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MAGIC – Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescope

The MAGIC telescopes at Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma (Image: R. Wagner)
The MAGIC telescopes at Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma (Image: R. Wagner)

With a reflector diameter of 17 meters each, the two MAGIC telescopes are the most sensitive Cherenkov telescopes in the world, especially in the energy range below 200 gigaelectronvolts (GeV). Their line of sight is directed at objects that emit gamma rays ranging from 30 GeV to 100 TeV (teraelectronvolts). This means that MAGIC can cover an enormous energy spectrum.

The twin telescopes are located 2,200 meters above sea level on the Canary Island of La Palma where the clear skies and lack of light pollution make for optimal observing conditions. The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) leads the international collaboration of about 165 astrophysicists from 24 research institutions in eleven countries. Together, they are responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the telescopes. MAGIC allows astrophysicists to obtain first class data for gaining scientific insights into enigmatic objects and the most violent processes in the universe.

The MAGIC telescopes have been in operation since 2003 and 2009 respectively. The MPP played a major role in the development and construction of their mechanical structure, imaging cameras and calibration system.

Since the outset, MAGIC has delivered many valuable scientific discoveries.

MAGIC at the MPP

Left: The MAGIC telescopes on the island of La Palma. Right: Data from the eruption of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) Markarian 421, measured with MAGIC (gamma rays) and IXPE (X-rays) in December 2023 (Photo: Urs Leutenegger, Data: Axel Arbet-Engels)

New insights into cosmic jets: Multiple observatories sharpen the picture

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are among the most luminous and powerful sources in the universe. They are located in the center of galaxies and emit vast amounts of radiation. This often exceeds the total light output of all the stars in a galaxy.…

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20 years of MAGIC: The twin telescope on the island of La Palma (Photo: Chiara Righi/MAGIC Collaboration)

20 MAGIC years of gamma-ray astronomy at MPP

In 2003, a success story of astrophysics began on La Palma: 20 years ago in October, the first MAGIC telescope was inaugurated on the Canary Island, a huge instrument with a mirror diameter of 17 meters. Five years later, the twin MAGIC II telescope…

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The two MAGIC telescopes on La Palma (Photo:Urs Leutenegger/Night Photography)

Telescopes search for dark matter

The MAGIC telescopes on La Palma are on the hunt for dark matter. For 233 observational hours, their cameras were pointed at the center of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Scientists suspect a particularly large accumulation of non-luminous, invisible…

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Julia Summerer attaches a photomultiplier to the holder. (Photo: Felix Schmuckermaier/MPP)

Summer internship at the MPP

Julia Summerer has just graduated from high school. She is currently doing an internship at the Max Planck Institute for Physics, more precisely with the "MAGIC" working group. The scientists in this group are working on two large telescopes of an…

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The binary star system RS Ophiuchi: Matter flows from the red giant onto the white dwarf. The newly added stellar envelopes explode in a bright nova about every 15 years. (Artwork: superbossa.com/MPP)

MAGIC telescopes observe nova explosion

Nova outbursts are apparently a source for cosmic rays

The MAGIC telescopes have observed the nova RS Ophiuchi shining brightly in gamma rays at extremely high energy. The Gamma rays emanate from protons that are accelerated to very high energies in the shock front following the explosion. This suggests…

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Observation of the black hole in M87: The MAGIC telescopes provided important data in the highest range of the gamma-ray spectrum (Photo: R. Wagner/MAGIC Collaboration)

Many eyes see more: Black hole under observation

Messier M87 is 55 million light years away from Earth. As is the case for probably all galaxies, there is a huge black hole in its center. In 2017, a host of telescopes observed the object over the entire energy spectrum. The spectacular result of…

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The MAGIC telescope system at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain (Photo: G. Ceribella/MAGIC Collaboration)

Cosmic cataclysm allows precise test of General Relativity

In 2019, the MAGIC telescopes detected the first Gamma Ray Burst at very high energies. This was the most intense gamma-radiation ever obtained from such a cosmic object. But the GRB data have more to offer: with further analyses, the MAGIC…

