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CTA – Cherenkov Telescope Array

Gamma rays give astrophysicists a completely different perspective on celestial objects than, say, optical light, infrared radiation or radio waves. They provide information on high-energy processes in the universe, such as black holes and supernova remnants.

A new observatory is being built to expand the options for observing gamma rays: The planned Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consists of 120 individual telescopes that detect different gamma ray ranges, covering a wide energy spectrum. This will make it possible to capture even more details from fascinating celestial objects.
 
The observatory is being constructed at two locations, in the northern and southern hemispheres, so that the whole night sky is covered. There will be about 20 telescopes arranged near MAGIC on La Palma, and another 100 telescopes at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, operated by ESO.

The project is the responsibility of an international collaboration consisting of some 800 scientists and engineers around the world. The largest telescope type in the array is the LST (Large-Sized Telescope) with a mirror diameter of 23 meters. The MPP has a leading role in the LST development.

The LST records low-energy gamma rays in the range of 20 to 200 gigaelectronvolts. This will be used to study black holes at the center of far distant galaxies, as well as binary star systems and pulsars.

The smaller telescopes of 12 and 8 meters in diameter will capture higher-energy gamma rays.

First prototype on La Palma

The Max Planck Institute for Physics has been involved in the construction of the first LST prototype. The LST-1 was built right beside the two MAGIC telescopes and inaugurated in 2018. Six research institutions from five countries had joined to co-operate in the LST-1 project.

The MPP was responsible for the substructure, the mechanical configuration, the rail system and parts of the camera mounting.

CTA at the MPP

News

06/22/2020

Following its inauguration in October 2018, the first LST (Large-Sized Telescope) is currently in the commissioning phase. The LST-1 will commence research operations in 2021. But the imposing gamma-ray telescope has already provided an important proof of its performance: It recorded the extremely…

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12/19/2018

On 19 December 2018, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) Council and European Southern Observatory (ESO) signed the final agreements needed for CTA’s southern hemisphere array to be hosted near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

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10/10/2018

On 10 October 2018, the LST-1 (Large-Sized Telescope) will be inaugurated in the Canary Islands in La Palma. It is the first of over 100 planned telescopes overall in the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The instruments are designed to capture objects and events that hurl out particles of maximum…

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05/23/2018

The mirrors for the largest telescope in the planned CTA observatory are now largely installed. In recent weeks, most of the 198 mirrors have been mounted. The telescope will be completed in the summer and commence operations in October 2018.

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02/26/2018

Things are looking up for the first CTA telescope: A recently installed counterweight now ensures that the telescope dish will remain in a vertical position, meaning that the telescope is now ready for mounting the mirror supports and the mirrors. This effectively marks the end of the principal work…

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12/13/2017

After only a few months construction time, the CTA project reached an important milestone: Last week, the mirror mountings were installed on the first Large-Sized Telescope (LST) of the CTA observatory. The LST (Large-Sized Telescope) is the largest model of the about 100 telescopes to be built in…

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09/21/2016

On September 19, 2016, the Council of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) concluded negotiations with the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) to host CTA’s northern hemisphere array at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Spain.

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10/14/2015

On October 9th, 2015 the ceremony of the stone laying for the biggest Cherenkov telescope in the northern hemisphere, the prototype of the LST (Large Size Telescope) with a diameter of 23 meters, took place at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma. The LST will be one of…

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07/23/2015

The CTA cooperation decided on the future sites of the Cherenkov Telescope Array: The telescopes will be located at the Paranal Observatory of ESO (European Southern Observatory) in Chile and on La Palma, Spain. There the IAC (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias) runs the Roque de los Muchachos…

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Group members

E-mail address: e-mail@mpp.mpg.de
Phone number: +49 89 32354-extension
name e-mail extension
Arbet-Engels, Axel, Dr. aarbet 289
Bautista Sierra, Angela Yulieth bautista 312
Berti, Alessio aberti 227
Ceribella, Giovanni, Dr. ceribell 291
Chon, Gayoung gchon 328
Gaborit-Reitz, Lucas lucasgr 312
Giesbrecht Formiga Paiva, Joao Gabriel jpaiva 312
Green, David, Dr. damgreen 289
Green, Jarred Gershon jgreen 259
Hahn, Alexander ahahn 421
Heckmann, Lea heckmann 259
Mazin, Daniel, Dr. mazin 255
Mirzoyan, Razmik, Dr. razmik 328
Nozaki, Seiya, Dr. nozaki 227
Paneque, David, Dr. dpaneque 349
Pirola, Giorgio gpirola 259
Schweizer, Thomas, Dr. tschweiz 291
Teshima, Masahiro, Dr. mteshima 301
Wang, Yunhe yunhe 312
Werner, Diana dwerner 364
Will, Martin, Dr. mwill 291

Key publications

Search response: 9 publications match your query. Listing starts with latest publication first: (7 - 9)


MPP-2013-98 Potential of EBL and cosmology studies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, Daniel Mazin, Martin Raue, Bagmeet Behera, Susumu Inoue, et al., Astropart.Phys. 43 (2013) 241-251 (2013-03), (External full text link).
[CTA], [Article]

MPP-2010-141 Results of the prototype camera for FACT , H. Anderhub, M. Backes, E. Lorenz et al, (External full text link).
[CTA], [Article]

MPP-2009-245 Selection of photomultipliers for the Cherenkov Telescope Array facility, M. Shayduk, R. Mirzoyan, V. Zimmer, E. Lorenz, T. Schweizer, M. Teshima, Nucl.Instrum.Meth.A 617, 11th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors (2010) 422-423, (External full text link).
[CTA], [Article]


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