The ASTRI SST-2M prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array: opto-mechanical test results

Abstract

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory, with a combination of large-, medium-, and small-size 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 with unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution and imaging resolution. In this framework, the Italian ASTRI program, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), is currently developing a scientific and technological SST dual-mirror end-to-end prototype named ASTRI SST-2M. It is a 4-meter class telescope; it adopts an aplanatic, wide-field, double-reflection optical layout in a Schwarzschild-Couder configuration. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope structure and mirrors have been already installed at the INAF observing station at Serra La Nave, on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy). In this contribution we report about the on-site deployment and the latest results on the opto-mechanical performance test conducted soon after the telescope installation.