From 0516cae5b27bc3f848001fb9eeba56805f1e44bb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: ctao Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:54:14 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?content:=20Opus=20editorial=20workflow=20?= =?UTF-8?q?=E2=80=94=20headings=20for=20132=20articles,=20markdown=20hygie?= =?UTF-8?q?ne=20for=20150=20(206=20reviewed);=20disclaimer=20content=20cre?= =?UTF-8?q?dit?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --- .../news/15th-council-meeting-report.md | 8 ++++++++ ...-message-from-the-ctao-director-general.md | 8 ++++++++ ...ystem-passes-its-critical-design-review.md | 8 +++++++- ...industrial-complex-planned-near-paranal.md | 6 ++++++ src/content/news/amanar-under-the-same-sky.md | 6 ++++++ .../astri-detects-crab-at-tev-energies.md | 10 +++++++++- ...gr-approves-ctao-costbook-stdescription.md | 6 ++++++ ...bgr-submits-step2-application-ctao-eric.md | 6 ++++++ .../news/brl-detects-volcano-dust-plume.md | 8 ++++++++ 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@@ draft: false The 15th meeting of the CTAO Council was held 13-14 November in La Palma. The location was very suitable considering that on October 10, the LST telescope prototype was inaugurated on the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, the northern hemisphere site of the CTA Observatory. This gave the delegates the opportunity to admire the first impressive instrument of the “family of 118” that shall constitute the largest system of telescopes ever constructed in the world. Within this festive atmosphere, which contributed to an excellent collaboration with our colleagues from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, the Council dealt with several crucial topics and made decisions that will mark and consolidate CTA’s future. It was also a meeting of transition in the Council governance: Gabriel Chardin was re-elected as Chair for another year and Markus Schleier succeeded Giampaolo Vettolani, who completed his mandate as Vice Chair. We are very grateful to Giampaolo for his contributions to the Council in his service as both Chair and Vice Chair since the Council’s inception. +## Investment and budget growth + An important highlight from the meeting is that we saw the investment in CTA continuing to grow. Both Australia and Poland signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of CTA, thus formally reinforcing the existing involvement of their scientific community and enlarging the international participation in the CTA project. A significant consequence, jointly with the increased commitment of France, is our advancement toward the threshold funding: we have reached 94% of the 250 M€ goal. Additionally, the Swiss government expressed the intention to increase its contribution in the next two years. Finances were a major focus of the meeting. Beyond the nomination of the company auditor for the year 2018 and the standard report on the current budget status, we discussed the 2019 budget extensively. As a result, the funding agencies have approved to contribute a consistent increase of about 4 M€ in 2019, well beyond the 2.4 M€ of 2018. This will allow the management to further develop the recruitment campaign necessary to reach the critical size of staff to prepare and manage the construction phase. The CTAO has grown from 16 members (January 2018) to 30 (expected in January 2019), with the objective to reach 60 members by December 2019, including staff for CTAO Headquarters, the Science Data Management Centre and the CTA-North site. +## A new pathfinder strategy + In an effort to continue our progress toward construction, I proposed a new pathfinder strategy as an approach to advance our technical progress on CTA sites. According to the statutes, CTA construction can only start with the advent of the final legal entity (the CTAO ERIC); which challenges us to address our transition to an ERIC while simultaneously continuing the progress of the various project phases. With the pathfinder strategy, CTAO can enter an agreement to install an instrument on site, at the contributor’s cost, for testing purposes without the CTAO making a decision about the final technical design and executing an In-Kind Contribution (i.e. a pathfinder may have to be removed from the site). The new pathfinder strategy was well-received by the Council. +## Status of the CTAO ERIC + As for the status of the CTAO ERIC, we have seen great progress in 2018, with several meetings taking place that have pushed us steadily toward our new and final legal entity. At the Council meeting, a legal consultant presented an analysis that was very reassuring about the tax conditions and transfer of assets to the CTAO ERIC, and it seems this matter will not be a showstopper to the process. +## Agreements for the CTA-South site + And, finally, perhaps one of the most important themes for the future of CTA has been the evolution toward the signature of the agreements that will allow for the formalization of the ESO site as the location of the CTA-South array. Thanks to the strong  and positive intervention of the ESO Director General, we have been able to solve the residual impediments rising from some formalities related to the ERIC application, and which put us in the position to sign the three lateral agreements in Santiago, Chile during the week of 17 December! diff --git a/src/content/news/2025-year-in-review-a-message-from-the-ctao-director-general.md b/src/content/news/2025-year-in-review-a-message-from-the-ctao-director-general.md index 276c645..2d9111a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/2025-year-in-review-a-message-from-the-ctao-director-general.md +++ b/src/content/news/2025-year-in-review-a-message-from-the-ctao-director-general.md @@ -10,16 +10,24 @@ draft: false 2025 has been a year of profound transformation for the CTAO. We began this journey in January with a historic milestone: [officially becoming an ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/). This marked the official start of the CTAO construction phase. A major step forward. +## Growing our team and membership + This year we have seen the growth of our staff and the capabilities of our organisation. Across our Central Organisation headquarters in Bologna, the Science Data Management Centre in Zeuthen, CTAO-North in La Palma, and CTAO-South in Chile, [our expanding team](https://www.ctao.org/news/ctao-growth-defines-the-first-quarter-of-2025/) increasingly has the expertise and passion needed to push the project further than ever. We’ve also grown as a global family, [welcoming Switzerland and Croatia as members](https://www.ctao.org/news/switzerland-and-croatia-officially-become-members-of-the-ctao-eric/) of the CTAO ERIC. And this growth will not stop.  +## Progress at the telescope sites + Looking at our sites, their vista is physically changing. At CTAO-North, the LST Collaboration has worked tirelessly and the final three Large-Sized Telescopes are [nearly complete](https://www.ctao.org/news/camera-installation-marks-completion-of-lst-4-construction/) with their inauguration planned for 2026. Meanwhile, the SST and MST Collaborations have also made remarkable progress with the [first telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/news/small-sized-telescopes-pass-readiness-review-to-proceed-to-factory-testing/) expected to be delivered to our southern site in 2026. This is all being done with the support and guidance of the Central Organisation’s Telescope and System Engineering groups. On the construction front at CTAO-South, [foundations and roads are now under construction](https://www.ctao.org/news/telescope-construction-begins-on-ctaosouth-with-signing-of-major-contract/) with an expected finish date in June. This monumental endeavour was just celebrated in our [CTAO-South Groundbreaking Ceremony](https://www.ctao.org/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-the-beginning-of-ctao-south-array-construction-in-chile/): the final great milestone of 2025. Together with the support of the Computing and Science teams, we will be ready to operate the telescopes and generate first data in 2027, in both the north and southern sites.  This progress is possible because of the dedicated work of the [Central Organisation staff](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) across all fronts—including the essential, behind-the-scenes efforts of our Administration and Director’s Office staff, whose support has ensured a smooth transition to the ERIC. +## Inspiring curiosity in everyone + We want to make sure that the CTAO will generate fabulous science but also promote curiosity inspiring everyone from [school children and university students](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ctao-universe_recap-giornatecosmiche-first-activity-7395068031896530946-qOyF?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAA3CjTEBeNrPV6blg06qU6xRGyhihLj1oO4) to [citizens and scientific leaders](https://www.ctao.org/news/ctao-joins-the-starmus-festival-2025-in-la-palma/). This year we held the [second CTAO summer school](https://www.instagram.com/p/DN2rurB1MDz/) and awarded the [first Werner Hofmann Scientific Award](https://www.ctao.org/news/shotaro-abe-wins-first-werner-hofmann-scientific-award/) to an outstanding early career researcher. +## Looking ahead to 2026 + 2025 was a year of new starts and building foundations; in 2026 we will build further. On behalf of the CTAO, I would like to thank our teams and partners around the world for their continued support and the opportunity to continue this journey together. diff --git a/src/content/news/acada-software-system-passes-its-critical-design-review.md b/src/content/news/acada-software-system-passes-its-critical-design-review.md index 1ff63d2..54d02ae 100644 --- a/src/content/news/acada-software-system-passes-its-critical-design-review.md +++ b/src/content/news/acada-software-system-passes-its-critical-design-review.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false On September 23, the [CTAO ACADA Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) achieved yet another milestone when the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) officially approved and closed out the Critical Design Review (CDR) of the Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA) system. The approval of the CDR, an in-depth evaluation to ensure the system design meets all the requirements of the Observatory, marks a new phase in the project, moving from testing to integrating the advanced software packages that will operate the arrays. +## What the ACADA system does + The ACADA system includes all the software responsible for the supervision and control of telescopes and calibration instruments at both CTAO array sites. The system ensures that the execution of the astronomical observations is accurate and efficient, managing the data acquisition and compression of the raw data, handling science alerts to automatically rearrange the observation schedule and to inform other observatories of interesting gamma-ray events, and providing the user interface for the site operators and astronomers. Thus, as an orchestra director guides the different instrumentalists to produce music, the ACADA software controls a great variety of sub-systems to make the telescopes and support instruments operate together harmoniously to allow the data to flow. +## Integration campaigns with LST-1 + Developing such a complex system requires many steps or “releases.” Getting to this point with ACADA, alone, has been the result of around 40 people from 10 institutes from six countries working together over the past 4-5 years to prepare and test the software to ensure it is ready to be used by the CTAO. To evaluate the first release, members of the ACADA Collaboration traveled to the [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site in La Palma, Spain, in September-October 2023 to carry out [two separate integration campaigns](https://www.ctao.org/news/major-telescope-operations-milestone-with-acada-integration/) with the [Large-Sized Telescope (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) prototype or LST-1, in cooperation with LST Collaboration experts. The campaigns, [documented in a series of interviews](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbrmKxp2hJarvTgFVXq8ysB), were a complete success, exhibiting that the system could operate a telescope as expected and allowing researchers to identify and solve minor issues. The results of this integration were also considered during the evaluation of the CDR as a proof-of-concept for the implementation of the system’s design. -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. +## Approving the Critical Design Review During the CDR, initiated in October 2023, a panel of internal and external experts identified two main tasks that needed to be completed to fulfill the review objectives, as well as other recommendations for improvement. By successfully addressing the issues, the CDR was approved and closed in September this year. +## Next steps for the collaboration + With this important step achieved, the ACADA Collaboration will now keep working on the implementation of the successive releases of the software, preparing for its integration with multiple telescopes and other instrumentation on [both array sites](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/) for the eventual acceptance of the full system by the Central Organisation. Congratulations to the ACADA Collaboration on this significant milestone! diff --git a/src/content/news/aes-andes-announces-cancellation-of-inna-the-industrial-complex-planned-near-paranal.md b/src/content/news/aes-andes-announces-cancellation-of-inna-the-industrial-complex-planned-near-paranal.md index a70de7f..6227e0d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/aes-andes-announces-cancellation-of-inna-the-industrial-complex-planned-near-paranal.md +++ b/src/content/news/aes-andes-announces-cancellation-of-inna-the-industrial-complex-planned-near-paranal.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false On 23 January, AES Andes announced [on their website](https://www.aesandes.com/en/press-release/aes-andes-focus-renewables-and-storage-discontinues-green-hydrogen-development) that they have cancelled plans to build the INNA Project, an industrial green hydrogen and green ammonia project planned near the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory, to focus on their renewable energy portfolio instead. Formal confirmation will arrive once the project is officially withdrawn from Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA, in Spanish). +## Threat to Paranal Observatory + Last year, ESO publicly [raised the alarm](https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2501/?lang) about the threat that the INNA megaproject posed to the Paranal Observatory, a site renowned for having the world’s darkest and clearest skies for astronomy and the location of the [CTAO’s southern hemisphere array (CTAO-South)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/). The project, proposed by AES Andes, a subsidiary of the U.S. power company AES Corporation, involved multiple energy and processing facilities spread over an area of more than 3,000 hectares, the size of a small city. Its planned location was situated just [a few kilometres from the Paranal telescopes](https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/images/INNA-map-EN/). An in-depth [technical analysis issued by ESO](https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2506/) in March 2025 revealed that INNA’s impact would cause devastating and irreversible damage, particularly regarding light pollution, micro-vibrations, dust, and an increase of the air turbulence in the area. +## Welcoming the announcement + > “While we await the company’s official withdrawal from SEA, we very much welcome this announcement. I would like to extend my deep and sincere appreciation to everyone who advocated for the protection of Paranal’s pristine skies,” says Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO Director General. “The CTAO remains committed to the preservation of dark and quiet skies, and we will continue collaborating with our hosting partners at ESO towards that goal.” +## Broader lessons for observatories + Reflecting on the announced cancellation, ESO has also emphasised the broader lessons this situation provides regarding industrial projects near astronomical facilities. In [their press release](https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2602/), they note that “the INNA case and its [proposed location](https://www.eso.org/public/images/INNA-map-EN/) highlight the urgent need to establish clear protection measures in the areas around astronomical observatories. Such measures are essential to allow astronomical observatories to continue operating.” Safeguarding this natural heritage is vital not only for future generations but also for the continued exploration of the Universe by cutting-edge facilities like the CTAO. Safeguarding this natural heritage is vital not only for future generations but also for the continued exploration of the Universe by cutting-edge facilities like the CTAO. diff --git a/src/content/news/amanar-under-the-same-sky.md b/src/content/news/amanar-under-the-same-sky.md index 03f94ac..56489f6 100644 --- a/src/content/news/amanar-under-the-same-sky.md +++ b/src/content/news/amanar-under-the-same-sky.md @@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ draft: false On 8 July 2019, “[AMANAR: Under the same sky](https://www.galileomobile.org/amanar)”, an initiative to promote and support the scientific education of children living in the Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria), was launched in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). The project, conceived by the international organization [GalileoMobile](http://www.galileo-mobile.org/) and the [Asociación Canaria de Amistad con el Pueblo Saharaui](http://www.acapscanarias.com/) (ACAPS), consists of a combination of outreach activities and visits to the Canary observatories with the children in July and August as part of  their summer in the Canary Islands with the “[Holidays in Peace](https://www.fmreview.org/peopletrafficking/crivello-fiddian-chatty)” program. The project will also include a visit to the refugee camps by a group of scientists and experts in October. The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is one of the participating partners in this project, supporting the organization of activities and the provision of educational material for the camp visits. +## Project origins and partners + AMANAR, which means “Pleiades” in Berber, was born as an outreach project to inspire the Saharawi community through the observation of the Universe and the development of scientific skills, as well as to promote peace, common understanding and a sense of world citizenship under the same sky. The project, conceived by GalileoMobile and ACAPS, was selected as a “Special Project” within the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU’s) [100th Anniversary activities](https://www.iau-100.org/). It is co-funded by the [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](http://www.iac.es/index.php?lang=en) (IAC) and the IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Development and counts on the collaboration of CTAO, Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC), Virgo Collaboration , IAU’s Office for Astronomy Outreach, IAU’s Astronomy Translation Network, Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP), Cielos de La Palma, Asociación Canaria de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Saharaui (ACSPS), Fundación Observatorio de Temisas, Agrupación Astronómica de Gran Canaria, Asociación Astronómica AMNIR, TITSA and CEIP Juan de Zamora. +## Summer activities and camp visit + The summer activities in the Canary Islands within the “Holidays in Peace” program will be carried out in Tenerife (July 20), La Palma (27 July) and Gran Canaria (August 3). In Tenerife and La Palma, the Saharawi children will join us in a visit to the observatories, where they will get an up-close look at some of the telescopes, such as the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) located at the El Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma). Moreover, the group has crafted educational and outreach workshops for the children to inspire their interest in the Cosmos and develop their creativity. These activities include designing a new telescope to catch gamma rays and learning about the Solar System, among others. CTAO Outreach and Education Coordinator, Alba Fernández-Barral, and the Outreach and Communication Officer, Megan Grunewald, have actively participated in the organization of activities for these two sites and will join the group on these dates. The last activity will take place in Gran Canaria, in the Juan de Zamora school (Arucas), where the Saharawi and local children will learn about astronomy and will enjoy the night sky together. The astronomical program within the “Holidays in Peace” is expected to continue for the next three years. The project will close this year in October with a visit to the refugee camps in Tindouf, where scientists and experts from different organizations will carry out workshops at schools and will study and disseminate the astronomical knowledge of the Saharawi population. > “The project has a long-term goal of contributing to raise awareness, at the national and international level, about the hard conditions that the Saharawi people must live in the refugee camps, which has lasted already for 40 years. To do so, we will create different audiovisual materials, such as an immersive video and a documentary, with which we will give a voice to the participants and disseminate their message of peace and social justice,” explains the main organizer Sandra Benítez Herrera, astrophysicist and science communicator at the IAC’s Communication and Scientific Culture Unite (UC3) and member of GalileoMobile since 2011. “The institutions collaborating in the project have committed to help in this sense, too.” +## The CTAO Astrodiversity program + The CTAO’s participation is within the framework of its own Astrodiversity program. The CTAO is a global organisation proud of its diversity that aims to become a reference of equity and respect in science, as well as to work internationally to achieve equality in our field. Based on this idea, the CTAO Outreach, Education and Communication group has created the Astrodiversity program, under which it joins all its diversity-related activities. ## About GalileoMobile: diff --git a/src/content/news/astri-detects-crab-at-tev-energies.md b/src/content/news/astri-detects-crab-at-tev-energies.md index 869241f..361682f 100644 --- a/src/content/news/astri-detects-crab-at-tev-energies.md +++ b/src/content/news/astri-detects-crab-at-tev-energies.md @@ -10,16 +10,24 @@ draft: false Exactly 30 years after the first historical observation of Crab nebula at TeV energies, which opened the era of TeV astronomy with the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT), another advancement in IACT technology has been achieved. The ASTRI-Horn Cherenkov Telescope, based on the innovative Schwarzschild-Couder dual-mirror configuration and equipped with an innovative camera, has detected the Crab Nebula at TeV energies for the first time, proving the viability of this technology. +## TeV astronomy and the Cherenkov technique + In 1989, the very first detection of the Crab Nebula at TeV energies (about a trillion times the energy of visible light) was obtained with the Whipple Telescope. This discovery was the initiation of *TeV astronomy*, which, with its rapid growth, has led to the detection of about 200 gamma-ray sources from other ground-based detectors like H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS and has paved the way for the next generation: the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO). Because gamma-rays never make it to the Earth’s surface, these instruments use the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT) to detect the by-product of the gamma-ray’s interaction with the atmosphere: Cherenkov light. The interaction produces cascades of subatomic particles – these highly energetic particles can travel faster than the speed of light, which causes a faint and extremely short (of the order of a billionth of a second!) flash of bluish light. Cherenkov telescopes, since the very beginning, have been built following a typical optical design where the light is reflected off the telescope’s mirror to be captured by the camera and then is converted into an electrical signal that is digitized and transmitted to record the image of the light. -The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is leading the ASTRI (*Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana*) project aimed at the design, deployment and implementation of a novel end-to-end prototype telescope that is proposed for the CTA Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs). This Cherenkov telescope, named ASTRI-Horn (in honor of Guido Horn d’Arturo an Italian astronomer who first proposed in the past century the technology of tessellated mirrors for astronomy), is adopting a wide (10°x10°) field *Schwarzschild-Couder dual-mirror *optical configuration and is equipped with a specifically designed, innovative Silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM) camera managed by very fast read-out electronics. The ASTRI-Horn prototype, located on Mount Etna (Italy) at the INAF “M.C. Fracastoro” observing station, has been conceived as an end-to-end project including the full data archiving and processing chain, from raw data up to final scientific products. +## The ASTRI-Horn prototype + +The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is leading the ASTRI (*Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana*) project aimed at the design, deployment and implementation of a novel end-to-end prototype telescope that is proposed for the CTA Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs). This Cherenkov telescope, named ASTRI-Horn (in honor of Guido Horn d’Arturo an Italian astronomer who first proposed in the past century the technology of tessellated mirrors for astronomy), is adopting a wide (10°x10°) field *Schwarzschild-Couder dual-mirror* optical configuration and is equipped with a specifically designed, innovative Silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM) camera managed by very fast read-out electronics. The ASTRI-Horn prototype, located on Mount Etna (Italy) at the INAF “M.C. Fracastoro” observing station, has been conceived as an end-to-end project including the full data archiving and processing chain, from raw data up to final scientific products. + +## Detecting the Crab Nebula The observations of the Crab Nebula were carried out between December 2018 and January 2019, during the ASTRI-Horn telescope verification phase, for a total observation time of about 29 hours, divided in on- and off-axis source exposure. The camera system was still undergoing assessment, and its functionality was not fully exploited. Moreover, owing to recent eruptions of the Etna Volcano, the mirror reflection efficiency was partially reduced. In spite of such camera and mirrors limitations, observations yielded the detection of the Crab Nebula with a statistical significance of 5.4s above an energy threshold of about 3.5 TeV, definitively probing the new technologies and opening a new era for IACT. > “The result obtained by ASTRI is an important milestone for the IACT technologies. It is demonstrating that the dual mirror configuration, firstly proposed by the great German Astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild more than a century ago, is performing well. It is now possible to achieve a very large field-of-view with a much more compact Cherenkov telescope design, easily observing very energetic cosmic gamma-rays up to a few hundreds of TeV” says Giovanni Pareschi, astronomer at the INAF-Milano and principal investigator of the ASTRI project. +## ASTRI-Horn and the CTA project + Three classes of  telescope are required to cover the full CTA energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV): Medium-Sized Telescopes (12 m diameter dish) will cover CTA’s core energy range (100 GeV to 10 TeV) while the Large-Sized Telescopes (23 m) and Small-Sized Telescopes (4 m) or SSTs are planned to extend the energy range below 100 GeV and above a few TeV, respectively. The ASTRI-Horn telescope is one of three proposed SST designs being prototyped and tested for CTA’s southern hemisphere array. > “CTA has been exploring the dual-mirror technology since the very beginning of the project, and some prototypes have been realized using such an approach: the ASTRI-Horn and the GCT for the SST and the SCT for the Medium-Sized Telescope,” says Federico Ferrini, Managing Director of the CTA Observatory (CTAO). “The result obtained by ASTRI-Horn telescope is very encouraging and confirms the potential of technological advancement for Cherenkov astronomy.” diff --git a/src/content/news/bgr-approves-ctao-costbook-stdescription.md b/src/content/news/bgr-approves-ctao-costbook-stdescription.md index 252a689..e33d800 100644 --- a/src/content/news/bgr-approves-ctao-costbook-stdescription.md +++ b/src/content/news/bgr-approves-ctao-costbook-stdescription.md @@ -12,12 +12,18 @@ On 24 June 2021, the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) approved the CT > “The decision of the BGR endorses the support of the shareholder countries for the construction of the CTA Observatory,” explains Federico Ferrini, CTAO Managing Director. “We are very excited that the Cost Book and the Scientific & Technical Description evaluations were successfully completed and that the ERIC application will be finalised soon.” +## Construction costs in the Cost Book + The Cost Book approved by the BGR presents the expected construction costs for individual components and work items for building the CTA Observatory to which each country and institution will contribute. > “In preparing the Cost Book, we have taken great care in maximizing the science capabilities while aligning the scope of the construction project with the funding reality and strategic interests of the future ERIC members,” says Wolfgang Wild, CTAO Project Manager. +## The Scientific & Technical Description + The CTAO’s Scientific & Technical Description presents the key aspects of CTAO, such as the construction project’s development and intended lifecycle, and summarizes the scientific capabilities and technical goals to be accomplished during the construction. +## The Alpha Configuration + In particular, it includes the configuration of the telescope arrays at the two sites for the first construction phase, named “Alpha Configuration.” This configuration includes 4 Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) and 9 Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs) for the northern hemisphere array located on La Palma (Spain), and 14 MSTs and 37 Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) for the southern hemisphere array situated in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The definition of these configurations is the result of a meticulous optimization process for each array’s scientific capabilities, which implies the specialization of the northern array in extragalactic sources (low and medium CTAO’s energy range) and that of the southern array in Galactic targets (medium and high CTAO’s energy range) for the first construction phase. > “The Alpha Configuration ensures the outstanding performance of the Observatory and its transformational science,” says Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist. “Both telescope arrays will achieve 5 to 10 times better sensitivity than any current instrument, which will constitute a giant scientific leap in gamma-ray astronomy.” diff --git a/src/content/news/bgr-submits-step2-application-ctao-eric.md b/src/content/news/bgr-submits-step2-application-ctao-eric.md index 83f844a..f12c328 100644 --- a/src/content/news/bgr-submits-step2-application-ctao-eric.md +++ b/src/content/news/bgr-submits-step2-application-ctao-eric.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false On 31 May 2022, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory’s (CTAO’s) Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) submitted the formal request to the European Commission to establish the CTAO ERIC or European Research Infrastructure Consortium. The CTAO ERIC will be the final legal entity of the CTAO that will oversee the construction and operation of the Observatory. This request, known as the “Step 2” application, includes the final version of all the required documentation with the approval of the future CTAO ERIC member countries, as their formal commitment to build and support the Observatory throughout its lifetime. The BGR, comprised of representatives of the future ERIC member countries, is the key committee created to prepare and evaluate documentation for the evolution of CTAO’s legal status from the current gGmbH (under German law) to an ERIC (under European law). +## Conclusion of the preparatory phase + > “With this submission, the preparatory phase to create the CTAO ERIC has concluded. It is now in the hands of the European Commission to ratify the creation of the new legal entity,” explains Prof. Federico Ferrini, Managing Director of the CTAO gGmbH. “The CTAO gGmbH was charged with two main objectives: preparing for construction and achieving the formation of the ERIC. This will be the final, conclusive milestone and, soon, we may declare our tasks achieved, creating the fundaments for the realization of the CTA project!” +## What the Step 2 application includes + As the final step towards the establishment of the ERIC, the Step 2 application’s Statutes describe the provisions governing the ERIC, the rights and obligations of the members, their contribution, tasks and activities, as well as the principles covering the different policies. The application includes the Cost Book and the Scientific & Technical Description of the CTAO, which present the expected construction costs of the Observatory and the construction project’s development and lifecycle, respectively. The submission of the Step 2 application also reinforces the financial and in-kind contribution commitment of the member countries that will form the CTAO ERIC. > “Thanks to the commitment of all countries supporting the construction of the Observatory and the active collaboration of all members of the BGR, as well as the collaboration of the CTAO gGmbH, a long and complex process has been completed successfully on May 31,” says Prof. Aldo Covello, Chair of the BGR. ”We are now ready to start the construction of this important research infrastructure, as soon as the European Commission approves it.” +## Next steps and expected timeline + In the next few months, the European Commission will revise the formal request and prepare its final decision. In this delivery period, the Commission can request additional information. The establishment of the CTAO ERIC is expected to take place in the first half of 2023, which will mark the official start of the Construction and Operation Phase of the CTAO, the first ground-based gamma-ray observatory. diff --git a/src/content/news/brl-detects-volcano-dust-plume.md b/src/content/news/brl-detects-volcano-dust-plume.md index 1f796c8..f9c6500 100644 --- a/src/content/news/brl-detects-volcano-dust-plume.md +++ b/src/content/news/brl-detects-volcano-dust-plume.md @@ -10,12 +10,20 @@ draft: false On September 22, the Barcelona Raman LIDAR (BRL) Pathfinder installed on the CTAO-North site at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) detected the volcano dust plume while monitoring the atmosphere. These are the first results made public by the BRL team and the most accurate results for the characterization of the atmosphere provided by any current operative LIDAR system on-site. +## Observations during the eruption + The observations with the BRL Pathfinder, composed of a powerful laser and a telescope, were carried out between September 18 and 22 2021, covering the eruption of the volcano in Cumbre Vieja (El Paso, southern region of La Palma) on September 19. The data set includes a series of 2000 laser shots into the atmosphere at various zenith angles (from 0o to 60o). From the time required for each shot to travel back to the telescope, it is possible to distinguish the various atmospheric components at each altitude. +## Two aerosol layers identified + Preliminary data reconstruction allows to clearly distinguish two aerosol layers from 1.2 to 1.6 km and from 2.2 to 4.0 km above the CTAO-North site level (3.4 to 3.8 km and 4.4 to 6.2 km above sea level, respectively). The corresponding relation between “backscatter coefficient,” a measure of how light is getting back-scattered during its path through the layer, and the “extinction coefficient,” a measure of how light coming from sky sources is altered as it passes through the different atmosphere layers, indicates the presence of large diameter particles at the lower layer. A similar interpretation could be made when comparing the light extinction at two different wavelengths and deriving the so-called “Ångström coefficient.” This allowed to interpret the lower layer as a dust plume from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, while the upper layer is interpreted as a cloud with typical characteristics for La Palma atmosphere at those altitudes. +## Supporting other instruments and simulations + These results are an important help for other profiling instruments at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, particularly LIDARs, to determine which part of their data can be attributed to the volcano dust plume and which is due to other weather phenomena. It will also help to calibrate dust evolution simulation tools, as those used by the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET, in Spanish), needed to predict with high precision short- and mid-term evolution of the path that the volcanic dust plumes take. +## About the BRL Pathfinder + The BRL Pathfinder, built in Barcelona and installed at the CTAO-North site inside the LST-1 construction area in February 2021, is a key instrument to measure the vertical profiles of aerosol within the atmosphere, fundamental for the calibration of the CTAO telescopes. The system is being tested at the CTAO-North site and, after one year, will be returned to Barcelona for updates based on the data collected. The BRL Pathfinder for the CTAO-North site is a joint project between CTA members from IFAE-BIST (Institute of High Energy Physics – Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology), UAB & IEEC-CERES (Autonomous University of Barcelona & Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia-Center of Space Studies and Research), Center of Astrophysics and Cosmology of the University of Nova Gorica and Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Padova. Paolo Calisse, the CTAO-North Site Manager, serves as the on-site project manager for the instrument. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-cta-project-office-update-dec2018.md b/src/content/news/building-cta-project-office-update-dec2018.md index 900dfb3..0a9e8aa 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-cta-project-office-update-dec2018.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-cta-project-office-update-dec2018.md @@ -8,34 +8,34 @@ cover: /uploads/projectoffice1_small-768x378.png draft: false --- -*By Wolfgang Wild, CTAO Project Manager * +*By Wolfgang Wild, CTAO Project Manager* *(originally published in the [December 2018 Issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/41fe652a9123/cta-newsletter-dec2018))* Building the world’s largest observatory is no small task. It requires meticulous consideration of every aspect of building and maintaining the technology – from funding and foundations to software and safety – and the experience and resources to determine those requirements and plot the path forward. In the past six months, we have been making major strides toward putting all the pieces in place. Here is a summary of some of the main achievements and developments within the Project Office. -Project Office Build-Up +## Project Office build-up CTA is a very large project (in fact, the planned CTA Observatory with up to 120 telescopes on two sites is larger than any existing observatory today) so one of our biggest priorities has been ramping up the CTAO/Project Office, which means we have been vigorously recruiting technical staff. In particular, the Systems Engineering group has been strengthened in the areas of requirements and interface management, system safety and system validation and verification. Additionally, our first staff members have moved into the temporary Science Data Management Centre building in Zeuthen. We still need to strengthen our quality assurance, system integration, configuration management and documentation management so keep an eye out for those positions and more on our [Jobs page](https://www.cta-observatory.org/jobs). -CTA Requirements +## CTA requirements As the requirements are the basis for the project, including those for the development, construction, testing, acceptance and operation of CTA, quite some effort has gone into complementing, revising and finalizing the requirements in the various areas. We have accomplished this through holding several dedicated discussions and workshops over the past year. Since September 2017, the Project Office has held discussions at Project Committee meetings and organized workshops for multiple areas, including OES, DPPS and SUSS. The top-level science requirements have been consolidated into one document and approved by the Project Scientist, and a document that establishes a standard Monte Carlo simulation framework for CTA has been updated and approved. Both documents, which are fundamental for CTA, were endorsed by the CTA Consortium Board in its meeting on 28 Sep 2018 in Berlin. -CTA Simplification and Harmonization +## CTA simplification and harmonization CTA will be a large science infrastructure with a large number of subsystems and units and a high degree of complexity. There are many good reasons to design and implement the simplest and most harmonized system possible. In fact, we are convinced that a high degree of simplification will be a crucial success factor both during construction and operation. This need for harmonization applies to many subsystems and components of the array. In the area of the three proposed Small-Sized Telescope (SST) designs (see below figure), harmonization is of very high importance due to the large number of units to be built, operated and maintained (70 in the baseline scenario). For this reason, the Council mandated that I carry out a procedure to arrive at a single SST design. Thus, the SST harmonization process is underway to decide on a single design for the SST structure, mirrors and camera, with the intention that all current teams will have a well-defined contribution to the final design. On 1 August 2018, a “Request for Information – SST Implementation” was issued by CTAO to the SST teams with responses received by 31 October. The responses will be provided to a panel of external experts, which will be asked to advise CTAO on the SST harmonization, taking into account science, engineering, operations and project management aspects. The panel composition and charges were approved by the CTAO Council in its 13-14 November meeting, and we envisage the SST harmonization review meeting to take place in early 2019. -In-Kind Contribution Documents +## In-Kind Contribution Documents Preparation of the In-Kind Contribution (IKC) documents, the IKC Framework and the IKC Agreement template, has continued. After significant discussion, the IKC Framework document was approved by Council on 20 June 2018 and was provided to the work package leaders. This policy document outlines the rules for IKCs and will be an integral part of any future Call for Expressions of Interest and of future IKC Agreements. The IKC Agreement template draft was prepared by CTAO and is now being discussed by the Administrative and Finance Committee and In-Kind Review Committee. Assuming quick convergence, we aim for Council approval at the Spring 2019 meeting. -Array Site Updates +## Array Site Updates The Project Office, along with the IAC, have prepared the tender documents, including the scope of work for the first phase of the detailed project design for the CTA-North site. This first phase includes the design and construction of the remaining Large-Sized Telescope (LST) foundations and the first Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) foundation and the infrastructure for calibration equipment, as well as roads, power distribution and data networks. A European tender will be published to engage an architect and engineers to provide detailed designs and to undertake the necessary environmental impact assessments of the site. All applications will be reviewed and approved by the local authorities of Villa de Garafia and Cabildo de La Palma prior to starting any form of construction on site. If all goes as planned, the planning approvals should be completed by mid-2019 with the initiation of work on site before the end of 2019. Additionally, the CTAO is in the process of hiring a CTA-North Site Manager and should have a candidate on board very soon. The negotiations for the CTA-South site have concluded, and we plan to start infrastructure detailed design work in 2019. -Construction Schedule +## Construction Schedule We are working hard to collect all the information we need to build a credible and realistic construction schedule. For this, a firm basis is needed in the areas of requirements, system definition, system interface definitions, technical readiness, cost estimate and available funding, among other things. Work has started and is ongoing on the CTA system design, sub-system and interface definitions and cost book update. We are aiming to have the major construction milestone dates defined around March 2019, although the final schedule will depend on the time scale for creating the construction legal entity ERIC. Right now, we’re planning to conduct the first Critical Design Review for the LST in May 2019. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-bibha-chowdhuri.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-bibha-chowdhuri.md index d11ca2d..df79ea3 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-bibha-chowdhuri.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-bibha-chowdhuri.md @@ -12,16 +12,24 @@ This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.ctao.org/ne At a time when India was fighting to break free from the shackles of colonial rule, a brilliant young woman in that very country was quietly fighting her own battles. Bibha Chowdhuri was born in 1913 in Kolkata, in erstwhile British India, into a family of social reformers. The prevailing culture of religious dogmatism and social discrimination at the time prevented women from receiving any education. Amidst such cultural stigma, Bibha’s education was made possible by her progressive upbringing, which enabled her to obtain a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Calcutta in 1936, as the only female student in her class. Later, she would become the first Indian woman to pursue a Ph.D. in physics. These achievements, however, did not mean she had an easy path ahead in her quest to find a position after graduation. It was only after a lot of persuasion, that she was hired to be part of the new cosmic-ray research group of Prof. D.M. Bose in Kolkata. +## Cosmic rays and the mesotron + Bibha’s arrival to the research world came when fundamental particle physics was making rapid progress. In an era before the advent of human-made particle accelerators, cosmic rays coming from outer space were the principal source for studying high-energy interactions. The first part of Bibha’s work involved understanding the nature and composition of the cosmic rays, which nowadays we know are very energetic particles, composed mainly (99%) of protons and helium nuclei. To investigate the effect of the atmosphere on the flux of these particles, Bibha and Bose rode mules together high into the Himalayas to visit stations for their studies — a potentially scandalous act for unmarried Bibha in 1930s India. They set up their experiment at three different altitudes, reaching 4300m! The idea was to expose “halftoned” photographic plates to the cosmic rays for long periods at these altitudes and observe the particle tracks left behind.  The painstaking analysis of these photographic plates hinted at the presence of a hitherto unknown particle, which they believed to be the “mesotron.” They reported their results in four rapid publications in the prestigious journal Nature, and even tried to estimate the mass of this particle. The value of the mass was underestimated, but they were actually quick to caution that their set-up was not sensitive enough to provide accurate measurements and advocated the need for further experiments. