the pSCT focal plane sensors and electronics is currently ongoing, which will bring the total number of channels from 1600 to 11328 and the telescope field of view from about 2.7° to 8° . In this work, we will describe the technical and scientific performance of the pSCT.

The novel 9.7m Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT), utilizing aspheric dual-mirror optical system, has been constructed as a prototype medium size x-ray telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory. The prototype SCT (pSCT) is designed to achieve simultaneously the wide (>= 8°) field of view and the superior imaging resolution (0.067 per pixel) to significantly improve scientific capabilities of the observatory in conducting the sky surveys, the follow-up observations of multi-messenger transients with poorly known initial localization and the morphology studies of x-ray sources with angular extent. In this submission, we describe the hardware and software implementations of the telescope optical system as well as the methods specifically developed to align its complex optical system, in which both primary and secondary mirrors are segmented. The pSCT has detected Crab Nebula in June 2020 during ongoing commissioning, which was delayed due to worldwide pandemic and is not yet completed. Verification of pSCT performance is continuing and further improvement of optical alignment is anticipated.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation of ground-based gamma-ray observatory. The observatory will consist of two arrays, one located in the southern hemisphere (Paranal, Chile) and the other in the northern hemisphere (Canary Island, Spain), covering the whole sky in the range of observation. More than 100 telescopes are planned to be in operation for as long as 30 years, which motivated the development of a continuous condition monitoring of the individual telescopes. The main goal of the monitoring is to detect degradation and failures before critical damages occur. Two approaches are considered: the structure monitoring system, in which the Eigenfrequencies of the telescope and their damping rates are measured and monitored; and the drive monitoring, in which the power spectra of rotating components are measured during telescope movements. The structure monitoring concept system was applied to the prototype Medium Size telescope (MST) prototype of CTA in Berlin during late 2018 and in 2019, and the first results are presented here. The system showed reasonable stability during periods, in which the telescope structure was unchanged. The system was also capable to detect mechanical changes, e.g. varying tension in the steel ropes of the camera support structure. The successful implementation of the structure monitoring system supports the decision of implementing the system in all future MSTs.

CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) is a project for the next generation of the ground-based gamma-ray observatory. CTA will cover a wide energy range, 20 GeV and 300 TeV, by 3 types of the telescopes whose diameters are different. The Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) of the CTA are designed to cover the lowest energy range. We are working on mirrors for 4 LSTs which will be built at La Palma, Spain. The parabolic primary mirror of CTA-LST is 23 m diameter and its focal length is 28 m. The primary mirror consists of 198 segmented mirrors. Total effective reflective area is about 370 m2. Each mirror has a hexagonal shape of 1.51 m side-by-side size. It has a sandwich structure which consists of aluminum honeycomb (60 mm thickness) and two glass surfaces (2.7 mm) and the total weight is about 47 kg. We used a sputtering deposition technique to coat in the surface with 5 layer. The coated layers protect the surface for long operation such as 10 years at outside with a reflectance degradation of less than 1 % a year. The reflectance of the mirror reaches about 92 % at 400 nm and its resolution is 0.5 mrad in diameter that contains the 80 % light reflected by the mirror. The production technique based on cold slumping gave us the stable its production. We report on the design of the segment mirror and the production of about 950 hexagonal 2 m2 mirrors to achieve the parabolic shape of the optical system for 4 LSTs.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next-generation atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray observatory. CTA will be deployed as two installations, one in the Northern and the other in the Southern Hemisphere, containing telescopes of three different sizes, for covering different energy domains, with varying designs. The CTA Observatory (CTAO) is building a complex and distributed software system for the efficient operation of the arrays and the management and scientific exploitation of the CTA data. The largest fraction of the construction budget of CTA will come as in-kind contributions (IKCs) from CTA Shareholders (participating countries and research centres), with the prominent IKC example of the telescopes themselves. Most of the effort to build the CTA software will be provided by IKCs as well, with CTAO personnel managing the coordination between partners, ensuring common development practices, and facilitating that the requirements, integration, quality level, and deadlines are properly met. This contribution presents the management plan of one of the main CTA software work packages, the Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA). The ACADA software will be responsible for the coordination of the control and data acquisition of telescopes, as well as many auxiliary instruments. The ACADA team will be composed of about 30 developers distributed in eight IKC teams, CTAO personnel, and company contracts. The contribution shows how model-driven software architecture practices are essential for the management of such a distributed team, which is predominantly composed of IKCs

