Design and Operation of FACT -- The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope

Understand

The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) is designed to detect cosmic gamma-rays with energies from several hundred GeV up to about 10 TeV using the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique.

• In contrast to former or existing telescopes, the camera of the FACT telescope is comprised of solid-state Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) instead of photomultiplier tubes for photo detection.
• It is the first full-scale device of its kind employing this new technology.
• The telescope is operated at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain) since fall 2011.