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939 led to an embargo in obtaining photographic plates from England, and their research had to be discontinued. In post-war England, Cecil Powell and his group continued these studies using improved photographic plates in balloon and high-aircraft experiments, leading to the detection of a new particle called the “pion,” winning him the Nobel Prize in 1950. Despite Powell’s strong acknowledgement of the work of Bose and Chowdhuri, including in his book “The Study of Elementary Particles by the Photographic Method,” the latter duo was pushed into obscurity. +## Air showers and cloud chambers + Not one to give up, Bibha continued her research by joining the lab of Sir. P.M.S. Blackett in Manchester, UK for her PhD in 1945. At that time, Blackett and his collaborators were studying certain highly energetic components of cosmic rays called “penetrating showers.” Bibha undertook the study of these showers and calculated their density using innovative experimental techniques combining the Wilson cloud chamber and Geiger-Muller counters. Her thesis titled “Extensive Air Showers associated with Penetrating Particles” was submitted in 1949. This was a few months after Blackett had won the Nobel prize “for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation.” It is unclear how much of her work contributed to his award. What is at least known is that her thesis examiners, Janossy and Wilson himself, were impressed enough to recommend her to Dr. Homi Bhabha for a position at the prestigious Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai (TIFR), India. At TIFR, she became the first female faculty member, and was placed in-charge of the Cloud Chamber Group where she continued her investigations on cosmic air showers. Bibha left TIFR in 1954 and spent a few years at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, teaching Physics in French and working with multi-plated cloud chambers in the French Alps. Thereafter, she moved to the U.S., first to the University of Michigan, and then to MIT, collaborating with Prof. Bruno Rossi on prototyping Plastic Scintillators for detecting large air showers. +## Return to India + Upon her return to India, she joined the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad and worked towards setting up the Kolar Gold Field Experiment, which led to the first detection of atmospheric neutrinos. She had plans of setting up further experiments for cosmic ray research in India with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space program. However, these plans had to be abandoned due to the sudden and untimely death of Sarabhai in 1971. Soon after, she left PRL and returned to her birth city, Kolkata, where she was to spend the rest of her days. She remained active in science till her death in 1991. +## A ray of light + Despite her pioneering contributions in the field of cosmic ray research, Bibha received no recognition in India. Only recently, almost three decades after her death, her biography “*Bibha Chowdhuri, eine indische Hochenergiephysikerin als “Star” am Himmel*” (“A Jewel Unearthed: Bibha Chowdhuri” in English) got published by a German press. In 2018, the International Astronomical Union honoured her by naming the white dwarf star HD 86081 “Bibha.” Bibha, which means a “ray of light” in Bengali, will now forever shine bright in the sky! — diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin.md index bde528e..9a05f10 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin.md @@ -18,18 +18,25 @@ This is a question that probably most astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts have And while today we are still working on the answers to the questions about the dark and energetic Cosmos, eagerly awaiting more powerful observatories like the CTAO, for the stars themselves the answer has been found. It was given by one of the most brilliant astronomers of the 20th century, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who in the process of finding the solution to this, and other scientific mysteries, had to prevail against an environment that was heavily discriminating against women, and who, in defeating prejudice and gender discrimination, became a role model and beacon for young scientists to follow in her footsteps. +## Studying at Cambridge and Harvard + An excellent student from early on, Cecilia Payne was awarded in 1919 a scholarship to study at the prestigious Cambridge University. Pursuing physics and chemistry there, her interest in astronomy was kindled among others by Arthur Eddington. Despite being a very good student, Payne was not awarded a formal degree, as for women this would still be impossible for nearly two decades at Cambridge University at that time. Already then, however, there were a few programs in the world to foster the careers of female scientists. One such program had been initiated at Harvard College Observatory, and Cecilia Payne in 1923 became the second scientist that came to Harvard on the fellowship awarded by this program. As time would tell, she was to make some of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the 20th century at Harvard, while at the same time the fellowship would still not grant her equal treatment with her male colleagues. This is a lesson that we as a community could have learned countless times: support for careers is instrumental, but what really needs to change are our attitudes. +## The composition of the stars + Payne’s primary research interest at that time was in the atmospheres of stars and their chemical composition. Scientists had for long identified distinct absorption lines in the spectra of the Sun and other stars. Lines, that to a chemist or physicist are what the lines of a fingerprint are to a criminologist: giveaways that enable a unique identification, in our case of the very elements the stars are made of. The prevailing paradigm at that time was one that may come intuitively: that the composition of the stars, and by extension most matter in the Universe, should be very similar to the abundances observed here on Earth, the only place we can study in great detail. In other words, that the stars should predominantly be made of elements like silicon, oxygen, iron, calcium and sodium. And indeed, those ideas seemingly had one strong argument in their favor: for example, looking at the spectra of many bright stars, the lines of silicon seem to be present in about the strength one would naively expect from their abundance on Earth. Many scientists at that time, including the adviser of Payne during her PhD thesis, Henry Norris Russell (by Hertzsprung-Russell-Diagram fame) thought the case settled. Not so Payne, who by scientific curiosity and intellectual brilliance was able to see beyond the obvious. Using then-new ideas about the ionized states of matter, in her PhD thesis she was able to show without any scientific doubt that the strengths of the absorption lines betrayed much more about the states of ionization of the atoms, than about their relative abundance. Taking this into account, the spectra told a different story: the vast majority of the mass of our Sun, and nearly all stars, consists of elements that are much less abundant Earth’s crust: Hydrogen and Helium. The Earth, in a way, had again been intellectually moved from the center of the Cosmos: neither did the Sun orbit the Earth, nor were the stars even made of the same stuff we are! +## Recognition long denied + Sadly, Payne was initially declined the accolade and admiration of colleagues that should be expected to come with such a monumental discovery, one that should secure her a place in history at the sides of Copernicus, Kepler and Einstein. Russell, not able to overcome long held beliefs, lobbied Payne into a form of scientific self-denial, by noting in her thesis that although her calculations yielded the very results she showed, they seemed to be in contradiction with the obvious. Only towards the end of the 1920s it became more and more acknowledged where the real contradiction was: by those well-established men believing in their worldview above the facts uncovered by a young and brilliant colleague. And despite this and several more seminal contributions by Payne-Gaposchkin to astronomy, it would take until 1945 for the courses she taught at Harvard to become part of the official course catalogue, and until 1956 for her to become the first female full professor at Harvard. +## Changing the attitudes of humans + So, while every day on which we study the composition of the Universe and all the extreme objects it contains we are remembered that all of us are standing on the shoulders of scientific giants like Payne-Gaposchkin, at the same time we must remember the hardships she and others had, and sadly still have, to endure by not being given the equal respect and standing among colleagues that should come with excellent scientific work. Changing the attitudes of humans seems to be at least as difficult as understanding the composition of the Universe. -———- +--- Recommended reading by the author: -– “What Stars Are Made of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin” by D. Moore and J. Bell Burnell - -– Biographic dates available online on the [UCLA Library website](http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/Phase2/Payne-Gaposchkin,_Cecilia_Helena@861234567.html) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne-Gaposchkin). +- “What Stars Are Made of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin” by D. Moore and J. Bell Burnell +- Biographic dates available online on the [UCLA Library website](http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/Phase2/Payne-Gaposchkin,_Cecilia_Helena@861234567.html) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne-Gaposchkin). diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-chien-shiung-wu.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-chien-shiung-wu.md index 498e196..2a92b47 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-chien-shiung-wu.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-chien-shiung-wu.md @@ -14,16 +14,24 @@ Imagine being a Chinese woman born in 1912, at the very beginning of the Xinhai In a dark time for women’s emancipation, Wu was lucky because she lived in a rare spot of light: her mother was a teacher, her father was an engineer and they both strongly believed in gender equality. In particular, her father founded one of the first schools for girls in Jiangsu and he encouraged girls, including his daughter, to join. At the age of 10, Wu had to move to Shangai to continue her studies. In 1929, she was admitted to the Central National University, where she graduated in Physics with the highest honors in 1934. +## Moving to the United States + In 1936, thanks to the economic support of her uncle, Wu moved to the United States after the University of Michigan offered her a scholarship to earn a PhD. Nevertheless, she became attracted to the facilities at Berkley, which hosted the first cyclotron. Thus, she enrolled at the University of Berkley as soon as Professor Lawrence, amazed by her talent, offered her another scholarship for a PhD in Nuclear Physics. She obtained the PhD in Physics in 1940. In 1942, Chien-Shiung Wu married Luke Yuan, Professor Lawrence’s student, and moved to Princeton. There, she had to face the America of that time, where women were not allowed to teach in most universities. Again, Professor Lawrence played a fundamental role in Wu’s life: he recommended her to many prestigious universities and, in the end, she became first woman hired as a faculty member by Princeton’s physics department. During the years that followed, Wu collaborated with prominent and established scientists such as Robert Oppenheimer and Emilio Segrè. The latter made possible a meeting between Wu and Enrico Fermi, who asked her to participate in the Manhattan Project at Columbia University, focused on the process of uranium enrichment. In 1944, she joined the Columbia University in New York City. +## The Wu Experiment + It was at the Columbia University where Wu would carry out what would later be one of her greatest legacies: the Wu Experiment. In 1956, and after a review of some experimental observations regarding new particles, the theoretical physicists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang proposed that, despite what happened with the other fundamental forces in Physics, the conservation of the so-called “parity” was violated in the weak interactions, responsible for the radioactive decay in subatomic particles (this force plays a fundamental role in the nuclear fusion that takes place, for example, inside stars). In order to demonstrate the theory, it was necessary to execute a challenging experiment. Professor Lawrence, who once described Wu as the most talented female experimental physicist he had ever known stated, “She would make any laboratory shine!” This reputation is why the two scientists asked Professor Wu to deal with the experiment. Parity implies that the properties of a system in a frame of reference keep unchanged in the frame of reference mirrored with respect to an axis. Wu’s experiment spun radioactive cobalt-60 nuclei at temperatures close to absolute zero (-273.15 ℃), aligned within a uniform magnetic field. In doing so, the cobalt is transformed into another element through the emission of an electron, process known as beta decay. If parity was preserved, the electrons would shoot off in a certain direction. If, on the contrary, the electrons did not follow the predicted direction, parity would not be conserved. The experiment proved that they did not, therefore the violation of parity was demonstrated for weak interactions. +## The Nobel and Wolf Prizes + It was a revolutionary result for Nuclear Physics. In 1957, Lee and Yang received the Nobel Prize for *“their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles,”* while Chien-Shiung Wu was overlooked by the prize committee. Nonetheless, in 1978, she won the first Wolf Prize in Physics *“for her persistent and successful exploration of the weak interaction which helped establish the precise form and the non-conservation of parity for this new natural force.”*  The Wolf Prize is considered one of the most prestigious awards in various fields, including Physics, in which only two of the 68 laureates since 1978 have been women. +## An inspirational legacy + She retired in 1981 and became a professor emerita at the Columbia University. After that, she travelled around the world to talk about how dedication and determination allowed her to become part of something that is still a highly gendered field. In this way, she became an inspirational figure for girls and women all around the globe. Wu teaches us that in STEM, as well as in every field, we always have to be ourselves, to show ourselves as we excel and to fight for our rights so that our capacities and the value of our work are the only parameters on which we can be judged. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-frank-kameny.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-frank-kameny.md index b3cc826..b904c3b 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-frank-kameny.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-frank-kameny.md @@ -14,18 +14,24 @@ This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.ctao.org/ne It is likely that Frank Kameny, who was born in 1925 in New York City, did not think about activism in his early life. It was only after experiencing discrimination in his pursuit to explore the Universe, that he ended up becoming one of the most committed LGBTQIA+ rights movement activists of the past century. +## A career in astronomy + In fact, after World War II, he followed his passion for the stars and space and, under the supervision of the eminent astronomer and physicist [Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin](https://www.cta-observatory.org/building-from-diversity-article-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin/), earned a PhD in Astronomy at Harvard University. His thesis was based on the observation and photoelectric measurements of RV Tau stars and yellow semiregular variables from 1952 to 1954. He then started teaching at Georgetown University and later became an astronomer at the U.S. Army Map Service in 1957. However, despite his excellent education and work, Frank Kameny was fired after a few months from the Army, when they discovered that he had previously been arrested because of his homosexuality or what they called “lewd conduct.” Unfortunately, in that period, he was one of many people fired due to discriminatory policies against homosexuality followed at the time. After losing his appeal, he was barred from applying for any other federal employment for three years. This was quite the paradox considering his education and profession were in high demand at the time in the “race to space.” But it was this rejection that ignited his passion for what became his life-long commitment to fighting injustice. +## Becoming an activist + Between 1958 and 1959, while he struggled to work in academia and private industry under difficult financial conditions as money was barely sufficient for food, he discovered the Mattachine Society, a secret organization that advocated for homosexual rights. In 1965, he helped the Society organize a protest in front of the White House, the first to be organized by a homosexual organization in Washington DC. Together with the Mattachine Society, Kameny also planned the first Pride Parade in New York in 1970. In the same years, he supported many employees that were fired only because of their sexuality and acted as a first point of contact to mediate with lawyers. Moreover, he used his name to write letters condemning homophobic behaviours – a brave and strong message in times when very few dared to disclose their sexual orientation. And in 1973, Kameny joined forces with Barbara Gittings, leader of LGBTQIA+ rights movement, to take his activism even further by successfully challenging the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. +## A lasting legacy + Kameny’s story is an inspiration to many for a variety of reasons the first being for his courage, teaching us that no-one should give up their true self and should fight for the right to be themselves, even if they often stand alone against many more formidable opponents. He also teaches us commitment, integrity and perseverance by bringing his determination and skill to his fight for equality. Finally, Kameny teaches us that one voice can be powerful but many are a force for change – his collaboration with many other activists to create a network to raise awareness about sexual orientation and diversity helped create a foundation for activism and change that we continue to build upon today. Thus, Kameny’s legacy, which started in Astronomy and led to him becoming one of the most significant figures in the LGBTQIA+ movement, was and still is fundamental to achieve an inclusive society and scientific field. Nowadays, there is still a lot of work to do in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics): A recent study (Cech and Waidzunas, 2021) on LGBTQIA+ workers in STEM workplaces reports that they are more likely to experience episodes of harassment and social marginalization. Moreover, the loss of career opportunities and devaluation of their work are also common experiences. As a consequence, many LGBTQIA+ professionals (22%) have thought to leave the STEM field, thus leading to a loss of knowledge, experience and technological innovation in the scientific area. Therefore, it is key to continue making inclusion one of the core rights of all working environments. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-henrietta-swan-leavitt.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-henrietta-swan-leavitt.md index be4e059..2a1c407 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-henrietta-swan-leavitt.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-henrietta-swan-leavitt.md @@ -12,12 +12,18 @@ This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.cta-observa Nowadays, the strategy for measuring the distance of remote astronomical objects with respect to the planet Earth is based on the so-called “distance ladder” [1]. It is a sequence of different measurement methods, relying on various physics phenomena. The most interesting aspect is that every method works only in a specific range of distance, and this is why we need a sequence of several steps (exactly as in a ladder) to reach very faraway objects. Fortunately, every step overlaps with both the previous and the next one, so it is possible to obtain a resulting ladder which is well calibrated. Today, this approach allows us to measure the huge distances in the Universe, which is an issue that has challenged astronomers of all epochs. Several scientists gave their contribution in the realization of the “distance ladder.” In particular, a crucial result was achieved in 1908 by a brilliant woman astronomer: Henrietta Swan Leavitt. As we will learn through her story, her findings helped solve the fundamental problem of measuring the distance between distant objects in space. Similarly, the story of her life is still probably helping us today in solving the embarrassing problem of the cultural distance between the role of men and women in science. +## The Great Debate and standard candles + At the beginning of the 20th century, astronomers were still wondering if some of the cosmic objects they observed, which at that time looked like “nebulae,” were part of the Milky Way or if, on the contrary, they were extragalactic sources. This so-called “Great Debate” [2] relied on the  incapability to measure their distance. The only methods available for measuring distances at that moment were based on triangulation and parallax, but those objects were too far for these approaches to work (nowadays, we know they were galaxies, whose distances are actually hundreds of times larger than the size of the Milky Way). In general, when we look at an astronomical object, we record a light intensity (the *magnitude*) which is affected by the distance of the source. If we knew the intrinsic light emission (the *luminosity*), then we could calculate the distance of the source with just one equation, but the problem is that usually it is impossible to have such information in advance. The only chance is to discover a “standard candle,” a class of cosmic source characterized by having the same intrinsic luminosity. In this scenario, the magnitude of such an object can be used to calculate its distance using the laws of light propagation, because we already know its intrinsic luminosity. This intriguing possibility became feasible in 1908, when the first standard candle of astronomy was unexpectedly discovered, thanks to the intuition and the hard work of Leavitt, an insightful and tenacious woman. +## The Harvard Computers and Cepheids + Between 1877 and 1919, the director of the Harvard College Observatory was Edward Charles Pickering. He was a famous member of the Royal Astronomical Society and he decided to focus his research on the study of stellar photometry and spectroscopy, two disciplines based on the analysis of light intensity and frequency components, respectively. At that time, the analysis of astronomical sources was carried out using *photographic plates*, whose examination required a lot of time and experience. Moreover, excellent math skills were fundamental to work in astronomy, as there were no electronic devices to make calculations. For this reason, Pickering chose to recruit over 80 women to work for him, a group that later would be known as the “Harvard Computers.” In the team there was a young woman graduated in the Radcliffe College, Henrietta Swan Leavitt. She was tasked with examining a huge amount of data concerning the brightness of variable stars, objects whose emission presents a periodic variation in time (known as *period*). In particular, she focused on the “Cepheid variables,” a class of periodic objects presenting the same features of the star Delta Cephei. In 1908, she published her results about almost 2000 variable stars, noting a new unexpected relationship: The brighter the star,  the longer its period [3]. In the following years, she looked more carefully at this curious relation, focusing on 25 Cepheids belonging to the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. As they were approximately at the same distance, their differences in magnitude (the observed brightness) had to correspond to real differences in intrinsic luminosity. Henrietta analyzed her data sample considering this situation and found out a very surprising relation: the logarithm of the period is proportional to the logarithm of average luminosity. This typical feature of Cepheids constitutes a very powerful relation for astronomers! Following Henrietta’s prescriptions, one can calculate the intrinsic luminosity of a Cepheid and hence its distance, simply by measuring the period of its magnitude variation. This discovery constituted a giant leap in the realization of the “distance ladder” for measuring the position of remote astronomical objects. +## The Leavitt law and cosmological distances + The period-luminosity relationship for Cepheids discovered by Henrietta was published in 1912 in a paper by Pickering [4], although the first sentence indicated that it was “prepared by Miss Leavitt.” This relation allowed to develop the modern understanding of cosmological distances and the Universe structure, being an effective method to accurately measure distances on an inter-galactic scale. In particular, when Cepheids were identified in the Andromeda Constellation [5] the “Leavitt law” allowed to definitely affirm that those “nebulae” were not part of the Milky Way, but galaxies themselves. The Harvard College Observatory became a premiere observatory in the world and several scientists said that Leavitt deserved the Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking research. Unfortunately, she died very young in 1921, at the age of 53. Her death was seen as a tragedy by other astronomers, not only for her scientific skills, but also because “she had the happy, joyful, faculty of appreciating all that was worthy and lovable in others, and was possessed of a nature so full of sunshine that, to her, all of life became beautiful and full of meaning” [6]. ———- diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-jocelyn-bell.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-jocelyn-bell.md index 309f520..dd27fe0 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-jocelyn-bell.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-jocelyn-bell.md @@ -14,14 +14,22 @@ The story of Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s discovery of pulsars is one of the best kn The bit of scruff turned out to be what is now known as pulsar PSR B1919+21, the rapidly rotating neutron star that is the collapsed core of a massive star, just a few kilometres across and spinning with a period of 1.3 seconds. The jet of radiation from this neutron star was what was being measured as the pulsing radio signal. Of course, at the time this was a completely new phenomenon. Subsequently, the consequences for astrophysics were profound. However, right then, even proving that the signal seen on the chart recorder was coming from a cosmic source and was not interference was challenge enough. Trawling through many metres of paper from the chart recorder, Jocelyn was looking for faint signals on a noisy background that repeated at the sidereal rate (i.e., 23hr 56m), rather than the solar rate (i.e., 24 hrs). Once the team were convinced that the source was indeed cosmic, and not terrestrial in origin, they then jokingly dubbed it LGM (little green men, later LGM-1 as a second was found), so unexpected and unusual it was, seemingly more akin to an artificial signal that a natural one. +## A less well-known story + This story is well known, many articles, discussions, even TV programmes, have been devoted to it. Not so well known is the story of how Jocelyn learnt where on the sky her remarkable new object lies. As a radio astronomer, working through the day (as well as the night!) the stars are not visible to the eye. How does one recognise the constellation (Vulpecula – the little fox) that the source is found in? Jocelyn wanted to know. +## Origins in Armagh + Here Jocelyn’s origins from Northern Ireland come in. She lived in Lurgan in County Armagh. Her father, Philip Bell, was the architect for Armagh Observatory, one of the world’s oldest optical observatories, one that has been in continuous use since its foundation in 1790. Architect here was an official government position with responsibilities for looking after the observatory building, not actually designing it. Jocelyn had grown up experiencing Armagh Observatory from the inside, including following her father around the ducts under the roofing when he was fixing leaks and making repairs! In the mid-60’s the Armagh Observatory Director, Eric Lindsay, had, following a 2-decade campaign, managed to raise the funds to add a Planetarium to the Observatory, to meet the growing demand for public outreach alongside its scientific mission. Joceyln’s father then became the architect for the Planetarium as well, responsible for designing its innovative, striking dome.  In turn, the Dome became an iconic symbol of the space age in Armagh for this was also the era of the Apollo Moon programme and featured strongly in the Planetarium’s public programmes. +## A Christmas visit to the Planetarium + PSR B1919+21 was discovered on 28 November 1967. The next month Jocelyn was back home in Armagh, and with her family, for Christmas. The Planetarium had just been completed. The roof was in place and, protected from leaks, the first projector (a GOTO Mars projector from Japan) freshly installed under the guidance of the Planetarium’s first Director, Patrick Moore (who later became an icon himself as the presenter of the BBC’s Sky at Night).  Jocelyn, of course, wanted to see the new Planetarium, even though it had not yet opened to the public. She also wanted to know the location of her LGM on the sky. Vulpecula is in fact neatly sited in the middle of the Summer Triangle – the asterism made up by the three bright stars of Altair, Deneb and Vega. So, while it is a rather modest constellation with no stars in it that are brighter than 4th magnitude, Vulpecula can be readily located in the sky using the Summer Triangle as a guide. So, Patrick Moore was well able to show Jocelyn where the constellation lay. However, the reason why Jocelyn was so interested in Vulpecula had to remain a mystery, for she could not then tell the story of the LGM.  It remained a secret, only known to the research team! +## The Planetarium’s 50th anniversary + The reason for this is, of course, now history, for it was the location of the first known pulsar! Half-a-century later, when the Armagh Planetarium was celebrating its 50th anniversary, we were honoured by Jocelyn visiting us and telling the story of her own first there and of finding where Vulpecula is on the Dome. We even recorded a short planetarium show where she narrates this story and we show you Vulpecula in the Summer Triangle using our very latest Digistar projector, now in the age of the digital planetarium and the immersive experience it provides! diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-margherita-hack.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-margherita-hack.md index 205f85a..d61fc2d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-margherita-hack.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-margherita-hack.md @@ -14,16 +14,24 @@ Smiling, attentive, inclusive, caustic. Able to explain complex ideas using a simple language. Widely known and easily recognizable by many. Lover of animals and bicycles. Driven by the desire to always go a step further, by the curiosity to understand and explain something that is still a mystery. Always ready to get involved and to do it with her own hands. Aware of our place in the Universe: a small, inhabited grain of sand. +## A milestone for women in science + This, and much more, was Margherita Hack, or Marga to her husband and close friends. She was born in Florence in 1922, where she studied in the 1940s, during the Second World War, with a thesis in observational astronomy. She worked a few years at the Brera Observatory of Milan where she did not find the equipment and support she would have liked. Finally, in 1964, she won the chair of Astrophysics at the University of Trieste, which brought as a “gift” the position of Director of the Astronomical Observatory. Lo and behold: Margherita Hack became the first woman in Italy to run an Astronomical Observatory! A milestone for women in science. Under her leadership, the observatory would turn from a small, provincial institute to a lively and active international research center. +## The first statue in Italy + It is difficult then to know which of her characteristics captured more the imagination of the Deloitte Foundation when they selected her as the “role model” – a female scientist for whom they would erect a statue, the first in Italy, where statues of women already exist but as goddesses and madonnas, representations of ideals or abstract concepts. I was honoured to be involved in [the selection process](https://www2.deloitte.com/it/it/pages/about-deloitte/articles/una-scultura-per-margherita-hack-a-milano---deloitte.html), in a diverse panel of artists, municipality managers, scientists and various intellectual figures. Sissi, the winning artist, inspired her design in the long periods spent listening to Margherita’s voice,  becoming identified with her,  understanding her essence. And finally, on June 13, her work was unveiled, which the city of Milan has destined to the gardens facing the Università Statale. The statue will be seen by thousands of students passing by as they seek their own path in life, every day. +## Her results and impact + We will ask ourselves, in the years to come, how effective this statue of Margherita has been as a reference and as a role model for girls and boys. As we reflect on why her figure  is so representative, we are aware that Margherita Hack did not make any particular scientific discoveries, even if her work is highly respectable, like that of many colleagues. However, she achieved her results and made an impact by keeping an open eye towards the world and innovation. For example, she did not have an easy life at the Brera Observatory, because she did not appreciate the study of classical astronomy, then carried out by her colleagues with the Merate telescopes. However, through collaborations – mostly international ones, from France to Holland and then again in the United States, from Berkeley to Princeton – she learnt and developed the study of spectroscopy as a tool to investigate the physical state of celestial sources. In the 1970s and 1980s, she took advantage of the IUE mission (a satellite for observation in the ultraviolet band) to revamp the Trieste Observatory, involving it in international research and pushing it towards one of the most cutting-edge disciplines of contemporary astrophysics: space science. She was a real manager. She knew how to unite the people working in the institute and to push them in their career, fostering their independence. Always active in the communication of science to the general public, from print media to books and later television, she became even more active in outreach after her retirement, from the direction of the Observatory in 1987 and then, ten years later, from the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Trieste. In her relationship with the public, she showed an uncommon capacity for inclusion and openness. She was always attentive to the rights of all, fighting battles for civil and minorities rights. I think that much of her attention to others, and also the ability to not fall victim to stereotypes, comes from her family atmosphere and environment. She came from a non-traditional family in which, for political reasons (during intense fascist times), had a father that did not work, but lives peacefully the fact that it is the wife who provides for the sustenance of the family. Therefore, she had a caring father, but also the influence of broad cultural views and a proponent of freedom. They were also a vegetarian family out of respect for animals. In short, I suspect that Margherita didn’t even experience stereotypes in her childhood, and this made it, perhaps, an easier task for her to care for all. +## The right gesture to remember + Today, I wonder if the one represented in the statue is the right gesture to remember the work of an astrophysicist who has always looked at the essence of things (spectroscopy, in fact, to put it in scientific terms) and not at the appearance or classification (the “classical” astronomer who measures the positions of stars in the sky). I urge our scientific community to devise in the next few years a new gesture that represents the work we do here, today, with large telescopes and observatories such as CTAO. A gesture that is able to simultaneously grasp the charm of the knowledge of refined detail and the complexity of the framework in which it is inserted.   * * Certainly, I would like to emphasize that Margherita Hack was not a “genius” in the sense of being so out of the ordinary as to be unattainable, inimitable. Margherita is each and every one of us, with her bad temper, when needed, with her smiles, all the more often, with the desire and tenacity to get, with the curiosity to find her own way, the desire to make things with her own hands. May the Universe continue to teach us new facts. She is a symbol, a model, an “undisputed myth,” a recognizable and accessible figure. And don’t forget: “Heaven has always been an open book,” as the commemorative plaque says. Let’s keep learning how to read it. @@ -36,7 +44,7 @@ Italian: [https://it.pearson.com/mystem.html#hack](https://it.pearson.com/mystem.html#hack) Margherita Hack. la storia dietro il mito [for kids] -[https://edu.inaf.it/rubriche/libri/natae-in-via-delle-cento-stelle/](https://edu.inaf.it/rubriche/libri/natae-in-via-delle-cento-stelle/) *Nata in via delle cento stelle *Federico Taddia Mondadori – +[https://edu.inaf.it/rubriche/libri/natae-in-via-delle-cento-stelle/](https://edu.inaf.it/rubriche/libri/natae-in-via-delle-cento-stelle/) *Nata in via delle cento stelle* Federico Taddia Mondadori – [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLOvtkg4JUQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLOvtkg4JUQ) 1922-2022: 100 anni di Margherita Hack | Editoriale Scienza diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-milla-baldo.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-milla-baldo.md index feca0dc..ada61f7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-milla-baldo.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-milla-baldo.md @@ -12,14 +12,22 @@ This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.ctao.org/ne It was 1952 and Massimilla Baldo Ceolin, called Milla, was a young and determined girl who just graduated in Physics in Padua with an experimental thesis on the properties of one of the few subnuclear particles known at that time, the pion. Did she ever imagined that, some years later, in 1963, she would be the first woman to become a full professor at Padua University, one of the oldest Universities in the world? +## Subnuclear physics and cosmic rays + In her vigorous career, Milla’s research was devoted to subnuclear physics, the study of particles smaller than the atomic nucleus. Milla was particularly concerned with the weak force, one of the four fundamental interactions together with gravitational, electromagnetic and strong forces. In those fervent post-war years, theories, models, brilliant intuitions and amazing discoveries followed each other, and innovative experiments were devised and designed all over the world. These years were lived with great enthusiasm, but with very few means available. Italian physicists had the vital need to continue the legacy of Bruno Rossi, one of the fathers of cosmic-ray studies who had been ignominiously forced to leave Padua due to racial laws in 1938. To search for new subatomic particles, a cheap and clever method was to send instruments on balloons at high altitudes and study the interaction of the atmosphere with energetic particles of extraterrestrial origin, cosmic rays. This was also the method adopted by Milla in her first years of research, when she stood out for her determination, patience and analytical skills – important qualities needed to identify and characterize the numerous traces left by cosmic ray particles on nuclear emulsion plates. She was fragile and delicate in appearance, but, during her active and prolific life, she showed great determination, tenacity, energy and strength of character, qualities that certainly helped her in her career. She was also a brilliant and unconventional experimentalist, always trying to think “out of the box.” With this spirit, when one of the first synchrotron accelerators became available in the late 1950s, Milla had the idea of exposing nuclear emulsion plates to a pion beam. One of the most important results of her career came soon after: the discovery of the “strange” particle antilambda. +## The elusive neutrino + Milla was an avid traveller, too. In the early 1960s, she participated in several experiments aimed at investigating the properties of the weak force in Argonne, CERN and Moscow. In the mid 1960s Milla started to focus her attention on another weakly interacting particle: the neutrino. Neutrinos are elusive subatomic particles that were theoretically proposed in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli but experimentally detected only in 1956. Her studies on neutrinos brought her enthusiasm and vitality to the main European facilities: in Aachen, Germany, at CERN and the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy. By then, Milla’s authority and competence was internationally known and led her to lead the Padua section of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) from 1965 to 1968 and the Physics Department from 1973 to 1978. +## Social battles and the golden mimosa + Art lover and mountain enthusiast, Milla was also involved in social battles that have marked the history of Italy’s post-war period, especially in the defense of democracy and the emancipation of women. She was proud of the golden mimosa she had received as recognition from the Union of Women in Italy, an association for political, social, and cultural promotion. Since 1946, the golden mimosa flower has been traditionally given to women on Women’s Day (8 March) in Italy. The tree has a beautiful golden bloom that, despite its delicate appearance, can grow in the most difficult conditions – a fitting representation for women like Milla! +## A lasting legacy + Today Milla’s legacy lives on in the prominent Neutrino Telescope conference. Inaugurated in 1988, this biennial conference in Venice has become the fixed appointment for hundreds of physicists who meet in the splendid setting of the Italian city of art to discuss the most recent findings related to neutrino physics and astrophysics. — diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-mirjana-povic.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-mirjana-povic.md index e1a5a30..4724256 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-mirjana-povic.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-mirjana-povic.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/outreach-and-education/astrodiversity/building-from-diversity/)” project. *Written by Isabel Márquez, Deputy Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA) and Scientific Director of the Severo Ochoa Project at IAA, and Josefa Masegosa, Senior Staff Researcher at IAA (Spain)* +## Growing up in Serbia + Born in Serbia in 1981, Mirjana Pović excelled in primary school, where she loved mathematics and biology. Very early on she was delighted by observing the stars in the night sky. Starting when she was nine, she grew and became an adolescent embedded in the Yugoslav wars and their consequences. She said that “when you grow up in chaos, with so many unanswered questions, you feel so constricted, so locked in, that reading books, walking in nature and looking up at the night sky is a way to escape so much madness.” +## From astrophysics to Africa + Thus, Mirjana decided to study Astrophysics, expecting to understand the processes behind the beauty of the night skies. With the encouragement of her family, and the required grants, she earned her PhD in extragalactic astrophysics at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain. And this is where her childhood passion for Africa bloomed – amazed by its beauty and diversity but disturbed by the inequalities. Her desire to help, led her to Tanzania to teach in the slums, and to instil in the children that education can change their lives.  After her thesis, she spent a year as a postdoc in South Africa, at the University of Durban. She came to Granada (Spain) for a meeting about Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and she was offered a postdoc at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), where she spent six years. She never stopped her involvement with the various projects already started in Africa, spending her holidays there to do volunteer work with children. During her many humanitarian trips, she also made contacts with young African astrophysicists trying to develop the discipline in their own countries, like Rwanda and Ethiopia. Finally, she decided to move to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in 2016 as a researcher in the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute. Recruited for her experience in the field and knowledge of Africa, she is the only woman and the only European on the team. Since 2016, she has been working hard to develop the space sector in Ethiopia, sometimes under very difficult conditions, including the ongoing civil war in the region of Tigray, northern Ethiopia. +## Impact in Ethiopia and beyond + Despite the challenges, she has made an enormous impact on the academic and societal conditions in Ethiopia and throughout the continent through her contributions to the organisation of the institute; the country’s science sector strategy for the next 20 years; the generation of skills in astronomy and space science, technology and research; the popularisation of astronomy among the general public; and the inclusion of women and girls in science. Mirjana organised an IAU symposium on AGN for the first time in Addis Ababa in October 2019, the third IAU symposium held in Africa. She also has supervised more than 20 master and PhD students. Among other responsibilities, she serves currently as a secretary of the IAU Division C on Education, Outreach and Heritage. In 2019, she promoted the “STEM for GIRLS in Ethiopia” initiative, with the aim to inspire more girls to do science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In collaboration with the African Astronomical Society, she co-founded the African Network of Women in Astronomy, and has been its main coordinator since its establishment in 2020. +## Awards and recognition + Among the various awards Mirjana has received for such an amazing and impressive body of work, there are two that stand out for their international scope: The first, awarded in 2018, was the “Nature Research’s Inspiring Science Award” for which she impressed judges with her capacity to excel in her own research, as well as with the depth and breadth of her efforts in Africa to encourage women and girls in science. The second was the Inaugural 2021 Jocelyn Bell Burnell Inspiration Medal from the European Astronomical Society, awarded to Mirjana for her work in developing astronomy, science and education as a route out of poverty and to improve the quality of life for young people in Africa. Both are a result of Mirjana Pović’s deep conviction that through education, science and technology we can combat poverty in the long term and make our world a better place for everyone. — diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-sally-ride.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-sally-ride.md index 578a201..9e2e7ae 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-sally-ride.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-sally-ride.md @@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ When I was a child, I wanted to be an astronaut. I love to talk about it. I am p I remember when I was still at school, deciding which Bachelor’s degree to pursue. I checked all the requirements to be an astronaut on the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) webpages. Unfortunately, I came across something that could potentially destroy my dream of becoming an astronaut: myopia. Myopia is a common vision condition that can be described as blurred vision when an object moves further away from a person. The webpage states it clearly: an astronaut candidate needs to have perfect vision. Astronaut candidates must not have a history of having glasses, contact lenses, laser or eye surgery. In my eyes, this was the end of my dream. I am still wondering if something has changed, in the meanwhile…never say never! +## The first American woman in space + In January 1977, Sally Ride experienced a similar feeling while finishing her PhD in Physics, spotting an article in a newspaper advertising that NASA was recruiting a new group of astronauts for the Space Shuttle program and that – for the first time – women could apply! She knew immediately she wanted to fly into space. Ride was one of the 8,079 applications received by NASA, and despite the competition, she became the first American woman and third woman ever to go to space. +## Role models for girls in science + Before we go any further, let us take a step back. Before Sally Ride decided to study Physics and become an astronaut, she was working towards a career as a tennis player. Her perfect physical shape actually helped her pass the astronaut selection process. During this period, she met Tam Elizabeth O’Shaughnessy, a tennis player and scientific writer, who was her partner in life for 27 years, until her death in 2012. Sally and Tam became growingly concerned about the lack of women in science. They understood that girls needed more role models to pursue and succeed in this field. As Sally liked to say, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” This is a quote that is still valid nowadays as it was more than 40 years ago. In fact, as the first American female astronaut assigned to a space shuttle crew, Sally got the attention of the media and had to deal with questions like “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?”. She stayed calm and answered, “How come nobody ever asks Rick these questions?” Rick Hauck, her crew mate. +## Founding Sally Ride Science + In 2001, Sally and Tam founded the non-profit organisation “Sally Ride Science.” They created programs to inspire girls and boys of all backgrounds in science. Today, the “Sally Ride Science” is part of the University of California, San Diego, where Sally became a Professor in Physics after leaving NASA. The year after Sally died, Tam accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama on behalf of Sally, the American highest civilian honor. Sally Ride was, and still is, a role model in the scientific field for the generations that followed her (including mine). She was not only a pioneer in space travel, helping open that field to other women, but she was also a scientist committed to gender equity, promoting the scientific career among girls and women, and encouraging young people to stay in science as they go through their career. She is one of the leading figures on which we build the future in science. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-vera-rubin.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-vera-rubin.md index b3bb89b..060dec5 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-vera-rubin.