Since 2005, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK, Trento) has been improving and customizing its SiPM technologies for a wide variety of applications, ranging from medical imaging to big science experiments and industrial applications. Current-generation Near Ultra Violet, High Density (NUV-HD) SiPM technology is based on a p-on-n junction in which microcells are separated by deep trench isolation. The technology features peak photon-detection efficiency (PDE) higher than 60% at 410 nm, low primary (80 kcps/mm2) and correlated noise (less than 15% optical crosstalk probability at 50% PDE) and is very well suited for medical imaging applications, such as time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET). Indeed, using an advanced high-frequency readout, a research group at CERN demonstrated state-of-the-art coincidence resolving time of 58 ps FWHM, employing 4x4 mm2 NUV-HD SiPMs coupled to small LSO:Ce:Ca crystals. With a similar, optimized setup, a single-photon time resolution (SPTR) of 90 ps FWHM was also demonstrated, which is even more important when faint Cherenkov emission is used to improve timing performance in relatively slow scintillators such as BGO. --- On the other hand, different applications require specific optimizations of SiPM parameters, especially in the field of big science experiments. To this end, several improvements of the NUV-HD technology are ongoing. Reduction of optical crosstalk probability by a factor of ~2.5 is achieved by introducing light absorbing/reflecting material inside trenches, providing CT probability of 5% at 50% PDE. This technology, called NUV-HD-LowCT, will be used for the CTA experiment (Cherenkov Telescope Array). Optimization of SiPM performance for operation at cryogenic temperatures, for the readout of very large areas, was carried out for experiments such as DarkSide-20k, in which approximately 15 m2 of SiPMs will be used for the readout of a dual-phase, liquid argon TPC operated at 87 K. Achievement of excellent performance at this temperature required three different changes to NUV-HD technology and fabrication process, the main challenges being the reduction of band to band tunneling and afterpulsing at low temperatures. The resulting NUV-HD-Cryo technology features an exceptionally low DCR of less than 10 mHz/mm2 and AP probability of less than 15% at 87 K. Using a single electronic channel for the readout of 24 cm2 photo-sensitive active area, composed of 24 SiPMs connected in a peculiar series-parallel configuration, it was possible to measure a few-photon spectrum with a remarkable SNR larger than 24 for the single photon peak at 77 K. Direct detection of vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) light, below 200 nm, is required by the nEXO experiment. In this context, FBK demonstrated the beyond state-of-the-art performance, with a PDE larger than 23% at 190 nm, measured at 170 K. Finally, recent interest in using SiPMs in harsh radiation environment, such as in space missions or in accelerator experiments, poses additional challenges in detector optimization and partially redefines the typical design trade-offs. --- At the lower-energy end of the sensitivity spectrum, we observe a growing interest from industry in using SiPMs for detection of near infrared light. Among different applications, the most important one is LIDAR, especially for advanced driver-assistance systems in the automotive field. NIR-sensitive SiPMs (NIR-HD) fabricated at FBK employ a thicker epitaxial layer to enhance detection efficiency at longer wavelengths, achieving high PDE of 18% at 850 nm and 12 % at 905 nm, without the use micro lenses. Ongoing research is aimed at understanding the ultimate limits to the design of small, fast cells with high NIR sensitivity, such as the effect of the virtual guard region on the dead area at the microcell borders. Experimental variations of the technology, based on this research, show improved detection efficiency by careful engineering of the SPAD structure.

The first prototype of the Schwarzschild Couder Medium Size Telescope (pSCT) proposed for the CTA observatory has been installed in 2018 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. The pSCT camera is composed of 25 modules with 64 channels each, covering only a small portion of the full focal plane of the telescope. The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) has developed and characterized in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) a new generation of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) sensitive to the Near Ultraviolet wavelengths, based on the High Density technology (NUV-HD devices). The latest generation of 6×6 mm2 SiPMs (called NUV-HD3) have been used to equip a subsection of 9 out of 25 modules of the pSCT camera. An upgrade of this camera is foreseen between 2019 and 2020 using the same sensors, aiming to equip the full focal plane with 177 modules, for a total of more than 11000 pixels. We will present a full characterization of the performance of these devices, highlighting why they are suitable for Cherenkov light detection. An overview on the overall behavior of the installed sensors will be also given, providing information on the uniformity of the sensors and of the performance of the camera.

ASTRI-Horn is a small-sized Cherenkov telescope (SST) developed by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) for very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy. It is characterized by a dual-mirror optical system and a curved focal surface covered by SiPM sensors managed by a non-conventional fast front-end electronics. Installed in Italy at the INAF "M.C. Fracastoro" observing station (Mt. Etna, Sicily), ASTRI-Horn has been developed implementing a complete end-to-end approach that includes all aspects from the design, construction and implementation of the entire hardware and software system to the final scientific products. ASTRI-Horn is the prototype for nine SSTs that will form the ASTRI mini-array, considered by INAF as pathfinder for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). This phase will permit to exploit previous experimented technologies for the realization of the telescope structure and mirrors in a large production scale. After a short description of the major results obtained by the prototype in Serra La Nave, the proposed design of the new telescope structure and the status of the production of the optics are described. Moreover a review about the integration and alignment strategies to reach the required performance of the mini-array is reported.

ASTRI-Horn is a prototypal telescope of an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope developed by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Observatory. The CTA Observatory represents the next generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and will explore the very highenergy domain from a few tens of GeV up to few hundreds of TeV. It will be composed of large-, medium-, and small sized telescopes; ASTRI-Horn is an end-to-end prototype proposed for the Small Sized array. The main scientific instrument of the ASTRI-Horn telescope is an innovative and compact Camera with Silicon- Photomultiplier based detectors and a specifically designed fast read-out electronics based on a custom peak-detector mode. The thermo-mechanical assembly is designed to host both the entire electronics chain, from the sensors to the raw data transmission system and the calibration system, and the complete thermoregulation system. This contribution gives a high level description of the T/M and electrical design of the Cherenkov Camera, it describes the assembling procedure of its different subsystems and their integration into the complete camera system. A discussion about possible design improvements coming from the problems/difficulties encountered during assembly is also presented. Finally, results from engineering tests conducted in-field are also presented.

