Cherenkov Telescope Array

CTA Logo

The Cherenkov Telescope Array or CTA is a multinational, worldwide project to build a new generation ground-based gamma-ray instrument 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 (IACTs), 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.

CTA intends to improve the flux sensitivity of the current generation of IACTs such as MAGIC, HESS, and VERITAS by an order of magnitude. It will foreseeably consist of tens of IACTs of different mirror sizes. Production of the first telescope prototypes started in 2013. CTA is designed and will be built by an international collaboration of scientists, with a strong involvement of European institutions. The project is on the road-map of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), the European Astroparticle Physics network ASPERA and the European Astrophysics network ASTRONET.

Cost for base-line design of the project is estimated at €300 million (US$350 million).[1]

Members

As of July 2017, the CTA Consortium includes 1,350 members from 210 institutes in 32 countries: Argentina, 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. The group of scientists and engineers are engaged in the scientific and technical development of CTA. Its internal authority, the Consortium Board, includes representatives from each of the Consortium institutes and is responsible for endorsing all major Consortium decisions.[2]

The CTA Observatory gGmbH (CTAO gGmbH) is the legal entity for CTA in the preparation of the implementation of the CTA Observatory. The CTAO gGmbH works in close cooperation with the CTA Consortium. The CTAO is governed by the CTA Council, composed of shareholders from nine countries (Austria, Czech republic, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom) and associate members from two countries (Netherlands and South Africa).[3]

Array Site Selection

In July 2015, Paranal Observatory in Chile has entered final negotiations to host CTA's southern hemisphere site.[4]

On 15 and 16 July 2015, the CTA decided to enter into detailed contract negotiations for hosting CTA on the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Paranal grounds 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 Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) to host CTA’s northern hemisphere array at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Spain. The hosting agreement with ESO is expected before the end of 2017.[5]

CTA’s southern hemisphere site is less than 10 km southeast of the European Southern Observatory’s ESO's existing Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is considered one of the driest and most isolated regions on earth – a paradise for stargazers.[6]

"Paranal Observatory First Choice to Host World’s Largest Array of Gamma-ray Telescopes". Retrieved 17 July 2015. 

CTA’s northern hemisphere site is located on the existing site of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias’ (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 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 wide variety of optical telescopes of various sizes.[7]

Science

CTA will look at the sky in higher energy photons than ever measured before. In fact, the cosmic particle accelerators CTA will probe can reach energies inaccessible to man-made accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. CTA’s unique capabilities will help us to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics. 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. CTA will search for annihilating dark matter particles and deviations from Einstein’s theory of special relativity and even conduct a census of particle acceleration in the Universe.[8]

CTA will seek to address questions in and beyond astrophysics. These questions fall under three major themes of study: Understanding the Origin and Role of Relativistic Cosmic Particles, Probing Extreme Environments, Exploring Frontiers in Physics. To address these themes, CTA will observe the following key targets: Galactic Centre, Large Magellanic Cloud, Galactic Plane, Galaxy Clusters, Cosmic Ray PeVatrons, Star Forming Systems, Active Galactic Nuclei, Transient Phenomena.[9]

Access

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 principle investigator in FITS data format. After a proprietary period, data will be made openly available through the CTA data archive.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Cherenkov Telescope Array Status And Outlook" (PDF). 30 October 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Countries and Institutes in CTA Consortium" (dated listing on website, as of 2017). cta-observatory.org. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "Shareholders and Associate Members of CTAO gGmbH" (dated listing on website, as of 2017). cta-observatory.org. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  4. ↑ name="eso-ann15058"
  5. ↑ "Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias and CTA Observatory Sign Agreement on Hosting CTA’s Northern Hemisphere Array". CTAO gGmbH. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "CTA's Southern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site". CTAO gGmbH. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  8. ↑ {{cite web |url=https://www.cta-observatory.org/science/ |title=CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site |date=28 July 2017 |publisher=CTAO gGmbH |accessdate=28 July 2017
  9. ↑ {{cite web |url=https://www.cta-observatory.org/science/study-topics/ |title=CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site |date=28 July 2017 |publisher=CTAO gGmbH |accessdate=28 July 2017
  10. ↑ {{cite web |url=https://www.cta-observatory.org/science/cta-users/ |title=CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array Site |date=28 July 2017 |publisher=CTAO gGmbH |accessdate=28 July 2017
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