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-article-vera-rubin.md @@ -12,29 +12,37 @@ This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.ctao.org/ne A whopping 95% of the Universe is hidden! The visible, or baryonic, matter that we are familiar with accounts for a mere 5% of the Universe, while the rest comprises “dark matter” (27%) and “dark energy” (68%). +## First evidence for dark matter + While the fact that dark matter exists is supported with irrefutable evidence today, just a few decades ago, this idea was unthinkable. In 1933, astronomer Fritz Zwicky discovered a glaring discrepancy in the mass of galaxies in the Coma Cluster inferred from the light observed and the total mass calculated from the rotational velocities of the galaxies, which for obscure reasons ended up being much higher. Though Zwicky correctly attributed this difference in mass to invisible matter, there was, unfortunately, insufficient technology available to back up his claims. Decades later, Vera Rubin, a preeminent American astronomer, opened a window to the field of dark matter by presenting concrete observational evidence to the astronomy community, which eventually forced them to take the argument seriously. The story of how the life of Vera Rubin is intriguing and an inspiration for many generations to come. In 1963, on a clear night at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, Vera Rubin and her collaborator, Kent Ford, looked at the spectra of young, hot stars in our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, to measure their speeds about the center of the galaxy. Having shown in her prior work that galaxies rotate about a central point, Rubin was passionate to learn more about the motion of the stars in a galaxy. Thanks to Ford’s new image tube spectrograph, there was a drastic reduction in the exposure time, and they were able to obtain multiple (4-5) spectra each night. On the first night, as Rubin alternated between developing the images that Ford observed and eating ice cream, she realized that she had stumbled upon a puzzling mystery— the rotational curves she obtained seemed to indicate that the speeds of the stars in the outer parts of the galaxy were quite high, enough to fling them out of the gravitational pull of the galaxy! And yet, these stars remained in stable orbits. In a spiral galaxy like the Andromeda, where most of the light (and therefore, the corresponding mass) is concentrated in the central regions, one would expect from Newtonian physics that objects at larger radii would have lower orbital velocities due to a reduced gravitational force, much like the planets in our solar system. However, the flat rotational curves, indicating a constant orbital speed with distance, hinted at the existence of a form of matter in the outer regions of the galaxies that was invisible. Through painstaking work, Rubin continued to measure the speeds of more than 60 galaxies, all of which also showed flat rotation curves. While it was far from a smooth ride, eventually, Rubin was successful in throwing light on the existence of dark matter. +## Curiosity and early education + Rubin’s curiosity and love for the Cosmos was highly palpable right from a young age; 11-year-old Rubin loved looking at the stars from her bedroom window, and she took pride in building a telescope from scratch with the help of her father. After completing her bachelor’s degree as the only astronomy student at the all-women’s Vassar College, Rubin applied for and was denied admission at Princeton University, which was not accepting female students at the time. She instead pursued her master’s at Cornell University, where she focused on studying the large-scale velocity distribution of galaxies and later earned her PhD in Astronomy from Georgetown University. +## Overcoming gender discrimination + Throughout Rubin’s career, as was typical of the time and, sadly, to a large extent even today, gender discrimination was highly prevalent. In fact, this was apparent in Rubin’s life quite early on. Not only did her high school physics teacher ignore the girl students in the class, but when Rubin informed him of her acceptance into Vassar College, her teacher replied, “You should do OK as long as you stay away from science.” She did not let such incidents deter her, however, and was an active champion of women’s rights and gender equality. At conferences, for example, she would call ahead to make sure that women were included in the mix of keynote speakers. In 1965, a time when women were not granted access to state-of-the-art telescopes such as the Palomar, Rubin not only became the first woman to gain access to Palomar, but she also played a key role in helping women gain access to the bathrooms and living quarters at the observatory, which were otherwise reserved only for men. With abundant passion and the support of her family, Rubin overcame every obstacle and kept pushing the boundaries of the male-dominated academia. +## A cornerstone of dark matter research + Rubin’s work was the cornerstone of dark matter research. Her findings revealed a large missing chunk of the Universe and opened up a new field for the following generations of astronomers to explore. Her unparalleled contributions to this field should have truly won her a Nobel prize! With the aid of cutting-edge telescopes, we know today that dark matter does not emit or absorb light, which makes it invisible to conventional detectors. It is present in large halos around galaxies and binds luminous matter together in gravitationally bound structures. Dark matter is most likely made of non-baryonic, exotic particles such as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) which still require detection. Powerful, next-generation observatories with superior sensitivities such as the CTAO will be instrumental in helping us understand the true nature and distribution of dark matter in the Universe. A much respected and beloved mentor, Rubin was heavily involved in ensuring her students received credit for their work. In fact, in her biography, she recalls a time when she refused to get her paper published when she was informed that her students’ names would not be included in it. Always caring for and willing to lend a helping hand to others, Vera Rubin will forever be remembered as a kind person and an inspiring mentor. -Rubin always said, “Don’t let anyone keep you down for silly reasons such as who you are, and don’t worry about prizes and fame. The real prize is finding something new out there.” +> Rubin always said, “Don’t let anyone keep you down for silly reasons such as who you are, and don’t worry about prizes and fame. The real prize is finding something new out there.” And she was a living embodiment of her advice. -———- +--- -1. Rubin, V. C. (n.d.).*AA49-Frontmatter Ari 9 August 2011 16:7 – annualreviews.org*. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from [https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-astro-081710-102545](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-astro-081710-102545) -2. Pinkerton, B., & Hassenfeld, N. (2021, August 17).*Astronomers were skeptical about dark matter – until Vera Rubin came along*. Vox. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/22576927/vera-rubin-dark-matter-astronomy-biography -3. Siegel, E. (2019, July 23).*Happy birthday to Vera Rubin: The mother of our dark matter universe*. Forbes. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/07/23/happy-birthday-to-vera-rubin-the-mother-of-our-dark-matter-universe/?sh=2d8542306135 +1. Rubin, V. C. (n.d.). *AA49-Frontmatter Ari 9 August 2011 16:7 – annualreviews.org*. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from [https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-astro-081710-102545](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-astro-081710-102545) +2. Pinkerton, B., & Hassenfeld, N. (2021, August 17). *Astronomers were skeptical about dark matter – until Vera Rubin came along*. Vox. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/22576927/vera-rubin-dark-matter-astronomy-biography +3. Siegel, E. (2019, July 23). *Happy birthday to Vera Rubin: The mother of our dark matter universe*. Forbes. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/07/23/happy-birthday-to-vera-rubin-the-mother-of-our-dark-matter-universe/?sh=2d8542306135 4. Neta A. Bahcall. Dark matter universe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(40):12243–12245, 2015. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1516944112. -5. Childers, T. (2019, June 11).*Vera Rubin: The astronomer who brought dark matter to light*. Space.com. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.space.com/vera-rubin.html +5. Childers, T. (2019, June 11). *Vera Rubin: The astronomer who brought dark matter to light*. Space.com. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.space.com/vera-rubin.html 6. *Vera Rubin on dark matter: A factor of ten: AMNH*. American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/cosmic-horizons-book/vera-rubin-dark-matter diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-carola-dobrigkeit.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-carola-dobrigkeit.md index c0abaa6..6f5c326 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-carola-dobrigkeit.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-carola-dobrigkeit.md @@ -14,16 +14,24 @@ Carola Dobrigkeit Chinellato, born in 1952, moved to Brazil from Germany as a ch In considering her professional choices, she says “When you’re 15, you have no idea what you will do. You don’t have the imagination to know what a physicist does, mainly because in high school the teaching of physics is very basic. The opportunities I had led me to choose teaching and physics as a profession.” +## Cosmic-ray research at Unicamp + It was during this period that Carola made the pivotal decision to pursue physics at the University of Campinas (Unicamp). At the age of 21, she achieved a significant milestone by becoming the youngest woman to hold a position at the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics within the Department of Cosmic Rays and Chronology at Unicamp. Her academic journey led her to a particular interest in the field of matter structure, a subject she explored under the mentorship of César Lattes, a highly respected Brazilian physicist known for his contributions to cosmic-ray physics. César Lattes played a pivotal role in the discovery of the pion (known as pi meson at that time) in 1947, a groundbreaking achievement that led to the Nobel Prize in Physics for Cecil Frank Powell [1]. It was under Lattes’ guidance that she took her initial steps into the world of cosmic-ray research. In 1974, she published as co-author a paper in collaboration between Brazil and Japan. This research focused on the detection of cosmic rays in the high-altitude region of Chacaltaya, nestled in the Bolivian Andes [2]. In 1982, Carola achieved her PhD, which focused on estimating the absolute vertical flux of the electromagnetic component of cosmic radiation at Chacaltaya. This estimation was based on meticulous measurements and an in-depth analysis of electromagnetic cascades detected in photoemulsion chambers and lead. In the 1980s, as a part of the Pamir, Mt. Fuji, and Chacaltaya Collaborations, she participated in numerous investigations that delved into the intriguing realm of nuclear interactions. These studies harnessed the power of joint emulsion chambers in mountain-based experiments and significantly expanded our comprehension of how cosmic rays interact with the Earth’s atmosphere [3] [4]. +## Postdoctoral work and Pierre Auger + Carola further advanced her academic journey with two postdoctoral studies in Germany. Her first postdoctoral stint took place at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in 1989, where she engaged in research and work related to the physics of elementary particles and fields. Following that, in 1996, she embarked on her second postdoctoral experience at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, where she continued her in-depth exploration of the fascinating world of elementary particles and fields. Later, Carola became an integral member of the Pierre Auger Collaboration at its inception, contributing to its construction and operation across various working groups. The Pierre Auger Observatory measures extremely high-energy cosmic rays, the parent population of the gamma rays observed by the CTAO. +## Becoming a full professor + While Carola’s association with Unicamp as a professor dates back to 1974, she obtained the status of a full professor in 2016. Reflecting on this milestone, Carola says, “Our institute went many years without having a female full professor. Many female colleagues asked me to participate in the competition, as  a way to pave the path for women in physics at Unicamp.” +## Teaching alongside César Lattes + It was a crucial moment in her career when she transitioned from student to colleague of her mentor, César Lattes. She fondly remembers one instance, in 1974, at the very beginning of her career “Professor Lattes  invited me to teach his classes. He was present in the room and in each one I learned new things, but it was also a great challenge. Teaching students is one thing, but teaching with Professor Lattes watching is another,” she recalls. In one of these classes, the young teacher made a deduction on the board and Professor Lattes said that that wasn’t the best way to deduce and asked her to do it in another way. “The class collapsed. I erased it and started again. I deduced everything he had asked me for and when I finished, he said: ‘I think your way is better.’ The class laughed and was very positive in terms of learning. I was able to show that there are several ways to arrive at a result,” she says. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-enrique-perez-montero.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-enrique-perez-montero.md index 3530af5..9e84b2a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-enrique-perez-montero.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-enrique-perez-montero.md @@ -12,8 +12,14 @@ This article is part of the [“Building from Diversity” project.](https://www An oxymoron. A turn of phrase in which two contradictory concepts are used in a single expression. Cold fire, deafening silence, dark light or blind astronomer. Because how could one work in Astronomy without the ability to actually *see* the stars? How is it possible to do research in such a fundamentally visual science with a visual impairment? Enrique Pérez Montero is showing the world how. +## Becoming a blind astronomer + As astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC, Spain), Enrique progressively lost his vision until he became totally blind due to a genetic degenerative disease. Since 2011, he has been affiliated with the National Organization of the Blind (ONCE in Spanish) and requires Rocco, his guide dog, to help him navigate his daily life. So, yes, the seemingly impossible is possible. Enrique is blind and an astronomer, or rather, Enrique is a blind astronomer. A living oxymoron, who is proving he is highly skilled and respected in his quest to help us better understand the Universe. And he’s just getting started. +## Research on star formation + Under the coordinated project “Star formation bursts in galaxies,” to which he has belonged since the defense of his PhD thesis at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2003, Enrique’s research has led him to publish more than 160 articles in high-impact journals, to supervise PhD and final master’s theses and to continue contributing scientifically at the highest level in the field of star formation and how it influences the environment of galaxies. His daily work and his participation in global conferences and meetings is breaking the stereotypes, proving, again, that people with a disability can contribute at the highest level. He has become a reference for other professionals with a seemingly limiting disability. Although, as Enrique, himself, reminds us: “We are all blind to 99.9% of the light that comes from the stars.” +## Astronomy outreach and education + Beyond his research, Enrique has expanded his influence through astronomy outreach and education. His project, “[Astroaccesible](http://astroaccesible.iaa.es/),” is an initiative to bring astronomy and other sciences to the blind and visually impaired community in a more accessible way and to promote the adoption of inclusion criteria among other scientists, science communicators and teachers. He seems to have boundless energy in his charge: Countless talks and articles; workshops with tactile models to “touch” the firmament or walk through the Solar System; audio descriptions of astronomical objects; innovative uses of sonification; planetarium programs; inclusive visits; training and awareness courses; invitations to leading scientific communication conferences, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Add his continuous presence in the media and the publication of his recent book to the list of accomplishments, and one can see how Enrique has become a leader in the science communication community. And not only because he has taught us to adapt how we communicate with an audience with visual impairment, but because, with this, he has given us all a gift: the awareness and ability to transform our work into something that is more universal and inclusive, ensuring that we engage all the human senses in making science accessible and enjoyable for all. Not bad for an oxymoron. diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-katherine-johnson.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-katherine-johnson.md index 7e0c1ac..9432de2 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-katherine-johnson.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-katherine-johnson.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false This article is part of the [“Building from Diversity” project.](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/outreach-and-education/astrodiversity/building-from-diversity/) *Written by Cristina Fernández-Suárez, PhD Student at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) & Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT).* +## A young talent for mathematics + Can you imagine having a dream as a child that you are forbidden to pursue? That was the story of Katherine Johnson, an African American girl born in 1918 in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. A girl who, since she was little, liked counting everything: the steps she took, the dishes she washed, the stars she saw [1]… Katherine demonstrated her talent and passion for mathematics from a very young age. However, she grew up in a time and place where there were laws of racial segregation, which prevented African Americans from studying beyond the eighth grade [2]. But this was not going to stop her. Her family decided to move to Institute, where the West Virginia Colored Institute for African Americans was located [3]. There, she graduated at just 14 years old and began her higher education at West Virginia State College, where she earned her degrees in mathematics and French at the age of 18. Regardless of her credentials, one of the only options available to Katherine as an African American woman was to teach [4]. Hence, once she finished her studies, she had no choice but to work under the racist and discriminatory restrictions of the time. As a teacher of mathematics, music and French, she earned less money than her white peers and had to hide her marriage, since married women were not allowed to teach [5]. +## Working at NACA and NASA + Sometime later, she learned that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), predecessor of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was looking for African American women for calculation tasks in the Department of Guidance and Navigation, and decided to sign up [4]. At that time, African Americans were separated from white people: they had segregated cafeteria tables, bus seats, bathrooms and were prohibited from mixing whatsoever [5]. Her job was to perform calculations and checks for aeronautical engineers, a quiet job done by a quiet group of women. However, she was curious and had questions, so she asked to be able to attend meetings with the engineers so that she could join the discussions. Initially they refused, to which she challenged whether there was a law that prohibited it. There was not, so she began attending those meetings [4] and, over time, her persistence, math skills and quality work built her a reputation at NACA/NASA. She participated in NASA’s Mercury Project, performing by hand the calculations that allowed Alan B. Shepherd, the first American in space, to make his space journey in 1961 [3]. Later, in 1962, when computers began to be used for these types of calculations, Katherine assumed a supervisory role. The same year, her skills helped John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth [3, 6]. Moreover, her calculations were key to the success of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which landed humankind on the Moon [3]. She continued working on other missions until her retirement in 1986, receiving numerous awards and honors for her exceptional work and contributions to the U.S. space programme. +## An inspiring story to remember + Can you imagine having a dream, being forbidden to pursue it since you were a child, and still being able to achieve it? This is the true story of Katherine Johnson, a girl who counted everything that could be counted, a woman who fought for her dreams in spite of the racial and gender discrimination she faced. An inspiring story that should not be forgotten and that should remind us how much talent and progress the world may have missed out on by not letting a child fulfill her dream. — diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-marie-curie.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-marie-curie.md index f11f71c..949b186 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-marie-curie.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-marie-curie.md @@ -14,19 +14,29 @@ When you think about women that strongly impacted the history of science, Marie Marie and her husband, Pierre Curie, were two of the pioneers in the study of radioactivity. At the end of the 19th century, Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium emitted a type of radioactivity similar to X-rays, but its true nature was unknown. Fascinated by this new discovery, the Curies dedicated their life to studying radioactive elements and the origin of radioactivity, leading to a completely different comprehension of the atoms [2]. This is the part of the story we all know, and that made Marie Curie famous around the world. There is a lesser-known part of the story, documented in Marie’s laboratory notebooks and narrated by her daughter Eve in the book “Madame Curie. A biography” [3]. The story involves Cherenkov radiation – the same radiation used by the CTAO telescopes to study the high-energy gamma-ray Universe. +## Some scientific context + But let’s start with some scientific context. The radioactive materials, as those studied by Marie Curie, are formed by heavy atoms with nuclei composed of a large number of protons and neutrons that tend to “decay” spontaneously. In such elements, the ratio between the number of protons and neutrons is not energetically optimal, and the nucleus cannot be held together anymore. At that point, the nucleus needs to release energy to go back to a stable status. This is the so-called radioactive decay. Since energy can neither be destroyed nor created, but it can be converted, the atom reaches that stable energy by emitting either a photon or a particle. Through her examination of uranium, Marie proposed that this emission originated naturally and inherently from the atoms themselves, rather than being caused by external interactions. This hypothesis played a significant role in supporting the idea that atoms were divisible, a concept that had not yet been firmly established. Today this is widely accepted, but, at the beginning of the 20th century, many of these physical mechanisms were not yet known, especially when involving atomic and subatomic phenomena and their interaction with light. When working with such a complex phenomenon, it is normal to be able to observe it without knowing how to explain it, especially if you are exploring the phenomenon for the first time ever, as in the case of the Curies! +## The blue light of radium + Two radioactive elements that undergo this decay are polonium and radium, discovered by the Curies [4]. Marie once said: “Prodigious radium! Purified as a chloride, it appeared to be a dull white powder, which might easily be mistaken for common kitchen salt” [3]. So powerful, so complex, and yet, the solution of radium was simply the powder dissolved in water. Today, we know that, in its decay, radium emits a helium nucleus (commonly known as “alpha particle”), giving rise to a chain of lighter nuclei and eventually electrons, which can move faster than light in the medium in which it is emitted (such as water). When this happens, a bluish light is emitted. Marie did not know it at the time, but she was looking at what years later would be known as the Cherenkov effect. +## Others who observed the radiation + In 1910, Marie Curie, in fact, noticed the strange blue light and wrote in her notebook: “Nor was this the end of the wonders of radium. It also gave phosphorescence to a large number of bodies incapable of emitting light by their own means” [3, 5]. She wrongly attributed this blue emission to phosphorescence, which was the only phenomenon known at that time. However, the truth was that she was observing Cherenkov radiation, which would be officially discovered in 1934. Therefore, Marie Curie was one of the first people to observe Cherenkov radiation, albeit unknowingly. There were several others who came across this elusive radiation. In 1888, Oliver Heaviside wrote about it in a scientific paper *(a)* that was mostly disregarded: “If the speed of the motion exceeds that of light, the disturbances are wholly left behind the charge, and are confined within a cone.” And, in 1904, Arnold Sommerfeld theoretically predicted Cherenkov radiation, as well. But, once again, the scientific community missed the clue. It was not until 1922 that Marie’s French colleague, Leon Mallett, began studying the phenomenon, albeit still without much fortune. We had to wait another decade for the studies of Tamm, Frank, Vavilov and Cherenkov in 1934 to finally establish the true nature of this radiation [6]. +## A new window of science + And what was so overlooked in the 20th century has now opened a new window of science: astroparticle physics, the newest field in astronomy and astrophysics. Cherenkov light can also be produced in the air when a gamma ray (photons, or light, with extremely high energy) arrives in the Earth’s atmosphere and produces a particle shower. These particles move faster than the speed of light in the air of the atmosphere giving rise to this bluish flash of light: Cherenkov light. It lasts barely a billionth of a second, so we cannot see it with our eyes, but with Cherenkov telescopes we can. And the CTAO will use these telescopes to unravel the high-energy Universe. From a dim light in Marie’s lab to opening a new field of study. -In Marie Curie’s own words *(b)*: “I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery also has its beauty.” +In Marie Curie’s own words *(b)*: + +> “I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery also has its beauty.” — diff --git a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-sandra-faber.md b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-sandra-faber.md index 71c250a..4b55b35 100644 --- a/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-sandra-faber.md +++ b/src/content/news/building-from-diversity-sandra-faber.md @@ -16,18 +16,26 @@ In the world of science, figures like Galileo, Newton and Einstein tend to domin Her life and career are a testament to her dedication, curiosity and persistence. Through her passion for science, she has left a permanent mark on the exploration of the Universe, and her brilliant legacy lights the path for future generations. +## Early life and education + Sandra Moore Faber was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 28, 1944 [1]. From an early age, her interest in science and astronomy grew despite the low representation of women in this discipline in the 60s. Her deep interest in this subject led her to become one of the most prominent figures of contemporary astronomy. Sandra completed her bachelor’s degree in Astronomy at Swarthmore College in 1966 and subsequently earned her Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1972 [1], specializing in Optical Observational Astronomy under the direction of I. John Danziger [2]. That same year, she joined the faculty at the Lick Observatory at the University of California, Santa Cruz, becoming the first woman to serve on the staff. Her research focused on using the lookback power of large telescopes to study the formation and evolution of galaxies [3]. +## Discoveries and dark matter + In 1976, one of Sandra’s investigations, which consisted of observing the relationship between the brightness and spectra of galaxies and the orbital velocities and movements of the stars within them, resulted in the discovery of the Faber-Jackson relationship. This relationship assumes a direct connection between the galaxy’s brightness and its stars’ dispersion speed [4]. This means that if we know the dispersion speed of stars in a galaxy, we can estimate their luminosity. The Faber-Jackson relationship is essential in astronomy since it allows us to measure the masses of galaxies more precisely. By knowing how massive galaxies are, we can better understand how they formed and evolved. In 1979, Faber and John S. Gallagher published a paper that presented a review of the evidence for the existence of dark matter [5]. This paper is regarded among astronomers as the turning point in the quest to determine whether 80 percent of the mass in the Universe is “missing”—mysterious, invisible and impervious to direct detection. This discovery of large amounts of dark matter (using indirect methods of detection) in a certain exotic species of galaxy led Sandra to conclude, in a paper of 1983 with UCSC astronomer Douglas Lin, that dark matter could not be neutrinos, subatomic particles that travels close to the speed of light (“hot,” in cosmological terms), but might be another species of subatomic particle, not yet known, that travels at a much slower rate (“cold”) [6]. +## Work with large telescopes + On the other hand, Sandra played a fundamental role in large-scale projects, such as her contribution to installing the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, one of the biggest optical telescopes in the world. Her involvement in projects with the Keck telescope includes research on galaxy dynamics, the detection of supermassive black holes and the evolution of galaxy clusters. Additionally, she is recognized in her field for her contributions to the design and use of large telescopes. For example, Sandra was part of the design team for the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide-Field Camera [7] and is the principal investigator of the DEIMOS (Deep-Imaging Multiobject Spectrograph) project [7]. She was also the co-principal investigator of the CANDELS Research Team [8], which used the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate galaxies in their initial stages of formation. +## Awards, teaching and legacy + As a result of her outstanding academic and professional career, Sandra has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the U.S. National Medal of Science (2013) [9], the Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2017) [7] and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of the UK (2020) [10]. And Sandra has transmitted her wisdom and experience through teaching, too. She has been a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, teaching core subjects and guiding students in her research. She also holds the title of Professor Emerita at this university [3], where she has left an indelible mark on the academic and scientific community. diff --git a/src/content/news/camera-installation-marks-completion-of-lst-4-construction.md b/src/content/news/camera-installation-marks-completion-of-lst-4-construction.md index 2c1b21e..f53518f 100644 --- a/src/content/news/camera-installation-marks-completion-of-lst-4-construction.md +++ b/src/content/news/camera-installation-marks-completion-of-lst-4-construction.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false On 22 May, the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) reached another major milestone with the successful installation of the camera for LST-4, one of the three [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) under construction at the [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site on La Palma, Spain. The camera installation represents the finalisation of the telescope’s construction and marks its transition to the commissioning phase. +## A carefully coordinated installation + The camera installation was a complex and carefully coordinated procedure. After extensive preparation and alignment work, the nearly two-tonne camera was lifted by crane and secured onto the telescope structure with millimetre precision. The process involved teams from multiple institutions working in synchrony to ensure safety and protect the delicate instrumentation. +## Inside the LST-4 camera + The LST-4 camera features a wide field of view of 4,3 degrees and is composed of 1,855 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). These highly sensitive light detectors convert the faint flashes of Cherenkov light—emitted when high-energy gamma rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere—into digital signals for scientific analysis. Each PMT is paired with a specially designed light guide that enhances efficiency by directing photons toward the detector. The camera’s internal electronics perform real-time signal analysis using advanced algorithms to identify the characteristic signatures of gamma-ray events. To capture the fleeting Cherenkov flashes associated with these, which last only a few nanoseconds or billionths of a second, the camera rapidly digitises and records the signals at gigahertz (GHz) sampling rates, processing up to a billion data points per second—orders of magnitude faster than conventional cameras. +## Entering the commissioning phase + With the camera now in place, the LST-4 enters its commissioning phase, joining the LST-1, the prototype and the first telescope built on a CTAO site. During commissioning, the telescope will undergo rigorous testing to verify that it meets the CTAO’s scientific and technical requirements. In parallel, the LST Collaboration will continue the construction of the northern hemisphere site’s remaining two LSTs. Congratulations to all the teams in the LST Collaboration involved in this milestone! diff --git a/src/content/news/catching-gamma-ray-bursts-with-cta.md b/src/content/news/catching-gamma-ray-bursts-with-cta.md index a3e8053..6325e47 100644 --- a/src/content/news/catching-gamma-ray-bursts-with-cta.md +++ b/src/content/news/catching-gamma-ray-bursts-with-cta.md @@ -14,14 +14,22 @@ Originally published in the [October 2019 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://m *Written by: Lara Nava* -*Very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays, like the ones that CTA will catch, are produced in many different astrophysical environments. They originate from very energetic particles and, as such, provide glimpses into extreme astrophysical phenomena. Among the most extreme sources in the Universe, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) lead the pack. They are produced following the formation of jets traveling with velocities close to the speed of light ejected by newly-born compact objects (such as neutron stars or black holes, see Figure 1). Thanks to observations from ground-based telescopes and space missions, we know that GRBs produce an emission over a wide range of frequencies, from the radio band up to gamma-ray energies. Most of this emission is thought to be synchrotron radiation from energetic electrons moving in spiral pattern around magnetic field lines. At very high energies (VHE, >100 GeV) synchrotron radiation is not expected to play a role, but other mechanisms have been theorised to produce a detectable amount of VHE radiation. The most important one is the Inverse Compton, where photons collide with the energetic electrons and gain energy in the process. This mechanism can be more or less relevant, depending on the conditions of the region where the radiation is produced, which in GRBs are still poorly understood. +*Very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays, like the ones that CTA will catch, are produced in many different astrophysical environments. They originate from very energetic particles and, as such, provide glimpses into extreme astrophysical phenomena. Among the most extreme sources in the Universe, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) lead the pack. They are produced following the formation of jets traveling with velocities close to the speed of light ejected by newly-born compact objects (such as neutron stars or black holes, see Figure 1). Thanks to observations from ground-based telescopes and space missions, we know that GRBs produce an emission over a wide range of frequencies, from the radio band up to gamma-ray energies. Most of this emission is thought to be synchrotron radiation from energetic electrons moving in spiral pattern around magnetic field lines. At very high energies (VHE, >100 GeV) synchrotron radiation is not expected to play a role, but other mechanisms have been theorised to produce a detectable amount of VHE radiation. The most important one is the Inverse Compton, where photons collide with the energetic electrons and gain energy in the process. This mechanism can be more or less relevant, depending on the conditions of the region where the radiation is produced, which in GRBs are still poorly understood.* + +## The challenge of detecting VHE radiation Curiously, even though GRBs are the most powerful sources in the Universe, all the efforts to detect VHE radiation arising from them have failed for many years. Considering that GRBs are cosmological sources located at an average redshift of z=2, the flux of VHE photons (if produced) will be strongly attenuated by the encounter with visible-IR light, making their detection on Earth very difficult. Thus, the question whether this radiation is produced or not, in what amount, how common it is, and which maximum energies can be attained remained unanswered for a long time. As a consequence of these uncertainties, the role of CTA on the study of GRBs was not easy to predict. On the one hand, CTA’s sensitivity down to 20 GeV assures that GRBs can be detected, since the existence of emission at these energies has already been proven by the satellites *Fermi* and AGILE. On the other hand, the detection rate and the energy up to which GRBs will be detected strongly depend on whether or not an emission component at VHE exists. +## Recent detections and CTA prospects + Since January 2019, CTA predecessors MAGIC and H.E.S.S. have announced detections of radiation well above 100 GeV from three GRBs [1,2,3], finally proving that this kind of radiation is indeed produced and might be a quite common component in the radiative output of GRBs. Thus, the consequences on the prospects for GRB detections with CTA are enormous. In light of these recent discoveries, it is reasonable to expect that GRBs will be interesting targets both for the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) and the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs), responsible for low and medium-energy sensitivities of CTA (from approximately 20 GeV to a few tens of TeV in total). The lower energy threshold assures that, compared to the GRBs detected by MAGIC and H.E.S.S. (located at z=0.0785, z=0.424 and z=0.653), CTA will be able to detect signals from even greater distances, where the GRB rate is higher. Finally, the long-lasting duration of the VHE emission (detected up to several hours [2]), coupled with CTA’s unprecedented sensitivity, implies that GRBs that can be pointed only several hours after the initial burst might still be well detectable. The GRB detection rate at VHE is then expected to largely increase with CTA, enabling researchers to fully exploit this new window of investigation on GRBs. +## Impact on GRB science + CTA observations are expected to have a large impact on GRB science and provide information on the amount of energy carried by the VHE component, its spectral shape and temporal evolution, and on the presence of internal absorption affecting the intrinsic spectral shape. These observations can be used to unveil important physics, such as the source density and magnetic field strength, the energy of the emitting electrons, and the jet Lorentz factor (i.e. the velocity of the jet), thus bringing new information on shock wave physics, GRB environments and jet properties. +## Short GRBs and gravitational waves + In light of the MAGIC results on GRB 160821B [4], the prospects for detection of VHE radiation from short GRBs are also very promising. Because short GRBs are connected to the same sources that produce gravitational waves, there is a direct link between CTA science and gravitational waves, which strengthens the role of CTA in this exciting new era of multi-messenger astrophysics. [1] [Mirzoyan et al. Atel #12390](http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=12390) diff --git a/src/content/news/chec-achieves-first-light-on-astri.md b/src/content/news/chec-achieves-first-light-on-astri.md index fece180..c0248b1 100644 --- a/src/content/news/chec-achieves-first-light-on-astri.md +++ b/src/content/news/chec-achieves-first-light-on-astri.md @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ On Monday 29 April, the Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) prototype camera, CHEC The observations took place at the astronomical site of Serra La Nave (Mount Etna) in Sicily managed by INAF-Catania and involved both CHEC and ASTRI team members from DESY, INAF, University of Leicester, Liverpool University, [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik](https://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/mpi/en/hinton/projects/cta/chec/) (MPIK) and the University of Oxford. The team remained on site for two weeks to prove the viability of using CHEC with ASTRI – a goal that was readily met. Beyond capturing Cherenkov images from cosmic rays, the team briefly observed several gamma-ray sources, commissioned the internal camera calibration system, took data to verify the camera pointing system and completed work on reading out trigger patterns for each raw event. +## An alternative Cherenkov camera + This achievement comes not long after the ASTRI-Horn telescope became the first Cherenkov telescope in a dual-mirror configuration to detect the Crab Nebula at TeV energies using the ASTRI prototype Cherenkov camera. The CHEC is an alternative Cherenkov camera compatible with both SST dual-mirror telescopes, GCT and ASTRI. The latest prototype, CHEC-S (right) consists of 2048 silicon photo-multiplier pixels forming approximately a 9o x 9o field of view when installed on ASTRI-Horn. The CHEC is unique as an SST dual-mirror camera in its ability to capture Cherenkov light not as fixed images, but as movies consisting of hundreds of frames each lasting one billionth of a second. This can be seen clearly in the selection of Cherenkov events shown in the animated gif below. On the left, the time development of individual showers can be seen as they sweep across the camera, whilst, on the right, the resulting extracted charge for each pixel for the corresponding images is shown. The majority of these images result from showers initiated by cosmic rays of several hundred TeV landing several hundred metres from the telescope. @@ -20,8 +22,12 @@ Two things are immediately clear from such images. First, looking at the right, > “The integration of CHEC-S on ASTRI has been extremely smooth. We have proved that the teams can work together efficiently and that CHEC works well on an ASTRI-style dual-mirror telescope,” said Richard White, Group Leader at MPIK and coordinator of the CHEC project. “We see clean, crisp Cherenkov images swimming across the camera, and results look to be almost exactly as expected from Monte Carlo simulations. Both teams have worked hard to make this a reality, and I am extremely grateful for their efforts.” +## Plans for a second campaign + A second campaign is planned for mid-June, when the CHEC and ASTRI teams will attempt moon light observations in an important step towards verifying some of the most stringent CTA requirements. In the meantime, analysis is underway on the wealth of data collected so far. Beyond this, an iteration of CHEC is planned to incorporate the latest in SiPM technology. +## Telescopes for the CTA array + Three classes of telescope are required to cover the full CTA very-high energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV): Medium-Sized Telescopes (12 m diameter reflector) will cover CTA’s core energy range (100 GeV to 10 TeV) while the Large-Sized Telescopes (23 m) and Small-Sized Telescopes (4 m) are planned to extend the energy range below 100 GeV and above a few TeV, respectively. The ASTRI telescope and CHEC camera are proposed SST designs being prototyped and tested for CTA’s southern hemisphere array. The ASTRI project ([http://www.brera.inaf.it/astri/](http://www.brera.inaf.it/astri/)) is led by the [Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF)](http://www.inaf.it/en?set_language=en) with the collaboration of a number of Italian universities, the [Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN)](https://web2.ba.infn.it/index.php/en/), [Universidade de São Paulo](http://www.ifsc.usp.br/) in Brazil and [North-West University](http://www.nwu.ac.za/) in South Africa. The CHEC project, led by [MPIK](https://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/mpi/en/hinton/projects/cta/chec/), is an international collaboration between the University of Adelaide, the University of Amsterdam, DESY Zeuthen, Durham University, the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP), the University of Leicester, the University of Liverpool, Nagoya University, and the University of Oxford. diff --git a/src/content/news/chile-site-instruments-continue-multiply.md b/src/content/news/chile-site-instruments-continue-multiply.md index d339d49..c0bcb1b 100644 --- a/src/content/news/chile-site-instruments-continue-multiply.md +++ b/src/content/news/chile-site-instruments-continue-multiply.md @@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ draft: false The number of site characterization instruments on the Armazones 2K site in Chile has grown significantly over the past few months as the start of construction draws closer. +## First tower and weather station + A 10-metre tower, the first tower installed on site in early 2014, hosts a weather station that measures temperature, humidity, pressure and wind characteristics. It also includes a Wi-Fi router to transmit data to Paranal via a microwave link. +## Wind measurements at the 30-metre tower + Thirty metres north of the first tower, a 30-metre tower (pictured to the left) includes three three-dimensional anemometers installed at different heights to measure the wind speed and profile. The goal of these wind velocity measurements is to estimate the full wind structure in order to be able to more precisely determine observing conditions. Even a modest increase in the observation time could result in significant rewards. +## The ASC complex + The “ASC complex” is located 30 metres east of the 10-metre tower and hosts an all-sky camera (ASC), a seismometer and a Sun and Moon photometer. New ASCs were installed at the proposed CTA sites on La Palma and Armazones 2K in late 2015. These new ASCs are upgrades from the previous generation for appraising the sites and are equipped with special filters to provide fast and raw atmospheric characterization and standard cloud analysis. And as Chile is known to be seismically active, a small seismometer will estimate the number and magnitude of small, frequent earthquakes. The photometer will measure the atmosphere absorption and scattering of light from the Sun and Moon at the site to improve the quality of simulations. diff --git a/src/content/news/critical-design-review-of-the-large-sized-telescope-successfully-approved-and-closed.md b/src/content/news/critical-design-review-of-the-large-sized-telescope-successfully-approved-and-closed.md index 6185819..17bc714 100644 --- a/src/content/news/critical-design-review-of-the-large-sized-telescope-successfully-approved-and-closed.md +++ b/src/content/news/critical-design-review-of-the-large-sized-telescope-successfully-approved-and-closed.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false The [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) has reached a significant milestone with the successful approval and closure of the telescope’s Critical Design Review (CDR). The CDR is a thorough, multi-disciplinary evaluation of the telescope’s design to ensure it meets all required specifications and functions for its proper operation. The completion was marked by the official release of the CDR document, signed by the CTAO Managing Director. This approval paves the way for the final acceptance and handover of the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/), which are currently under commissioning and construction at CTAO-North in La Palma (Spain), to the CTAO. +## The CDR review process + The LST’s CDR process began in 2018 and involved the preparation of hundreds of documents by the LST Collaboration, culminating in a final review with the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) during a face-to-face meeting in Munich in late 2019. During this meeting, missing deliverables and processes were identified and agreed upon. The first major milestone was the completion of the common elements assessment by the end of 2021. This was followed by the successful completion and approval of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis in 2022, and with the reliability report and verification finalised a year later. +## A collective effort + This achievement represents a collective effort, requiring dedication and cooperation from the entire LST Collaboration. Successfully completing the CDR demonstrates that the LST design adheres to the requirements and guidelines set forth by the CTAO Central Organisation. Throughout this process, the trust and collaboration between the Central Organisation and the LST System Engineering teams have grown stronger, further enhancing the partnership. +## Constructing the remaining LSTs + While this milestone marks significant progress, much work remains. With LST-1 currently under commission in La Palma, the LST Collaboration is also focused on constructing the remaining three LSTs for the site. Aiming for completion by the end of 2025, construction is progressing as expected, with the recent installation of the arch supporting the camera in one of the telescopes being the latest achievement. Congratulations to the entire LST Collaboration, with special recognition for those who played a direct role in overcoming this demanding challenge! diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting-lugano.md b/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting-lugano.md index cd9d69b..4c8c047 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting-lugano.