International audience; The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is planned as the first ground-based gamma-ray observatory open to the worldwide physics community. The CTA Observatory (CTAO) will consist of arrays of up to 100 telescopes at two sites, one in the Northern and one in the Southern hemisphere, as well as complex and distributed software systems for an efficient operation of the arrays and for the management and scientific exploitation of the CTA data. One of the challenges in the design of such a large installation is to ensure that all the systems that compose the CTAO have well-defined scope and identified interfaces, allowing it to work reliably as a seamless whole. In this contribution, we provide an overview on a methodology for a model-based architecture approach, tailored to the CTA needs, with the main goals to (i) capture the stakeholder interactions with the CTAO, (ii) capture the processes and activities that will be required to successfully operate the CTAO and meet stakeholder expectations, including science operations and maintenance, (iii) agree on a functional decomposition of the CTAO into (sub-)systems and an allocation of the functionality to the (sub-)systems to assign responsibilities and identify interfaces. To accomplish this, we have developed an architecture approach based on process-based system scoping and using a notation based on the SysML and UML formalisms. The different views of the architecture model are presented, each focusing on different aspects of the CTAO. These views contain, among others, stakeholders and project objectives, activity diagrams for describing the CTAO processes, the context and structure of the CTAO system and sub-systems, and their relationships. In this contribution, we will focus on the methodology with a few selected examples.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. With more than 100 telescopes at two sites, CTA will be the world’s largest and most sensitive highenergy gamma-ray observatory covering the full sky with a northern array located at the Roque de los Muchachos astronomical observatory on the island of La Palma (Spain) and a southern array near the European Southern Observatory site at Paranal (Chile). Three classes of telescope types with imaging Cherenkov cameras, calibration, clock and timing systems, site infrastructure as well as control and data handling/processing software, developed in a large international collaboration, are required to build the CTA observatory system. As a large and international collaboration, with almost all hardware and software elements to be delivered as in-kind contributions by participating institutes to build a complex observatory system on two sites, CTA faces quite a few challenges in the areas of systems engineering and project management.

For almost two decades, large volumes of technical data, in a variety of formats, have resulted from the normal operations at the observatory. Similarly, in the last few years, dealing with huge amounts of data has become a priority for several industries, and as consequence, terms like "Big Data" or "Data Lake" have started to be more and more commonly used. Under these circumstances, frameworks and tools have proliferated and later released as "Open Software"; the hardware, on the other hand, has also changed giving the power to deal with this volume of data in a reasonable timeframe, and at a reasonable price. We hereafter present the first version of a modern data lab developed for the Maintenance Support and Engineering Department (MSE) at the Paranal Observatory, “The MSE DataLab”. This DataLab will allow us to take advantage of this new technological evolution and to be prepared for the current and further challenges to come. These challenges, of course, refer to improving the overall observatory dependability (Reliability, Availability and Maintainability) by supporting the operations in our current and forthcoming telescopes. First, in our Very Large Telescopes (VLT), the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) and the survey telescopes (VISTA and VST). Secondly, in the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).

Optimization techniques are powerful tools for producing lightweight structures with the maximum structural stiffness. They allow an optimized design to be produced directly for a given structure and, in this way, save considerable time in the design phase of a structure by avoiding multiple iterations between the definition of the design under computer-aided design (CAD) and the verification of the performance under finite-element (FE) analysis. There are three classes of optimization: size optimization, shape optimization and topology optimization. The topology optimization technique aims to find an optimal distribution of material given boundary conditions, i.e. the fixing points and the external loads. It starts from an initial volume representing a blank of the structure and removes the most unused material to meet the objective of mass reduction. In optomechanical engineering, this technique is met in the design of lightweight mirrors and especially in the design of their core-cell shapes. To provide reliable and useable results, this technique requires a fine and regular mesh of the mirror as well as a postprocessing of the results by the mechanical engineers. These constraints, combined with the necessity of using 3-D models, contribute an increase in the computation time and complicate the meshing. We propose here an innovative approach to this design problem by using topography optimization instead of topology optimization. Topography optimization, also named bead optimization, is a branch of the shape optimization and consists in introducing beads to a surface in order to increase its structural stiffness. The main advantage of this technique is that shell models can be used instead of solid models, easing the meshing operation and decreasing the number of degrees of freedom in the FE model, and thereby reducing computation cost. This paper presents an example of the application of this technique to the design of the primary mirror panel of the GCT (Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope), a dual-mirror 4-meter telescope proposed for the future Cherenkov Telescope Array. FE models and optimizations are made with MD.Patran and MD.Nastran respectively.

Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy VIII : [Proceedings] - SPIE, 2018. - ISBN 9781510619630(print) 9781510619647(electronic) - doi:10.1117/12.2312681 Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy VIII, Austin, United States, 10 Jun 2018 - 12 Jun 2018; Proceedings of SPIE 10705, 107050M (2018). doi:10.1117/12.2312681, The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next-generation atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray observatory. CTA will be deployed as two installations, one in the northern and the other in the southern hemisphere, containing dozens of telescopes of different sizes and designs, used for covering different energy domains. These telescopes interact with other systems (e.g. central observation execution software, infrastructure, etc.) fundamental for the Observatory operations. We have created a set of about 70 use cases (UCs) that describe the different type of interactions of a generic CTA telescope with its surrounding systems. These UCs describe different scenarios, from normal night operations to reactions to hazardous situations. Thanks to these UCs we can refine requirements, identify interfaces and specify the expected behaviour of the telescopes. The UCs are also an important ingredient to prepare the test cases for the integration and validation process of the telescopes into the CTA Observatory. This contribution summarises the methodology and tooling we have followed to identify and specify these UCs, as well as the main obtained results., Published by SPIE, Bellingham, Wash.

