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The aim of this paper is to investigate Bruno’s astrobiology. The life of the stars can help us to highlight the characteristics of the infinite universe and to determine what relationship it has with God. Deeply hostile to Christianity, Bruno in fact holds that God and the world are inseparable. The ineffability of divinity can never be separated from its explication in the infinite universe. Human beings can find their place among the infinite worlds if they are able to understand that the universe is the unique nature, the true intermediary with God. Bruno enhances the capacities of the frenzied hero, without ever yielding to the temptation of anthropocentrism., Thaumàzein | Rivista di Filosofia, Vol. 10 No. 2 (2022): Cosmologia filosofica / Philosophical Cosmology

The ASTRI Mini-Array (MA) is an INAF project to build and operate a facility to study astronomical sources emitting at very high-energy in the TeV spectral band. The ASTRI MA consists of a group of nine innovative Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The telescopes will be installed at the Teide Astronomical Observatory of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) on the basis of a host agreement with INAF. Thanks to its expected overall performance, better than those of current Cherenkov telescopes' arrays for energies above \sim 5 TeV and up to 100 TeV and beyond, the ASTRI MA will represent an important instrument to perform deep observations of the Galactic and extra-Galactic sky at these energies., 19 pages, 22 figures

The ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) Project led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing and will deploy at the Observatorio del Teide a mini-array (ASTRI Mini-Array) composed of nine telescopes similar to the small-size dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (ASTRI-Horn) currently operating on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily. The ASTRI Mini-Array will surpass the current Cherenkov telescope array differential sensitivity above a few tera-electronvolt (TeV), extending the energy band well above hundreds of TeV. This will allow us to explore a new window of the electromagnetic spectrum, by convolving the sensitivity performance with excellent angular and energy resolution figures. In this paper we describe the Core Science that we will address during the first four years of operation, providing examples of the breakthrough results that we will obtain when dealing with current open questions, such as the acceleration of cosmic rays, cosmology and fundamental physics and the new window, for the TeV energy band, of the time-domain astrophysics., Comment: Published in Journal of High Energy Astrophysics. 46 Figures, 7 Tables

SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, San Diego, United States, 11 Aug 2019 - 15 Aug 2019; Journal of astronomical telescopes, instruments, and systems 8, 014005 (2022). doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.014005, The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next ground-based γ-ray observatory in the TeV γ-ray spectral region operating with the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique. It is based on almost 70 telescopes of different class diameters - LST, MST and SST of 23, 12, and 4 m, respectively - to be installed in two sites in the two hemispheres (at La Palma, Canary Islands, and near Paranal, Chile). Several thousands of reflecting mirror tiles larger than 1 m$^2$ will be produced for realizing the segmented primary mirrors of a so large number of telescopes. Almost in parallel, the ASTRI Mini-Array (MA) is being implemented in Tenerife (Canary Islands), composed of nine 4 m diameter dual-mirror Cherenkov telescopes (very similar to the SSTs). We completed the mirror production for all nine telescopes of the ASTRI MA and two MST telescopes (400 segments in total) using the cold glass slumping replication technology. The results related to the quality achieved with a so large-scale production are presented, also discussing the adopted testing methods and approaches. They will be very useful for the adoption and optimization of the quality assurance process for the huge production (almost 3000 m$^2$ of reflecting surface) of the MST and SST CTA telescopes., Published by SPIE, [Bellingham, Wash.]

In this Thesis, I present some perspective studies of a particular class of Galactic sources, the Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe), in the most energetic part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the Very-High-Energy gamma-rays. These sources represent the most numerous class of identified Galactic VHE gamma-ray sources. They are highly magnetized nebulae powered by young and energetic pulsars. Inside them, charged particles are effectively accelerated to very high energies emitting photons up to ~100 TeV. This investigation aims at assessing the capabilities of observing these sources with the future Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs): The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) and the ASTRI Mini-array. These facilities will be used for testing the various theoretical models of the gamma-ray emission from these powerful sources. To assess the capabilities of CTA and the ASTRI Mini-array I have simulated and analyzed two young PWNe: SNR G0.9+0.1 and MSH 15-52. To better understand this class of objects and to make predictions on the shape at the VHE part of their spectrum, a one-zone time-dependent leptonic model has been implemented. In this model, the temporal evolution of the leptonic population is computed taking into account the continuous input of energy from the central pulsar and the interaction of the nebula with the surrounding ejecta of the Supernova Remnant (SNR). I have also carried out a detailed study of the systematic uncertainties that affect the estimate of the spectral parameters for observations with the CTA South array. In the context of the ASTRI Mini-array, I worked on testing the data analysis chain, simulating the same sources mentioned above. The purpose of this work was to select the most interesting targets for future observations and to test the performance of the array. A preliminary list of PWNe that could be studied from the Northern hemisphere with the ASTRI Mini-array is also reported.