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting-lugano.md @@ -14,16 +14,24 @@ The CTA Consortium gathered on 3-7 June for its biannual meeting in Lugano, Swit The meeting started with two days of parallel sessions covering all aspects of Consortium and CTA Observatory activities, including site infrastructure, system engineering and AIV, calibration and test facilities, computing and software, data analysis and simulations, as well as science and outreach. The parallel sessions were followed by a one and a half day plenary session and concluded with a meeting of the Consortium Board, the governing body of the CTA Consortium. +## Plenary session highlights + The plenary session was opened with an inspiring presentation given by Thomas Schulthess, director of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) and professor for computational physics at ETH Zürich, who explained the convergence between High Performance Computing and Big Data, and the role of the CSCS. The session featured also a highlight talk by Matteo Balbo on Eta Carinae, summarising the science questions related to colliding wind binaries and demonstrating the science potential of CTA in this area. In his introductory talk, Werner Hofmann, Spokesperson of the CTA Consortium, also underlined the eagerness of the community to get CTA data. This was attested by the great success of the first CTA Science Symposium that took place in Bologna in May, which illustrated the many links that exist between CTA science and evolutions in other fields. +## Telescope prototype progress + The Consortium was also informed about the status and outcomes from the various telescope prototypes. Highlights included the exciting progress of the LST-1 commissioning on La Palma, the first light of the NectarCAM Qualification Model on the Medium-Sized Telescope prototype in Berlin Adlershof and the detection of the Crab nebula by the ASTRI-Horn telescope on Mount Etna. Abelardo Moralejo and Johan Bregeon, respectively Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator of the Analysis and Simulations Working Group, showed interesting comparisons of prototype data with data from Monte Carlo simulations, illustrating the good understanding of the hardware. The understanding will even improve, thanks to a dedicated and impressive effort to refine the Monte Carlo model in collaboration with the telescope teams. Progress was also reported on the development of the software pipeline that processes CTA data from levels DL0 to DL3 and also produces the Instrument Response Functions. A reference analysis, including analysis benchmarks, is being established so that improved algorithms can be evaluated and subsequently proposed for integration into the pipeline. The Science Working Groups also made impressive progress, as summarised in the presentation of Emma de Oña Wilhelmi, Science Coordinator of the CTA Consortium. The group worked intensively on the identification of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger needs for the Key Science Projects, which now have to be prioritised to develop a suitable strategy. Substantial progress was also made on the Consortium Publications, with the first papers being scheduled for submission within the next months. Details on the two most advanced Consortium papers, relating to searching for dark matter in the Galactic Centre and the propagation of very high-energy gamma rays across intergalactic space, were given in dedicated plenary talks. +## CTA Observatory progress + Significant progress was also observed on the side of the CTA Observatory (CTAO). Federico Ferrini, Managing Director of the CTAO gGmbH, informed the Consortium about the progress in the transformation of the current CTAO gGmbH into a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), about the kick-off of the activities for the implementation of CTA-South, and about the establishment of the CTA cost book that will serve as a reference for the future in-kind contributions to the project. In his presentation, Wolfgang Wild, Project Manager of CTA, summarised the progress on the implementation of CTA-North, CTA-South and the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC). Furthermore, he covered various project related topics, including project management and systems engineering activities, construction milestones and the SST harmonisation process. Finally, he took the occasion to thank the outgoing Project Scientist Jim Hinton for his important contributions to CTA and welcomed the new Project Scientist Roberta Zanin, who joined CTAO on 1 June 2019. Roberta gave a short presentation about the Project Science activities, including progress on requirements and science operations, as well as plans on the second Data Challenge and science verification. Additional plenary presentations by CTAO personnel covered systems engineering, infrastructure, computing, communication and outreach. Systems engineering is finalising the design for CTA-North, of which many results will be directly applicable to the design of CTA-South. Also, Critical Design Reviews for the LST and the MST structure are scheduled. Infrastructure planning for the short project in the North that includes three LSTs and one MST are progressing well, with start of the civil work expected in the first half of 2020. In addition, with Paolo Calisse for CTA-North and Volker Heinz for CTA-South, site managers are now installed who are already quite active with the preparation of the site activities. The CTAO computing department, which is now led by the computing coordinator Stefan Schlenstedt, has the challenging task to get software and computing infrastructure ready for the first telescope acceptance in 2020 and the planned start of early science in 2022. A lot of work still needs to be done concerning the detailed system definition, requirement and interfaces, but formal development of the array control software (now called ACADA) will start soon. The outreach and communications office is also very active, and CTA is getting steadily increasing reach on the web, in social media, but also in the press and during conferences. Outreach and communications planning is also well under way, and a plan exists now covering the construction phase of CTA. +## Consortium Board and transition + In its meeting on Friday, the Consortium Board discussed among other items the transition towards the new CTA Consortium. A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was agreed upon at the last Consortium meeting in Berlin, and its signature has started on 24 May 2019. While the current MoU is based on the admission of institutes, the new MoU is based on the admission of individuals and their commitments on fulfilling CTA Consortium duties, such as contributions to the Science and Analysis and Simulations Working Groups, but also contributions to the development and construction of CTA elements and the development of analysis methods and tools. The new CTA Consortium is expected to be kicked-off by the time of the next Consortium meeting, but the completion of the transition to the new Consortium is expected to take probably more than one year. The meeting featured also visits to the impressive CSCS, where attendants could have a look on Piz Daint, the most powerful supercomputer in Europe. A press event was furthermore organised during the meeting that highlighted the Swiss contribution to the exploration of the high-energy Universe, and the Swiss involvement in CTA. A relaxing conference dinner was organised on Wednesday near the lake at the foot of Monte San Generoso, where besides an excellent dinner, the attendants could benefit from a spectacular view on the mountains around Lugano. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting.md b/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting.md index f9f74a6..4feabb2 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-consortium-holds-bi-annual-meeting.md @@ -14,14 +14,22 @@ During the week of 14 May, the CTA Consortium held its bi-annual meeting in Fran The picture above shows the happy crowd of CTA Consortium members during the sunny gathering in Orsay. This was the first meeting that was attended by Federico Ferrini, the new managing director of the CTAO gGmbH, who presented together with the Project Manager Wolfgang Wild a clear path forward towards the construction of CTA. This path goes through a harmonisation and simplification process of all CTA systems, ensuring that CTA can be effectively built and efficiently operated. All CTA Consortium members are looking forward to moving quickly through this process, entering the construction phase as soon as possible and realising the dream of a unique astronomical observatory for very-high-energy gamma rays that was initiated more than a decade ago. +## Progress on telescope prototypes + Exciting progress was reported during the meeting from the various CTA telescope prototypes. All Small-Sized Telescope prototypes have had their first light, and first measurements of a celestial gamma-ray source were reported during the meeting. Also the single-reflector Medium-Sized Telescope prototype has seen first light, and the double-reflector prototype that is currently being built in Arizona, United States, is nearing completion (see left picture below). The assembly of the Large-Sized Telescope prototype is also progressing impressively at the CTA North site in La Palma, Spain, and the first light from the completed telescope is expected before the end of the year. +## Software tools and data analysis + Important progress was also reported on the development of software tools, and the results of the first analyses of prototype telescope data using a prototype of the CTA processing pipeline were presented during the meeting. Tests of the existing software tools for end-user science analysis, using data from the first CTA Data Challenge were also discussed, showing that the tools live up to expectations. +## Working group priorities + The Analysis and Simulations Working Group reported about their important efforts in updating the Monte Carlo model, preparing for the verification of the telescope and camera designs. Further priorities for this year presented at the meeting include the use of the prototype CTA processing pipeline for the production of Instrument Response Functions, the development of analysis benchmarks and the study of systematic uncertainties. In addition, the divergent pointing mode, the use of Machine Learning in the processing pipeline, and the overall data reduction are also under study. The Science Working Groups presented the progress on the analysis of the first Data Challenge, with a highlight talk on the production of source catalogues from the Galactic Plane Survey, which is one of the Key Science Projects of CTA. Further priorities for this year include the writing of Consortium publications, the fostering of the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger connections, and a re-assessment of the Key Science Projects. +## Two social events + Besides all the interesting scientific and technical discussions during the meeting, the meeting attendees also gathered for two social events in special locations: a welcome cocktail in a decommissioned nuclear reactor at CEA in Saclay, which also provided the opportunity to visit the NectarCAM prototype camera, and a Consortium dinner on the first floor of the Eiffel tower in Paris. Visit out [Flickr page](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/albums/72157670525544004) for photos from the event. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-consortium-meeting-comes-close-bologna.md b/src/content/news/cta-consortium-meeting-comes-close-bologna.md index ac32e24..843108a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-consortium-meeting-comes-close-bologna.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-consortium-meeting-comes-close-bologna.md @@ -10,10 +10,14 @@ draft: false During the week of 24 October 2016, nearly 250 CTA Consortium members from 25 of its 32 member countries from around the world came together in Bologna, Italy to discuss the science and construction of CTA. The CTA Consortium includes 1,350 members from 210 institutes in 32 countries. This group of institutions is currently responsible for directing the science goals of the Observatory and is involved in the array design and supplying components (as in-kind contributions). The meeting consisted of a mix of parallel and plenary sessions with topics ranging from reports from the project work packages and CTA Project Office to Observatory operations and detailed science goals of CTA. +## Meeting host and organisation + The meeting was hosted by [INAF/IASF-Bologna](http://www.iasfbo.inaf.it/en) at the Conference Centre of the Bologna [CNR-INAF Research Area](http://www.bo.cnr.it/index-eng.html), which is the location of CTA’s new headquarters (estimated to open in 2017). Special thanks to Pino Malaguti (INAF/IASF-Bologna Director) and Vito Conforti for meeting coordination and organisation. Left, in addition to the daily meetings, the attendees were treated to a traditional Bolognese dinner on 26 October at the Palazzo Re Enzo in Bologna’s historic city centre. +## Consortium Board highlights + The internal authority of the Consortium, the Consortium Board, also met twice during the week. The Board includes representatives from each of the Consortium institutes and is responsible for endorsing all major Consortium decisions. Some of the highlights from their meeting in Bologna, include: Two new member institutes were admitted to the CTA Consortium: The Warsaw University of Technology in Poland and the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium in Northern Ireland. In addition, the Liverpool John Moores University was promoted from associated to regular CTA Consortium member. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-hosts-first-science-symposium.md b/src/content/news/cta-hosts-first-science-symposium.md index db061ce..eaa94e7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-hosts-first-science-symposium.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-hosts-first-science-symposium.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will host its first [CTA Science Symposium](http://www.cta-symposium.com/) 6-9 May 2019 in Bologna, Italy. The symposium will focus on the novel investigations CTA will bring to the field and its synergies with other wavebands and messengers. It will also cover instrument characteristics, analysis tools and opportunities for guest investigators and how coordinated observations with CTA will have a significant impact on the exciting new era of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astrophysics. Among the field of highly-accomplished [speakers](https://www.cta-symposium.com/invited-speakers) that will be in attendance are CTA Spokesperson and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Werner Hofmann, as well as two Nobel Laureates in Physics, Takaaki Kajita and Rainer Weiss. +## CTA's scientific potential + CTA will be the foremost global observatory for very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy over the next decade and beyond. As the construction phase of CTA’s two arrays (one in La Palma and one in Chile) nears, the excitement for CTA’s scientific potential continues to grow. The potential is extremely broad: from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. CTA will explore the extreme Universe, probing environments from the immediate neighbourhood of black holes to cosmic voids on the largest scales. With its ability to cover an enormous range in photon energy from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, CTA will improve on all aspects of performance with respect to current instruments. And its wider field of view and improved sensitivity will enable CTA to survey the sky hundreds of times faster than previous TeV telescopes. > “The CTA Science Symposium is really our opportunity to bring a wide-range of experts together to discuss the future of high-energy astrophysics and particle physics from the viewpoint of many different wavelengths,” said Stefan Funk, Chair of the Scientific Organizing Committee. “We see this as our chance to engage the users and the future users of CTA data now in the hopes that we can serve a variety interests and scientific needs.” +## Registration and fees + The event will be held in the historic centre of Bologna, Italy at the Teatro Duse. Registration and the call for contributed talks are now open. If you register before 5 April, the fee is 300 euro (200 for students). After 5 April, the fee will be raised to 350 and 250 euro respectively.  This covers all lunches, coffee breaks and dinner at the beautiful [Palazzo Re Enzo](http://www.palazzoreenzo.com/en/). +## Talks and abstracts + Talks may cover the following areas: cosmic particle acceleration, compact objects and relativistic shocks, role of cosmic particles in galaxy evolution and star-forming systems, gamma rays as cosmic probes, fundamental physics, multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observations and, additionally, any topic connected to the scientific possibilities of CTA. Submit your abstract to [http://www.cta-symposium.com/abstract-submission/](http://www.cta-symposium.com/abstract-submission/) (deadline: 10 March 2019). diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-north-film-premiere-june-10.md b/src/content/news/cta-north-film-premiere-june-10.md index 1d2a01b..8872683 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-north-film-premiere-june-10.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-north-film-premiere-june-10.md @@ -10,18 +10,26 @@ draft: false On 10 June 2020 at 20:00 CEST, the next release in our [series of films](https://youtu.be/Teyjh-KJ1aE) about CTA — “The CTA-North Site: Our Northern Eye on the High-Energy Universe” — will premiere on a live streaming event hosted by [Sky-Live.TV](https://www.youtube.com/c/skylivetv_es) and the IAC. The event (in Spanish) will include presentations by CTAO Outreach and Education Officer, Alba Fernández-Barral, and CTA-North Site Manager, Paolo Calisse. +## About the CTA-North site + Capturing particle showers from a gamma ray that interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere is a pretty big challenge. That’s why CTA will use two arrays of telescopes to explore the entire night sky: one in the northern hemisphere (CTA-North) and one in the southern hemisphere (CTA-South). In this new film, CTA-North Site Manager, Paolo Calisse, will introduce you to the northern site, which is located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, a Spanish island in the Canary Islands. +## Second film in the series + This is the second film in a series being released by the CTAO in 2020. The first release “[CTA Science: Emission to Discovery](https://youtu.be/5gRHFQP_SjU)” takes you through the process – from the emission of gamma rays by extreme sources and the collection of Cherenkov light by CTA on Earth to data analysis and discovery. Future releases include a film about the CTA-South site in Chile and a film that includes interviews with some of CTA’s project team and scientists. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow the series here: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbktxl7gq5ehCaec-O-NVUa](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbktxl7gq5ehCaec-O-NVUa) — -El 10 de junio a las 20:00 CEST, el próximo vídeo de [nuestra serie sobre CTA](https://youtu.be/Teyjh-KJ1aE), *“CTA-Norte: Nuestros Ojos desde el Norte hasta el Universo de Altas Energías”, *se estrenará en directo en un evento co-organizado con [Sky-Live.TV](https://www.youtube.com/c/skylivetv_es) y el IAC. El evento (en español) incluirá las presentaciones de la Coordinadora de Divulgación y Educación de CTAO, Alba Fernández-Barral, y del Administrador de la Sede CTA-Norte, Paolo Calisse. +El 10 de junio a las 20:00 CEST, el próximo vídeo de [nuestra serie sobre CTA](https://youtu.be/Teyjh-KJ1aE), *“CTA-Norte: Nuestros Ojos desde el Norte hasta el Universo de Altas Energías”*, se estrenará en directo en un evento co-organizado con [Sky-Live.TV](https://www.youtube.com/c/skylivetv_es) y el IAC. El evento (en español) incluirá las presentaciones de la Coordinadora de Divulgación y Educación de CTAO, Alba Fernández-Barral, y del Administrador de la Sede CTA-Norte, Paolo Calisse. + +## Sobre el emplazamiento CTA-Norte Capturar las cascadas de partículas producidas por rayos gamma que interactúan con la atmósfera terrestre es un gran desafío. Por ello, CTA albergará dos conjuntos de telescopios para explorar todo el cielo nocturno: uno en el hemisferio norte (CTA-Norte) y otro en el hemisferio sur (CTA-Sur). En este nuevo vídeo, Paolo Calisse presentará el emplazamiento norte, localizado en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos en la isla española de La Palma, en las Islas Canarias. +## El segundo vídeo de la serie + Este es el segundo vídeo de una serie lanzada por CTAO en el 2020. El primer lanzamiento “[La Ciencia de CTA: Desde la Emisión hasta el Descubrimiento](https://youtu.be/5gRHFQP_SjU)” te lleva a través de todo el proceso – desde la emisión de rayos gamma en fuentes extremas y la captura de luz Cherenkov por CTA en la Tierra, hasta el análisis de datos y el descubrimiento. Los futuros lanzamientos incluyen un vídeo sobre el emplazamiento CTA-Sur en Chile y un vídeo con entrevistas a algunos de los equipos y científicos del proyecto CTA. No te olvides de suscribirte a nuestro canal de YouTube y sigue la serie de vídeos aquí: diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap.md b/src/content/news/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap.md index 9ed5e97..7c0c5ff 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false In early July, the European Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) made the decision to promote the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) from the Project status to Landmark status on its [2018 ESFRI Roadmap](http://roadmap2018.esfri.eu/). CTA was one of eight projects promoted to the current list of 37 Landmarks. +## Review and evaluation process + CTA was first included on the roadmap in 2008 and subsequently put under review for the 2018 update. In 2017, CTA responded to a questionnaire and provided supporting documentation to report on the project’s status and progress toward fulfilling key requirements and addressing the recommendations made by ESFRI in a 2015 assessment. After the evaluation of CTA submission by the ESFRI Working Group on Implementation and the Strategy Working Group for CTA’s research infrastructure, CTA was granted the status of ESFRI Landmark in the ESFRI Roadmap 2018 at its 65th Plenary Forum Meeting in Corfu, Greece. > “We are delighted and honoured to be granted the Landmark status by ESFRI,” said CTAO Managing Director, Federico Ferrini. “This high level of support is just further confirmation for everyone involved in CTA that we are building a world-class facility that will revolutionize what we know about the Universe.” +## The role of ESFRI + According to the [ESFRI website](http://www.esfri.eu/about), ESFRI “is a strategic instrument to develop the scientific integration of Europe and to strengthen its international outreach. The competitive and open access to high quality Research Infrastructures supports and benchmarks the quality of the activities of European scientists, and attracts the best researchers from around the world.” > “I am very pleased to see the recognition by the ESFRI evaluation committee of the progress achieved by CTAO. And with the confirmation of commitments by several members, we are progressing towards CTAO-ERIC, expected to be launched at the very beginning of 2020,” said Gabriel Chardin, Chair of the CTAO Council. “This will coincide with the start of construction of a gamma-ray observatory that will be a world reference at very-high energies for the next 30 years.” +## Official roadmap presentation + The ESFRI Roadmap 2018 will be officially presented to the public in a dedicated event, under the Austrian Presidency, on 11 September 2018 at Aula der Wissenschaften in Vienna. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-achieves-first-light-3.md b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-achieves-first-light-3.md index 6bdfc09..9048f96 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-achieves-first-light-3.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-achieves-first-light-3.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false On 26 November 2015, a prototype telescope proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCTFigure1), recorded CTA’s first ever Cherenkov light while undergoing testing at l’Observatoire de Paris in Meudon, France. The GCT is proposed as one of CTA’s [Small-Size Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) (SSTs), covering the high end of the CTA energy range, between about 1 and 300 TeV (tera-electronvolts). Another SST prototype, the ASTRI telescope, captured the first optical image in May 2015 with its diagnostic camera. +## Capturing the first events + In the two weeks leading up to the GCT prototype inauguration event on 1 December, the GCT team battled poor weather to install and begin testing the GCT camera. On the evening of Thursday, 26 November, they turned the telescope away from a nearly full moon and the bright lights of Paris towards a clear patch of sky. After 20 seconds, a single event triggered the camera, then another – in just over 300 seconds 12 events were captured. These triggers could have been caused by fluctuations in the bright night sky, but it was instantly clear that they were, in fact, what the team was looking for – images of air showers created in the atmosphere by cosmic rays. The animation below is one of the events captured by the team. It shows the maximum amount of light captured in each of the camera’s 2048 pixels over 100 frames. CTA astronomers will use images like this to determine the incoming direction and energy of the particle that created the air shower. +## Reactions from the team + > “With the tough weather conditions, we only had about an hour-long window to gather as much data as we could,” said GCT Camera Coordinator Dr. Richard White. “We look forward to clearer, darker skies so we can test the camera’s performance in more ideal conditions.” “This is a major milestone for the GCT and we hope for CTA.” said GCT Spokesperson Prof. Tim Greenshaw. “Our design for the CTA telescopes that will detect the highest energy light hitting the earth’s atmosphere from space has been proven to work; we are one step closer to developing a deeper understanding of where and how that light is produced.” -Hélène Sol, Research Director at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and GCT Deputy Spokesperson added: “I would like to congratulate all the GCT team who have made this possible, especially the group who worked day and night over the last couple of weeks to get these pictures.” +> Hélène Sol, Research Director at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and GCT Deputy Spokesperson added: “I would like to congratulate all the GCT team who have made this possible, especially the group who worked day and night over the last couple of weeks to get these pictures.” + +## How the camera works In order to detect the short flashes of light produced by cosmic rays and gamma rays as they hit the earth’s atmosphere, the telescope’s camera has to be about a million times faster than a DSLR camera. To do this, it uses high-speed digitisation and triggering technology capable of recording images at a rate of one billion frames per second and sensitive enough to resolve single photons. +## Next steps for the GCT + These first pictures are just the beginning for the GCT. The prototype telescope and camera will undergo rigorous testing over the next year, then the team intends to build 35 cameras and telescopes for the CTA Observatory based on the results of the testing process. “We’re extremely pleased with the progress and performance of the GCT prototype and all of the CTA prototypes,” said CTA Project Manager Christopher Townsley. “We look forward to seeing the results of further testing as we near the construction phase of the project.” diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-achieves-first-light.md b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-achieves-first-light.md index 38d708e..5ec2d89 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-achieves-first-light.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-achieves-first-light.md @@ -14,16 +14,24 @@ Although the camera was not fully configured, the ASTRI team was still able to c > “The results gathered from the images are very much in line with the performance expectations established in the lab, proving the functionality of the camera for the ASTRI telescopes,” said Osvaldo Catalano, astronomer at the INAF-Palermo Institute and leader of the ASTRI camera development program. “The ASTRI team’s achievement is an important milestone and a big step toward the pre-production phase of ASTRI and CTA,” said Giovanni Pareschi, astronomer at the INAF-Milano and principal investigator of the ASTRI project. +## CTA telescope classes + Three classes of telescope types are required to cover the full CTA very-high energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV): Medium-Sized Telescopes (12 m diameter dish) will cover CTA’s core energy range (100 GeV to 10 TeV) while the Large-Sized Telescopes (23 m) and Small-Sized Telescopes (4 m) or SSTs are planned to extend the energy range below 100 GeV and above a few TeV, respectively. The ASTRI telescope is one of three proposed SST designs being prototyped and tested for CTA’s southern hemisphere array. It uses an innovative dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder configuration with a 4.3 m diameter primary mirror and a 1.8 m monolithic secondary mirror. +## The ASTRI project collaboration + The ASTRI project ([http://www.brera.inaf.it/astri/](http://www.brera.inaf.it/astri/)) is led by the [Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF)](http://www.inaf.it/en?set_language=en) with the collaboration of a number of Italian universities, the [Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN)](https://web2.ba.infn.it/index.php/en/), [Universidade de São Paulo](http://www.ifsc.usp.br/) in Brazil and [North-West University](http://www.nwu.ac.za/) in South Africa. +## The role of the SSTs + The SSTs will outnumber all the other telescopes with 70 planned to be spread out over several square kilometres in the southern hemisphere array. Since the showers generated by very high-energy gamma-rays (between a few TeV and 300 TeV) produce a large amount of Cherenkov light, it is sufficient to build telescopes with small mirrors to catch that light. The SSTs’ wide coverage and large number, spread over a large area, will improve CTA’s ability to detect the highest energy gamma rays. +## Further information + For an Italian version of the press release, please go to: [http://www.media.inaf.it/2017/06/14/prima-luce-camera-astri/](http://www.media.inaf.it/2017/06/14/prima-luce-camera-astri/) Find more technical information on the camera for the ASTRI telescope prototype in the following paper: [The ASTRI SST-2M Prototype: Camera and Electronics, Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference](https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.5142) (ICRC 2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). -***Dedication:**** We would like to dedicate this achievement to the memory of our close colleague and friend, **Prof. Giovanni (Nanni) Bignami** (1944-2017). In addition to his numerous accolades and contributions to the field of gamma-ray astronomy, he was a crucial supporter and contributor to CTA and the ASTRI program, for which he invented the acronym*. *We are so grateful for his unwavering encouragement and insight, and we offer our sincerest condolences to his wife, Patrizia Caraveo, his family, colleagues and friends.* +**Dedication:** *We would like to dedicate this achievement to the memory of our close colleague and friend, **Prof. Giovanni (Nanni) Bignami** (1944-2017). In addition to his numerous accolades and contributions to the field of gamma-ray astronomy, he was a crucial supporter and contributor to CTA and the ASTRI program, for which he invented the acronym. We are so grateful for his unwavering encouragement and insight, and we offer our sincerest condolences to his wife, Patrizia Caraveo, his family, colleagues and friends.* diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-demonstrates-viability-novel-schwarzschild-couder-design.md b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-demonstrates-viability-novel-schwarzschild-couder-design.md index 6e5e198..403b44e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-demonstrates-viability-novel-schwarzschild-couder-design.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-astri-demonstrates-viability-novel-schwarzschild-couder-design.md @@ -12,14 +12,20 @@ In October 2016, the ASTRI telescope prototype (pictured below), a novel dual-mi Three classes of telescope types are required to cover the full CTA very-high energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV): [Medium-Size Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) will cover CTA’s core energy range (100 GeV to 10 TeV) while the [Large-Size Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) and [Small-Size Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) (SSTs) are planned to extend the energy range below 100 GeV and above a few TeV, respectively. +## The Schwarzschild-Couder design + The ASTRI telescope is one of three proposed SST designs being prototyped and tested for CTA’s southern hemisphere array. The ASTRI telescope uses an innovative dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder configuration with a 4.3 m diameter primary mirror and a 1.8 m monolithic secondary mirror. In 1905, the German physicist and astronomer Karl Schwarzschild proposed a design for a two-mirror telescope intended to eliminate much of the optical aberration across the field of view. This idea, enhanced in 1926 by André Couder, lay dormant for almost a century because it was considered too difficult and expensive to build. It was in 2007 that a study by Vladimir Vassiliev and colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) demonstrated the design’s usefulness for atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The ASTRI prototype, the first Schwarzschild-Couder telescope to be built and tested, was inaugurated in September 2014 and has been undergoing testing at the Serra La Nave observing station on Mount Etna in Sicily ever since. The technical challenges of the design were overcome by recent advances, particularly in dual-mirror technology, making it a feasible implementation for the observation of Cherenkov light. +## A constant point-spread function + Pictured below, Polaris, the North Star, as observed by ASTRI with different offsets from the optical axis of the telescope. The recorded images have approximately the same angular size, each one from a different observational direction in the field of view (from 0 to 4.5 degrees from each side with respect to the central optical axis). These images show that the optical point-spread function of the telescope is approximately constant across the full field of view. This information will allow scientists to reconstruct the direction of gamma-ray photons emitted from celestial sources. > “This is also the first time that a Cherenkov telescope with two focusing mirrors has been completely characterized from the opto-mechanical point of view,” said Giovanni Pareschi, astronomer at the INAF-Brera Astronomical Observatory and principal investigator of the ASTRI project. “This is an important result because it allows us to move immediately to the next step: to mount a Cherenkov camera by December 2016 with the aim to observe the first gamma-ray light with ASTRI.” +## The ASTRI project + The ASTRI project is led by the [Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF)](http://www.inaf.it/en?set_language=en) with the collaboration of a number of Italian universities, the [Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN)](https://web2.ba.infn.it/index.php/en/), [Universidade de São Paulo](http://www.iag.usp.br/) in Brazil and [North-West University](http://www.nwu.ac.za/) in South Africa. The SSTs will outnumber all the other telescopes with 70 planned to be spread out over several square kilometres in the southern hemisphere array. Since very high-energy gamma-ray showers (between a few TeV and 300 TeV) produce a large amount of Cherenkov light, it is sufficient to build telescopes with small mirrors to catch that light. The SSTs’ wide coverage and large number, spread over a large area, will improve CTA’s chances of detecting the highest energy gamma rays. The Schwarzschild-Couder design is being used in two additional CTA prototypes (the SST-2M GCT and the SCT), but the ASTRI is the first to conclusively demonstrate the viability of the system. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-sst-1m-catches-first-glimpse-sky.md b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-sst-1m-catches-first-glimpse-sky.md index ec69631..28393a2 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-sst-1m-catches-first-glimpse-sky.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-prototype-telescope-sst-1m-catches-first-glimpse-sky.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false On Thursday, 31 August, 2017, a prototype telescope proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the SST-1M, recorded its first events while undergoing testing at the Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ-PAN) in Krakow, Poland. The SST-1M is proposed as one of CTA’s [Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/), which will cover the high end of CTA’s energy range, between about 1 and 300 TeV (tera-electronvolts). +## Recording the first events + A crew in Krakow worked for two days to install the camera on the telescope and spent another two days monitoring it to ensure it could be safely switched on in the high humidity conditions. Watch the camera installation in the video below. On the night of 31 August, another crew in Geneva, Switzerland, sent remote control commands to the telescope to start tracking two gamma-ray emitters (two black holes) with its camera. Within seconds, the coordinates of the first source were set and the telescope slewed into the observation position, allowing the telescope to track the source and the data to flow. Even with the moonlight and lights from the city, more than 5 million events and 330 GB of data were acquired with the camera in less than 1.5 hours of operation. > “Additional tuning and hours of operation are needed before the SST-1M performance can be clearly assessed, but this is a major milestone for the project and its participants, who have worked hard through five years of design and laboratory testing to make this accomplishment a reality,” said Prof. Teresa Montaruli, project leader of the SST-1M. +## The SST-1M project team + The SST-1M project team includes 12 institutes from 5 countries (Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine). The project is led by the University of Geneva (project leader: Prof. T. Montaruli, project manager: Dr. D. della Volpe, camera coordinator: M. Heller). The quality assurance engineer is M. Stodulska, IFJ-PAN. The Polish partners designed and built the telescope structure, its control and the fully-digitizing readout electronics of the camera (mainly developed by Eng. K. Zietara). The Czech parties are responsible for the optical system, while the Swiss partners designed and realized the camera mechanics and photosensor plane based on a new technology in high-energy gamm-ray astronomy, silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). +## Telescope and camera design + The SST-1M is one of three proposed SST designs being prototyped and tested for CTA’s southern hemisphere array. It uses a single-mirror design with a 4 m diameter (focal length of 5.6 m) reflector that uses hexagonal facets. The camera (pictured to the right) uses SiPMs and about 1,300 ultra-fast (time resolution of the order of 500 picoseconds) light-sensitive pixels to convert the light into an electrical signal that is then digitized and transmitted to record the image of the cascade. The SSTs will outnumber all the other telescopes with 70 planned to be spread out over several square kilometres in the [southern hemisphere array](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/). Since the showers generated by very high-energy gamma rays (between a few TeV and 300 TeV) produce a large amount of Cherenkov light, it is sufficient to build telescopes with small mirrors to catch that light. The SSTs’ wide coverage and large number, spread over a large area, will improve CTA’s ability to detect the highest energy gamma rays. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-releases-updated-science-case.md b/src/content/news/cta-releases-updated-science-case.md index 198e926..01f638a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-releases-updated-science-case.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-releases-updated-science-case.md @@ -8,18 +8,24 @@ cover: /uploads/cover_news-768x362.png draft: false --- -*The latest iteration of the Cherenkov Telescope Array’s (CTA’s) science case, *Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array*, was made available today via the [CTA website library](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/library/) and [arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.07997) and will be published as a book by World Scientific. The work includes more than 200 pages that introduce and elaborate on CTA’s major science themes and place CTA in the context of other major observatories. +The latest iteration of the Cherenkov Telescope Array’s (CTA’s) science case, *Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array*, was made available today via the [CTA website library](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/library/) and [arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.07997) and will be published as a book by World Scientific. The work includes more than 200 pages that introduce and elaborate on CTA’s major science themes and place CTA in the context of other major observatories. > “The release of this document represents a major milestone for CTA, and it details the breadth and the richness of the science that will be done with the observatory over the next decade,” says CTA Co-Spokesperson Prof. Rene Ong. “The document would not have been possible without the hard work of literally hundreds of CTA Consortium members over a period of many years.” +## The scientific potential of CTA + CTA will be the foremost global observatory for very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy over the next decade and beyond. The scientific potential of CTA is extremely broad: from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. CTA will explore the extreme Universe, probing environments from the immediate neighbourhood of black holes to cosmic voids on the largest scales. With its ability to cover an enormous range in photon energy from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, CTA will improve on all aspects of performance with respect to current instruments. And its wider field of view and improved sensitivity will enable CTA to survey hundreds of times faster than previous TeV telescopes. CTA will seek to address a wide range of questions in astrophysics and fundamental physics that fall under three major study themes: understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles, probing extreme environments and exploring frontiers in physics (Chapter 1). > “The Key Science Projects described in the document – surveys and deep observations of key objects – will provide legacy data sets of lasting value and will provide important input for the planning of CTA’s user programme,” said CTA Spokesperson Prof. Werner Hofmann. +## The most promising discoveries + Some of the most promising discoveries will come from a survey of our Milky Way galaxy, which should discover more Galactic sources for improved population studies and for advancing our understanding of the origin of cosmic rays (Chapter 6); the search for the elusive dark matter with models not accessible by other experiments (Chapter 4); and the detection of transient phenomena like gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave events associated with catastrophic events in the Universe (Chapter 9). > “For me, the most exciting aspect of CTA is the potential for truly unexpected discoveries,” says CTA Project Scientist, Prof. Jim Hinton. “CTA pushes to shorter timescales, higher energies and more distant objects. Pushing back the frontiers in astronomy always leads to something truly new and exciting, and now we’re all just itching to get started.” +## A decade of science planning + It has been a decade since science planning for CTA started, resulting in a series of publications in a special edition of [Astroparticle Physics](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09276505/43) in 2013. The current work began that same year with an organized effort by the CTA Consortium to develop CTA’s Key Science Projects (KSPs) in 2013. After three years of development and refinement that included internal and external reviews, the KSPs were incorporated into a single document: *Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array*. diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-representatives-meet-local-officials-la-palma-discuss-northern-hemisphere-array.md b/src/content/news/cta-representatives-meet-local-officials-la-palma-discuss-northern-hemisphere-array.md index 6002a5c..e053385 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-representatives-meet-local-officials-la-palma-discuss-northern-hemisphere-array.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-representatives-meet-local-officials-la-palma-discuss-northern-hemisphere-array.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false During the week of 17 July, representatives from the CTAO gGmbH and its Project Office visited the Canary Islands (Tenerife and La Palma) to meet with its hosting partner, the [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias](http://www.iac.es/index.php?lang=en) (IAC), and local authorities to establish and build relationships, and to discuss the strategy and technical plans for CTA’s [northern hemisphere array](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) on La Palma. +## Visiting the LST prototype site + After meetings in Tenerife with the IAC and the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) and Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) teams earlier in the week to discuss the overall strategy for site infrastructure and construction, the CTAO team (Managing Director Ulrich Straumann, Infrastructure Coordinator David Bristow, Power and Data Network Planner Carla Crovari and CAD technologist Stephen Brown) visited the site of the LST prototype on La Palma. During their visit, the LST prototype’s center pin to support the superstructure of the LST was placed at the center of the foundation (pictured to the left), signifying the beginning of the next phase of construction. +## Meetings with local authorities + The CTAO, IAC, LST and MST representatives spent the remainder of the week meeting with the local authorities on La Palma with the aim to establish a working relationship with the groups, to gather feedback on current plans, to better understand the local construction planning processes and permit laws, and to identify opportunities to engage the community in the social, economic and scientific benefits CTA will provide. On Wednesday, 19 July, the teams held working meetings with the Minister of Planning for the [Cabildo de la Palma](http://www.cabildodelapalma.es/portal/contenedor_tema.jsp?seccion=cuerpo_contenedor_tema.jsp&language=es&codResi=1&codMenuPN=457&codMenu=486&layout=contenedor_tema.jsp&ca=19&layout=contenedor_tema.jsp), Gonzalo Pascual and technical staff (pictured below), to introduce the project and discuss some of the technical aspects of the infrastructure planning and construction for the array. On Thursday, 20 July, a similar meeting was held with representatives of the [Villa de Garafia](http://www.garafia.es/), including the Deputy Mayor Yeray Rodriguez, Council of Culture Glemis Rodriguez and Municipal Technician Miguel Quesada. +## Building long-term relationships + Both meetings with the local officials helped to establishing a long-term working relationship between the  groups. The CTAO, IAC and CTA telescope teams will continue to foster these relationships for ongoing collaboration to help support CTA and the local communities throughout the construction and life of the array. Cabildo article: [http://www.cabildodelapalma.es/portal/contenedor_ficha.jsp?seccion=s_fnot_d4_v1.jsp&contenido=12007&nivel=1400&tipo=8&codResi=1&language=es&codMenu=486&codMenuPN=457&ca=19](http://www.cabildodelapalma.es/portal/contenedor_ficha.jsp?seccion=s_fnot_d4_v1.jsp&contenido=12007&nivel=1400&tipo=8&codResi=1&language=es&codMenu=486&codMenuPN=457&ca=19) diff --git a/src/content/news/cta-spanish-day-2022.md b/src/content/news/cta-spanish-day-2022.md index 6e690bf..d99804f 100644 --- a/src/content/news/cta-spanish-day-2022.md +++ b/src/content/news/cta-spanish-day-2022.