A modern implementation of a stellar intensity interferometry (SII) system on an array of large optical telescopes would be a highly valuable complement to the current generation of optical amplitude interferometers. The SII technique allows for observations at short optical wavelengths (U/B/V bands) with potentially dense (u,v) plane coverage. We describe a complete SII system that is used to measure the spatial coherence of a laboratory source which exhibits signal to noise ratios comparable to actual stellar sources. A novel analysis method, based on the correlation measurements between orthogonal polarization states, was developed to remove unwanted effects of spurious correlations. Our system is currently being tested in night sky observations at the StarBase Observatory (Grantsville, Utah) and will soon be ported to the VERITAS (Amado, AZ) telescopes. The system can readily be integrated with current optical telescopes at minimal cost. The work here serves as a technological pathfinder for implementing SII on the future Cherenkov Telescope Array.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next-generation ground-based detector for gamma rays with very high energies. Telescopes will be located at one site each in both the northern and southern hemisphere. The arrays will comprise, in total, more than 100 telescopes of different sizes and designs. The sensitivity of CTA in its central energy range, i.e. between approximately 100 GeV and 1 TeV, will be driven by the performance of the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs). This performance crucially depends on an exact alignment of the facets of the tessellated mirror surface of each telescope. In this contribution, an automated mirror alignment procedure for MSTs is presented. This procedure consists of two steps. First a rough mirror alignment is achieved with the socalled Bokeh method, which is based on the non-focused imaging of an artificial light source onto the Cherenkov camera plane. Afterwards, an optimal mirror alignment is achieved with an alignment procedure based on the focused imaging of stars. Here, the Bokeh method will be described in detail, including the hardware and software setups, devised technologies and pattern recognition with classical and neural network-based methods. Also results from star alignment procedures are given and compared to results from the Bokeh method. The performance of the presented approach is demonstrated with results obtained from measurements at the MST prototype installation in Berlin, Germany.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next generation ground-based observatory for very high-energy gamma rays, is being built and will be operated by an international consortium. Two arrays will be located in the northern and southern hemispheres. Each telescope array will operate different numbers and types of telescopes. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is leading the ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) project in the framework of the small size class of telescopes (SST). A first goal of the ASTRI project is the realization of an end-to-end prototype in dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M). The ASTRI camera focal plane is composed of a matrix of silicon photo-multiplier sensors managed by innovative front-end and back-end electronics. The ASTRI SST2M prototype is installed in Italy at the INAF "M.G. Fracastoro" observing station located at Serra La Nave, 1735 m a.s.l. on Mount Etna, Sicily. The ASTRI Data AcQuisition (DAQ) system acquires, packet by packet, the camera data from the back-end electronics. The packets are then stored locally in one raw file as soon as they arrive. During the acquisition, the DAQ system groups the packets by data type (scientific, calibration, engineering) before processing and storing the data in FITS format. All the files are then transferred to the on-site archive. In addition, we implemented a quick-look component the allows the operator to display the camera data during the acquisition. A graphical user interface enables the operator to configure, monitor and control the DAQ software. Furthermore, we implemented the control panel algorithms within the framework of the Alma Common Software, in order to integrate the DAQ software within the ASTRI control software. The ASTRI DAQ system supports the camera AIV activities and operations. We provide the instrument workstation to support the AIV activities in the laboratory, and the camera server on-site. In this paper, we assess the ASTRI DAQ system as it has performed the AIV tasks for the ASTRI SST-2M prototype.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. With more than 100 telescopes at two sites, CTA will be the world’s largest and most sensitive high-energy gamma-ray observatory covering the full sky with a northern array located at the Roque de los Muchachos astronomical observatory on the island of La Palma (Spain) and a southern array near the European Southern Observatory site at Paranal (Chile). Three classes of telescope types spread over a large area are required to cover the full CTA very-high energy range from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. Building on the technology of current generation ground-based gamma-ray detectors (H.E.S.S., VERITAS and MAGIC), CTA will be 5 to 20 times more sensitive, depending on gamma-ray energy, and have unprecedented accuracy in its detection of high-energy gamma rays. Current gamma-ray telescope arrays host up to five individual telescopes, but CTA is designed to detect gamma rays over a larger area and a wider field of view. Prototypes for the major CTA subsystems including the various size telescopes and cameras have been developed and built at different places. CTA is currently preparing for the full construction phase, both technically and organizationally, with the goal to achieve first light by the year 2022 and completion by 2024/25. CTA will be the first ground-based gamma-ray observatory open to the worldwide astronomical and particle physics communities as a resource for data from unique, high-energy astronomical observations.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory will represent the new frontier of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope. The simultaneous use of large, medium and small telescopes (respectively LST, MST and SST) will allow to explore the astronomy related to the very high energy domain, typical of Gamma rays, with a sensitivity, angular resolution and image quality never seen before. Within this project, ASTRI, the Italian 2 mirrors Schwarzshild-Couder configuration Small SST led by Italian National Institute of Astronomy (INAF), has moved quickly developing a 4m class telescope prototype which has been tested with results which demonstrates excellent performance as well as wide margins for further improvements. On the basis of the experiences made on the prototype, this paper focus on the design enhancements carried out for the telescope which will be part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the largest ground-based very high-energy gamma-ray detection observatory in the world with more than one hundred telescopes located in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (La Palma, Canary Islands and currently proposed at Paranal, Chile). The energy coverage, in the southern CTA array, will extend up to 300TeV thanks to a large number (up to 70) of small size telescopes, with their primary mirrors of about 4meters in diameter and large field of view of the order of 9 degrees. It is proposed that one of the first set of CTA small size telescopes will be represented by the ASTRI mini-array which includes (at least) nine ASTRI telescopes whose end-to-end prototype, named the ASTRI SST-2M, is installed in Italy and is now entering in its commissioning and science verification phase. During this phase, that includes scientific observations of known sources such as the Crab Nebula and a few blazars, the prototype performance will be crosschecked with the predictions of Monte Carlo simulations. ASTRI telescopes are characterized by an optical system based on a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder design and by a curved focal plane covered by silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) sensors managed by a fast front-end electronics. The telescope prototype, developed by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, INAF, follows an end-to-end approach that includes the internal and external calibration systems, control/acquisition hardware and software, data reduction and analysis software, and the data archiving system. All these sub-systems are developed following the CTA requirements for the SSTs. A collaborative effort is ongoing, led by INAF within CTA, in synergy with the Universidade de Sao Paulo (Brazil), and the North-West University (South Africa) and the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). In this contribution, we will describe the main features of the ASTRI telescopes, the latest news on the prototype activities and the ASTRI mini-array technological and scientific expectations.