ASTRI SST-2M is an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope developed by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project as an end-to-end prototype for the Small Size array. Large-, medium-, and small-sized telescopes will compose the CTA observatory that represents the next generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and will explore the very high-energy domain from a few tens of GeV up to few hundreds of TeV. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope has been installed at the INAF-Catania observing station at Serra La Nave, on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy) in September 2014. In these 3 years of open-air operations the telescope has been commissioned and its opto-mechanical performance is now well understood. The apparatus was made ready to host its main scientific instrument, the camera with Silicon-Photomultiplier based detectors. This contribution is a status report on the complete ASTRI SST-2M telescope assembly including the electro-mechanical structure and the optical system.

ASTRI SST-2M is an end-to-end telescope prototype developed by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The CTA observatory, with a combination of large-, medium-, and small-sized 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. The ASTRI SST-2M telescope structure and mirrors have been installed at the INAF observing station at Serra La Nave, on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy) in September 2014. Its performance verification phase began in autumn 2015. Part of the scheduled activities foresees the study and characterization of the optical and opto-mechanical performance of the telescope prototype. In this contribution we report the results achieved in terms of kinematic model analysis, mirrors reflectivity evolution, telescopes positioning, flexures and pointing model and the thermal behavior.

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

ASTRI SST-2M is a prototype dual mirror Small Size class of Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Its innovative design based on a Schwarzschild-Couder configuration will permit use Silicon Photo-multipliers as focalplane detectors. The dual mirror configuration is a challenge for the realization of both the primary and secondary. Accurate tests and characterization are mandatory to understand the behavior of the optical configuration, its limits and the possibility of improvements of the full CTA array. Moreover, optical alignment requires solutions and procedures that have not been used so far on Cherenkov telescopes. The aim of paper is to provide an analysis of these topics in the context of the ASTRI SST-2M telescope.

The next generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes will require the production of thousands of mirror segments; an unprecedented amount of optical surface. To accomplish this, the Italian Istituto Nazionale di AstroFisica (INAF) has recently developed a successful technique. This method, called glass cold-shaping, is mainly intended for the manufacturing of mirrors for optical systems with an angular resolution of a few arcminutes, intended to operate in extreme environments. Its principal mechanical features are very low weight and high rigidity of the resulting segments, and its cost and production time turn out to be very competitive as well. The process is based on the shaping of thin glass foils by means of forced bending at room temperature; a sandwich structure is then assembled for retaining the imposed shape. These mirrors are composted of commercial, off-the-shelf materials. In this contribution we give an overview of the latest results achieved in the manufacturing of the pre-production series of mirrors for the Medium Size and Small Size Telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory will represent the next generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. Using a combination of large-, medium-, and small-scale telescopes (LST, MST, SST, respectively), 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 quality. In this framework, the Italian ASTRI program, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), is currently developing a scientific and technological SST prototype named ASTRI SST-2M; a 4-meter class telescope, it will adopt an aplanatic, wide-field, double-reflection optical layout in a Schwarzschild-Couder configuration. In this contribution we give an overview of the technological solutions adopted for the ASTRI SST-2M prototype. In particular we focus on the manufacturing of the telescope structure and mirrors. We will also describe early results from tests.

The study of ring images generated from high-energy muons is a very useful tool for the performance monitoring and calibration of any Imaging Atmosphere Cherenkov Telescope. Isolated muons travelling towards the telescope light collector system produce characteristic Cherenkov ring images in the focal plane camera. Since the geometry and the distribution of light deployed onto the camera can be easily reconstructed analytically for a muon of given energy and direction, muon rings are a powerful tool for monitoring the behaviour of crucial properties of an imaging telescope such as the point-spread-function and the overall light collection efficiency. In this contribution we present the possibility of using the analysis of muon ring images as calibrator for the ASTRI SST-2M prototype point spread function., Comment: In Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). All ASTRI contributions at arXiv:1307.4639