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false On 20 September, nearly 60 representatives from the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Project and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), as well as from the broader Spanish astronomical community, participated in a conference called “CTA Spanish Day” to share and analyze the latest project news and advances from the different Spanish groups. It was hosted by the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT) in Madrid, Spain, and was attended by scientific and institutional representatives, such as Nicanor Colino (Director of the CIEMAT Fundamental Research Department), Domenec Espriu (Director of the State Research Agency), Inmaculada Figueroa (Deputy General Director of Internationalization of Science and Innovation of the Ministry of Science and Innovation), Juan Cortina (Coordinator of the CTA Project in Spain) and Federico Ferrini (Managing Director of CTAO). +## Visiting the LST camera + The event, which was sponsored by the Astronomy Infrastructure Network and the Spanish Astroparticle Network, received scientists and engineers from the different groups that represent “CTA-Spain.” In addition to presenting and discussing the latest results, attendees were able to visit the camera of a future Large-Sized Telescope (LST), one of the three types of telescopes that CTAO will use to cover its broad energy range and that will be responsible for detecting the lowest energy gamma rays. CIEMAT participates in the design and construction of these cameras within the LST Collaboration and was responsible for the design and integration of the mechanics of the camera and the signal distribution system of the LST-1, the prototype of the LST that is located on the CTAO Northern Array Site on La Palma (Canary Islands), where it is under commission until its formal acceptance by CTAO. +## Spain's role in the project + Spain, member country and host of the CTAO Northern Array, plays a fundamental role in the progress of the project, both within the LST Collaboration and the Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) group. For the former, Spanish contributions focus on key elements like the camera or the azimuth system, as well as on the software analysis and data storage for the LST-1. For the latter, the Spanish research community has contributed to the development of NectarCam. Additionally, Spanish members work on the development of instruments for monitoring the atmospheric conditions at the CTAO Northern site and collaborate as active members in the different scientific and data analysis working groups of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium (CTAC), where they represent 10% of the community. +## Members of CTA-Spain + CTA-Spain is formed by members of (in alphabetical order): CIEMAT, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE-CSIC), Instituto de Física de Altas Energías (IFAE), Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT-CSIC), Port d’Informació Científica (PIC), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Universidad de Alcalá de Henares (UAH), Universidad de Barcelona (UB) y Universidad de Jaén. [Read the announcement by CIEMAT](https://www.ciemat.es/portal.do?IDM=61&NM=2&identificador=2576). diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-advances-towards-early-science-in-la-palma-as-lst-collaboration-announces-lst-subarray-inauguration.md b/src/content/news/ctao-advances-towards-early-science-in-la-palma-as-lst-collaboration-announces-lst-subarray-inauguration.md index 804d516..0c972e2 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-advances-towards-early-science-in-la-palma-as-lst-collaboration-announces-lst-subarray-inauguration.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-advances-towards-early-science-in-la-palma-as-lst-collaboration-announces-lst-subarray-inauguration.md @@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ The construction of the Observatory is progressing at an exceptional pace. As th As a testament to this commitment, this May alone the Observatory co-organised the [“Women of CTAO” event](https://www.ctao.org/news/ctao-and-cabildo-of-la-palma-organise-women-of-ctao-2026/) with the Cabildo de La Palma, held the international CTAO School, bringing doctoral students from across the globe to the island, and celebrated the successful internship of a local vocational training student. +## The LST Collaboration + Alongside these community initiatives, the Observatory’s technological development continues to advance rapidly. A prime example is the work of the LST Collaboration, an international team of more than 500 members worldwide. The Collaboration is responsible for designing and building the LSTs, the largest of CTAO’s three classes of telescopes, and is now in the final stages of construction — a process that has also delivered a tangible socio-economic impact on La Palma, with over 30 local companies contracted during this phase. In October, the official inauguration of the four LSTs will take place at CTAO-North, a major announcement made during the press conference. > “The upcoming inauguration is a historic milestone for the future of the Observatory, but especially for the LST Collaboration,” explained Juan Cortina, Chair of the Steering Committee of the LST Collaboration. “Our teams of scientists and engineers have worked tirelessly for years to reach this point. This celebration is the crowning achievement at the end of the construction phase, and we are thrilled to celebrate it together with partners from all over the world, including high-level institutional representatives and world-renowned scientists, such as Nobel Laureate Takaaki Kajita.” @@ -38,6 +40,8 @@ Following the press conference, the international CTAO ERIC delegates will visit With the imminent inauguration of the LSTs, organised by the LST Collaboration, and the steady expansion of the Central Organisation’s operations and team on the island, the CTAO stands on the threshold of a new era in gamma-ray astronomy. The path to unprecedented discoveries has officially begun, and La Palma is at the very heart of it. +## About the CTAO + The CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory; www.ctao.org) will be the world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. The CTAO’s unparalleled accuracy and broad energy range (20 GeV- 300 TeV) will help to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics, falling under three major themes: understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments, such as black holes or neutron stars; and exploring frontiers in physics, searching for dark matter or deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity. Additionally, the CTAO will play a key role in both multi-wavelength and multi-messenger fields in the coming decades thanks to its enhanced performance, which will allow it to provide fundamental gamma-ray information in the quest to probe the most extreme scenarios. The CTAO is a European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Landmark project, one of the “Magnificent Seven” of ASPERA’s European strategy for astroparticle physics and a top-ranked priority amongst new ground-based infrastructure projects for 2022-2035 in ASTRONET’s roadmap. @@ -56,12 +60,16 @@ Despite standing 45 meters tall and weighing 100 tonnes, each LST can reposi The CTAO LST Collaboration is responsible for designing and building these telescopes. It is made up of more than 500 scientists and engineers from 25 institutions across 11 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. +## Media contact information + Alba Fernández-Barral, CTAO Chief Communications Officer [alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:Alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org) (English, Spanish, Italian) +39-051-6357-270 +## Media resources and links + For convenience, the links to the most up-to-date content are provided below. Unless otherwise noted, the appropriate credit for the CTAO content is “CTAO.” Please read the [media usages guidelines](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/media-library/media-usage/) on our website. > Photos from the event – [Link to Folder](https://ctaoobservatory.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/ctao-outreach/IgCZLenTv8sGR6-CZ33bRD3OAXcZHJp3OgHyxD_Rl-vBaWw?e=OUduw5) (credit: IAC) diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-and-cabildo-of-la-palma-organise-women-of-ctao-2026.md b/src/content/news/ctao-and-cabildo-of-la-palma-organise-women-of-ctao-2026.md index 738f8cd..c5ce140 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-and-cabildo-of-la-palma-organise-women-of-ctao-2026.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-and-cabildo-of-la-palma-organise-women-of-ctao-2026.md @@ -12,12 +12,16 @@ draft: false On Saturday, 16 May 2026, at 11:00 am, the Teatro Chico (C. Díaz Pimienta 1, Santa Cruz de La Palma) will host the sixth edition of “Women of CTAO,” an outreach event that focuses on the women who are making possible one of the most ambitious scientific projects on the planet: [the CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/), the world’s largest observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. +## This year's speakers + This year, the event will feature three women with ties to La Palma who work at the CTAO-North site, the CTAO’s telescope array located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. In a roundtable discussion format, these three professionals will share their experiences working on the project, offering insights not only into the CTAO itself, but also into their personal and professional journeys. - Patricia Márquez, site manager for CTAO-North. Originally from Madrid, with an international background, she has lived in La Palma since 2018. - Mónica Deza, coordinator of the CTAO-North office. Originally from Buenos Aires, she came to Europe more than 25 years ago. In 2023, she moved to La Palma. - Carolina Hernández, manager and safety coordinator for the Large-Sized Telescopes (LST), the CTAO’s largest telescopes, who is originally from La Palma. +## Collaboration and institutional participation + “Women of CTAO” is celebrated in collaboration with the [Cabildo de La Palma](https://www.cabildodelapalma.es/es) and [SODEPAL](https://sodepal.es/), establishing it as an initiative that promotes scientific outreach, equal opportunities, and the connection between the public and the major international projects based on the island. The event will feature the institutional participation of Miriam Perestelo, Councilor for Economic Promotion of the Cabildo of La Palma and Managing Director of SODEPAL, as well as Raquel Rebollo, Councilor for Tourism of the Cabildo of La Palma. @@ -26,10 +30,14 @@ The event will feature the institutional participation of Miriam Perestelo, Cou Raquel Rebollo, Tourism Councilor, considers the event “a window of visibility for La Palma, boosting astrotourism through the life stories of the best ambassadors the sector, in general, and this niche market in particular, could have: its professionals, connecting their work experience with life on the island.” +## Moderation and accessibility + The conversation will be moderated by Arianne Vera and Joaquín Hernández, students of the Marketing and Advertising vocational training program at IES José María Pérez Pulido (Los Llanos de Aridane), bringing a fresh and youthful perspective to the scientific dialogue. To ensure accessibility, the event will be conducted entirely in Spanish and will include Spanish Sign Language (LSE) interpretation. After the event, attendees can enjoy a networking session in the same location to take the conversation “offstage.” This will be the perfect opportunity to chat directly with the speakers and share impressions in a relaxed atmosphere. > “The ‘Women of CTAO’ event is one of the many initiatives planned to bring the latest developments at our observatory closer to the public, as well as to promote diversity in science,” says Alba Fernández-Barral, CTAO Chief Communications Officer. “Our goal is to provide role models and create real opportunities for next generations, which is why the participation and moderation by students from the IES José María Pérez Pulido is so important to us. We are thrilled to be holding the sixth edition here and are immensely grateful to the La Palma Island Council and SODEPAL for all their support.” +## Growing teams on the island + The CTAO will have two arrays of telescopes: one in La Palma (CTAO-North) and another in Chile (CTAO-South). As the Observatory moves into the scientific operations phase, the teams on the island are growing rapidly, with the addition of five professionals to the CTAO-North team since 2025, [one position currently vacant](https://www.ctao.org/opportunities/career/), and more positions to be added throughout 2026 and 2027. ![](/uploads/Screenshot-2026-05-06-at-10.47.58-1600x107.png) diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-consortium-spring-2025-meeting.md b/src/content/news/ctao-consortium-spring-2025-meeting.md index 5735515..b68ce7d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-consortium-spring-2025-meeting.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-consortium-spring-2025-meeting.md @@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ draft: false From May 12 to 16, the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/) gathered for its spring meeting in Garching, Germany, uniting experts from across the globe to discuss scientific advances, plans, and collaborative opportunities. Hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP), this year’s meeting focused on discussing advances for the Observatory, in preparation for the CTAO’s upcoming Data Challenge and the release of its first observational data. +## Central Organisation update and award + The meeting opened with a comprehensive update from representatives of the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/), which provided an overview of the organisation’s news after its [transition early this year to an ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/) (European Research Infrastructure Consortium), a milestone accompanied by rapid progress on the construction of the Observatory’s sites. During this session, the Central Organisation [launched the Werner Hofmann Scientific Award](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-launches-the-werner-hofmann-scientific-award/), designed to recognise exceptional contributions from PhD fellows in the field. The award pays tribute to Werner Hofmann, who helped shape the vision of the Observatory and led the CTAO Consortium as its Spokesperson for more than 15 years. +## Science working groups and invited talks + As the week unfolded, attendees took part in lively discussions across the Consortium’s key science working groups. In addition, a series of invited talks brought external perspectives to the table: Dr. Zhen Cao, spokesperson of the LHAASO experiment, shared the latest findings on PeVatrons—cosmic accelerators of ultra-high-energy particles in our Galaxy. @@ -22,6 +26,10 @@ Dr. Antoine Kouchner presented groundbreaking results from the KM3NeT neutrino t These speakers, alongside CTAO experts Manuela Vecchi, Ulysses Barres de Almeida, and Masahiro Teshima, took part in a roundtable on Multi-Wavelength and Multi-Messenger astronomy, chaired by CTAO Project Scientist Roberta Zanin. The session underscored the importance of collaboration across observational platforms to unlock the secrets of the high-energy Universe. +## Handover of Consortium leadership + One of the most symbolic moments of the week was the official handover of leadership within the Consortium. In a special session, Masahiro Teshima and Thierry Stolarczyk , the recently elected Spokesperson and Co-Spokesperson, were delighted to honour their predecessors Werner Hofmann and Rene Ong, and to reflect on the progress that has been made on the CTAO over the past ten years. +## About the CTAO Consortium + The CTAO Consortium is a global group of more than 1,500 experts in gamma-ray astronomy from 25 countries, who devised the CTAO concept more than a decade ago and have been the driving force behind its design. The spring meeting brought a week of insightful discussions, updates, and scientific engagement. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-event-expo-2020-dubai.md b/src/content/news/ctao-event-expo-2020-dubai.md index e3bbc8e..72eec3d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-event-expo-2020-dubai.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-event-expo-2020-dubai.md @@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ Expo 2020 Dubai: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ItalyExpo2020), [YouTube](h Watch it back: -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. - The goal of the event is to communicate to the large audience of the Expo 2020 Dubai that will be in attendance and will join remotely about the uniqueness of the CTAO, which will be the first ground-based gamma-ray observatory and the world’s largest and most sensitive instrument for the detection of gamma rays. High-accomplished speakers in the field will participate in three discussion panels driven by questions: Science, Technology and Opportunities. The first is dedicated to the broad scientific potential of the observatory that spans from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. The second, focused on the technology, will delve into the innovative three types of CTAO telescopes, which will cover an unprecedented energy range, as well as the calibration systems and the novelty analysis tools based on machine learning. Finally, the Opportunity panel will explore the opportunities of collaboration and data usage for new partners that are not members of CTAO at the present and will bring the Italian and international competence of all nations involved in this prestigious project to Dubai. > “We are very excited to participate in the Expo 2020 Dubai and to bring CTAO, the future of high-energy astrophysics and particle physics, to a broad international audience”, says Federico Ferrini, CTAO Managing Director. “Global cooperation is fundamental: CTAO’s ongoing success would not be possible without worldwide support from a mounting number of agencies and organizations.” diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-finalises-asset-transfer-from-ggmbh-to-eric.md b/src/content/news/ctao-finalises-asset-transfer-from-ggmbh-to-eric.md index 584b676..fdd721e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-finalises-asset-transfer-from-ggmbh-to-eric.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-finalises-asset-transfer-from-ggmbh-to-eric.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false On 30 September 2025, the transfer of assets from the former legal entity of the Observatory, CTAO gGmbH — a non-profit limited liability company under German law — to its current European Research Infrastructure Consortium, CTAO ERIC, was formally concluded at a signing event in Munich, Germany, in the presence of a notary. On behalf of the CTAO ERIC, Director General Stuart McMuldroch signed the Asset Transfer Agreement, while Federico Ferrini signed on behalf of the CTAO gGmbH. This agreement initiates the dissolution process of the CTAO gGmbH. +## Establishment of the CTAO ERIC + The [establishment of the CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/), a European legal entity established under EU law, took place in January 2025, following the European Commission Implementing Decision. To complete the transition, all assets of the CTAO gGmbH, including equipment, intellectual property, supplier contracts, and employment contracts, were transferred to the CTAO ERIC. +## The Asset Transfer Agreement + The Asset Transfer Agreement, which formalises the transfer of ownership, was prepared in advance and approved by both the CTAO gGmbH Council and the CTAO ERIC Council, clearing the way for final signature. +## Liquidation of the CTAO gGmbH + With the agreement signed, the CTAO gGmbH has entered the liquidation phase, as stipulated by German law. In this period, the company does not carry out new activities but continues to exist in order to settle outstanding matters before it is formally dissolved. Ferrini, who was appointed Managing Director of the Observatory in 2018 and served as Co-Managing Director alongside McMuldroch since 2023 to support the transition, has been appointed as liquidator. In this capacity, he will oversee the activities required to complete the dissolution of the CTAO gGmbH. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-gender-equality-plan.md b/src/content/news/ctao-gender-equality-plan.md index 16a20c9..b0b6c8e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-gender-equality-plan.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-gender-equality-plan.md @@ -10,12 +10,20 @@ draft: false On 17 June, the CTAO gGmbH published its Gender Equality Plan (GEP), which implements actions within the CTAO to reduce gender inequalities and to enhance diversity regarding sex, gender, age, culture, different physical and mental capacities and multilingualism, among others. The document includes an evaluation of existing initiatives and policies, as well as an analysis of an anonymous survey that gathered CTAO employees’ opinions on gender, inclusion and discrimination. Based on these results and sex/gender-disaggregated available data, an action plan was created with measures to achieve various inclusive goals that affect the organisation. +## A commitment to gender equity + As described by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), gender equity is understood as the “provision of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men,” which means that rights, responsibilities and opportunities must be the same for everyone, independent of gender or sex. As an international Observatory and world-class project, the CTAO is committed to cultivating an environment for all staff and associated members that is free from prejudices and stereotypes, where individuality and originality are valued. +## Creating the plan + A team of CTAO representatives elected by the staff was charged with the creation of the GEP based on guidelines defined by the European Commission. At this stage, the group limited its focus to the CTAO’s internal organization, basing their analysis on current initiatives and policies, available personnel data and the findings from the dedicated employee survey. Their findings confirmed that the majority of the CTAO staff considers gender equity a paramount topic and thinks that equality, diversity and inclusion are equally important, too. +## Measures and objectives + The resulting GEP is a tool designed to encourage a cultural shift: its action plan is meant to overcome the identified obstacles and enhance diversity, taking inspiration from other organizations with similar characteristics and objectives. In particular, with input from the CTAO staff, the GEP identifies measures and objectives that include, but are not limited to, three macro-areas: internal and external communication (inclusive language), activities (trainings and outreach events), organisation and policies (work-life balance and recruitment). +## A living document + The CTAO’s GEP is a living document and will be regularly reviewed and updated. With the establishment of the CTAO ERIC, a full revision and evaluation of the action items will be performed to adapt and improve the document. [Read the CTAO Gender Equality Plan here.](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO_GEP2022.pdf) diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-growth-defines-the-first-quarter-of-2025.md b/src/content/news/ctao-growth-defines-the-first-quarter-of-2025.md index 4fb11b0..09f070c 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-growth-defines-the-first-quarter-of-2025.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-growth-defines-the-first-quarter-of-2025.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false Strengthened by the [establishment of the ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/) this past January, the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) has continued the rigorous recruitment campaign it launched last year, resulting in a significant increase in new hires and career opportunities across the organisation. +## New team members and expertise + In the first quarter of 2025, the Observatory has already welcomed 10 new team members, onboarding, on average, three to four people each month. The expertise of the professionals hired span many of the technical and operational demands needed to make the CTAO a reality: computing, IT, project coordination, science, system engineering, and telescope construction and operations. The diversity of the new recruits, with nationalities from Bangladesh, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA, is a reflection of the Observatory’s international reach. And the global reach is needed, as it seeks to hire more experienced and skilled staff to support the rapid development of the CTAO, which is now in its full construction phase. +## Open positions across facility sites + As of March 27, [multiple open-term positions are available](https://www.ctao.org/opportunities/career/) across the CTAO’s facility sites, with many more expected: Deputy Project Manager, System Engineers and a Finance Specialist to strengthen the Project Office and Administration teams at the CTAO Headquarters in Bologna, Italy; and an Office Coordinator to support operations at CTAO-North on La Palma, Spain. +## Additional professional opportunities + Beyond staff positions, the Observatory is offering additional professional opportunities. On March 19, the CTAO Central Organisation launched a call for [Personnel Support Agreements](https://www.ctao.org/career/call-for-personnel-support-agreements/) from research organisations and institutes worldwide to fulfil temporary full- or part-time computing and project science positions. Additionally, with a focus on industry collaborations, new [procurement opportunities](https://www.ctao.org/opportunities/procurement/) have been announced, with more expected soon from the Central Organisation and its partners. Building a world-class research infrastructure like the CTAO requires a team of talented professionals across multiple fields. If you’re interested in contributing to the development of the world’s largest and most powerful gamma-ray observatory, check our [Career and Procurement pages](https://www.ctao.org/opportunities/) regularly and follow us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ctao-universe/). diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-joins-the-starmus-festival-2025-in-la-palma.md b/src/content/news/ctao-joins-the-starmus-festival-2025-in-la-palma.md index ff91cd9..eba65e5 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-joins-the-starmus-festival-2025-in-la-palma.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-joins-the-starmus-festival-2025-in-la-palma.md @@ -10,18 +10,26 @@ draft: false From April 25 to 28, the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) became the epicentre of science and culture with the celebration of the [STARMUS Festival 2025](https://www.starmus.com/). A unique global event, STARMUS blends astrophysics, space exploration, art, and music to inspire and ignite curiosity about the Universe. This year’s edition in La Palma included the participation of the CTAO, bringing very high-energy astrophysics and the latest news of the Observatory to the heart of the community that hosts its [northern hemisphere site, CTAO-North.](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) +## Two public Camps + For the first time, the festival featured two public “Camps” in the cities of Santa Cruz de La Palma and Los Llanos de Aridane. Each camp offered a full four-day programme divided between an Expo Zone and a Stage Zone, where science met creativity and engagement. The CTAO contributed to both Camps with exhibits that welcomed hundreds of visitors, including school groups from across the island. With a team of CTAO experts and a virtual reality experience, attendees explored CTAO’s science and virtually toured its two sites, showcasing what the Observatory will look like once construction is complete. +## CTAO voices on 5 Sigma podcast + On Friday and Saturday, the [5 Sigma science podcast](https://www.instagram.com/5sigmapodcast/), hosted by researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), featured two CTAO voices: Alba Fernández-Barral (Chief Communications Officer), who introduced the Observatory and its key scientific objectives, and Patricia Márquez (Telescope Manager of the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/)), who explained the engineering challenges and innovations involved in building the [Large-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) (LST), one of the three types of CTAO telescope. Their interviews will soon be available on 5 Sigma’s official channels. +## Visits to the CTAO-North site + Sunday’s highlight was a high-altitude excursion to the CTAO-North site at 2,200 meters, organised by STARMUS for VIP guests and festival companions. More than 100 visitors toured the interior of LST-1, the prototype [Large-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) inaugurated in 2018 and now in commissioning, and learned about the three additional LSTs under construction by the LST Collaboration. A particularly special moment was the visit of renowned primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall, who toured the LST-1 facilities and learned about the Observatory’s mission and scientific goals from the CTAO team. Dr. Goodall, known for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees, has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Príncipe de Asturias Award, the Kyoto Prize, and the Legion of Honor from France. She founded the [Jane Goodall Institute](https://janegoodall.org/) in 1977 and launched the Roots & Shoots programme to empower youth in environmental and humanitarian efforts. During the festival, she was also honoured with a medal on La Palma’s Walk of the Stars of Science. The last day of the festival concluded with a public talk by Patricia Márquez, who presented the latest updates on the CTAO-North’s construction progress, as well as some interesting engineering facts about the LSTs. +## CTAO and LST Collaboration members + All activities were made possible thanks to the dedication of CTAO Central Organisation and LST Collaboration members (in alphabetical order): Alice Donini, Alba Fernández-Barral, Antonia Flores, Patricia Márquez, Daniel Mazin, Javier Méndez, Antonio José Peñuela, and Viktoria Pinter. The virtual reality experience was created by INAF within the framework of the CTA+ project, funded by the Italian Resilience Recovery Plan (PNRR). ![](/uploads/CTAO_STARMUS_Stand-1600x900.jpg) diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-receives-commemorative-plaque-celebrating-its-eric-status-under-danish-eu-presidency.md b/src/content/news/ctao-receives-commemorative-plaque-celebrating-its-eric-status-under-danish-eu-presidency.md index 665fcd3..77cf507 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-receives-commemorative-plaque-celebrating-its-eric-status-under-danish-eu-presidency.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-receives-commemorative-plaque-celebrating-its-eric-status-under-danish-eu-presidency.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false On 22 October, during the [Research and Technology Infrastructure (RTI) Summit 2025](https://www.rti-summit2025.dk/) in Copenhagen, Denmark, Francisco Colomer, Chair of the CTAO ERIC Council, received a commemorative plaque from the European Commission on behalf of the CTAO, ceremonially recognising the Observatory’s establishment as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The handover took place during a special ERIC Plate Ceremony held at the summit, organised under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which celebrated the new ERICs created since the beginning of the year. +## The RTI Summit 2025 + Hosted at the Scandic Copenhagen on 22–23 October, the RTI Summit 2025 was inaugurated by Christina Egelund, Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science, José Luis Martínez, Chair of ESFRI, and Morten Meldal, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. The two-day summit brought together EU and national policymakers, RTI experts, industry stakeholders, funding agencies, EU project consortia, and research organisations — including the CTAO — to shape the future of European research and innovation infrastructures and discuss the new European RTI strategy. +## Establishment as an ERIC + The CTAO was formally [established as an ERIC by the European Commission](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/) in January 2025, marking the official start of its construction phase after successful years of preparation and design — a milestone now celebrated at the ERIC Plate Ceremony. As the world’s largest and most advanced observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, the CTAO will unravel the most energetic phenomena in the Universe, providing open data to a wide scientific community, and strengthening Europe’s global leadership in astrophysics and cutting-edge technology. In addition to its scientific mission, the CTAO became a [member of the ERIC Forum](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-joins-the-eric-forum/) in January, joining forces with other European research infrastructures to identify shared challenges, contribute to the development of ERIC regulations, and enhance the visibility, impact, and sustainability of the ERIC community. +## A global scientific community + While a European organisation, the CTAO’s mission and collaborations extend far beyond the continent, reflecting its global scope and the international support that drives its ambitious scientific goals. The [CTAO ERIC members](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) include Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Further countries — Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and the United States — are engaged in the process of joining the CTAO ERIC as Strategic Partners or Third Parties. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-releases-layouts-for-alpha-configuration.md b/src/content/news/ctao-releases-layouts-for-alpha-configuration.md index bdc47c9..70d3058 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-releases-layouts-for-alpha-configuration.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-releases-layouts-for-alpha-configuration.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false The CTAO recently released the layouts that define the geographical position of the elements (telescopes, calibration systems and atmospheric characterization devices) that will compose the two CTAO arrays according to the approved Alpha Configuration. Obtained in a joint work between CTAO and CTAC, the particular configuration is the result of a thorough optimization process meant to maximize the scientific performance of the two CTAO arrays: the CTAO Northern array, on the existing Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the Canary island of La Palma (Spain), and the CTAO Southern array, at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). +## CTAO Northern array layout + The layout of the CTAO Northern array (Figure 1) includes the location of 13 telescopes distributed over an area of about 0.5 km2: four [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) and nine [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/), in addition to the calibration and atmospheric characterization equipment. The array, which is optimized for the CTAO’s low- to medium-energy range (20 GeV – 5 TeV), will specialize in extragalactic sources. The elements and their corresponding locations in this array are contingent on the approval of the construction permits released by the local authorities on La Palma, which is being managed by the IAC. Figure 1. Layout of the CTAO Northern array on La Palma (Spain), including the elements defined in the Alpha Configuration. +## CTAO Southern array layout + The CTAO Southern array includes 51 telescopes over a ~3 km2 area (Figure 2), consisting of 14 MSTs and 37 [Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/), as described in the Alpha Configuration, as well as calibration and atmospheric characterization systems. This telescope configuration allows the southern array to focus on Galactic targets, optimizing its capabilities on the CTAO’s medium- and high-energy range (150 GeV – 300 TeV). The Alpha Configuration does not consider LSTs in the CTAO Southern array, but it includes the preparation of the foundation for four of them, as well as the foundation for three more SSTs, to allow for the construction of these telescopes in a future enhancement of the array. The positions of these telescopes are also included in the layout. Figure 2. Layout of the CTAO Southern array in the Atacama Desert (Chile), according to the Alpha Configuration. +## Coordinates and scientific performance + The released layout coordinates correspond to the so-called “*as-requested coordinates*,” which positions the elements in a configuration that ensures the most outstanding scientific performance. Small modifications may occur based on local geophysical constraints and other factors revealed during the engineering design and construction. However, any shift in the final positions would be limited to less than ten metres, preventing any relevant difference in terms of performance. This guarantees that both arrays will achieve 5 to 10 times better sensitivity than any current instrument. Read more about [the CTAO arrays](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/) and the [corresponding performance](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/performance/) on our website. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-school-launches-in-june-2024.md b/src/content/news/ctao-school-launches-in-june-2024.md index e167033..89e9c84 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-school-launches-in-june-2024.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-school-launches-in-june-2024.md @@ -10,20 +10,26 @@ draft: false In June 2024, the CTAO gGmbH, in cooperation with the LST Collaboration, will inaugurate the first CTAO School. This two-week workshop is aimed at early-career scientists who want to begin or delve deeper into CTAO science, technology and data analysis. As an international, enriching experience, the first week will take place in Bertinoro, Italy, 16-19 June, while the second will be carried out in La Palma, Spain, 22-29 June. +## Skills and workshops + During the two-week school, participants will have the opportunity to develop hard and soft skills with experts in the field, including: -- -Learning about current hot topics in Very High-Energy (VHE) Astrophysics from international experts; -- -Learning how to write a successful scientific proposal; -- -Performing real observations with the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST); -- -Performing data analysis both on real and simulated data; -- -Presenting their current scientific projects to peers and leading the discussion. +- Learning about current hot topics in Very High-Energy (VHE) Astrophysics from international experts; +- Learning how to write a successful scientific proposal; +- Performing real observations with the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST); +- Performing data analysis both on real and simulated data; +- Presenting their current scientific projects to peers and leading the discussion. Additionally, students will also attend scicomm workshops to learn how to present their results to a general, non-expert audience and will visit several facilities located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, site of the CTAO Northern Array. > “Our goal is to create a comprehensive school, where participants can develop their skills in each phase of the scientific process, from understanding a source and making an observation proposal, to taking that data and analyzing it,” explains Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist and Chair of the Scientific Organizing Committee. “All of this would not be possible without the support of our international partners, who are working very hard to make this a fulfilling and successful experience for the participants.” +## Applications and selection process + To ensure an interactive educational experience, both in theoretical and hands-on sessions, the school will accept a maximum of 25 participants. As part of the selection process, applicants will be asked to submit a one-page statement about the research work they have carried out so far, as well as a one-page reference letter from advisors or supervisors. +## Fees and fellowships + The fee for the two-week school is 900 euro, which covers accommodation, meals, coffee breaks and local transportation at both sites, as well as the plane ticket from Bologna, Italy, to La Palma. In alignment with the Observatory’s commitment to inclusion and equal opportunity, the CTAO will offer fellowships that will cover the fees for participants from resource-limited groups. Selection criteria will be based on scientific merit, evaluated through the one-page cover letter and a demonstration of the group’s financial need. [Learn more about the CTAO School and apply on our website.](https://www.school.cta-observatory.org/) diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-science-data-management-centre-inauguration.md b/src/content/news/ctao-science-data-management-centre-inauguration.md index 6154628..5ac4749 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-science-data-management-centre-inauguration.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-science-data-management-centre-inauguration.md @@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ draft: false On 14 October 2024, more than 250 guests from around the world will gather in Zeuthen, Germany, to celebrate the inauguration of the CTAO Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) building, [one of the Observatory’s four core facilities](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/). +## About the CTAO SDMC + Located on the [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY](https://desy.de/) campus, near Berlin, the CTAO SDMC serves as the scientific gateway for the CTAO, coordinating the software and computing work, as well as the science operations of the Observatory and making CTAO‘s data products available to the worldwide community. The new building will be the home of the [CTAO Computing Department](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) and also host DESY offices and a new canteen. Aligning with the regional importance of DESY, this is the first time an international research project will be co-hosted on the DESY Zeuthen campus, fostering top international research in Brandenburg and attracting scientist worldwide to work on its premises. +## The inauguration ceremony + To celebrate this milestone, Mario Brandenburg, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and Tobias Dünow, State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg (MWFK), will participate in the ceremony on campus. They will be joined by Dr. Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO Managing Director; Prof. Beate Heinemann, DESY Director for Particle Physics; Prof. Otmar Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association, and Prof. Christian Stegmann, Head of DESY Zeuthen. The CTAO SDMC inauguration will be held in English, with simultaneous translation in German, and live streamed in both languages on the DESY YouTube channel ([English version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-K8hcsvQr0) and [German version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6HT8Vxj5Q)). +## Contact and further information + For further information and interview inquiries (both in person and online), please contact: Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral @@ -37,5 +43,3 @@ Head of Communications at DESY Zeuthen Learn more about the CTAO and the SDCM with the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, available in [English](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO_SDMC_FAQ.pdf) and [German](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO_SDMC_FAQ_German.pdf). Meet some of the CTAO and DESY members available for Interviews: [Link](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/Interviewees_CTAO-DESY.pdf) - -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-science-symposium-returns-in-april-2024-2.md b/src/content/news/ctao-science-symposium-returns-in-april-2024-2.md index 6aabd61..65c30d7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-science-symposium-returns-in-april-2024-2.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-science-symposium-returns-in-april-2024-2.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false The CTAO will host the second edition of its [CTAO Science Symposium](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/) 15-18 April 2024 in Bologna, Italy. The Symposium will assemble scientists from around the world to learn about and discuss the Observatory’s current phase of development and growth and its subsequent scientific impact. +## What participants will learn + During the symposium, participants will learn about the beginning of the construction of the CTAO’s Alpha Configuration, the expected performance and data access of said layout, and the upcoming Data Challenge. Additionally, speakers will take an account of the status of gamma-ray astronomy and beyond, emphasizing the latest results from other instruments and observatories, as well as the biggest unresolved questions puzzling the field and how to address them. Representatives from the LST Collaboration will present the first scientific results of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) prototype, the LST-1, built on the CTAO’s northern array site in La Palma, Spain. +## Science topics on the agenda + The agenda covers a variety of science topics, such as the study of cosmic rays, compact objects, new science, fundamental physics and future instruments. Highlight talks will provide insights into hot topics within the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger panorama. Renowned speakers will join throughout the week to discuss the CTAO science case and fostering synergies, especially within multi-messenger astronomy. > “We are very excited to host the CTAO Science Symposium again, a conference that aims to become a meeting point for researchers worldwide interested in very high-energy astrophysics,” says Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientists and Chair of the Scientific Organizing Committee. “It is the perfect opportunity to gather with the future users of CTAO data and work together on the synergies that will shape multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy in the upcoming decades.” +## Registration and venue details + The event will be held in the historic centre of Bologna, Italy at the Teatro Duse. Registration and abstract submission are now open. The regular fee is 350 euro, reduced to 250 euro for students, and includes all lunches, coffee breaks and the gala dinner. Significant time is allocated for contributed talks, with reserved time for early-career researchers. Moreover, the Symposium will have “Poster Spark” sessions, where the authors of the posters will have the opportunity to briefly present their contribution to the audience. The deadline for abstract submissions is January 14, 2024. Register, submit an abstract and learn more about the CTAO Science Symposium on its dedicated website: [https://www.ctao-symposium.org/](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/) diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-sdmc-inauguration.md b/src/content/news/ctao-sdmc-inauguration.md index f4247b5..5d9ea1e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-sdmc-inauguration.