International audience; The Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT) is one of the telescopes proposed for the Small Sized Telescope (SST) section of CTA. Based on a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder design, which allows for more compact telescopes and cameras than the usual single-mirror designs, it will be equipped with a Compact High-Energy Camera (CHEC) based on silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). In 2015, the GCT prototype was the first dual-mirror telescope constructed in the prospect of CTA to record Cherenkov light on the night sky. Further tests and observations have been performed since then. This report describes the current status of the GCT, the results of tests performed to demonstrate its compliance with CTA requirements, and the optimisation of the design for mass production. The GCT collaboration, including teams from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, plans to install the first telescopes on site in Chile for 2019-2020 as part of the CTA pre-production phase.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a project to build the next generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very-high energies in the range from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, which will both surpass the sensitivity of existing instruments in their energy domains and extend the limits of the observed energy spectrum. It will probe some of the most energetic processes in the Universe and provide insight into topics such as the acceleration of charged cosmic rays and their role in galaxy evolution, processes in relativistic jets, wind and explosions and the nature and distribution of dark matter. The CTA Observatory will consist of more than a hundred imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACT) of three different size classes, installed at two premier astronomical locations, one in each hemisphere. It is foreseen that the telescopes will use a variety of optical designs including parabolic primary mirrors, variations of the Davies-Cotton design and two-mirror setups such as the Schwarzschild-Couder telescope, and several camera designs, using both photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for detection of the nanosecond-scale Cherenkov flashes. Each telescope will feature a precise but lightweight and agile mount, allowing even the largest telescopes to change targets within 20 seconds, with systems of sensors and actuators actively controlling the shape of the reflecting surfaces. As an integral part, the Observatory will feature extensive calibration facilities, closely monitoring both the detectors themselves and the surrounding atmosphere. Several telescope prototypes already exist and the installation works at the northern site have started.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the future observatory for ground-based TeV gamma-ray astronomy. At two sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere, CTA will feature about one hundred telescopes of different size classes in order to significantly improve the sensitivity and energy range with respect to current Cherenkov facilities. FlashCam is a camera system proposed for the medium-sized telescopes of CTA that implements a fully-digital readout and trigger processing, which allows the reconfiguration of the trigger algorithm and the signal shaping. For the mass production of a substantial number of FlashCam cameras, efficient and reliable testing routines have been developed. In this contribution, the concept and the procedures for large-scale testing of the readout electronics are outlined. Additionally, a fast multi-channel pulse generator specifically designed for the functional testing of FlashCam FADC modules setup is presented.

ASTRI SST-2M is an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope developed by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project as an end-to-end prototype for the Small Size array. Large-, medium-, and small-sized telescopes will compose the CTA observatory that represents the next generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and will explore the very high-energy domain from a few tens of GeV up to few hundreds of TeV. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope has been installed at the INAF-Catania observing station at Serra La Nave, on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy) in September 2014. In these 3 years of open-air operations the telescope has been commissioned and its opto-mechanical performance is now well understood. The apparatus was made ready to host its main scientific instrument, the camera with Silicon-Photomultiplier based detectors. This contribution is a status report on the complete ASTRI SST-2M telescope assembly including the electro-mechanical structure and the optical system.

Segmented imaging reflectors are a great choice for Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). However, the alignment of the individual mirror facets is challenging. We align a segmented reflector by observing and optimizing its Bokeh function. Bokeh alignment can already be done with very little resources and little preparation time. Further, Bokeh alignment can be done anytime, even during the day. We present a first usage of Bokeh alignment on FACT, a 4m IACT on Canary Island La Palma, Spain and further a first Bokeh alignment test on the CTA MST IACT prototype in Brelin Adlershof.