ASTRI is a Flagship Project of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. One of the main aims of the ASTRI Project is the design, construction and on-field verification of a dual mirror (2M) end-to-end prototype for the Small Size Telescope (SST) envisaged to become part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype is designed according to the Schwarzschild-Couder optical scheme, and adopts a camera based on Silicon Photo Multipliers (SiPM); it will be assembled at the INAF astronomical site of Serra La Nave on mount Etna (Catania, Italy) in the second half of 2014, and will start scientific validation phase soon after. With its 4m wide primary dish, the telescope will be sensitive to multi-TeV Very High Energy (VHE) gamma rays up to 100 TeV and above, with a point spread function of ~2 arcminutes and a wide (semiaperture 4.8°) corrected field of view. The peculiarities of the optical design and of the SiPM bandpass pushed towards specifically optimized choices in terms of reflective coatings for both the primary and the secondary mirror. Fully dielectric multi-layer coatings have been developed and tested as an option for the primary mirror, aiming to filter out the large Night Sky Background contamination at wavelengths λ>~700 nm. On the other hand, for the large monolithic secondary mirror a simpler design with quartz-overcoated aluminium has been optimized for incidences far from normality. The conformation of the ASTRI camera in turn pushed towards the design of a reimaging system based on thin pyramidal light guides, that could be optionally integrated in the focal surface, aiming to increase the fill factor. An anti-reflective coating optimized for a wide range of incident angles faraway from normality was specifically developed to enhance the UV-optical transparency of these elements. The issues, strategy, simulations and experimental results are thoroughly presented.

The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is leading the Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana (ASTRI) project whose main purpose is the realization of small size telescopes (SST) for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The first goal of the ASTRI project has been the development and operation of an innovative end-to-end telescope prototype using a dual-mirror optical configuration (SST-2M) equipped with a camera based on silicon photo-multipliers and very fast read-out electronics. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype has been installed in Italy at the INAF "M.G. Fracastoro" Astronomical Station located at Serra La Nave, on Mount Etna, Sicily. This prototype will be used to test several mechanical, optical, control hardware and software solutions which will be used in the ASTRI mini-array, comprising nine telescopes proposed to be placed at the CTA southern site. The ASTRI mini-array is a collaborative and international effort led by INAF and carried out by Italy, Brazil and South-Africa. We present here the use cases, through UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagrams and text details, that describe the functional requirements of the software that will manage the ASTRI SST-2M prototype, and the lessons learned thanks to these activities. We intend to adopt the same approach for the Mini Array Software System that will manage the ASTRI miniarray operations. Use cases are of importance for the whole software life cycle; in particular they provide valuable support to the validation and verification activities. Following the iterative development approach, which breaks down the software development into smaller chunks, we have analysed the requirements, developed, and then tested the code in repeated cycles. The use case technique allowed us to formalize the problem through user stories that describe how the user procedurally interacts with the software system. Through the use cases we improved the communication among team members, fostered common agreement about system requirements, defined the normal and alternative course of events, understood better the business process, and defined the system test to ensure that the delivered software works properly. We present a summary of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype use cases, and how the lessons learned can be exploited for the ASTRI mini-array proposed for the CTA Observatory.

ASTRI is a Flagship Project of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. One of the main aims of the ASTRI Project is the design, construction and verification on-field of a dual mirror (2M) end-to-end prototype for the Small Size Telescope (SST) envisaged to become part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype adopts the Schwarzschild-Couder design, and a camera based on SiPM (Silicon Photo Multiplier); it will be assembled at the INAF astronomical site of Serra La Nave on mount Etna (Catania, Italy) within mid 2014, and will start scientific validation phase soon after. The peculiarities of the optical design and of the SiPM bandpass pushed towards specifically optimized choices in terms of reflective coatings for both the primary and the secondary mirror. In particular, multi-layer dielectric coatings, capable of filtering out the large Night Sky Background contamination at wavelengths $\lambda \gtrsim 700$ nm have been developed and tested, as a solution for the primary mirrors. Due to the conformation of the ASTRI SST-2M camera, a reimaging system based on thin pyramidal light guides could be optionally integrated aiming to increase the fill factor. An anti-reflective coating optimized for a wide range of incident angles faraway from normality was specifically developed to enhance the UV-optical transparency of these elements. The issues, strategy, simulations and experimental results are thoroughly presented., Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. In Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). All ASTRI contributions at arXiv:1307.4639