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-sdmc-inauguration.md @@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ Zeuthen, Germany – On October 14, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (C The ceremony, chaired by Prof. Christian Stegmann, Head of DESY Zeuthen, was opened by Mario Brandenburg, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and Tobias Dünow, State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg (MWFK), followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO Managing Director; Prof. Beate Heinemann, DESY Director for Particle Physics; and Prof. Otmar Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association. The event brought together members of the CTAO Council, key figures from the international CTAO community, political representatives, regional partners and CTAO and DESY staff to celebrate an important milestone in the exploration of the high-energy Universe. -Speaking about the importance of the new facility, Brandenburg states: “The opening of the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) in Zeuthen marks a milestone on the way to the CTAO. With the SDMC we are not only making a significant contribution to managing and processing the immense amounts of data generated by the CTAO observations. We also strengthen Germany’s position as a location for innovation. The SDMC impressively demonstrates how international co-operation in research and the use of state-of-the-art data management technologies can enable future scientific breakthroughs.” +> Speaking about the importance of the new facility, Brandenburg states: “The opening of the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) in Zeuthen marks a milestone on the way to the CTAO. With the SDMC we are not only making a significant contribution to managing and processing the immense amounts of data generated by the CTAO observations. We also strengthen Germany’s position as a location for innovation. The SDMC impressively demonstrates how international co-operation in research and the use of state-of-the-art data management technologies can enable future scientific breakthroughs.” + +## The new SDMC facility ![](/uploads/4_building_side2-DESY-UlrikeBehrens-1600x1033.jpg) @@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ Speaking about the importance of the new facility, Brandenburg states: “The op The CTAO is an international observatory with telescope array sites located on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, and in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Its Headquarters are located in Bologna, Italy. Located on the [DESY](https://desy.de/) campus, near Berlin, the CTAO SDMC coordinates the software and computing work of the Observatory, making CTAO‘s data products available to the worldwide community. -Tobias Dünow, State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg, said: “If you want to know why science and research are so immensely important and why every Euro invested there is an investment in the future, you just have to go to DESY in Zeuthen. DESY conducts research into questions of the future, from astroparticle physics to projects in the field of cancer therapy with accelerators and quantum computing, the answers to which will make our lives better and healthier. That is why we are delighted to have supported the construction of the Science Data Management Centre. The decision to locate the SDMC of the international gamma-ray observatory CTAO in Zeuthen is impressive proof of DESY’s excellence in research.” +> Tobias Dünow, State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg, said: “If you want to know why science and research are so immensely important and why every Euro invested there is an investment in the future, you just have to go to DESY in Zeuthen. DESY conducts research into questions of the future, from astroparticle physics to projects in the field of cancer therapy with accelerators and quantum computing, the answers to which will make our lives better and healthier. That is why we are delighted to have supported the construction of the Science Data Management Centre. The decision to locate the SDMC of the international gamma-ray observatory CTAO in Zeuthen is impressive proof of DESY’s excellence in research.” The new €14 million building will accommodate 60 people and will be the home of the [CTAO Science Data Management](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) Centre and also host DESY offices and a new canteen. @@ -32,13 +34,17 @@ The new €14 million building will accommodate 60 people and will be the home o Aligning with the regional importance of DESY, this is the first time an international research project will be co-hosted on the DESY Zeuthen campus, fostering top international research in Brandenburg and attracting scientist worldwide to work on its premises. -> “We are very pleased that the CTAO is locating its SDMC on the DESY campus in Zeuthen, and we look forward to even closer co-operation with the Observatory, in particular the Headquarters of the CTAO in Bologna,” commented Christian Stegmann**, **during the moderation. “The decision underlines the positive development of DESY in Zeuthen into a centre for astroparticle physics.” +> “We are very pleased that the CTAO is locating its SDMC on the DESY campus in Zeuthen, and we look forward to even closer co-operation with the Observatory, in particular the Headquarters of the CTAO in Bologna,” commented Christian Stegmann, during the moderation. “The decision underlines the positive development of DESY in Zeuthen into a centre for astroparticle physics.” + +## Exploring the high-energy Universe The sources the CTAO will study, like supermassive black holes and supernova remnants, are the most energetic objects in the Universe. The CTAO will provide a very wide energy range, excellent angular and energy resolution and sensitivity in comparison to any existing gamma-ray detector. With its ability to detect energies between 20 GeV and 300 TeV and its unprecedented resolution, the CTAO will be able to observe further than ever before, providing a completely new view of the sky. > “As one of Germany’s largest research centres, DESY carries out fundamental research that creates new knowledge and new conceptual approaches,” Beate Heinemann, DESY Director in charge of Particle Physics said. “DESY has a long tradition of performing research in international collaborations, not only to foster scientific progress but also to enable exchanges between people from many nations. I am delighted that DESY continues this tradition by hosting the SDMC of the CTAO. The large competence of DESY in data management and analysis will be pivotal to fully exploit the CTAO data, and to learn more about some of the most mysterious and violent objects in our Universe.” -Otmar Wiestler adds from the perspective of the President of the Helmholtz Association: “The CTAO enables groundbreaking discoveries in astrophysics and opens new pathways for our understanding of the universe. At the Helmholtz Association, we are proud to make another important contribution to this remarkable international research project with the opening of the CTAO’s Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) at the German Electron Synchrotron DESY site in Zeuthen. The SDMC will be an excellent addition to the CTAO, serving as a central hub for processing and analyzing vast amounts of data, fostering long-term international collaboration, and thus making a significant contribution to the overall success of the project.” +> Otmar Wiestler adds from the perspective of the President of the Helmholtz Association: “The CTAO enables groundbreaking discoveries in astrophysics and opens new pathways for our understanding of the universe. At the Helmholtz Association, we are proud to make another important contribution to this remarkable international research project with the opening of the CTAO’s Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) at the German Electron Synchrotron DESY site in Zeuthen. The SDMC will be an excellent addition to the CTAO, serving as a central hub for processing and analyzing vast amounts of data, fostering long-term international collaboration, and thus making a significant contribution to the overall success of the project.” + +## Further information and inquiries For further information and interview inquiries (both in person and online), please contact: @@ -54,6 +60,8 @@ Head of Communications at DESY Zeuthen [ulrike.behrens@desy.de](mailto:ulrike.behrens@desy.de) +## About the CTAO + The CTAO will be the world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. The Observatory’s unique capabilities will help us to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics, falling under three major themes: understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments, such as black holes or neutron stars; and exploring frontiers in physics, searching for dark matter or deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity. The CTAO is an international observatory with facilities located in Europe and South America: two arrays of telescopes in each hemisphere, CTAO-North in La Palma (Spain) and CTAO-South in the Atacama Desert (Chile), as well as the Headquarters in Bologna (Italy) and its Science Data Management Centre in Zeuthen (Germany). diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-signs-cooperation-agreement-with-the-skao.md b/src/content/news/ctao-signs-cooperation-agreement-with-the-skao.md index d6251e8..7a5f951 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-signs-cooperation-agreement-with-the-skao.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-signs-cooperation-agreement-with-the-skao.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false 29 January 2020 – The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the [Square Kilometre Array Organisation](https://www.skatelescope.org/) (SKAO) will engage in closer collaboration under a new agreement signed by the two research infrastructures. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will facilitate greater sharing of knowledge and expertise in areas including engineering, science, technology and administration. +## Two international collaborations + The CTAO and SKAO are both large international collaborations and have several member countries in common, including many European countries but also astronomy organisations in Australia and South Africa. Like CTA, which will have two arrays of telescopes on different continents observing gamma rays, one in Chile and one on La Palma in the Canary Islands (Spain), the SKA will also have radio telescopes in Australia and South Africa. The two observatories are due to begin delivering science within just a few years of each other. Both have also begun transitions on the governance front; the CTAO is becoming a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), while the SKA is becoming an intergovernmental organisation or IGO. +## Formalising the partnership + > “In this age of multi-messenger astronomy, building alliances with observatories across the spectrum is critical to achieving our common missions to expand our view and understanding of the Universe,” says Federico Ferrini, CTAO Managing Director. “The CTAO-SKAO partnership was an obvious fit due to our vast similarities, and we are looking forward to the collaboration.” > “Both the SKA and CTA are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible technically, scientifically and logistically, and some of the challenges that brings are common to both projects,” says Simon Berry, Director of Strategy for the SKA. “This MOU formalises our relationship, so we can keep learning from each other’s experiences and share expertise for the benefit of both observatories.” +## Scientific synergies + While the respective telescopes will observe opposite ends of the electromagnetic spectrum, there are exciting areas of scientific synergy between them. Both radio and gamma rays are a probe of the violent and variable Universe, including the study of active galactic nuclei, transient events such as gamma-ray bursts and fast radio bursts, accretion into compact objects and gravitational wave counterparts. As the world’s largest radio telescope, SKA is one of several next-generation facilities targeting cosmic sources by detecting other wavelengths or messengers (such as neutrinos or gravitational waves) that will be complementary to CTA. Coordinated observations between such facilities can give a more complete picture of astronomical sources and phenomena, resulting in greatly enhanced scientific discoveries. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-us-teams-awarded-nearly-4-million-nsf-grant-to-develop-sst-cameras.md b/src/content/news/ctao-us-teams-awarded-nearly-4-million-nsf-grant-to-develop-sst-cameras.md index af7a094..4de7c89 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-us-teams-awarded-nearly-4-million-nsf-grant-to-develop-sst-cameras.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-us-teams-awarded-nearly-4-million-nsf-grant-to-develop-sst-cameras.md @@ -10,17 +10,25 @@ draft: false The U.S. teams involved in the development of the CTAO have been awarded a $3.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to contribute to building and installing ten cameras for the [Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs).](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) Led by the Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the funds will provide light detectors for the telescopes located on the [CTAO-South site in Chile](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/), as well as the readout and control electronics required to operate them. +## The SSTs and their cameras + The SSTs are the smallest of the CTAO’s [three telescope types](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/) that the Observatory will use to cover its broad energy range, from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. They will outnumber the other telescopes, with 37 SSTs planned in the approved Alpha Configuration and spread across several square kilometres on the CTAO-South array. Their large collection area makes them essential for extending CTAO’s sensitivity to the highest TeV energies, enabling study of the most energetic cosmic accelerators in our Galaxy. > “By detecting light trillions of times more energetic than what we can see with our eyes, the CTAO will discover energetic phenomena powered by black holes and exploding stars,” says Justin Vandenbroucke, Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and co-lead of the NSF project. “The SSTs of CTAO-South will have a particularly good view of the inner Galaxy, where these phenomena are abundant.” The SST’s design permits a compact camera based on silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) sensors. Each camera’s 32 SiPM tiles account for a total of 2,048 pixels, covering a large field of view of approximately 9 degrees. The camera records Cherenkov light in 128-frame movies, with each frame lasting one billionth of a second. +## A significant US contribution + With the new NSF funds, the CTAO-US teams will become significant contributors to the CTAO SST Collaboration, the [In-Kind Contributors](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) responsible for building this class of telescopes. The development and installation of these ten cameras will enhance the Observatory’s capabilities at the highest energies and marks a significant step in the U.S. teams’ participation in the project. > “We are excited to make a significant contribution to the CTAO by providing camera instrumentation for the SSTs in the southern array,” says Manel Errando, Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis and co-lead of the NSF project. “This effort not only brings the CTAO closer to the completion of construction but also secures a pathway for US-based scientists to participate fully and gain access to CTAO data.” -The U.S. members have been deeply involved in the CTAO project since its inception more than a decade ago, contributing across governance, scientific, and technological domains. “The U.S. teams have been an important supporter of the CTAO throughout its history,” said CTAO Director General, Stuart McMuldroch. “We are grateful for their various contributions and look forward to continuing and expanding our work together in this new phase.” +## US involvement in the CTAO + +The U.S. members have been deeply involved in the CTAO project since its inception more than a decade ago, contributing across governance, scientific, and technological domains. + +> “The U.S. teams have been an important supporter of the CTAO throughout its history,” said CTAO Director General, Stuart McMuldroch. “We are grateful for their various contributions and look forward to continuing and expanding our work together in this new phase.” They participated as an Observer in the CTAO gGmbH, the former legal entity of the Observatory prior to the establishment of the [ERIC in January 2025](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/). Negotiations regarding U.S. accession to the ERIC are currently ongoing. Additionally, the CTAO-US teams have been active members of the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/), the group dedicated to the science exploitation of the Observatory, holding key managerial positions, including that of Co-Spokesperson. diff --git a/src/content/news/ctao-will-double-its-staff-as-major-infrastructure-development-begins-in-2024.md b/src/content/news/ctao-will-double-its-staff-as-major-infrastructure-development-begins-in-2024.md index ca7ccbf..54f038d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/ctao-will-double-its-staff-as-major-infrastructure-development-begins-in-2024.md +++ b/src/content/news/ctao-will-double-its-staff-as-major-infrastructure-development-begins-in-2024.md @@ -10,18 +10,23 @@ draft: false **Bologna, Italy –** On 6 September 2023, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory’s (CTAO’s) two governing bodies, the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) and the CTAO gGmbH Council, gathered to agree on the significant forthcoming measures to advance the Observatory to its construction phase. During the meeting, both bodies unanimously certified their commitment to the progress of the CTAO, including a foreseen endorsement of up to approximately 30 million euro for 2024. This represents a significant increase in annual funding, which will enable the Observatory to not only move forward with substantial infrastructure development but also to double its workforce. +## Transition to ERIC status + The CTAO is in the process of a two-step application to transition from a gGmbH (under the German law) to a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC, under the European law). While the first step has been completed, discussions with the European Commission concerning the second step are still ongoing. The agreement between the BGR, comprised of representatives of the future legal entity’s member countries, and the CTAO gGmbH Council, allows the project to proceed in the meantime. > “While we continue to work towards obtaining the ERIC status, the member countries and organisations within the BGR are prepared to advance the project to its next phase,” explains Aldo Covello, Chair of the BGR. Markus Schleier, Chair of the CTAO gGmbH Council, stated: “The pledge of the BGR and the agreement we have reached in the Council will not only ensure the stability of the project but will undoubtedly help the CTAO attract new talent and investment as it continues to grow.” +## Infrastructure development in 2024 + The current legal entity of the CTAO, the CTAO gGmbH, and its partners have carried out extensive design and pre-construction activities, including the advancement of telescopes, such as the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized Telescope under commissioning on the CTAO-North site in La Palma, Spain. In 2024, the Observatory plans to open at least 30 new positions and start major infrastructure development including building roads, power systems, and foundations for its southern array site in the Atacama Desert (Chile). Together with the very important developments in the northern array site, this represents a major milestone for the project. These steps will bring the Observatory closer to realizing its planned 64 telescopes, which will deliver an unprecedented sensitivity in the quest to unveil new discoveries in the high-energy gamma-ray Universe. ![](/uploads/53205280483_59bde1f9e6_k-1600x901.jpg) - *Rendering of CTAO-North array site.* +## About the CTAO + The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will be the first open ground-based gamma-ray observatory and the world’s largest and most sensitive instrument for the exploration of the high-energy Universe. The CTAO’s unparalleled accuracy and broad energy range (20 GeV- 300 TeV) will provide novel insights into the most extreme and powerful events in the Cosmos, addressing questions in and beyond astrophysics falling under three major themes: Understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles, probing extreme environments (such as black holes and neutron stars) and exploring frontiers in physics (such as the nature of dark matter). To do so, the CTAO has two telescope array sites: CTAO-North in the northern hemisphere at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’s (IAC’s) Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain), and CTAO-South in the southern hemisphere near the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The headquarters is hosted by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Bologna (Italy), and the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) is hosted by the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Zeuthen (Germany). The CTAO will also be the first observatory of its kind to be open to the worldwide scientific communities as a resource for data from unique, high-energy astronomical observations. The Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) is the committee preparing for the CTAO’s legal status transition, formed by 12 countries and one intergovernmental organisation: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. The CTAO gGmbH Council is the gGmbH’s governing body, composed of shareholders from 11 countries and one intergovernmental organisation, as well as associate members from two countries. diff --git a/src/content/news/el-universo-que-veremos-event.md b/src/content/news/el-universo-que-veremos-event.md index 23861eb..cce4b29 100644 --- a/src/content/news/el-universo-que-veremos-event.md +++ b/src/content/news/el-universo-que-veremos-event.md @@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ More photos [on our Flickr channel.](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observato On Wednesday, 5 October, the heads of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) met at the headquarters of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in Granada, Spain to participate in the round table “El Universo que veremos” (“The Universe that we will see,” in English). Xavier Barcons (Director General of ESO), Philip Diamond (Director General of SKAO) and Wolfgang Wild (CTAO Project Manager) discussed the science, technology, impact and governance of these three major astronomical infrastructures, in a session moderated by Isabel Márquez (Deputy Director of the IAA-CSIC) and organized jointly between the IAA-CSIC and the CTAO. Held in tandem with the Big Science Business Forum (BSBF) conference that is being held this week in Granada, the event was the first time that these institutions, which will lead astrophysics in the coming decades, publicly assembled in Spain. +## New windows to the Universe + SKAO, ESO and CTAO will open new windows to the Universe across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio and optical waves to high-energy gamma rays, respectively. Building and managing the largest observatories on the planet involves great technological and scientific challenges that increasingly require international collaboration. > “It will be more and more common to combine many ranges of wavelengths to obtain a complete picture of an object or process in the Universe: multi-wavelength astronomy is the future, and it is what will allow us to fully understand these phenomena,” explained Wolfgang Wild during the round table. +## Technological and scientific challenges + Among the technological challenges, Wild and Barcons highlighted technical challenges, such as “moving a hundred-ton telescope in twenty seconds to any part of the sky” in the case of CTAO, or “getting 798 segments of one and a half meters to work as a single mirror” in the case of the ESO’s ELT (Extremely Large Telescope), the world’s largest optical telescope that is currently being built in Chile. Diamond, for his part, emphasized the challenges that a Big Data project like SKAO must face, such as the storage, processing and conversion of the immense volume of data that the Radio Observatory will generate. +## Socio-economic impact and governance + Likewise, the speakers discussed the socio-economic impact and governance of these international infrastructures and agreed on the need to create sustainable, diverse and inclusive projects. Among other activities, Barcons and Diamond highlighted the use of solar energy: recently, ESO inaugurated a photovoltaic plant in Chile, and SKAO’s antennas will work with this type of energy in Australia and mostly in South Africa. On the other hand, Wild explained the environmental care that any construction requires, like the detailed environmental studies conducted prior to CTAO’s activities on the Spanish island of La Palma, which will be the site of the Observatory’s northern hemisphere array of telescopes. Furthermore, as active members of society, these three infrastructures understand the special importance of participating in the local community, by engaging and partnering with the people and businesses in the areas where they will operate. “El Universo que veremos” was a unique opportunity to discuss multiple important aspects of the astronomical infrastructures of the present and the future. The successful collaboration of these three projects is an example of how international cooperation continues to strengthen and diversify science. There is no doubt that they will provide answers to many current scientific unknowns and even, as the speakers themselves pointed out, to questions that have not yet been raised. @@ -30,6 +36,8 @@ Alba Fernández-Barral, CTAO Outreach, Education and Communication Officer. [alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org) +## About the institutions + The [Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO)](https://www.ctao.org) will be the leading very high-energy gamma-ray astronomical observatory for decades to come, and its scientific potential is extremely broad: ranging from understanding the role of particles relativistic cosmic to the search for dark matter. With more than sixty telescopes located in the northern and southern hemispheres (on the island of La Palma and in Chile), CTAO will be the first ground-based gamma-ray observatory and the most sensitive instrument in the world for the detection of high-energy radiation. The [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)](https://www.iaa.csic.es/) is an institute of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Higher Council for Scientific Research, in English) located in Granada (Spain). The activities of the IAA-CSIC are related to research in the field of Astrophysics and the development of instrumentation for telescopes and space vehicles. Their research groups are actively involved in the CTA Project, as members of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium (CTAC) and the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) Collaboration, as well as the SKA Project. diff --git a/src/content/news/escape-to-the-future-event-recommits-ctao-and-partners.md b/src/content/news/escape-to-the-future-event-recommits-ctao-and-partners.md index 1ffdd02..63ba894 100644 --- a/src/content/news/escape-to-the-future-event-recommits-ctao-and-partners.md +++ b/src/content/news/escape-to-the-future-event-recommits-ctao-and-partners.md @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), in partnership with some of Eu ESCAPE, which began in 2019, has brought together a [cluster of ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) projects and other world-class research organizations](https://projectescape.eu/science-projects) with the aim of implementing a section of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) to foster Open Science in astrophysics and particle physics. As the ESCAPE project, funded by the H2020 grant, is coming to its end, the members of the cluster came together at the conference to share their results and achievements and to discuss the next challenges and their outlook for the future. The “ESCAPE to the Future” event is also the starting point of a new era: after the successful experience of the ESCAPE project, the CTAO and a further eight core ESCAPE Research Infrastructure partners signed a new Open Collaboration Agreement, which consolidates their cross-border action towards Open Science, the implementation of the EOSC and the establishment of new collaborations on common topics in the area of data management and research software. These actions benefit the [European Strategy for data and excellence in science,](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/strategy-data) as well as the data management approaches of the ESFRIs, themselves. +## CTAO's work within ESCAPE + During the implementation period of the ESCAPE project, the CTAO worked with [partners from the astronomy, astroparticle, particle  and nuclear physics communities](https://projectescape.eu/partners) on the development of software for Open Data management, in a cross-border and multi-disciplinary open environment, according to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. > “As an open observatory, the CTAO has the responsibility to provide high-quality data as a service to the community and to work closely with other observatories,” says Prof. Federico Ferrini, CTAO Managing Director, who participated in the discussion panel of the event with representatives from other ESFRI projects and landmarks. “Thus, the ESCAPE project is well-aligned with the CTAO’s overarching goal of providing scientists worldwide easy access to the CTAO data products and high-quality science software to analyse the data.” @@ -20,6 +22,8 @@ The CTAO’s participation in the ESCAPE Project has helped the Observatory gain > “Beyond providing an excellent framework to test technologies, workflows and use cases in the real world, which is invaluable for the CTAO, ESCAPE also presents the perfect opportunity to collaborate with other ESFRIs that share some of our challenges,” says Dr. Matthias Füßling. “Thus, the CTAO looks forward to continuing the ESCAPE partnership to enhance technologies and solutions, increase interoperability, improve software and user experience, and to find new ways to collaborate in order to make that happen.” +## The new Open Collaboration Agreement + The new Open Collaboration Agreement, publicly announced during the “ESCAPE for the Future” event and signed by the Directors of all the research infrastructure partners, will take effect in January 2023 and will also help continue the synergies and joint work of all five domain-based Science Clusters involved in the implementation of EOSC. This agreement, also open to further research infrastructures to join, is expected to maintain the collaborative and human experience represented by the Science Cluster and strengthen the role and impact of astronomy and nuclear/particle physics in the field of open science and, more broadly, in the European Research Area. > “Scientific research is progressing towards the new paradigm of Open Science for more open, transparent, collaborative and inclusive scientific practices to enhance the impact of science in our society, fostered by the expansion of information and communication technologies. This is the fundamental motivation of the ESCAPE scientific community and it is also the challenge shared by pan-European Research Infrastructures (RIs) that are members of the ESCAPE science cluster,” explains Dr. Giovanni Lamanna, Coordinator of the ESCAPE project. @@ -38,6 +42,8 @@ Dr. Giovanni Lamanna, Director of the [LAPP](https://lapp.in2p3.fr/) Laborato +33 (0) 4 50 09 16 00 +## About ESCAPE and EOSC + ESCAPE ([https://projectescape.eu/](https://projectescape.eu/)) brings together the astronomy, astroparticle and particle physics communities. With this, ESCAPE puts together a cluster with ESFRI projects with aligned challenges of data-driven research, with demonstrated capabilities in addressing various stages of data workflow and concerned with fundamental research through complementary approaches. ESCAPE aims to produce versatile solutions, with great potential for discovery, to support the implementation of EOSC thanks to open data management, cross-border and multi-disciplinary open environment, according to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. The ESCAPE foundations lay on the capacity building of the [ASTERICS project](https://www.asterics2020.eu/) work towards enabling interoperability between the facilities, minimising fragmentation, encouraging cross-fertilisation and developing joint multiwavelength/multi-messenger capabilities in astronomy, astrophysics and particle astrophysics communities. @@ -46,6 +52,8 @@ European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is a cloud for research data in Europe allowi Research Infrastructures have strong links with research communities and projects, manage significant data volumes and develop innovative data analytics tools, ensuring effective research data exploitation. Five ESFRI cluster projects were launched in 2019, within the H2020 framework of the European Union, providing a gathering point for various ESFRI projects and landmarks to connect to the EOSC. The five Science Clusters are ENVRI-FAIR for environmental research, EOSC-Life for life sciences, ESCAPE for astronomy, particle physics and nuclear physics, PaNOSC for multidisciplinary scientific analysis based on light and neutron sources facilities and SSHOC for social sciences and humanities. The ESFRI science cluster projects implement interfaces to integrate computer and data management solutions to create cross-border, interdisciplinary and open cooperation spaces for European researchers. +## Signatories and participating institutes + The first RIs that have signed the ESCAPE Open Collaboration agreement include ESFRI projects/landmarks and research infrastructures such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (**CERN**), the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (**CTAO**), the KM3NeT Research Infrastructure (**KM3NeT**), the European Gravitational-Wave Observatory (**EGO-Virgo**), the European Southern Observatory (**ESO**), the European Solar Telescope (**EST**), the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (**FAIR**), the Joint Institute for VLBI-ERIC (**JIV-ERIC**) and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (**SKAO**). The following institutes contribute actively to the ESCAPE Project on behalf of the CTAO (in alphabetical order by country): France: LAPP/Observatory of Paris diff --git a/src/content/news/eso-technical-analysis-confirms-planned-industrial-complex-will-have-extensive-impact-on-paranal-observatory.md b/src/content/news/eso-technical-analysis-confirms-planned-industrial-complex-will-have-extensive-impact-on-paranal-observatory.md index e3a746b..f5dfa44 100644 --- a/src/content/news/eso-technical-analysis-confirms-planned-industrial-complex-will-have-extensive-impact-on-paranal-observatory.md +++ b/src/content/news/eso-technical-analysis-confirms-planned-industrial-complex-will-have-extensive-impact-on-paranal-observatory.md @@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ ESO’s technical report focuses on those site characteristics that are most cri > “ESO has done an outstanding job in conducting this thorough technical analysis, providing valuable insights into the potential impacts of the planned INNA project,” says Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO ERIC Director General. “The findings are very concerning, and we support their efforts to achieve a relocation of the planned facility.” +## Increased light pollution + According to ESO’s analysis, the industrial complex would increase light pollution above the Very Large Telescope (VLT), which is about 11km from the planned INNA location, by at least 35% above the current artificial-light baseline levels. Another of the Paranal facilities, ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), would see the light pollution above it increase by a minimum of 5%. This increase already represents a level of interference incompatible with the conditions required for world-class astronomical observations. The impact on the skies above the CTAO-South, located just 5km from INNA, would be the most significant, with light pollution going up by at least 55%. > “Any loss in the quality of the Chilean night skies over Paranal — no matter how small — should not be tolerated, as any science lost will be gone forever and can never be recovered,” states Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist. @@ -22,6 +24,8 @@ For its technical analysis, a team of experts led by ESO Director of Operations > “The light-pollution figures we are reporting assume that the project will install the most modern available luminaries in a way that minimises light pollution. However, we are concerned that the inventory of light sources planned by AES is not complete and fit for purpose. In that case our already alarming results would underestimate the potential impact of the INNA project on the Paranal sky brightness,” explains Kaufer. +## Turbulence, vibrations and dust + In addition to the dark and clear skies, Paranal Observatory is the world’s top site for astronomy thanks to its exceptionally steady and stable atmosphere – it has what astronomers call excellent seeing conditions or very low “twinkling” of astronomical objects caused by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere. With INNA, the best seeing conditions could deteriorate by up to 40%, in particular due to the air turbulence caused by the project’s wind turbines. Another worry is the impact of the vibrations caused by INNA on the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) and the ELT, which are both extremely sensitive to micro-seismic noise. The technical analysis reveals that INNA’s wind turbines could produce an increase in these micro-vibrations of the ground that is large enough to impair the operations of these two world-leading astronomical facilities. Dust during construction is also problematic as it settles on the telescope mirrors and obstructs their view. @@ -30,6 +34,8 @@ Furthermore, INNA’s infrastructure is likely to encourage the development of a > “ESO and its Member States are fully supportive of energy decarbonisation. For us, Chile should not have to make a choice between hosting the most powerful astronomical observatories and developing green-energy projects. Both are declared strategic priorities by the country and are fully compatible — if the different facilities are located at sufficient distances from one another,” says ESO Director General Xavier Barcons. +## Submission to Chilean authorities + The full technical report will be submitted to the Chilean authorities later this month as part of the Citizen Participation Process (PAC) in INNA’s environmental impact assessment and made public at that time. In addition to their press release, ESO is making an executive summary of the report public in advance. [Read ESO’s full press release.](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2506/) diff --git a/src/content/news/evento-granada-open-science-con-ctao.md b/src/content/news/evento-granada-open-science-con-ctao.md index dd70f55..69f6175 100644 --- a/src/content/news/evento-granada-open-science-con-ctao.md +++ b/src/content/news/evento-granada-open-science-con-ctao.md @@ -10,16 +10,24 @@ draft: false El jueves 27 de abril a las 12:00 CEST, el Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) y el [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)](https://www.iaa.csic.es/) celebrarán un evento gratuito y abierto para investigadores interesados en la Ciencia Abierta y posibles sinergias con el CTAO, así como para estudiantes de grado, máster y doctorado que deseen desarrollarse profesionalmente en el campo de la Astrofísica de muy altas energías. El seminario, que tendrá lugar en la sede del IAA-CSIC (Granada, España), reunirá a Roberta Zanin (Responsable Científica del CTAO), Juan Cortina (Coordinador de CTA-España), Rubén López-Coto (Co-Investigador Principal del Proyecto CTA en el IAA-CSIC) y Francisco Colomer (Coordinador de la Presidencia Española del Consejo de la UE en el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) para hablar sobre las últimas novedades en el desarrollo de la Ciencia Abierta con el CTAO, incluyendo el uso innovador de la inteligencia artificial aplicada a la Astrofísica, y salidas profesionales y sinergias con el proyecto de construcción y operación del CTAO. +## El observatorio CTAO + El CTAO será el primer observatorio terrestre de rayos gamma y el instrumento más sensible para explorar el Universo a muy altas energías. Lo hará con más de 60 telescopios situados en dos emplazamientos: CTAO-Norte, situado en el hemisferio norte en la isla de La Palma (España), y CTAO-Sur localizado en el hemisferio sur en el Desierto de Atacama (Chile). Como instrumento líder para la astronomía de rayos gamma durante los próximos 30 años, el CTAO abordará algunas de las principales cuestiones científicas dentro y fuera de la astrofísica, divididas en tres temas principales: comprender el origen y el papel de las partículas cósmicas relativistas; estudiar los entornos más extremos del Cosmos, como la vecindad de agujeros negros o estrellas de neutrones; y explorar las fronteras de la física, buscando desvelar grandes misterios como la naturaleza de la materia oscura. Y lo más importante, como observatorio comprometido con la Ciencia Abierta, el CTAO será el primer instrumento de este tipo en proporcionar herramientas de análisis y datos astronómicos abiertos para toda la comunidad científica siguiendo los principios FAIR (del inglés, encontrabilidad, accesibilidad, interoperabilidad y reutilización). +## El papel de España + El CTAO, que pronto se convertirá en un Consorcio Europeo de Infraestructuras de Investigación (CTAO ERIC), cuenta con países miembro y socios globalmente para su despliegue científico y tecnológico (hardware y software). Entre ellos se encuentra España, país miembro y anfitrión del emplazamiento CTAO-Norte, que juega un papel fundamental en el avance del proyecto. Las contribuciones españolas se centran en el desarrollo del hardware para el Large-Sized Telescope (LST) y el Medium-Sized Telescope (MST), así como en el análisis del software y el almacenamiento de datos para el prototipo del LST, denominado LST-1, actualmente en fase de puesta en marcha en La Palma (Islas Canarias). Además, los miembros españoles trabajan en el desarrollo de instrumentos para la monitorización de las condiciones atmosféricas en el CTAO-Norte y colaboran como miembros activos en los diferentes grupos de trabajo científicos y de análisis de datos del Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium (CTAC), donde representan el 10% de la comunidad. +## La Ciencia Abierta en el evento + Los diferentes equipos internacionales comprometidos con el avance del CTAO trabajan a favor de la Ciencia Abierta en múltiples frentes, que serán discutidos por los ponentes durante el evento. Entre otros temas, los participantes podrán profundizar sobre las [perspectivas científicas del CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/study-themes/) y sus datos, el CTAO Science Data Challenge, el papel del CTAO como miembro activo en proyectos internacionales como [ESCAPE](https://projectescape.eu/), el papel de los Centros de Datos en el procesamiento, y el uso de redes neuronales para mejorar el análisis de datos. Además, los ponentes destacarán posibles sinergias y oportunidades profesionales con el CTAO para físicos e ingenieros en España y otros países. El evento tiene lugar durante la semana de la Asamblea General del CTAO/CTAC que reunirá a cientos de científicos e ingenieros de todo el mundo remota y presencialmente en Granada para debatir sobre los avances científicos y tecnológicos del CTAO. [Alba Fernández-Barral](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org), Responsable de Divulgación, Educación y Comunicación de CTAO. +## Sobre el CTAO + La precisión incomparable y el rango de energía sin precedentes (20 GeV-300 TeV) del CTAO proporcionarán nuevos conocimientos sobre los eventos más extremos y poderosos del Universo. Para ello, el CTAO tiene dos emplazamientos que albergarán los telescopios: [CTAO-Norte en el hemisferio norte en La Palma (España)](https://www.cta-observatory.org/about/array-locations/la-palma/) y [CTAO-Sur en el hemisferio sur en el Desierto de Atacama (Chile)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/). La sede central del CTAO está alojada en Italia en el Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) en Bolonia, y el Centro de Gestión de Datos Científicos (SDMC por sus siglas en inglés) se encuentra en Alemania en el campus de Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) en Zeuthen. Se requieren tres clases de telescopios para cubrir todo el rango de energía del CTAO, desde 20 GeV hasta 300 TeV: [el Large-Sized Telescope (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/), el [Medium-Sized Telescope (MST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) y el [Small-Sized Telescope (SST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/). El proyecto para construir CTAO está muy avanzado: existen prototipos de trabajo para todos los diseños de telescopios propuestos y se ha llevado a cabo un trabajo significativo de caracterización y diseño del sitio. Además, en octubre de 2018, se inauguró el prototipo Large-Sized Telescope, el LST-1, en CTAO-Norte, y actualmente se encuentra en proceso de puesta en servicio. El Observatorio se beneficia de una configuración modular: si bien se espera que finalmente incluya hasta 118 telescopios repartidos entre ambos sitios de telescopios, durante la primera fase de construcción se construirá una instalación parcial con más de 60 telescopios, lo que ya será una mejora excepcional en comparación a las infraestructuras actuales. Esta configuración incluye 4 LST y 9 MST para el conjunto del hemisferio norte y 14 MST y 37 SST para el hemisferio sur. La [definición de esta configuración](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/performance/) es el resultado de un minucioso proceso de optimización de las capacidades científicas de cada conjunto, lo que implica la especialización del emplazamiento norte en fuentes extragalácticas (rango de energía del CTAO bajo-medio) y el del sur en objetos galácticos (rango de energía del CTAO medio-alto). diff --git a/src/content/news/final-agreements-signed-for-cta-southern-hemisphere-site-in-chile.md b/src/content/news/final-agreements-signed-for-cta-southern-hemisphere-site-in-chile.md index 8f1c199..2375874 100644 --- a/src/content/news/final-agreements-signed-for-cta-southern-hemisphere-site-in-chile.md +++ b/src/content/news/final-agreements-signed-for-cta-southern-hemisphere-site-in-chile.md @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ draft: false A total of three agreements were signed over the course of the week: between the Chilean government and ESO; between ESO and CTAO; and between the [Chilean National Commission for Science and Technology](https://www.conicyt.cl/) (CONICYT) and CTAO. With these three agreements in place, the CTAO will be able to begin construction on the southern site. The hosting agreement with the [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](http://www.iac.es/) (IAC) is already in place to host CTA’s northern hemisphere array at the [Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos](http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=2&lang=en) in La Palma, Spain. Construction on both the northern and southern arrays is expected to begin in 2020. +## A next-generation gamma-ray array + CTA will be the next generation ground-based instrument in the detection of gamma rays, which are very high-energy electromagnetic radiation emitted by the hottest and most powerful objects in the Universe — such as supermassive black holes, supernovae and possibly remnants of the Big Bang. To provide access to the whole sky, the CTA Observatory will have two sites, with 19 telescopes in the northern hemisphere and 99 in the southern hemisphere. The southern site of CTA is 11 kilometres southeast of the location of the [Very Large Telescope](http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/) at [ESO’s Paranal Observatory](http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/) in the Atacama Desert and only 16 kilometres from the construction site of the upcoming [Extremely Large Telescope](https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/elt/). This is one of the driest and most isolated regions on Earth — an astronomical paradise. In addition to the ideal conditions for year-round observation, installing CTA at the Paranal Observatory brings the advantages of ESO’s infrastructure. The existing infrastructures and facilities, and ESO’s long-lasting experience spearheading international astronomical projects in Chile, will all support the construction and operation of the new telescope array. ESO will operate the facility on behalf of the CTA Observatory and its Members. @@ -20,6 +22,8 @@ Current gamma-ray telescope arrays only consist of a handful of individual teles Although the Earth’s atmosphere prevents gamma rays from reaching the surface, CTA’s mirrors and high-speed cameras will capture the short-lived flashes of eerie blue Cherenkov radiation produced when gamma rays interact with the atmosphere. By detecting this Cherenkov light, scientists will be able to trace the gamma ray back to its cosmic source. +## Signing the agreements + On 19 December 2018, Ferrini met with ESO’s Director General, Xavier Barcons, at the ESO offices in Santiago, Chile. In the presence of ESO’s Director for Operations, Andreas Kaufer, and other ESO personnel, they signed the agreement for the construction and operation of CTA’s southern array within ESO’s Paranal site in northern Chile. Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations of Chile Carolina Valdivia Torres and ESO’s Director General also signed [an agreement](https://minrel.gob.cl/chile-suscribe-convenio-para-instalacion-del-conjunto-de-telescopios-de/minrel/2018-12-19/170922.html) that enables ESO to host CTA-South at the Paranal Observatory site, as an ESO Programme. @@ -34,6 +38,8 @@ On 17 December 2018, CTAO’s Managing Director, Federico Ferrini, met CONICYT > “The scientific collaboration agreement with CONICYT was an important first step in strengthening the confidence of the Chilean Government in scientific collaboration and to achieve the installation of CTA telescopes in Chile, with ESO’s involvement,” commented Ferrini. “We are looking forward to collaborating with CONICYT to develop a brilliant community of Chilean scientists and engineers that will become an important part of both Chile’s future and the future activities of CTA.” +## Exploring the extreme Universe + The scientific scope of CTA is extremely broad: from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. CTA will explore the extreme Universe, probing environments from the immediate neighbourhood of black holes to cosmic voids on the largest scales. It may even lead to brand new physics as it studies the nature of matter and forces beyond the [Standard Model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model). More than 1400 scientists and engineers from 31 countries across five continents are engaged in the scientific and technical development of CTA. The shareholders of the current legal entity — CTAO gGmbH — are the representatives of ministries and funding agencies from Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom [1]. They are currently preparing for the establishment of a European Research Infrastructure Consortium — the CTAO ERIC — which will then construct the immense observatory. The ERIC will be composed of CTAO’s Member States and associated countries. diff --git a/src/content/news/first-meeting-of-new-iac-and-ctao-directors-marks-next-phase-of-collaboration.md b/src/content/news/first-meeting-of-new-iac-and-ctao-directors-marks-next-phase-of-collaboration.md index 691294a..82fba86 100644 --- a/src/content/news/first-meeting-of-new-iac-and-ctao-directors-marks-next-phase-of-collaboration.md +++ b/src/content/news/first-meeting-of-new-iac-and-ctao-directors-marks-next-phase-of-collaboration.md @@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ draft: false This week, CTAO Managing Director, Stuart McMuldroch, and Construction Programme Manager, Volker Heinz, traveled to the Canary Islands for a productive visit with the hosting partners at the [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)](https://iac.es/en) and colleagues from the [CTAO Large-Sized Telescope (LST) Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/). The team was warmly welcomed at the IAC Headquarters in Tenerife by IAC Director, Valentín Martínez, marking the first official meeting between the two directors since Valentín recently assumed this role. +## Meetings and tours at the IAC + Hosted by Ramón García López, Principal Investigator of the CTAO group at the IAC, the visit was thoughtfully coordinated with a full schedule of meetings and tours to maximise its outcome. Alongside Juan Cortina (Chair of the Institutional Board of the LST Collaboration) and Javier Herrera (Department Head at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, ORM), the group met to discuss key issues for the site’s development and toured the IACTEC building, a state-of-the-art facility where the CTAO telescopes’ cameras are tested before installation. +## The CTAO-North site on La Palma + The visit continued beyond Tenerife, with the team traveling to the CTAO-North site at the ORM on La Palma. There, they joined Patricia Márquez (LST Telescope Manager) to see the current status of the telescopes and align on a unified approach to advance the shared goals. It is an exciting time for all involved, as the array on La Palma progresses and the global partnership behind the CTAO continues to strengthen. @@ -22,8 +26,12 @@ It is an exciting time for all involved, as the array on La Palma progresses and Esta semana, el Director General de CTAO, Stuart McMuldroch, y el Gerente del Programa de Construcción, Volker Heinz, viajaron a las Islas Canarias para una visita productiva con los socios anfitriones del [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)](https://iac.es/) y compañeros de la [Colaboración del Large-Sized Telescope (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) del CTAO. El equipo fue cordialmente recibido en la sede del IAC en Tenerife por el Director del IAC, Valentín Martínez, lo que representó la primera reunión oficial entre ambos directores desde que Valentín asumió recientemente este cargo. +## Reuniones y visitas en el IAC + La visita, organizada por Ramón García López, Investigador Principal del grupo CTAO en el IAC, contó con una agenda completa de reuniones y visitas guiadas para maximizar los resultados del encuentro. Junto a Juan Cortina (Presidente de la Junta Institucional de la Colaboración LST) y Javier Herrera (Jefe del Departamento en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, ORM), el grupo discutió temas clave para el desarrollo del emplazamiento y recorrió el edificio IACTEC, una instalación de vanguardia donde se prueban las cámaras de los telescopios del CTAO antes de su instalación. +## CTAO-Norte en La Palma + La visita continuó más allá de Tenerife, con el equipo trasladándose a CTAO-Norte en el ORM en La Palma. Allí, se unieron a Patricia Márquez (Gerente del Telescopio LST) para revisar el estado actual de los telescopios y coordinar un enfoque unificado para avanzar en los objetivos compartidos. Es un momento emocionante para todos los involucrados, a medida que progresa el conjunto de telescopios en La Palma y la colaboración global detrás del CTAO continúa fortaleciéndose. diff --git a/src/content/news/gammapy-receives-open-science-european-award.md b/src/content/news/gammapy-receives-open-science-european-award.md index 484efca..9dac644 100644 --- a/src/content/news/gammapy-receives-open-science-european-award.md +++ b/src/content/news/gammapy-receives-open-science-european-award.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false On 5 February 2022, the open-source [Gammapy](https://gammapy.org/) software package, on which the official Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory’s (CTAO’s) science analysis tools are based, was awarded by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation with the Jury Prize during the first Open Science Awards for Open-Source Research Software. The award, which made part of the Open Science European Conference ([OSEC](https://osec2022.eu/)), highlights Gammapy as an exemplary project for its technical quality, available documentation and leadership within the community. +## Recognizing open-source research software + In the past years, researchers and large-scale infrastructures from all science fields, including astrophysics, have been promoting open-source software and driving towards the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principle to allow users worldwide free access to source codes and to support open science globally. To recognize projects and research teams that contribute to this major common good and serve as examples for the next generations, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation in France, [in collaboration with other prestigious partners from France](https://osec2022.eu/partners/), presented the first Open Science Awards for Open-Source Research Software. Among the 129 candidate projects, Gammapy, an open-source Python package used for the gamma-ray astronomy data analysis on which the official Science Tools for CTAO will be based, received the Jury Prize in this first edition of the awards. > “This prize is a wonderful recognition of the quality of the work done over the years by all Gammapy developers, as well as of the fruitful connection with users and the community working behind the scenes on a common data format shared by many gamma-ray experiments,” says Bruno Khélifi, Gammapy Project Manager at APC/CNRS. “We are happy to be selected for the award among so many other great open-source projects. It is a recognition of both our work and the work of the scientific open-source software community in general,” adds Axel Donath, Gammapy Lead Developer at Cfa/Harvard. “Gammapy could not be successful without the other open-source projects we build on, collaborate with and share the common vision of a more transparent and reproducible science for the future.” +## The four award categories + The prizes, [awarded by a jury composed of ten renowned experts in the field](https://www.ouvrirlascience.fr/open-science-free-software-award-ceremony/), were divided into four categories: Scientific and Technical, considering the quality of the software; Community, based on the contribution to an active environment; Documentation, attending to the efforts to provide appropriate documentation to the users; and the Jury Prize, awarded to Gammapy, which rewards projects that stands out in all aforementioned categories. > “We are very glad that all these years of hard work carried out by the Gammapy team are recognized through this award,” says Matthias Füssling, CTAO SUSS (Science User Support System) Coordinator. “From CTAO, we will continue to work together and support the development and improvement of Gammapy as a key element for the CTAO’s operation and data analysis.” +## Gammapy as CTAO Science Tools + In June 2021, [Gammapy was selected as the CTAO Science Tools](https://www.cta-observatory.org/ctao-adopts-the-gammapy-software-package-for-science-analysis/), a software package for the scientific analysis of the CTAO data. It is one of the core products that the CTAO will provide to the worldwide science community during the lifetime of the Observatory, as the interface to that community and a set of the highest quality software tools with documentation and tutorials that will allow any user to analyse CTAO data. Moreover, Gammapy plays an integral role in the science operation workflows of the CTAO itself, as part of the pipelines for science verification. [Read the full OSEC Press Release.](https://www.ouvrirlascience.fr/open-science-free-software-award-ceremony/) diff --git a/src/content/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-the-beginning-of-ctao-south-array-construction-in-chile.md b/src/content/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-the-beginning-of-ctao-south-array-construction-in-chile.md index 846d025..3c80d39 100644 --- a/src/content/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-the-beginning-of-ctao-south-array-construction-in-chile.md +++ b/src/content/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-the-beginning-of-ctao-south-array-construction-in-chile.md @@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ draft: false The ceremony began at ESO’s Paranal Observatory with opening remarks from Thomas Klein, ESO Director of La Silla Paranal Observatory, followed by speeches made by Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO Director General; Xavier Barcons, ESO Director General; Francisco Colomer, Chair of the CTAO ERIC Council, as well as political authorities, including Ricardo Díaz, Governor of the Antofagasta Region; Valeska Molina, Regional Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation for Antofagasta Region; and Alejandra Pizarro, Director of the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID). The event also brought together international partners from the Chilean scientific community and industry, along with CTAO and ESO staff that joined the celebration of this major milestone in the project’s development. -During his remarks, McMuldroch expressed his excitement for this moment, a culmination of years of dedication and international collaboration. “Thanks to the commitment of our partners from around the world and the support of ESO as our hosts here in Chile, we are now turning a vision into reality as construction begins on what will be the most advanced gamma-ray observatory on Earth.” +During his remarks, McMuldroch expressed his excitement for this moment, a culmination of years of dedication and international collaboration.  + +> “Thanks to the commitment of our partners from around the world and the support of ESO as our hosts here in Chile, we are now turning a vision into reality as construction begins on what will be the most advanced gamma-ray observatory on Earth.” > “We are happy to welcome this innovative facility to ESO’s family. It’s our pleasure to see the start of construction of the southern site of this powerful observatory here at Paranal in Chile’s Atacama Desert — a place with the most pristine skies on Earth. This groundbreaking is a huge milestone for both CTAO and ESO, but also for Chile as this new facility will strengthen the country’s position as a global hub for astronomy,” said Barcons in his speech. diff --git a/src/content/news/hadrons-leptons-question.md b/src/content/news/hadrons-leptons-question.md index 6ef6fc4..34cec1f 100644 --- a/src/content/news/hadrons-leptons-question.md +++ b/src/content/news/hadrons-leptons-question.md @@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ draft: false Extragalactic (from outside our galaxy) jets shine across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, emitting radiation from radio waves up to very high-energy gamma rays. In the past decades, astrophysicists have been able to grasp several aspects of the functioning of these structures, thought to be launched by rotating magnetic fields close to the horizon of supermassive black holes. +## The nature of radiating particles + One of the most basic questions about jets is the one related to the nature of the radiating particles and the mechanisms at the base of the emission that we observe. While there is wide consensus on the fact that the radiation at the lowest frequencies (from radio up to soft X-rays) originates from electrons spiraling in the jet magnetic field (synchrotron radiation), more debated is the source of the photons detected as gamma rays. It is often assumed that the main emitters are electrons (leptons), producing gamma rays through the scattering of low-energy photons (inverse Compton emission). On the other hand, there are also several supporters of the alternative idea, the hadronic scenario, which envisions gamma rays as the by-product of reactions initiated by protons (or other nuclei) smashing into other nuclei or low-energy photons. The idea is quite appealing: the discovery of the presence of protons accelerated to the highest energies could also open the way to the identification of the still mysterious sources of the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays that bombard the Earth’s atmosphere. +## CTA’s improved sensitivity + The difference between the properties of the radiation deriving from the two processes is quite minute. Only with very accurate measurements of the spectrum at TeV energies can one hope to firmly identify the underlying emitters (see below figure). Current Cherenkov telescopes do not have the sensitivity required for this difficult task. CTA, with its improved sensitivity, will be able to provide a definite answer to the question. In fact, this is one of the goals of CTA’s active galactic nuclei (AGN) key science project, which foresees the accurate spectral measurement of blazars, hosting powerful jets pointing at the Earth. ![](/uploads/kspfig_models-1024x639-1.png) diff --git a/src/content/news/headquarters-science-data-management-centre-sites-selected.md b/src/content/news/headquarters-science-data-management-centre-sites-selected.md index f1d5a2b..cea260b 100644 --- a/src/content/news/headquarters-science-data-management-centre-sites-selected.md +++ b/src/content/news/headquarters-science-data-management-centre-sites-selected.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false On 13 June 2016, the governing body of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory gGmbH (CTAO gGmbH), the CTA Council, selected Bologna as the host site of the CTA Headquarters and Berlin – Zeuthen for the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) from five site candidates. +## The Council's decision + The Council, composed of shareholders from nine countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) in consultation with associate members (Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden), made the decision after careful consideration of the proposals against criteria that included infrastructure, services and access requirements. > “We are grateful for all of the proposals put forward by the applicants. While each of the candidate sites were suitable options, the Council is confident that Bologna and Zeuthen will be well-equipped to support CTA’s long-term operations,” said Ulrich Straumann, Managing Director of the CTAO gGmbH. +## The CTA Headquarters + The CTA Headquarters will be the central office responsible for the overall administration of Observatory operations. Approximately two dozen personnel will provide technical coordination and support, and the main administrative services for the governing bodies and users of the Observatory. The headquarters will be located within the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) premises in a new building shared with the Bologna University Department of Physics and Astronomy. This location gives CTA a home in a word-class scientific environment with state‐of‐the-art facilities, in one of Italy’s most attractive and historic cultural centres. +## The Science Data Management Centre + The Science Data Management Centre will coordinate science operations and make CTA’s science products available to the worldwide community. An estimated 20 personnel will manage CTA’s science coordination including software maintenance and data processing for the Observatory, which is expected to generate approximately 100 petabytes (PB) of data by the year 2030. (One PB is equal to 1015 bytes of data or one million gigabytes.) The SDMC will be located in a new building complex on the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) campus in Zeuthen, which is conveniently located just outside Berlin – one of Europe’s primary capital cities. This location provides extensive access to well-established infrastructure services and a powerful computing centre. diff --git a/src/content/news/high-energy-neutrino-transients-with-cta.md b/src/content/news/high-energy-neutrino-transients-with-cta.md index 20f4d88..c3e229e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/high-energy-neutrino-transients-with-cta.md +++ b/src/content/news/high-energy-neutrino-transients-with-cta.md @@ -14,24 +14,28 @@ Originally published in the [May 2019 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mailc Recent discoveries of high-energy cosmic neutrinos and gravitational waves have put multi-messenger astronomy in the spotlight. Now, the world-wide science community is looking forward to seeing results from CTA, the next generation ground-based gamma-ray detector, which is anticipated to provide a wealth of new information with unprecedented precision. +## A multi-messenger breakthrough + Especially important for multi-messenger astronomy was the detection of gamma rays associated with a high-energy neutrino, IceCube-170922A, attributed to the Blazar TXS 0506+056 [1]. More than twenty instruments reacted to the neutrino alert and contributed to disclosing its astrophysical nature (see Fig. 1). ![](/uploads/fig2-1.png) - *Figure 1: Timeline of the multi-messenger Astronomer’s Telegram announcing some of the follow-up observations triggered by the IceCube-170922A event alert. Credit: IceCube Collaboration* The event was a breakthrough in multi-messenger synergy, combining information from different types of particles and waves to reveal the physical processes behind extreme astrophysical phenomena. High-energy neutrinos with energies larger than a few GeV are the products of protons or ions (hadronic cosmic rays) interacting with surrounding matter or radiation. A fraction of those cosmic rays may escape their astrophysical sources, but, since they are charged particles, they will be deflected during their propagation by intergalactic magnetic fields. Neutrinos, as neutral particles, keep memory of their source’s direction and, hence, their detection have become crucial to unraveling the origin of this type of cosmic ray. +## Detecting cosmic neutrinos + Nevertheless, capturing cosmic neutrinos is a difficult task. Large-scale detectors are needed to detect these weakly interacting particles, like the current [IceCube](https://icecube.wisc.edu/) at the South Pole, [ANTARES](http://antares.in2p3.fr) in the Mediterranean Sea and Baikal at Lake Baikal. Despite being instrumented at important depths with enormous volume, such instruments are challenged by weak signals and strong foregrounds induced by cosmic-ray interactions in the Earth’s atmosphere. Still, in 2013, the discovery of a diffuse flux of high-energy neutrinos was reported by the IceCube Collaboration [2]. This result is a clue towards finding the long-sought sources of hadronic cosmic rays, but long-exposure neutrino sky maps do not yet show significant indications of individual sources. So far, only the object class of a single high-energy neutrino source, the aforementioned Blazar TXS 0506+056, was identified. Thus, the origin of the bulk of cosmic neutrinos remains a mystery. The chances to capture the faint source of neutrinos can be increased by observing transient phenomena, simultaneously with other high-energy messengers like gamma rays. Since gamma rays and neutrinos can be produced in connection to each other at the same source, by catching the electromagnetic signals emitted quasi-simultaneous to neutrinos, the time- and space-coincidence of both messengers significantly removes the cosmic-ray atmospheric foregrounds that challenge the neutrino detectors. Gamma rays, like neutrinos, do not have a charge so their trajectory can be traced back to their origin, as well. They are much easier to detect, allowing gamma-ray detectors to provide more accurate information about the source’s location in the sky, but they are produced by different physical processes involving different types of particles. In this regard, neutrinos serve as smoking guns for high-energy hadronic cosmic rays. Their combined study, also along with other wavelengths, provide a unique view on high-energy sources, as happened in the case of the IceCube-170922A event [see e.g. 2]. +## CTA and neutrino transients + The CTA Key Science Projects include a dedicated program to investigate neutrino transients to expand our knowledge in this field. Along with current and future neutrino observatories (such as the next generation [IceCube-Gen2](https://icecube.wisc.edu/science/beyond) and Baikal-GVD), CTA’s detection of very high-energy gamma rays associated with cosmic neutrinos will play a key role in unveiling possibly new neutrino-emitting sources, as well as helping to reveal the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. With a sensitivity that is about 10 times better than any existing gamma-ray instrument, reaching energies up to 300 TeV, CTA will address the origin of TeV-PeV cosmic neutrinos beyond the edge of the known electromagnetic spectrum. This will open the window to the study of different transient events, like tidal disruption events, in which a star is swallowed by a supermassive black hole, low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts or supernovae with strong interactions with circumstellar material. The program is tailored to address transient phenomena and respond to alerts issued by neutrino observatories, such as IceCube, in a modern version of the so-called Neutrino Triggered Target of Opportunity (NToO) program. CTA will also employ a real-time analysis to search for unexpected gamma-ray signals, which will allow CTA to generate and release alerts to other observatories to avoid missing any interesting cosmic event (Fig. 2). This will strengthen the multi-messenger cooperation in the upcoming years and ensures new discoveries that will increase the understanding of our Cosmos and the physical processes therein. ![](/uploads/Screen-Shot-2017-07-07-at-13.09.02-1600x753.png) - *Figure 2: CTA dataflow from the data acquisition on-site, including the real-time analysis and alerts between observatories. Credit: CTAO* [1] IceCube Coll., *Fermi*-LAT Coll., MAGIC Coll., et al., Science 361, 1378 (2018) diff --git a/src/content/news/il-ctao-organizza-levento-pubblico-e-gratuito-dm-dalluniverso-il-16-aprile-a-bologna.md b/src/content/news/il-ctao-organizza-levento-pubblico-e-gratuito-dm-dalluniverso-il-16-aprile-a-bologna.md index e5b2423..3349ba9 100644 --- a/src/content/news/il-ctao-organizza-levento-pubblico-e-gratuito-dm-dalluniverso-il-16-aprile-a-bologna.md +++ b/src/content/news/il-ctao-organizza-levento-pubblico-e-gratuito-dm-dalluniverso-il-16-aprile-a-bologna.md @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ author: CTAO draft: false --- -**Bologna, Italia **– L’Universo sta inviando un direct message al CTAO per condividere i suoi segreti, e tu sei invitato alla conversazione! Martedì 16 aprile alle ore 19.30 presso il Teatro Duse di Bologna (Via Cartoleria 42), il CTAO organizzerà l’evento pubblico gratuito “[DM dall’Universo](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/dm-dall-universo)”. Un’entusiasmante serata volta a esplorare e scoprire i misteri dell’Universo più violento, in compagnia di un gruppo dinamico di ricercatori, artisti e influencer scientifici. +**Bologna, Italia** – L’Universo sta inviando un direct message al CTAO per condividere i suoi segreti, e tu sei invitato alla conversazione! Martedì 16 aprile alle ore 19.30 presso il Teatro Duse di Bologna (Via Cartoleria 42), il CTAO organizzerà l’evento pubblico gratuito “[DM dall’Universo](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/dm-dall-universo)”. Un’entusiasmante serata volta a esplorare e scoprire i misteri dell’Universo più violento, in compagnia di un gruppo dinamico di ricercatori, artisti e influencer scientifici. Scopri alcuni messaggeri cosmici, come le onde gravitazionali e i raggi gamma, guidati da Marica Branchesi, ricercatrice del Gran Sasso Science Institute e una delle 100 persone più influenti al mondo secondo il TIME Magazine, e da Roberta Zanin, la Responsabile Scientifica del CTAO. Oltre alle due rinomate ricercatrici italiane, interverranno Luca Perri ([@astrowikiperri](https://www.instagram.com/astrowikiperri/)), divulgatore scientifico di fama nazionale, l’influencer scientifica Virginia Benzi ([@quantum_girl_vivi](https://www.instagram.com/quantum_girl_vivi/)) e il famoso cantautore e comico Lorenzo Baglioni ([@lorenzobaglioni1](https://www.instagram.com/lorenzobaglioni1/)) che renderanno la scienza ancora più divertente e coinvolgente. A condurre l’evento sarà Stefano Sandrelli, ricercatore e divulgatore scientifico dell’INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera. L’evento sarà interattivo, permettendo al pubblico di partecipare al programma e fare domande agli oratori. Porta le tue domande sull’Universo più estremo! diff --git a/src/content/news/instituto-de-astrofisica-de-canarias-cta-observatory-sign-agreement-hosting-ctas-northern-hemisphere-array-2.md b/src/content/news/instituto-de-astrofisica-de-canarias-cta-observatory-sign-agreement-hosting-ctas-northern-hemisphere-array-2.md index e094b25..dd10fd7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/instituto-de-astrofisica-de-canarias-cta-observatory-sign-agreement-hosting-ctas-northern-hemisphere-array-2.md +++ b/src/content/news/instituto-de-astrofisica-de-canarias-cta-observatory-sign-agreement-hosting-ctas-northern-hemisphere-array-2.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false 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 northern hemisphere site + To provide access to the whole sky, the CTA Observatory will have two sites, with 19 telescopes in the [northern hemisphere](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) and 99 in the [southern hemisphere](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) planned. CTA’s northern hemisphere site will be located on the existing site of the IAC’s Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma, the fifth largest island in the Canary Islands. At 2,200 m altitude and nestled on a plateau below the rim of an extinct volcanic crater, the site currently hosts the two Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) telescopes. This location offers excellent conditions for astronomical observations. > “This is a big step, which allows CTAO to start work on the ground,” said CTAO gGmbH Managing Director Ulrich Straumann. Rafael Rebolo, Director of the IAC, was very positive about the future: “We are looking forward to a great partnership with CTA and expect exciting discoveries with these telescopes.” +## Terms of the agreement + The agreement allows the construction of the CTA northern array to proceed at the Roque de los Muchachos site and ensures access to the infrastructure and common services needed for the operation of the Observatory, including the digital connection of the CTA network with the rest of the world. In return, Spain will receive 10 percent of the observation time at the northern site, with part of this transferable to the southern hemisphere. Beyond provision of the northern site, Spain plans to make major contributions to the construction of CTA. > “The full sky coverage and excellent conditions provided by the IAC site, together with the ESO site in Chile, are crucial for achieving CTAs ambitious science goals,” said CTA Spokesperson Werner Hofmann. +## The southern hemisphere site + Negotiations with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for the southern hemisphere site near ESO’s existing Paranal Observatory in Chile are expected to conclude before the end of 2016. If all goes as planned, construction will begin in 2017, with first telescopes on site in 2018. diff --git a/src/content/news/italy-hosts-international-celebration-for-the-launch-of-the-ctao-eric-activities.md b/src/content/news/italy-hosts-international-celebration-for-the-launch-of-the-ctao-eric-activities.md index 1a2df79..7fb1405 100644 --- a/src/content/news/italy-hosts-international-celebration-for-the-launch-of-the-ctao-eric-activities.md +++ b/src/content/news/italy-hosts-international-celebration-for-the-launch-of-the-ctao-eric-activities.md @@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ Earlier this year, the European Commission formally [established the CTAO as a E > “The CTAO has become an ERIC, a European organisation with reach and support that extends beyond the continent. With this step, we have been able to start large-scale construction activities at our South site and increase our support for the North site activities. This has only been possible with the support of an ever-growing list of members from around the world to whom we are grateful,” explains Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO Director General. “It is a pleasure to be here today to celebrate this international progress that will lead to significant scientific discoveries.” +## Construction activities advance rapidly + Since the establishment of the CTAO ERIC, construction activities have advanced rapidly. At the [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site, located at the IAC’s Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Spain, four [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) now stand at various stages of construction, with completion expected next year. At the [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) site, in ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile, a major contract was recently signed to build the telescope foundations and a 17-kilometre access road, paving the way for the installation of the first [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) and [Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) as early as next year. Additionally, [computing systems](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) have been expanded and integrated to ensure the large-scale operations and data flow expected once the Observatory becomes fully operational. The establishment of the ERIC has also enabled a major recruitment and capacity-building effort, strengthening teams across the Observatory’s four facilities: the [CTAO Headquarters](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/), hosted by INAF in Bologna (Italy), the [Science Data Management Centre](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/) hosted by DESY in Zeuthen (Germany), and the two telescope sites in Spain and Chile. +## Italy’s role in the project + During the event, Anna Maria Bernini highlighted the key role that Italy, hosting country of the Observatory, has played in the project. > “With the launch of activities at the CTAO, we celebrate a moment of great pride for research and for Italy,” stated Anna Maria Bernini, Italian Minister of University and Research. “The CTAO demonstrates Italy’s ability to play a central role in the construction of the most advanced research infrastructures. Our country is not only among the founding members of the CTAO ERIC, but has led the negotiations for its establishment and continues to provide decisive contributions in terms of expertise and technology.” +## CTAO ERIC members and partners + The CTAO ERIC members include Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Further countries — Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and the United States — are currently engaged in the process of joining the CTAO ERIC under the status of Strategic Partner or Third Party. diff --git a/src/content/news/la-palma-consortium-meeting.md b/src/content/news/la-palma-consortium-meeting.md index a60e17b..f7d30e7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/la-palma-consortium-meeting.md +++ b/src/content/news/la-palma-consortium-meeting.md @@ -12,14 +12,22 @@ draft: false During the week of 6 November, 230 CTA Consortium members gathered on the beautiful island of La Palma (Spain) for its bi-annual, in-person meeting. +## Sessions and meeting highlights + Topics covered during the parallel and plenary sessions of the meeting included progress reports on the CTA prototypes, the Science Working Groups and Analysis and Simulations Working Group activities, as well as the preparation work for CTA construction. One of the highlights of the meeting was the presentation of results from the first CTA Data Challenge, which is a Consortium-wide activity that consists of the analysis of simulated CTA data that are similar to those that will later be delivered to Observatory users. *Photo Credit: Elena Mora (IAC)* +## Board elections and appointments + During the meeting, the CTA Consortium Board, which is the governing body of the CTA Consortium, re-elected Rene Ong (USA) as the Co-Spokesperson of the CTA Consortium for a further period of three years. The Board also elected Emma de Oña Wilhelmi (Spain) as new Deputy Science Coordinator and Abelardo Moralejo (Spain) as Analysis and Simulation Working Group Co-Coordinator, and it appointed Vitor de Souza (Brazil) as Deputy Chair of the Speaker’s and Publication Office. Additionally, the Board voted to admit new institutes from Croatia, Italy, Spain and the USA as members to the Consortium. +## Visit to the observatory site + Following the meeting, some of the attendees participated in an organised visit to the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and the site of CTA’s northern hemisphere array. For many, it was the first occasion to visit the site and to witness the construction of the Large-Sized Telescope prototype. The photo below shows Consortium members inspecting the light weight carbon fibre elements of the telescope’s optical support structure that will hold the mirrors of the 23 metre diameter telescope. +## Thanks and next meeting + We would like to thank our generous island hosts from the [Cabildo de La Palma](https://cta-observatory.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=210fce6b4b86d5c2d532c5a60&id=c7ac3af4ab&e=09478e40ce) and the [City of Santa Cruz de La Palma](https://cta-observatory.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=210fce6b4b86d5c2d532c5a60&id=dff7db7cc1&e=09478e40ce) and the organizing committee from the [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC)](https://cta-observatory.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=210fce6b4b86d5c2d532c5a60&id=dc4d65b0ff&e=09478e40ce) for hosting a very successful event! The next CTA Consortium meeting will be in May 2018 in Orsay, near Paris. To see more photos and updates from the event, search #CTALaPalma2017 on [Facebook](https://cta-observatory.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=210fce6b4b86d5c2d532c5a60&id=39898171fe&e=09478e40ce) and [Twitter](https://cta-observatory.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=210fce6b4b86d5c2d532c5a60&id=013632d4f2&e=09478e40ce). Read more about the event on the [IAC website](https://cta-observatory.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=210fce6b4b86d5c2d532c5a60&id=2cacf0331f&e=09478e40ce) (en español). diff --git a/src/content/news/lidar-pathfinder-cta-north-first-light.md b/src/content/news/lidar-pathfinder-cta-north-first-light.md index 89cfa55..1bc6036 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lidar-pathfinder-cta-north-first-light.md +++ b/src/content/news/lidar-pathfinder-cta-north-first-light.md @@ -14,8 +14,12 @@ In spite of windy conditions, the LIDAR team, after a laborious laser alignment, > “This is a major milestone for our project and an important step toward demonstrating that the LIDAR will be incremental to reducing the systematic uncertainties of CTA at an unprecedented level in our field,” said the project’s principal investigators Manel Martinez and Markus Gaug. +## How a LIDAR works + A LIDAR is a remote sensing instrument used to measure the vertical profiles of aerosol and water vapor within the atmosphere. It works similarly to a RADAR (LIDAR stands for Light Detection And Ranging) but at much shorter visible or ultraviolet wavelengths rather than radio. It features a powerful laser and a telescope: the laser shoots a series of meter-long pulses into the atmosphere, each with the power of several megawatts, while the telescope collects the radiation backscattered by various atmospheric components. From the time required for light to travel back to the telescope, it is possible to derive the exact content of aerosol and water vapor at each altitude. Using this information, vertical profiles can be created for both components to determine the so-called “extinction coefficient” –  a measure of how radiation coming from sky sources is altered as it passes through the atmosphere, a parameter of paramount importance for calibrating CTA telescopes. +## Project partners and management + The Barcelona Raman LIDAR pathfinder for CTA-North is a joint project between CTA members from IFAE-BIST (Institute of High Energy Physics – Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology), UAB & IEEC-CERES (Autonomous University of Barcelona & Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia-Center of Space Studies and Research), Center of Astrophysics and Cosmology of the University of Nova Gorica and Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Padova. Paolo Calisse, the CTA-North Site Manager, serves as the on-site project manager for the instrument. diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-1-discovers-the-most-distant-agn-at-very-high-energies.md b/src/content/news/lst-1-discovers-the-most-distant-agn-at-very-high-energies.md index 4bf64a8..bf1b2fe 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-1-discovers-the-most-distant-agn-at-very-high-energies.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-1-discovers-the-most-distant-agn-at-very-high-energies.md @@ -8,13 +8,13 @@ cover: /uploads/LST1_MW-768x432.png draft: false --- -La Palma, Spain – On 15 December, the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) Collaboration announced through an [Astronomer’s Telegram (ATel)](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16381) [the detection of the source OP 313 at very high energies with the LST-1. Although OP 313 was known at lower energies, it had never been detected above 100 GeV, making this the LST-1’s first scientific discovery. With these results, OP 313 becomes the most distant Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) ever detected by a Cherenkov telescope, further showcasing the LST prototype’s exceptional performance while it is being commissioned on the CTAO-North site on the island of La Palma, Spain.](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16381) +La Palma, Spain – On 15 December, the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) Collaboration announced through an [Astronomer’s Telegram (ATel)](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16381) the detection of the source OP 313 at very high energies with the LST-1. Although OP 313 was known at lower energies, it had never been detected above 100 GeV, making this the LST-1’s first scientific discovery. With these results, OP 313 becomes the most distant Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) ever detected by a Cherenkov telescope, further showcasing the LST prototype’s exceptional performance while it is being commissioned on the CTAO-North site on the island of La Palma, Spain. Read the [ATel issued](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16381) by the LST Collaboration. OP 313 is what is known as a Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar or FSRQ, a type of AGN. These are very luminous objects found in the centres of some galaxies, where a supermassive black hole devours material from its surroundings, creating powerful accretion disks and jets of light and relativistic particles. -The LST-1 observed this source between December 10 and 14, after receiving [an alert from the *Fermi*-LAT satellite](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16356) that showed unusually high activity in the low-energy gamma-ray regime, [confirmed also in the](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16360) [optical range](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16360) with different instruments. With just four days of data, the LST Collaboration was able to detect the source above 100 Gigaelectronvolts (GeV), an energy level a billion times higher than the visible light humans can perceive. +The LST-1 observed this source between December 10 and 14, after receiving [an alert from the *Fermi*-LAT satellite](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16356) that showed unusually high activity in the low-energy gamma-ray regime, [confirmed also in the optical range](https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16360) with different instruments. With just four days of data, the LST Collaboration was able to detect the source above 100 Gigaelectronvolts (GeV), an energy level a billion times higher than the visible light humans can perceive. Only nine quasars are known at very high energies, and OP 313 is now the tenth. In general, quasars are more difficult to detect at very high energies than other types of AGN. This is not only because the brightness of their accretion disk weakens the emission of gamma rays, but because they are further away. In this case, OP 313 is located at a redshift of 0.997 or ~8 billion light years away, making it the most distant AGN and the second most distant source ever detected at very high energies. @@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will be the first open ground-b The CTAO Central Organisation works in close cooperation with partners from around the world toward the development of the Observatory. Major partners include In-Kind Contribution teams, such as the Telescope teams that are developing essential hardware and software, in addition to the CTAC, an international group of researchers who have provided scientific guidance since the project’s inception. -The CTAO was promoted to a “Landmark” on the [European Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) Roadmap](https://www.cta-observatory.org/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap/) [2018](https://www.cta-observatory.org/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap/) , and was ranked as the main priority among the new ground-based infrastructures in the [ASTRONET Roadmap 2022-2035](https://www.cta-observatory.org/strategic-plan-for-european-astronomy-ranks-ctao-as-priority/). +The CTAO was promoted to a “Landmark” on the [European Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) Roadmap 2018](https://www.cta-observatory.org/cta-promoted-to-landmark-status-on-2018-esfri-roadmap/), and was ranked as the main priority among the new ground-based infrastructures in the [ASTRONET Roadmap 2022-2035](https://www.cta-observatory.org/strategic-plan-for-european-astronomy-ranks-ctao-as-priority/). ## Contact diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-1_inauguration.md b/src/content/news/lst-1_inauguration.md index 4c38129..99baf09 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-1_inauguration.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-1_inauguration.md @@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ cover: /uploads/Dani07_small-768x432.jpeg draft: false --- ->>[LST-1 Construction Video](https://youtu.be/hIqmYf63m6Q) +> [LST-1 Construction Video](https://youtu.be/hIqmYf63m6Q) ->>[LST-1 Photo Album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/albums/72157671493684827/with/30134151267/) +> [LST-1 Photo Album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/albums/72157671493684827/with/30134151267/) ## The First Telescope on a Cherenkov Telescope Array Site Makes its Debut diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-camera-installation-signals-end-of-construction.md b/src/content/news/lst-camera-installation-signals-end-of-construction.md index fa98f6c..9d5b85b 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-camera-installation-signals-end-of-construction.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-camera-installation-signals-end-of-construction.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false On 25 September 2018, the team constructing the [Large-Sized Telescope (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) prototype telescope, achieved the final major milestone of the construction project when they successfully installed the camera. The prototype, named LST-1, is intended to become the first of four LSTs on the north site of the CTA Observatory, which is located on the existing site of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) [Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos](http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=2&lang=en) (ORM) located in the municipality of [Villa de Garafia](http://www.garafia.es/) on the island of La Palma. +## Major construction milestones + It was on 9 October 2015 that the first stone-laying ceremony took place for the LST-1. After the telescope foundation was completed in January 2017, the team moved swiftly and steadily toward its next major milestones: installation of the center pin and rails (September 2017), mounting of the dish (December 2017). In 2018, the LST-1 structure was completed in February and the camera support structure was installed in June. +## The camera and its installation + The camera, which covers a field of view of around 4.3 degrees, is composed of 1855 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) – devices that transform the light into an electrical signal.  After a complete performance review at the Institut de Fisica d’Altes Energies (IFAE) in Barcelona (Spain), performed with LST members from Madrid (CIEMAT, UCM) as well as France (CPPM, LAPP) and Japan (ICRR, Kyoto University), the camera was shipped to La Palma at the end of the summer, but it was not until 24 September that it was finally transported up to the ORM and then successfully installed on 25 September. +## The international LST team + The LST team consists of more than 200 scientists from ten countries: Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain and Sweden. In this truly international effort, the design and management leadership was shared among LAPP, Annecy, France; Max Planck Institute for physics, Munich, Germany; INFN, Italy; ICRR, University of Tokyo, Japan; and IFAE, Barcelona and CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain. The LSTs will cover the lowest end of the CTA energy range, between 20 and 150 gigaelectronvolts (GeV). An additional four LSTs are planned for the Observatory’s southern hemisphere site located at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) existing Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). +## Testing and inauguration + The LST-1 will now undergo rigorous testing to ensure it complies with CTA’s science goals, operational needs, safety standards, etc. before it can become the first LST telescope of CTA, and, in fact, the first telescope on a CTA site. On 10 October 2018, more than 200 guests from both local and international stakeholders of the LST-1 construction project, will attend an inauguration ceremony on ORM. This is a very exciting time for everyone involved, and we are looking forward to celebrating this impressive achievement! diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-camera-support-structure-installation.md b/src/content/news/lst-camera-support-structure-installation.md index 3479129..391d914 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-camera-support-structure-installation.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-camera-support-structure-installation.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false During 21 and 22 June, the [Large-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) prototype, the LST1, which is under construction at the [Roque de los Muchachos Observatory](http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=2&lang=en) on La Palma in [Villa de Garafia](http://www.garafia.es), hit another structural milestone when its camera support structure (CSS) was installed. With the addition of the CSS – the parabolic arc holding the camera on the mirror dish – the LST is taking its final, spectacular form. +## Carbon-fibre design and production + The CSS was designed and produced by [LAPP](https://lapp.in2p3.fr/?lang=fr), France, and is made of carbon fibres to keep the large structure stable, light-weight and to reduce the amount of shadowing on the telescope camera. The tube and camera frame were produced by [Lorima](http://www.lorima-carbon-mast.com/en/index/), a french company specialising in masts for racing boats. A large crane reaching 70m high was brought in from Tenerife for the installation, which required securing and stabilizing the CSS on the mirror with 26 carbon-fibre ropes. The ropes were procured by [INFN Padova](https://www.pd.infn.it/eng/home_en/) from [Future Fibres](https://www.futurefibres.com/), which specializes in cables for racing boats. +## Releasing the crane + The trickiest part of the installation was releasing the crane from the CSS, which had to be done about 50m above the ground. Because this was out of range of the articulated boom available on site, the LAPP team spent several years training in climbing to complete the operation. After the CSS was installed and the tension ropes fixed and slightly pre-tensioned, two of the engineers carefully climbed along the CSS like spiders on a web to release the crane. +## Next steps toward inauguration + In the next step, the telescope will receive its engine – azimuth and elevation motors – and then it will be turned back to the park position to allow for the installation of the remaining mirrors and the active mirror control system (July/August). In September, the telescope camera will be installed and final preparations will be made for the LST1’s inauguration on 10 October. More photos available on our [Flickr page](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/with/26624530498/). diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-paper-provides-new-clues-about-gamma-ray-burst-jets.md b/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-paper-provides-new-clues-about-gamma-ray-burst-jets.md index c17e6de..4745441 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-paper-provides-new-clues-about-gamma-ray-burst-jets.