In the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Observatory, the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) has recently inaugurated in Sicily (Italy), at the Serra La Nave astronomical site (on the slopes of Mount Etna), a dual-mirror prototype (ASTRI SST-2M) of the CTA small size class of telescopes. It is planned to install up to 70 small size telescopes in the southern CTA site, in order to allow the study of the gamma rays from a few TeV up to hundreds of TeV. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope prototype has been developed following an end-to-end approach. According to this philosophy, the telescope includes structure, primary and secondary mirrors, camera, software and hardware for control/acquisition and data handling. The camera, almost completed, has been designed to cover a field of view of 9.6 degrees. After the full implementation of the prototype, a remarkable improvement in terms of technology advancement and performance will come from the operation of the ASTRI mini-array, led within the CTA collaboration by INAF in synergy with the Universidade de Sao Paulo (Brazil) and the North-West University (South Africa). The ASTRI mini-array will be composed of at least 9 ASTRI SST-2M units and it is proposed to be installed at the CTA southern site as part of its pre-production phase. Apart from the assessment of a number of technological aspects related to CTA, the ASTRI mini-array will extend and improve the flux sensitivity compared with the current experiments (HESS, MAGIC and VERITAS) in the 5 - 300 TeV energy range.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground-based observatories for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing the Cherenkov Small Size Telescope ASTRI SST- 2M end-to-end prototype telescope within the framework of the International Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project. The ASTRI prototype has been installed at the INAF observing station located in Serra La Nave on Mt. Etna, Italy. Furthermore a mini-array, composed of nine of ASTRI telescopes, has been proposed to be installed at the Southern CTA site. Among the several different infrastructures belonging the ASTRI project, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment is dedicated to operations of computing and data storage, as well as the control of the entire telescope, and it is designed to achieve the maximum efficiency for all performance requirements. Thus a complete and stand-alone computer centre has been designed and implemented. The goal is to obtain optimal ICT equipment, with an adequate level of redundancy, that might be scaled up for the ASTRI mini-array, taking into account the necessary control, monitor and alarm system requirements. In this contribution we present the ICT equipment currently installed at the Serra La Nave observing station where the ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be operated. The computer centre and the control room are described with particular emphasis on the Local Area Network scheme, the computing and data storage system, and the telescope control and monitoring.

In the framework of the international Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) has developed a dual mirror, small sized, telescope prototype (ASTRI SST-2M), installed in Italy at the INAF observing station located at Serra La Nave, Mt. Etna. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype is the basis of the ASTRI telescopes that will form the mini-array proposed to be installed at the CTA southern site during its preproduction phase. This contribution presents the solutions implemented to realize the monitoring system for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype. The ASTRI ICT monitoring system has been implemented by integrating traditional tools used in computer centers, with specific custom tools which interface via Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA) to the Alma Common Software (ACS) that is used to operate the ASTRI SST-2M prototype. The traditional monitoring tools are based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and commercial solutions and features embedded in the devices themselves. They generate alerts by email and SMS. The specific custom tools convert the SNMP protocol into the OPC UA protocol and implement an OPC UA server. The server interacts with an OPC UA client implemented in an ACS component that, through the ACS Notification Channel, sends monitor data and alerts to the central console of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype. The same approach has been proposed also for the monitoring of the CTA onsite ICT infrastructures.

ASTRI SST-2M is an end-to-end telescope prototype developed by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The CTA observatory, with a combination of large-, medium-, and small-sized telescopes (LST, MST and SST, respectively), will represent the next generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. It will explore the very high-energy domain from a few tens of GeV up to few hundreds of TeV. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope structure and mirrors have been installed at the INAF observing station at Serra La Nave, on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy) in September 2014. Its performance verification phase began in autumn 2015. Part of the scheduled activities foresees the study and characterization of the optical and opto-mechanical performance of the telescope prototype. In this contribution we report the results achieved in terms of kinematic model analysis, mirrors reflectivity evolution, telescopes positioning, flexures and pointing model and the thermal behavior.

The advances in battery life, flight control software and carbon fibre technology over recent years have made the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as an airborne calibration platform for astronomical facilities a possibility. This is especially attractive for arrays of telescopes spread over a large area such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). It is envisaged that the CTA will use UAVs to perform a range of calibration routines, with the primary routines being the cross-calibration of the optical throughput for different telescope types, as well as monitoring of the multi-wavelength performance of CTA's telescopes and the characterisation of the atmosphere above CTA. In this contribution, the cross-calibrating performance of an airborne calibration device is described, together with some preliminary test flights to characterise the flight performance of a UAV carrying the calibration payload.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the future large observatory in the very high energy (VHE) domain. Operating from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, it will be composed of tens of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) displaced in a large area of a few square kilometers in both the southern and northern hemispheres. Thanks to the wide energy coverage and the tremendous boost in effective area (10 times better than the current IACTs), for the first time a VHE observatory will be able to detect transient phenomena in short exposures. The CTA/DATA On-Site Analysis (OSA) is the system devoted to the development of dedicated pipelines and algorithms to be used at the CTA site for the reconstruction, data quality monitoring, science monitoring and realtime science alerting during observations. The minimum exposure required to issue a science alert is not a general requirement of the observatory but is a function of the astrophysical object under study, because the ability to detect a given source is determined by the integral sensitivity which, in addition to the CTA Monte Carlo simulations, providing the energy-dependent instrument response (e.g. the effective area and the background rate), requires the spectral distribution of the science target. The OSA integral sensitivity is computed here for the most studied source at Gamma-rays, the Crab Nebula, for a set of exposures ranging from 1000 seconds to 50 hours, using the full CTA Southern array. The reason for the Crab Nebula selection as the first example of OSA integral sensitivity is twofold: (i) this source is characterized by a broad spectrum covering the entire CTA energy range; (ii) it represents, at the time of writing, the standard candle in VHE and it is often used as unit for the IACTs sensitivity. The effect of different Crab Nebula emission models on the CTA integral sensitivity is evaluated, to emphasize the need for representative spectra of the CTA science targets in the evaluation of the OSA use cases. Using the most complete model as input to the OSA integral sensitivity, we obtain a significant detection of the Crab nebula (about 10% of flux) even for a 1000 second exposure, for an energy threshold less than 10 TeV.

