Schwarzschild-Couder telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array: 9.5m telescope prototype development

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, which is expected to propel very-high-energy (VHE; E ? 30 GeV) astrophysics research to an unprecedented level. This will be achieved through the operation of a large array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs), which simultaneously image Cherenkov light from the atmospheric cascades from multiple positions around it. This offers the possibility to significantly improve angular resolution and background rejection if the pixel size of the IACT cameras is reduced by at least a factor of two compared to current instruments such as VERITAS, H.E.S.S., and MAGIC. We have proposed and are developing a novel IACT design for CTA utilizing a Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) aplanatic two-mirror optical system capable of achieving this goal. In comparison with the traditional single mirror Davies-Cotton IACT, the SC telescope can accommodate a wide field of view simultaneously with significantly improved imaging resolution. In addition, the reduced plate scale of an SC telescope makes it compatible with highly integrated cameras assembled from silicon photomultipliers. In this contribution, we report on the development of a full-scale 9.5-m prototype SC telescope for CTA, which will be constructed at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona during the 2014-2015 period.