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Cherenkov Telescope Array

Summary

The Cherenkov Telescope Array, or CTA, is a multinational, worldwide project to build a new generation of ground-based gamma-ray instruments in the energy range extending from some tens of GeV to about 300 TeV. It is proposed as an open observatory and will consist of two arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACT), a first array at the Northern Hemisphere with emphasis on the study of extragalactic objects at the lowest possible energies, and a second array at the Southern Hemisphere, which is to cover the full energy range and concentrate on galactic sources. The physics program of CTA goes beyond high-energy astrophysics into cosmology and fundamental physics.[1]

Cherenkov Telescope Array
Artistic drawing of the CTA site (G. Perez, IAC)
Alternative namesCTA Edit this at Wikidata
Telescope styleastronomical observatory
international collaboration Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.cta-observatory.org Edit this at Wikidata
  Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

Building on the technology of current-generation ground-based gamma-ray detectors (MAGIC, HESS, and VERITAS), CTA will be ten times more sensitive and have unprecedented accuracy in its detection of high-energy gamma rays. Current gamma-ray telescope arrays host up to five individual telescopes, but CTA is designed to detect gamma rays over a larger area and a wider range of views, with more than 100 telescopes located in the northern and southern hemispheres. At least three classes of telescopes are required to cover the full CTA energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV): Large-Sized Telescope (LST), Medium-Sized Telescope (MST), and Small-Sized Telescope (SST).[2]

The project to build CTA is well advanced: prototypes exist for all the proposed telescope designs, and significant site characterization and preparations are underway. An intergovernmental agreement for construction and subsequent operation of the observatory—a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)—is in preparation, and the financial threshold is expected to be reached in 2019.[3]

The project was promoted to a landmark on the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and is on the roadmaps for the Aspera European Astroparticle network and Astronet. The cost for baseline design of the project is estimated at €300 million (US$350 million).[4] The network is scheduled to start collecting data in 2022.[5]

Members edit

As of December 2018, the CTA consortium includes more than 1,420 members from 210 institutes in 31 countries: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States.[6]

Array sites edit

 
Southern array site near Paranal Observatory, in Chile
 
Prototype of 12-meter CTA telescope under construction (Berlin, 2013)

On 15 and 16 July 2015, the CTA decided to enter into detailed contract negotiations for hosting CTA at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) of Paranal Observatory, in Chile, and at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Spain. On 19 September 2016, the Council of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) concluded negotiations with the IAC to host CTA's northern-hemisphere array. On 19 December 2018, final agreements were signed for the southern array as well.[7][8][9]

CTA's northern hemisphere site is located on the existing site of the IAC's Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, the fifth largest island in the Canary Islands. At 2,200 metres of altitude and nestled on a plateau below the rim of an extinct volcanic crater, the site currently hosts an operating gamma-ray observatory, the Major Atmospheric Gamma Ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescopes, as well as a variety of optical telescopes of various sizes.[10]

Science edit

 
Image illustrates all three classes of telescopes planned.[11]

CTA will look at higher-energy photons than ever measured before. Its cosmic particle accelerators can reach energies inaccessible to such accelerators as the Large Hadron Collider. CTA will seek to understand the impact of high-energy particles in the evolution of cosmic systems and to gain insight into the most extreme and unusual phenomena in the Universe. It will also search for annihilating dark matter particles and deviations from Einstein's theory of special relativity, even conducting a census of particle acceleration in the Universe.[12]

Research at the CTA will seek to address questions in and beyond astrophysics that fall under three major themes of study: understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles, probing extreme environments, and exploring frontiers in lhysics. To address these themes, CTA will observe the following key targets: Galactic Center, Large Magellanic Cloud, Galactic Plane, galaxy clusters, cosmic ray PeVatrons, star-forming systems, active galactic nuclei, and transient phenomena.[13]

Access edit

Unlike current instruments, CTA will be operated as a proposal-driven open observatory. Observations will be carried out by observatory operators, then the data will be calibrated, reduced, and, together with analysis tools, made available to the principal investigator in FITS data format. After a proprietary period, data will be made openly available through the CTA data archive.[14]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ The CTA Consortium (2019). Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array. World Scientific. Bibcode:2019scta.book.....C. doi:10.1142/10986. ISBN 978-981-3270-08-4. S2CID 119194404.
  2. ^ "CTA Technology" (dated listing on website, as of 2018). cta-observatory.org. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  3. ^ "CTA Technology" (dated listing on website, as of 2018). cta-observatory.org. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Cherenkov Telescope Array Status and Outlook" (PDF). 30 October 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  5. ^ "A brand new technique to research high-energy gamma rays | Internet Shots". Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Countries and Institutes in CTA Consortium" (dated listing on website, as of 2018). cta-observatory.org. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  7. ^ "CTA Site Locations". CTAO gGmbH. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  8. ^ "CTA's Southern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Final Agreements Signed for CTA Southern Hemisphere Site in Chile". 19 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  10. ^ "CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  11. ^ "ESO to Host Cherenkov Telescope Array-South at Paranal – ESO enters partnership with the world's largest gamma-ray observatory". www.eso.org. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  12. ^ "CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  13. ^ "CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  14. ^ "CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • Official web page of ESFRI (archived)
  • Official website of ASPERA (archived)
  • Official website of ASTRONET
  • NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Cherenkov Telescope at Sunset (18 October 2018)

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