The purpose of this contribution is to present the current status of the software architecture of the ASTRI SST-2M Cherenkov Camera. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope is an end-to-end prototype for the Small Size Telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The ASTRI camera is an innovative instrument based on SiPM detectors and has several internal hardware components. In this contribution we will give a brief description of the hardware components of the camera of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype and of their interconnections. Then we will present the outcome of the software architectural design process that we carried out in order to identify the main structural components of the camera software system and the relationships among them. We will analyze the architectural model that describes how the camera software is organized as a set of communicating blocks. Finally, we will show where these blocks are deployed in the hardware components and how they interact. We will describe in some detail, the physical communication ports and external ancillary devices management, the high precision time-tag management, the fast data collection and the fast data exchange between different camera subsystems, and the interfacing with the external systems.

The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is leading the ASTRI project within the ambitious Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next generation of ground-based observatories for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. In the framework of the small sized telescopes (SST), a first goal of the ASTRI project is the realization of an end-to-end prototype in dual-mirror configuration (2M) with the camera composed of a matrix of Silicon photo-multiplier sensors managed by innovative front-end and back-end electronics. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, is installed in Italy at the INAF "M.G. Fracastoro" observing station located at Serra La Nave, 1735 m a.s.l. on Mount Etna, Sicily. As a second step, the ASTRI project is focused on the implementation of a mini-array composed at least of nine ASTRI telescopes and proposed to be placed at the CTA southern site. This paper outlines the design of the camera server software that will be installed on the ASTRI mini-array. The software is based on the version installed on the ASTRI SST-2M prototype operating in a single telescope configuration. The migration from single telescope to mini-array context has required additional interfaces in order to guarantee high interoperability with other software and hardware components. In the mini-array configuration each camera communicates with its own camera server via a dedicated high rate data link. The primary goal of the camera server is to acquire the bulk data, packet by packet, without any data loss and to timestamp each packet very precisely. During array operation, the camera server receives from the SoftWare Array Trigger (SWAT) the list of science events that participate in stereo triggered events. These science events, and all others that are flagged either by the camera as interleaved calibration or by the camera server as possible single-muon events, are sent to the Array DAQ. All remaining science events will be discarded. A suitable buffer is provided to perform this processing on all the incoming event packets. The camera server provides interfaces to the array control software to allow for monitoring and control during array operations. In this paper we present the design of the camera server software with particular emphasis on the external interfaces. In addition, we report the results of the first integration activities and performance tests.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project is an initiative to build two large arrays of Cherenkov gamma- ray telescopes. CTA will be deployed as two installations, one in the northern and the other in the southern hemisphere, containing dozens of telescopes of different sizes. CTA is a big step forward in the field of ground- based gamma-ray astronomy, not only because of the expected scientific return, but also due to the order-of- magnitude larger scale of the instrument to be controlled. The performance requirements associated with such a large and distributed astronomical installation require a thoughtful analysis to determine the best software solutions. The array control and data acquisition (ACTL) work-package within the CTA initiative will deliver the software to control and acquire the data from the CTA instrumentation. In this contribution we present the current status of the formal ACTL system decomposition into software building blocks and the relationships among them. The system is modelled via the Systems Modelling Language (SysML) formalism. To cope with the complexity of the system, this architecture model is sub-divided into different perspectives. The relationships with the stakeholders and external systems are used to create the first perspective, the context of the ACTL software system. Use cases are employed to describe the interaction of those external elements with the ACTL system and are traced to a hierarchy of functionalities (abstract system functions) describing the internal structure of the ACTL system. These functions are then traced to fully specified logical elements (software components), the deployment of which as technical elements, is also described. This modelling approach allows us to decompose the ACTL software in elements to be created and the ow of information within the system, providing us with a clear way to identify sub-system interdependencies. This architectural approach allows us to build the ACTL system model and trace requirements to deliverables (source code, documentation, etc.), and permits the implementation of a flexible use-case driven software development approach thanks to the traceability from use cases to the logical software elements. The Alma Common Software (ACS) container/component framework, used for the control of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is the basis for the ACTL software and as such it is considered as an integral part of the software architecture.

High-energy muons constitute a very useful tool to calibrate the total optical throughput of any telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Differences in precision and efficiency can however be present due to the variety of telescope types and sizes. In this contribution we present some preliminary results on simulated muon ring images collected by the ASTRI small sized dual-mirror (SST-2M) telescope in the basic configuration installed in Italy at the Serra La Nave observing station. ASTRI SST-2M is able, using 6% of the detected muon events, to calibrate with muons the optical throughput down to a degradation of the optical efficiency of 30%. Moreover, its precision in reconstructing the muon arrival direction is about one camera pixel, and its error on the reconstructed ring radius is 6.3%. The adopted procedures will be tested and validated with real data acquired by the prototype after the commissioning phase. The nine telescopes that will form the ASTRI mini-array, proposed to be installed at the final CTA southern site during the pre-production phase, will improve these results thanks to the higher detection efficiency and the lower optical cross-talk and after-pulse of their updated silicon photomultipliers.