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Artistic view of a gamma-ray burst with jet

Gamma-ray burst with ultra power

MAGIC telescopes observes most violent gamma-ray burst to date

The gamma-ray burst recorded by the two MAGIC telescopes on 14 January 2019 was spectacular: Never before have astrophysicists captured a gamma-ray burst with such high energy – hundreds of billions times more intense than that of visible light.…

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The MAGIC telescopes in the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on the Canary island of La Palma

MAGIC telescopes trace origin of a rare cosmic neutrino

For the first time, astrophysicists have localized the source of a high energy cosmic neutrino originating outside the Milky Way. It is highly likely that the neutrino comes from a blazar, an active black hole at the center of a distant galaxy in the…

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The MAGIC telescopes at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on the canary island La Palma (Photo: T. Dettlaff/MPP)

MAGIC telescopes: 15 years of fascinating gamma astronomy

15 years ago, the first MAGIC telescope was inaugurated on La Palma in the Canary Islands. In 2009, it was followed by a second telescope of a similar type. Both instruments study cosmic objects that emit high-energy gamma rays, such as supernovae or…

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E-mail address: e-mail@mpp.mpg.de
Phone number: +49 89 32354-extension
name function e-mail extension office
Arbet-Engels, Axel, Dr. Postdoc axel.arbet-engels 289 A.2.38
Berti, Alessio Postdoc alessio.berti 227 A.2.50
Besenrieder, Jürgen Engineering juergen.besenrieder 224 A.1.45
Ceribella, Giovanni, Dr. Postdoc giovanni.ceribella 291 A.1.61
Chon, Gayoung, PD Dr. Senior Scientist gayoung.chon 328 A.1.23
Cicciari, Gloria Maria gloria.cicciari 227 A.2.50
Gaborit-Reitz, Lucas Student lucas.gaborit-reitz 312 A.1.23
Green, Jarred Gershon PhD Student jarred.green 259 A.2.44
Hahn, Alexander PhD Student alexander.hahn 421 A.2.46
Hamdi, Sajena Student sajena.hamdi 506 A.2.50
Jimenez Martinez, Irene, Dr. Postdoc irene.jimenez 364 A.2.52
Kelkar, Varun Shriram Student varun.kelkar 259 A.2.44
Marino, Francesco Intern francesco.marino 328 A.1.47
Mirzoyan, Razmik, Dr. Senior Scientist razmik.mirzoyan 328 A.2.34
Nozaki, Seiya, Dr. Postdoc seiya.nozaki 227 A.2.50
Paneque, David, Dr. Senior Scientist david.paneque 349 A.2.36
Peresano, Michele, Dr. Postdoc michele.peresano 543 A.2.52
Pirola, Giorgio PhD Student giorgio.pirola 259 A.2.44
Schmuckermaier, Felix PhD Student felix.schmuckermaier 485 A.2.46
Schweizer, Thomas, Dr. Senior Scientist thomas.schweizer 227 A.2.32
Strom, Derek, Dr. Engineering derek.strom 422 B.2.11
Teshima, Masahiro, Dr. Director masahiro.teshima 301 A.2.41
Wang, Yunhe Student yunhe.wang 312 A.2.52
Werner, Diana Secretary diana.werner 364 A.2.43
van Scherpenberg, Juliane PhD Student juliane.van.scherpenberg 421 A.2.46
Ünver, Asu Nisa Student asu.unver 291 A.1.61

Detection of very high energy gamma-ray emission from the gravitationally-lensed blazar QSO B0218+357 with the MAGIC telescopes
MAGIC Collaboration
arxiv:1609.01095

Teraelectronvolt pulsed emission from the Crab Pulsar detected by MAGIC
MAGIC Collaboration
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 585 (January 2016)
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201526853

Very high Energy γ-Ray from the universe’s middle age: Detection of the z = 0.940 Blazar PKS 1441+25 with MAGIC
Magic Collaboration
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 815:L23 (8pp), 2015 December 20
doi:10.1088/2041-8205/815/2L23

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