  The Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) is a medium-sized telescope
technology proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. It uses a novel
dual-mirror optical design that removes comatic aberrations across its entire
field of view. The SCT camera employs high-resolution silicon photomultiplier
(SiPM) sensors with a pixel size of 4 arcminutes. A prototype SCT (pSCT) has
been constructed at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona, USA. An
observing campaign in 2020, with a partial camera of 1600 pixels (2.7 degrees
by 2.7 degrees field of view) resulted in detection of the Crab Nebula at 8.6
sigma statistical significance. Work on the pSCT camera and optical system is
ongoing to improve performance and prepare for an upcoming camera upgrade. The
pSCT camera upgrade will replace the current camera modules with improved SiPMs
and readout electronics and will expand the camera to its full design field of
view of 8 degrees in diameter (11,328 pixels). The fully upgraded pSCT will
enable next-generation very-high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics through
excellent background rejection and angular resolution. In this presentation we
describe first results from the successful operation of the pSCT and future
plans.