International audience; The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a planned gamma-ray observatory. CTA willincorporate about 100 imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) at a Southernsite, and about 20 in the North. Previous IACT experiments have used up to five telescopes.Subsequently, the design of a graphical user interface (GUI) for the operator of CTAinvolves new challenges. We present a GUI prototype, the concept for which is beingdeveloped in collaboration with experts from the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).The prototype is based on Web technology; it incorporates a Python web server,Web Sockets and graphics generated with the d3.js Javascript library.

In the framework of the international Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) gamma-ray observatory, a mini-array of nine small-sized, dual-mirror (SST-2M) telescopes developed by the ASTRI Collaboration has been proposed to be installed at the future CTA southern site. In such a location, the capability of each telescope to process its own data before sending them to a central acquisition system provides a key advantage. We implemented the complete analysis chain required by a single telescope on a NVIDIA® Jetson™ TK1 development board, exceeding the nominal required real-time processing speed by more than a factor two, while staying within a very small power budget.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project aims to create the next generation Very High-Energy (VHE) gamma-ray telescope array. It will be devoted to the observation of gamma rays from 20 GeV to above 100 TeV. Because of this wide energy band, three classes of telescopes, associated with different energy ranges and different mirror sizes, are defined. The Small Size Telescopes (SSTs) are associated with the highest energy range. Seventy of these telescopes are foreseen on the Southern site of the CTA. The large number of telescopes constrains their mechanical structure because easy maintenance and reduced cost per telescope are needed. Moreover, of course, the design shall fulfill the required performance and lifetime in the environment conditions of the site. The Observatoire de Paris started design studies in 2011 of the mechanical structure of the GCT (Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope), a four-meter prototype telescope for the SSTs of CTA, from optical and preliminary mechanical designs made by the University of Durham. At the end of 2014 these studies finally resulted in a lightweight (~8 tons) and stiff design. This structure was based on the dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) optical design, which is an interesting and innovative alternative to the one-mirror Davies-Cotton design commonly used in ground-based Cherenkov astronomy. The benefits of such a design are many since it enables a compact structure, lightweight camera and a good angular resolution across the entire field-of-view. The mechanical structure was assembled on the Meudon site of the Observatoire de Paris in spring 2015. The secondary mirror, panels of the primary mirror and the Telescope Control System were successfully implemented afterwards leading now to a fully operational telescope. This paper focuses on the mechanics of the telescope prototype. It describes the mechanical structure and presents its performance identified from computations or direct measurements. Upgrades of the design in the context of the preproduction and the large scale CTA production are also discussed.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project, led by an international collaboration of institutes, aims to create the world's largest next generation Very High-Energy (VHE) gamma-ray telescope array, devoted to observations in a wide band of energy, from a few tens of GeV to more than 100 TeV. The Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) are dedicated to the highest energy range. Seventy SSTs are planned in the baseline array design with a required lifetime of about 30 years. The GCT (Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope) is one of the prototypes proposed for CTA's SST sub-array. It is based on a Schwarzschild-Couder dual-mirror optical design. This configuration has the benefit of increasing the field-of-view and decreasing the masses of the telescope and of the camera. But, in spite of these many advantages, it was never implemented before in ground-based Cherenkov astronomy because of the aspherical and highly curved shape required for the mirrors. The optical design of the GCT consists of a primary 4 meter diameter mirror, segmented in six aspherical petals, a secondary monolithic 2-meter mirror and a light camera. The reduced number of segments simplifies the alignment of the telescope but complicates the shape of the petals. This, combined with the strong curvature of the secondary mirror, strongly constrains the manufacturing process. The Observatoire de Paris implemented metallic lightweight mirrors for the primary and the secondary mirrors of GCT. This choice was made possible because of the relaxed requirements of optical Cherenkov telescopes compared to optical ones. Measurements on produced mirrors show that these ones can fulfill requirements in shape, PSF and reflectivity, with a clear competition between manufacturing cost and final performance. This paper describes the design of these mirrors in the context of their characteristics and how design optimization was used to produce a lightweight design. The manufacturing process used for the prototype and planned for the large scale production is presented as well as the performance, in terms of geometric and optical properties, of the produced mirrors. The alignment procedure of the mirrors is also detailed. This technique is finally compared to other manufacturing techniques based on composite glass mirrors within the framework of GCT mirrors specificities.

The ASTRI project of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing, in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), an end-to-end prototype system based on a dual-mirror small-sized Cherenkov telescope. Data preservation and accessibility are guaranteed by means of the ASTRI Archive System (AAS) that is responsible for both the on-site and off-site archiving of all data produced by the different sub- systems of the so-called ASTRI SST-2M prototype. Science, calibration, and Monte Carlo data together with the dedicated Instrument Response Functions (IRFs) (and corresponding metadata) will be properly stored and organized in different branches of the archive. A dedicated technical data archive (TECH archive) will store the engineering and auxiliary data and will be organized under a parallel database system. Through the use of a physical system archive and a few logical user archives that reflect the different archive use-cases, the AAS has been designed to be independent from any specific data model and storage technology. A dedicated framework to access, browse and download the telescope data has been identified within the proposal handling utility that stores and arranges the information of the observational proposals. The development of the whole archive system follows the requirements of the CTA data archive and is currently carried out by the INAF-OAR & ASI-Science Data Center (ASDC) team. The AAS is fully adaptable and ready for the ASTRI mini-array that, formed of at least nine ASTRI SST-2M telescopes, is proposed to be installed at the CTA southern site.