Bibcode
Pareschi, G.; Zapatero, J.; Peruzzo, L.; Mariotti, M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Ghigo, M.; Giro, E.; Goebel, F.; Kosyra, R.; Lorenz, E.; Font, L.; Garczarczyk, M.; Biland, A.; Dazzi, F.; Doro, M.; Bastieri, D.
Bibliographical reference
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Volume 595, Issue 1, p. 200-203.
Advertised on:
9
2008
Citations
19
Refereed citations
14
Description
The atmospheric Cherenkov telescope MAGIC for ground-based gamma-ray
astronomy is operating since late 2003 on the Canary island of La Palma.
Its 17 m diameter mirror is composed of 964 square all-aluminum mirrors
of ˜0.5m side, making up a parabola of 236 m2 area.
Each mirror is composed of a sandwich of two thin aluminum layers
interspaced by a honeycomb structure that ensures rigidity, high
temperature conductivity and low weight. The surface of each raw blank
is diamond milled to provide high reflectivity and a slightly different
focal length to fit the overall parabolic shape of the reflector. We
report about the stability and performance of the surface exposed to the
atmosphere for over 3 years. For the construction of the clone of the
first telescope, dubbed MAGIC II, major improvements of the design and
performance of the reflective surface were required. Given the good
experience with aluminum mirrors, a similar assembly was tested, but the
area was increased to 1 m2, which allowed to skip the
inter-alignment of four mirrors within a panel and to reduce
substantially the weight. The increased rigidity of the mirror unit
resulted in an improved focussing quality. In addition, a second class
of mirrors will be installed in the outermost part of the reflector,
namely glass mirrors obtained by cold-slumping replica technique.
Details on the construction of both type MAGIC II new mirrors and the 17
m reflector will be presented.