FACT - Status and First Results

Presentation duration: 15 minutes

Presenter: Daniela Dorner

FACT is the first imaging Cherenkov telescop using a camera with G-APDs (Geigermode Avalanche Photodiods). Since October 2011, it is taking data regularly. Apart from commissioning and calibration measurements, it has started already regular operation where the main goal is to do long-term monitoring of bright TeV blazars. Thanks to the robustness of the G-APDs, observations during strong moon light can be done extending the duty cycle of the instrument and providing better statistics for the long-term light curves. In the first 1.5 years of observations, we could gain valuable experience about the usage of G-APDs in a Cherenkov telescope camera studying their longterm stability and precision. The telescope, situated on the Canary island of La Palma, is operated already now remotely from central Europe. For the future, fully robotic operation is planned. In this presentation, we report on our experiences during the commissioning and present first results from the first 1.5 years of observations.

FACT Collaboration