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-paper-provides-new-clues-about-gamma-ray-burst-jets.md @@ -10,18 +10,26 @@ draft: false La Palma, Spain — The international [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) released remarkable findings from observations of GRB 221009A—the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded. The results were published on 23 July by the renowned journal [The Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJ Letters)](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ade4cf). The publication presents in-depth observations conducted in 2022 with the [Large-Sized Telescope (LST](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/)) prototype, the LST-1, during its commissioning phase at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site in La Palma, Spain. The observations revealed a hint of an excess in the gamma-ray flux, which help provide new insights into the enigmatic and complex nature of GRBs at very high energies. The results support theoretical models in which these bursts generate structured, multi-layered jets where particles are accelerated. +## Understanding gamma-ray bursts + GRBs are among the Universe’s most powerful phenomena, releasing in just seconds as much energy as the Sun emits over its entire lifetime. As their name suggests, they burst over a brief, prompt phase, lasting seconds to minutes, and then are followed by an afterglow that can fade over hours to months. GRBs are classified as short or long based on the duration of the burst: long GRBs are thought to be linked to exceptionally bright supernovae, while short GRBs likely result from neutron star collisions. Despite their intense brightness, these extragalactic sources are challenging to detect at the highest energies because the gamma rays they emit weaken over the vast distances they travel, as well as due to their transient nature. +## The brightest burst of all time + On 9 October 2022, space-based observatories, such as NASA’s *Fermi* and Swift satellites, detected an extremely bright long GRB, named GRB 221009A. Dubbed the “BOAT” (“Brightest Of All Time”), the burst was so intense that it saturated multiple instruments observing it, and triggered follow-up observations across the globe. The LST-1 telescope, located at the CTAO’s northern array site in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain), began observing the event just 1.33 days after the initial explosion. Spanning over 20 days after the GRB onset, the observations with the LST-1 enabled the LST Collaboration to identify an excess of gamma rays. While this excess did not reach the threshold required in the field to claim a formal detection, it allowed the team to establish very constrained upper limits on the very high-energy gamma-ray flux emitted by the source. Thus, these results mark an important step toward disentangling between competing theoretical models. +## New clues about jet formation + GRBs are believed to involve ultra-fast jets of plasma ejected either from a black hole, remanent of long GRBs, or from the merging of neutron stars, in short GRBs. However, the exact process behind jet formation remains a major mystery. The LST-1 data support the theory that GRB 221009A was powered by a complex, structured jet: a narrow, ultra-fast core surrounded by a wider, slower-moving sheath of material. This challenges the simpler “top-hat” jet commonly used in earlier studies and offers new insights into jet formation mechanisms and the nature of the central engine. Notably, the recorded data include observations made under very bright moonlight conditions, which poses a significant challenge for Cherenkov telescopes due to their sensitive cameras. The full moon in the hours following the burst prevented rapid follow-up by other Cherenkov telescopes, but the technical solutions developed by the LST Collaboration made it possible for the LST-1 to be the first one to observe the source in the very high-energy gamma-ray regime. This marks the first time that the LST-1 has collected data under such challenging conditions, opening new possibilities for observing transient cosmic phenomena even during very bright moon nights. These results demonstrate the power of the CTAO’s next-generation telescopes to explore the very high-energy Universe, ushering in a new era where researchers can probe the inner workings of cosmic sources in unprecedented detail. As the CTAO continues to expand—three more LSTs are under development by the LST Collaboration on the same site and construction is beginning on the CTAO-South site in Chile—intermediate configuration arrays will soon be operational in both hemispheres. With an unprecedented sensitivity, these subsets of telescopes will already enhance our ability to study GRBs and other extreme phenomena. Complementarily, the successful deployment of alert handlers is allowing automatic responses, further reducing the follow-up reaction times for transient events. +## About the CTAO and the LSTs + The [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) is an In-Kind Contributor (IKC) for the CTAO, in charge of building the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/). The collaboration is made up of more than 400 scientists and engineers from 67 different institutes across 11 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. The [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) are one of the [three types of telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/) that the CTAO will use to cover its broad energy range, from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. When gamma rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere, they generate cascades of particles that produce [Cherenkov light](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/). Because lower-energy gamma rays create only small amounts of Cherenkov light, telescopes with large collection areas are needed to detect it. The LST, with its 23-meter diameter dish, will provide the CTAO’s unique sensitivity in the low-energy range between 20 and 150 GeV. @@ -30,13 +38,13 @@ Despite standing 45 meters tall and weighing 100 tonnes, each LST can reposi The [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/), responsible for designing and building these telescopes, is making rapid progress on the [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site in La Palma, Spain. In 2018, the LST prototype, LST-1, was inaugurated and has been under commissioning since then. Currently, three additional LSTs are under construction and are expected to be complete by spring 2026. -The CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory; [www.ctao.org](https://www.ctao.org/)) will be the world’s largest and most powerful [observatory for gamma-ray astronomy](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/%22%20/t%20%22_blank). The CTAO’s unparalleled accuracy and broad energy range (20 GeV- 300 TeV) will help to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics, falling under [three major themes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/study-themes/%22%20/t%20%22_blank): understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments, such as black holes or neutron stars; and exploring frontiers in physics, searching for dark matter or deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity. Additionally, the CTAO will play a key role in both multi-wavelength and multi-messenger fields in the coming decades thanks to its enhanced performance, which will allow it to provide fundamental gamma-ray information in the quest to probe the most extreme scenarios. +The CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory; [www.ctao.org](https://www.ctao.org/)) will be the world’s largest and most powerful [observatory for gamma-ray astronomy](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/). The CTAO’s unparalleled accuracy and broad energy range (20 GeV- 300 TeV) will help to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics, falling under [three major themes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/study-themes/): understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments, such as black holes or neutron stars; and exploring frontiers in physics, searching for dark matter or deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity. Additionally, the CTAO will play a key role in both multi-wavelength and multi-messenger fields in the coming decades thanks to its enhanced performance, which will allow it to provide fundamental gamma-ray information in the quest to probe the most extreme scenarios. -To cover its broad energy range, the CTAO will use [three types of telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/%22%20/t%20%22_blank): the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/%22%20/t%20%22_blank), the [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) and the [Small-Sized Telescopes (SST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/). More than 60 telescopes will be distributed between two telescope array sites: [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) in the northern hemisphere at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain), and [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) in the southern hemisphere at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The [Headquarters](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/%22%20/t%20%22_blank) of the CTAO is hosted by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Bologna (Italy), and the  [Data Management Centre (SDMC) Data Management Centre (SDMC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/%22%20/t%20%22_blank) is hosted by the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY in Zeuthen (Germany). +To cover its broad energy range, the CTAO will use [three types of telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/): the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/), the [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) and the [Small-Sized Telescopes (SST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/). More than 60 telescopes will be distributed between two telescope array sites: [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) in the northern hemisphere at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain), and [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) in the southern hemisphere at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The [Headquarters](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/) of the CTAO is hosted by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Bologna (Italy), and the  [Data Management Centre (SDMC) Data Management Centre (SDMC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/) is hosted by the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY in Zeuthen (Germany). The CTAO is a [Big Data project](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/). The Observatory will generate hundreds of petabytes (PB) of data in a year (~12 PB after compression). Based on its commitment to open science, the CTAO will be the first gamma-ray observatory of its kind to operate as an open, proposal-driven observatory providing public access to its high-level science data and software products. -In January 2025, the CTAO was established as a [European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/%22%20/t%20%22_blank) by the European Commission. The Founding Members of the CTAO ERIC are Austria, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain. Additionally, Japan as a Strategic Partner, and the accession of Switzerland and Croatia as Founding Members is being processed. +In January 2025, the CTAO was established as a [European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) by the European Commission. The Founding Members of the CTAO ERIC are Austria, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain. Additionally, Japan as a Strategic Partner, and the accession of Switzerland and Croatia as Founding Members is being processed. The CTAO ERIC, commonly referred to as the CTAO Central Organisation, is in charge of the construction and operations of the Observatory. This group works in close cooperation with partners from around the world toward the development of the Observatory. Major partners include [In-Kind Contribution Collaborations](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) that are developing essential hardware and software, in addition to the  [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/), an international group of researchers who works in the scientific exploitation of the Observatory. diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-first-scientific-paper.md b/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-first-scientific-paper.md index 5a31cbe..651705f 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-first-scientific-paper.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-first-scientific-paper.md @@ -12,14 +12,19 @@ draft: false On March 6, the LST Collaboration published its first scientific paper in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal. The paper focuses on a multi-wavelength study of the unidentified ultra-high-energy gamma-ray source known as LHAASO J2108+5157. For the analysis, the LST Collaboration used 49 hours of data obtained with the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) currently under commissioning at CTAO-North on La Palma (Spain). While the analysis did not result in any significant detection, the multi-wavelength approach, combining data from the LST-1 and other instruments, allowed the team to set strict upper limits on the source’s emission that help shed light on its nature. +## Observing a PeVatron candidate + In 2021, several new ultra-high-energy (UHE) gamma-ray sources, capable of emitting gamma rays above petaelectronvolts (PeV; thousands of trillions the energy of visible light), were discovered in the Milky Way by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). This represented a step forward in the search for PeVatrons, enigmatic sources in our Galaxy that can accelerate cosmic rays up to PeV energies and give rise to gamma rays at the highest energies. Under this new context, the LST Collaboration used the LST-1 to observe the source LHAASO J2108+5157, one of the PeVatrons seen by LHAASO without a known TeV counterpart, from June to September 2021 for a total of 49 nights. > “When the LHAASO Collaboration discovered that our Galaxy hosted multiple PeVatrons, it came as a huge surprise – we immediately decided to explore these sources and observed one of them with the LST-1 to find a counterpart at lower energies,” explains Jakub Jurysek, researcher at the institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Science (FZU) and University of Geneva, and principal investigator of this study. “We could not confirm a detection, but we could set strong limits on the emission of the source and, thus, improve the understanding of this object’s nature compared to the scenario originally assumed by the scientific community.” ![](/uploads/SED_LST1_LHAASOJ21085157.png) +*Emission of the source at different energy ranges. The blue arrows represent the upper limits on the source’s emission at TeV energies as established by the LST-1. The orange points correspond to the higher-energy emission detected by LHAASO in 2021. The green and blue bands correspond to the best fit of the data assuming a source’s emission described by a power law and a power law with cut off scenario, respectively. Credit: LST Collaboration* -Emission of the source at different energy ranges. The blue arrows represent the upper limits on the source’s emission at TeV energies as established by the LST-1. The orange points correspond to the higher-energy emission detected by LHAASO in 2021. The green and blue bands correspond to the best fit of the data assuming a source’s emission described by a power law and a power law with cut off scenario, respectively. Credit: LST Collaboration +## Understanding the source's nature Even though a confirmed detection of the very high-energy emission would require deeper observations, the LST-1 data, complemented by a multi-wavelength study using public data from the XMM-Newton and Fermi-LAT satellites, already provide important information about the source. Contrary to previous assumptions, the low magnetic field and spectral properties obtained by the LST Collaboration are compatible with the hypothesis that the source is a Pulsar Wind Nebula or a TeV halo that can accelerate electrons to relativistic energies. Nonetheless, this scenario is challenged by the lack of a known pulsar in the surroundings. Another hypothesis that could explain this unidentified UHE gamma-ray source is that its emission is caused by the interaction between the gas of nearby molecular clouds and protons accelerated in the past by a Supernova Remnant, a leftover from the death of a massive star. +## Performance of the LST-1 + Despite the lack of a significant detection, the results show the LST-1’s extraordinary level of performance and its capability to provide robust observational constraints to test theoretical frameworks, which foretells the excellent results that will be obtained once the full CTAO array is operational. diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-lst1-performance-paper.md b/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-lst1-performance-paper.md index 2c567ed..aef582a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-lst1-performance-paper.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-collaboration-publishes-lst1-performance-paper.md @@ -12,12 +12,18 @@ On 14 July, the performance paper of the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized > “In simple words, a performance paper is a handbook for how the telescope works: it shows its capabilities and limitations,” explains Abelardo Moralejo, LST-1 Analysis Software Coordinator and author of the paper. “It allows us to evaluate potential systematic errors of the instrumentation that could affect the interpretation of data. Thus, a deep understanding of the telescope’s performance, towards which this paper is an important step, ensures that the scientific results with the LST-1 are reliable and reproducible.” +## Observations of the Crab Nebula + In order to evaluate the LST-1’s performance, the LST Collaboration made use of a comprehensive data set from observations of the Crab Nebula spanning from November 2020 to March 2022. The Crab Nebula is the standard candle in very high-energy astronomy, a source whose luminosity is well-known and steady at those energies. Such observations allowed the team to also verify that the simulations needed during the scientific data analysis were correct. > “Analyzing data from the Crab Nebula provides valuable insights into its emission behaviour and evolution with energy and time. By comparing the results to what we expect from the source as a standard candle, we can determine the instrument’s sensitivity and precision, and correct our simulations, if necessary,” says Rubén López-Coto, LST-1 Analysis Software Deputy Coordinator and author of the paper. “The study shows that the telescope not only performs exceptionally well overall, as expected, but it also narrows the gap with other instruments at lower energy levels, thanks to its proven low-energy threshold.” +## Low-energy threshold and Crab pulsar + The low-energy threshold is a fundamental parameter of the LSTs, as these telescopes are responsible to cover the sensitivity of the CTAO at the lowest energies by capturing gamma rays down to 20 GeV. The performance study is complemented by observations of the Crab pulsar, the neutron star at the centre of the Crab Nebula. > “Pulsars are very challenging sources to detect due to their weak signal,” says Masahiro Teshima, Principal Investigator of the LST Collaboration. “The LST-1 can detect the two pulses of the Crab pulsar in record time. This is not only an extraordinary result, but it also demonstrates the LST-1’s capabilities in detecting faint sources at low energies, as described in the paper.” +## A first for CTAO sites + This is the first performance paper of a telescope prototype on a CTAO site. While the LST-1’s observing capabilities as a single telescope are already remarkable, these results will only improve once more telescopes are built and begin to operate together, thus expanding our current understanding of the gamma-ray Universe. diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-dish-mounted.md b/src/content/news/lst-dish-mounted.md index bbf722c..ead62fa 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-dish-mounted.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-dish-mounted.md @@ -10,6 +10,4 @@ draft: false On 4 December, The LST prototype, under construction at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, reached an important milestone when its 18-ton mirror dish, mostly made of reinforced carbon fiber tubes, was lifted to the lower structure successfully. After careful preparation, the dish was lifted 18 meters above the ground and secured using a 200-ton crane. The whole operation only took four hours. A big congratulations to the team for bringing the telescope one step closer to operation! -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. - *Video Credit: Giovanni Ceribella* diff --git a/src/content/news/lst-prototype-records-its-first-light.md b/src/content/news/lst-prototype-records-its-first-light.md index 1a64c67..7058d33 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst-prototype-records-its-first-light.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst-prototype-records-its-first-light.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false On the night of 14-15 December 2018, the [Large-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) (LST) prototype recorded its first Cherenkov light on the northern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), located at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) [Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos](http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=2&lang=en) (ORM), on the Canary island of La Palma. +## The LST-1 prototype + The prototype, named LST-1, is expected to become the first telescope of the CTA Observatory after a design review to ensure it complies with performance requirements. The LST-1 will be one of four LSTs to be built on La Palma that will cover the low-energy sensitivity of CTA between 20 and 150 GeV. An additional four LSTs are planned for the Observatory’s southern hemisphere site located at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) existing Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). +## Construction on the site + Thirty-seven institutes from ten countries (Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain and Sweden) worked on the different subsystems that form the LST-1 and make it run. Construction on-site started with the foundation in January 2017 and continued throughout the year with the installation of the rail and bogie, necessary for the azimuth movement of the telescope, as well as the dish that holds the mirror. In 2018, the final structure came together with the installation of the mirrors, which form a reflective surface of 400 square meters, and the camera structure installation. The final component to be installed, the camera, is the “brain” of the telescope responsible for detecting the incoming light. > “It has been amazing. We have managed to deploy a really state-of-the-art 23 m Cherenkov telescope in only 15 months. This was only possible because the collaboration has pulled together, with a real team spirit. We hope this new telescope will be equally successful in exploring the extreme events in the very high-energy gamma-ray sky,” said Juan Cortina, physicist at CIEMAT (Madrid) and LST Co-Work Package Leader. > “I think we have the right to be very proud about this telescope, it really turned out well. At the same time, there’s still a lot of work ahead: now it’s time to learn how it works and what we can do better,” added Daniel Mazin, physicist at MPI for Physics (Munich) and University of Tokyo and Work Package Manager of the LST. +## A rigorous design review + Now, the prototype needs to undergo a rigorous design review, which is expected to last around a year. This commissioning phase will allow scientists to verify that the design parameters of the structure and camera fulfill CTA requirements to achieve science goals, operational needs, safety standards, etc. Congratulations to the LST team! diff --git a/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal-2.md b/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal-2.md index 761bbc8..0d626e7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal-2.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal-2.md @@ -8,14 +8,12 @@ cover: /uploads/Screenshot-2019-12-12-at-11.08.10-1600x899.png draft: false --- -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. - With contributions from: -LST-1: Armand Fiasson, LAPP -SCT: Deivid Ribeiro, Columbia University -SST: Jason Watson, Oxford/MPIK -MST: CEA/Irfu for the NectarCAM collaboration -Consortium Photo: Tiziana Abegg, CTAO -“Can You Hear Me?” Photo: Massimiliano Donati -AMANAR Group Photo: Antonio Glez, cielos-lapalma.com +- LST-1: Armand Fiasson, LAPP +- SCT: Deivid Ribeiro, Columbia University +- SST: Jason Watson, Oxford/MPIK +- MST: CEA/Irfu for the NectarCAM collaboration +- Consortium Photo: Tiziana Abegg, CTAO +- “Can You Hear Me?” Photo: Massimiliano Donati +- AMANAR Group Photo: Antonio Glez, cielos-lapalma.com diff --git a/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal.md b/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal.md index 47fa4f9..d93782c 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst1-detects-first-gamma-ray-signal.md @@ -12,8 +12,14 @@ Above: the two-dimensional excess map of the gamma-ray excess from the direction In its first attempt to detect a gamma-ray source, the [Large-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) prototype (LST-1) successfully detected its first gamma-ray signal on 23 November 2019 when it pointed to the Crab Nebula, which is considered the standard candle in very  high-energy  astronomy. Preliminary analyses show a very clear detection of a gamma-ray signal coming from the source, reassuring the team’s expectations that the telescope is performing as designed. These results are being discussed at the LST General Meeting that is taking place this week in Marseille, France. +## The LST team + The LST team (consists of more than 200 scientists from 11 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. The LST-1 was [inaugurated in October 2018](https://www.cta-observatory.org/lst-1_inauguration/) and has been undergoing commissioning testing ever since. Soon after the inauguration, the prototype detected its ‘first light’ on the evening of 14-15 December, but this is the first detection from a gamma-ray source. *Credit: Dirk Hoffmann, LST Collaboration* +## A nimble low-energy telescope + The LST-1 will be one of four LSTs located on the CTA-North array situated on the existing site of the [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’](http://www.iac.es/index.php?lang=en) (IAC’s) [Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos](http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=2&lang=en) in [Villa de Garafía](http://www.garafia.es/) on the island of La Palma, Spain. The four LSTs arranged at the centre of both the northern and southern hemisphere arrays will cover the low-energy sensitivity of CTA between 20 and 150 GeV. Although the LST-1 has a 23-metre diameter reflective surface, stands 45 metres tall and weighs around 100 tonnes, it is extremely nimble, with the ability to re-position within 20 seconds to capture brief, low-energy gamma-ray signals. Both the fast re-positioning speed and the low energy threshold provided by the LSTs are critical for CTA studies of transient gamma-ray sources in our own Galaxy and for the study of active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts at high redshift. +## Becoming the first CTA telescope + The prototype is foreseen to become the first CTA telescope once the LST-1 has completed its critical design review and is formally accepted by the CTA Observatory (CTAO). diff --git a/src/content/news/lst1-detects-vhe-emission-from-crab-pulsar.md b/src/content/news/lst1-detects-vhe-emission-from-crab-pulsar.md index f296533..a5fb465 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst1-detects-vhe-emission-from-crab-pulsar.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst1-detects-vhe-emission-from-crab-pulsar.md @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ The data set collected includes 11.4 hours from eight observation nights. Figure ![](/uploads/Pulsar_movie-1600x1200.gif) -Figure 3: Animation of Crab pulsar’s emission as seen by the LST-1 along its different phases. Credit: Rubén López-Coto; Pulsar gif: Michael R. Gallis +*Figure 3: Animation of Crab pulsar’s emission as seen by the LST-1 along its different phases. Credit: Rubén López-Coto; Pulsar gif: Michael R. Gallis* ## About the LST diff --git a/src/content/news/lst1-first-stone-ceremony.md b/src/content/news/lst1-first-stone-ceremony.md index a2daf71..c4a82af 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst1-first-stone-ceremony.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst1-first-stone-ceremony.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false On Friday, 9 October 2015, the first stone-laying ceremony for the Large Size Telescope (LST) prototype took place at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) on the island of La Palma. To commemorate the event, Fernando Clavijo, President of the Autonomous Regional Government of the Canary Islands, unveiled a plaque with the design and main features of the telescope. Other attendees included Rafael Rebolo, director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC); Takaaki Kajita, director of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR Tokyo); Martín Taño, the Mayor of Garafía; Anselmo Pestana, President of the Cabildo of La Palma; Carmen Vela, Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation; and Kazuhiko Koshikawa, ambassador of Japan. +## The telescope's main characteristics + The LST project leader, Masahiro Teshima (ICRR Tokyo and director of the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich) and Manel Martínez (Institut de Física d’Altes Energies and chair of the LST steering committee) explained the telescope’s main characteristics and its importance in the research of cosmic gamma rays. +## Thoughts about CTA + Takaaki Kajita, who was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics, shared some thoughts about CTA, saying it will be “the key scientific project in the field of high-energy astrophysics and cosmic rays.” +## Installation and commissioning + The [LST](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) prototype telescope is scheduled to be installed in the ORM site before the end of 2016 with the commissioning phase until mid 2017. The main goal of the prototype is to verify the design parameters of the structure and the camera. For more details and photos/video from the event, visit the [IAC website](http://www.iac.es/divulgacion.php?op1=16&id=992). diff --git a/src/content/news/lst1-passes-cdr.md b/src/content/news/lst1-passes-cdr.md index b438312..2acf086 100644 --- a/src/content/news/lst1-passes-cdr.md +++ b/src/content/news/lst1-passes-cdr.md @@ -10,13 +10,17 @@ draft: false During the week of 8 June 2020, at the remote biannual general meeting of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) consortium, the CTA Observatory (CTAO) announced that the LST prototype, the LST-1, passed its Critical Design Review (CDR). It is the first CTA element to pass such a review and is one important step toward closing out the CDR and starting the process for the acceptance and handover of the first LST to the observatory, which is planned to occur in 2021 after the CTA ERIC has been established. +## Conducting the design review + The CTAO Project Office held the CDR for the LST-1, beginning with the LST team’s submission of review documentation at the beginning of August 2019 and culminating in the review meeting in Munich in October. A CDR will be conducted for all CTA subsystems to verify that the detailed design has been successfully completed and satisfies the specified requirements. +## The review panel and documents + The LST team submitted more than 700 documents to the review panel, which was comprised of nine external experts and 17 from the CTAO systems engineering and software teams. The CDR was held in a very collaborative atmosphere, and the panel congratulated the LST team for the large amount of work they accomplished to prepare for the review and for promptly responding to the approximately 950 questions, comments and discrepancies the panel submitted before the meeting. -The review identified both major and minor issues to be addressed by the CTAO and/or LST teams. The CTAO and LST project managers agreed that to pass the review, certain critical items needed to be addressed and a plan established to work on the remaining issues—that milestone has now been achieved. The work to close out all of the major action items will continue and, once all are addressed, the CDR will be declared closed before moving to acceptance by the CTAO. +## Addressing the identified issues -. +The review identified both major and minor issues to be addressed by the CTAO and/or LST teams. The CTAO and LST project managers agreed that to pass the review, certain critical items needed to be addressed and a plan established to work on the remaining issues—that milestone has now been achieved. The work to close out all of the major action items will continue and, once all are addressed, the CDR will be declared closed before moving to acceptance by the CTAO. ## El LST-1 Supera su Revisión Crítica de Diseño diff --git a/src/content/news/major-telescope-operations-milestone-with-acada-integration.md b/src/content/news/major-telescope-operations-milestone-with-acada-integration.md index 3598a37..bd1c4a6 100644 --- a/src/content/news/major-telescope-operations-milestone-with-acada-integration.md +++ b/src/content/news/major-telescope-operations-milestone-with-acada-integration.md @@ -10,18 +10,22 @@ draft: false Over two separate weeks in September and October, two teams of scientists and engineers traveled to the CTAO-North site in La Palma, Spain, to conduct pivotal tests of the Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA) system on the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized Telescope. ACADA will be the central software in charge of operating the CTAO’s two arrays of telescopes in La Palma and in Chile. These tests are instrumental in assessing the software’s functionality on an individual telescope, a prerequisite for extending its application to a broader range. After almost two years of preparations by the ACADA team in cooperation with the LST Collaboration, the integration campaign and its successful outcome marked a significant milestone for the development of ACADA. -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. +## The integration and testing campaign Over several months, the ACADA integration and testing campaign was orchestrated with a specific objective: to validate the seamless integration of the software with the LST-1. The two testing missions focused on establishing flawless bidirectional communication between ACADA and the telescope, enabling functions such as remote commands for the LST-1’s movement or real-time data analysis. Additionally, the system was tested under unpredictable scenarios like simulating alerts from a cosmic source’s transient activity, which requires a swift response from the joint ACADA/LST-1 system. Igor Oya, ACADA Coordinator, explained the rationale behind the separate testing missions: “The initial phase concentrated on individual tasks, such as ACADA’s ability to make the LST-1 move, monitor its status or comprehend the data coming from the telescope. The second phase was an ‘end-to-end’ test to demonstrate that the system could perform standard operations for a full night of observation.” +## Results from the campaign + Results from the campaign yielded positive outcomes that confirm the software’s ability to execute critical tasks. On the first day of observations, the team successfully detected the Crab Nebula, which is the “standard candle” for instruments in gamma-ray astronomy. > “This is a very important step for everyone involved in the CTAO,” says Daniel Mazin, LST-1 Programme Manager. “It is a big step that the ACADA software development is meeting the real-life, the telescope here in La Palma, so we can see how the different software parts work together to operate this telescope and take scientific data.” While celebrating these accomplishments, the teams also identified areas for optimization and potential enhancements. “We will revisit and rectify minor issues and explore improvements,” says Bernhard López, ACADA Deputy Coordinator. “Next year, we will develop and test updated versions of ACADA, collaborating with different teams to create a robust system capable of managing not only one telescope, but a full array of telescopes simultaneously.” +## A collaborative effort + The testing campaign exemplified the collaborative efforts between the LST Collaboration and the ACADA team, which is made up of around 60 people from the CTAO and its partners from nine institutes from six countries: Centrum Astronomicznego im. Mikołaja Kopernika (CAMK), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Ciències de l’Espai/ Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICE/CSIC), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP), Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), University of Geneva, University of Perugia and University of Potsdam. Tune into the CTAO’s social media channels in 2024 for a series of videos that will take a closer look at the importance of ACADA to the Observatory and the individuals driving its success! diff --git a/src/content/news/managing-director-planning-funding-and-paperwork.md b/src/content/news/managing-director-planning-funding-and-paperwork.md index 3ed0b7d..2561ee9 100644 --- a/src/content/news/managing-director-planning-funding-and-paperwork.md +++ b/src/content/news/managing-director-planning-funding-and-paperwork.md @@ -13,12 +13,20 @@ Originally published in the [October 2019 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://m It was Wernher von Braun who said, “Our two greatest problems are gravity and paperwork. We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.” Building CTA may not be as difficult as defying the laws of gravity, but it does take a lot of planning (and paperwork) to achieve! +## Developing concepts and documents + To this end, while the summer is traditionally characterized as a period of slower rhythms and some relaxation, the CTA Observatory (CTAO) management took advantage of this lull in activity to continue the development of the concepts and documents that, in our view, will drive a well-conceived and solid approach to the construction of the observatory. Among the many documents that were on the table were: the Cost Book (finalising the version that will be sent to an external panel); the Medium-Term Plan (conceiving its structure and starting to organise the content of chapters); the Management Plan (advancing its redaction); the Business Plan (modifications to reflect the current project conditions); and the Science Data Management Centre Hosting Agreement (negotiations with DESY concluded and awaiting final approvals for signature). +## Shareholder support and funding + Additionally, in September, the CTAO shareholders ratified their strong support of the CTA project by finalising their contributions at an extraordinary meeting of the CTAO Council. The final 2020 budget to prepare the design and implementation of the observatory is being considered (with recommendations from the Administrative and Finance Committee) for approval at the November Council meeting. The Council also approved the panel for the Cost Book analysis and validation and expressed its consensus on the Phase I objective for the CTAO-ERIC: to construct the threshold configuration of the observatory (with the promised funding of about 310 MEuro). +## Concluding matters and future plans + It is my intention to conclude all the matters posed on the table by the end of November (although approval by our governing bodies may arrive later), including implementing an efficient, transparent and fully integrated CTAO on the CTA-North site in La Palma. And, in the not-so-distant future, we will target the end of March 2020 for the ERIC Step 2 Application, organise the gGmbH to ERIC transition, advance the risk management plan, promote a sound proposal for the Medium-Sized Telescope harmonisation, recruit more staff and revise the documentation system. Perhaps it may be too much (work and paperwork), but, clearly, we are at a turning point of the CTA project, and I am grateful to the CTAO staff and our CTA Consortium partners in their continuing efforts to realise this program. +## Collaboration with the SKA + Finally, we are in the beginning stages of a very promising collaboration – the CTAO recently met with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation and discussed possible joint activities. There is more to come on this topic, but I am confident that in the next few months we will announce significative progress. As the CTAO must create the ideal conditions for the global science community to collaborate with and access our Earth-based gamma-ray observatory, this partnership will serve as the cornerstone for future collaborations with astronomical facilities. diff --git a/src/content/news/managing-director-update-staying-the-course.md b/src/content/news/managing-director-update-staying-the-course.md index 4885541..2232032 100644 --- a/src/content/news/managing-director-update-staying-the-course.md +++ b/src/content/news/managing-director-update-staying-the-course.md @@ -15,10 +15,16 @@ Originally published in the [August 2020 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://ma COVID-19, the pandemic that in the last few months has so dramatically struck the world, has, naturally, affected the CTA project activities. CTAO is distributed over four countries (Chile, Germany, Italy and Spain), hence, I have instructed CTAO personnel to respect the directives and recommendations in force by the respective country and hosting institutions to maintain their health and well-being during this trying time. As a consequence, CTAO personnel have been working remotely since 24 February and will continue to do so until 15 September, when we hope conditions will be stable enough to return to our offices and to begin a new, safe standard for life and work. +## Objectives achieved despite the challenges + Regardless of the challenging circumstances, I want to underline that, notwithstanding the unusual and sometimes difficult conditions under which the CTAO staff had to work and react to the “normal” complexity of the CTA project, the project activities have not been delayed, the major objectives of the period have been achieved and our attention and focus are maintained, confirming the dedication and passion of CTAO personnel. +## Meetings and a major milestone + During this period we have conducted several important meetings via teleconference: Council (x2), Administrative and Finance Committee (AFC), Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, ERIC Board of Governmental Representatives (x2) and Transition Working Group (x2), Cost Book external review panel (x5), ACADA Preliminary Design Review, Project Committee and Small-Sized Telescope Engineering Review. And while meeting in person to discuss important and complicated topics is always ideal, we have found these meetings to be focused and effective in continuing to advance and meet the goals of the project. For example, a major milestone for the project, the Cost Book, which provides investors a solid valuation for investments in CTA Observatory construction, has been approved unanimously by the CTAO Council. +## Toward a common destination + In conclusion, and metaphorically speaking, the CTA project is now like a grand river that has finally amassed the flow of all its precious and independent tributaries, taking a united, determined course toward a common destination. Several obstacles may still be encountered, but the power of our course makes progress unavoidable. Further complex work and, of course, difficulties are still ahead, but the strength and focus of the telescope consortia, software teams and other in-kind contributor teams, supported by the competence and dedication of CTAO staff, allow me to confidently glimpse the final destination from afar. Read more project updates in the [August 2020 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/ff946ec16843/cta-newsletter-august2020-english). diff --git a/src/content/news/masahiro-teshima-elected-new-spokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md b/src/content/news/masahiro-teshima-elected-new-spokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md index 8b41465..2cc989e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/masahiro-teshima-elected-new-spokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md +++ b/src/content/news/masahiro-teshima-elected-new-spokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md @@ -10,16 +10,24 @@ draft: false On July 18, Prof. Dr. Masahiro Teshima was appointed as the new Spokesperson of the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/) for the next three years. Prof. Teshima succeeds Prof. Werner Hofmann, one of the founding figures of the CTAO, who served as Spokesperson of the CTAO Consortium for more than 15 years. Prof. Hofmann’s tenure was distinguished by a strong spirit of collaboration and unwavering dedication to the advancement of the Observatory. We extend our profound gratitude to Prof. Hofmann for his significant and indispensable contributions to the CTAO during his tenure. +## A career in astroparticle physics + Prof. Teshima has been the Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) in Munich, Germany, since 2003 and a Professor of the University of Tokyo, Japan, since 1987. With over 35 years of experience in Astroparticle Physics, primarily focused on (ultra-)high-energy cosmic and gamma-ray experiments, he has not only made significant contributions to the CTAO since its inception, but to various international projects throughout his extensive career. He began his work in Japan with the Akeno Giant Air Shower Array (AGASA), EUSO and the Telescope Array (TA; Cherenkov gamma-ray astronomy in the early phases). His contributions to the study of cosmic and gamma rays earned him the prestigious Shakti P. Duggal Award in 1993. +## Leadership in the MAGIC Collaboration + In 2003, when he moved to Germany as Director of the MPP, Prof. Teshima joined the MAGIC Collaboration, which operates the two MAGIC Telescopes, a predecessor of the CTAO, currently operative in La Palma. Upon his arrival, the first telescope was still under construction, but Prof. Teshima promptly initiated discussions to build a second telescope to create a more powerful stereo array. From 2005 to 2011, he not only contributed substantially to the development of MAGIC-I and MAGIC-II, but also assumed the roles of Spokesperson and Chair of the MAGIC Collaboration Board. In these positions, he helped consolidate the collaboration, where many young scientists were involved and trained in the emerging field of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. +## Contributions to the CTAO and LSTs + It was in 2005 that Prof. Teshima was instrumental in the proposal submission that led to the CTAO becoming an ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) project. And, in 2010, he officially shifted his focus to the next generation of ground-based gamma-ray instruments and became an active member of the CTAO. He is currently Delegate for Japan on the CTAO Board of Governmental Representatives and has been primarily engaged in the construction of the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/). As the CTAO LST Collaboration’s Principal Investigator, Prof. Teshima oversaw the construction of the LST prototype, the LST-1, following years of research, development, and prototyping telescope elements and subsystems. Completed and inaugurated in 2018, the LST-1, currently undergoing commissioning on the CTAO-North site in La Palma, Spain, [has already demonstrated exceptional performance](https://www.ctao.org/news/lst-1-discovers-the-most-distant-agn-at-very-high-energies/). Building on this success, Prof. Teshima and his colleagues from the LST Collaboration have advanced to the construction of the remaining three LSTs for the CTAO-North, which are expected to be completed by the end of 2025. +## Assuming the Spokesperson role + Prof. Teshima will now assume the role of Spokesperson for the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/), a collaboration of 1,500 scientists from more than 150 institutes across 25 countries. The Consortium conceived the Observatory’s concept over a decade ago and the initial definition of its key science goals. We wish you all the best in this new role at the CTAO, Prof. Teshima! diff --git a/src/content/news/may-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md b/src/content/news/may-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md index 80dfa1d..9ca2edc 100644 --- a/src/content/news/may-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md +++ b/src/content/news/may-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md @@ -14,10 +14,18 @@ Originally the CTA Consortium had planned to meet for its biannual meeting in So As usual, the meeting started with parallel sessions during the first few days, followed by plenary sessions and closed by a Consortium Board meeting on the last day. While feedback on the online meeting format was very positive, people regretted the lack of informal gatherings during the coffee breaks and evenings that usually foster the interactions between colleagues. All plenary sessions were recorded, providing those who could not connect the possibility to replay the meeting. This is particularly useful for a world-wide Consortium such as CTA, with members distributed over many different time zones. +## Telescope and technical highlights + On the technical side, a highlight of the meeting was the announcement of the detection of TeV emission from the Crab nebula with the Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope prototype (pSCT). The pSCT is a prototype of a mid-sized telescope that is being developed by an international team under the leadership of our U.S. colleagues. The detection of the Crab nebula presents an important milestone for the project and demonstrates the feasibility of an innovative concept that has the potential to significantly improve the angular resolution of CTA. Other highlights of the meeting were the status reports of the Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) and Small-Sized Telescope (SST) sub-consortia that have organised to provide the MSTs and SSTs for CTA. Together with the already existing sub-consortium for the Large-Sized Telescopes, all telescope classes are now covered, and the provision of telescopes as in-kind contributions to CTAO is being organised. +## Science Working Groups progress + Excellent progress was also reported by the Science Working Groups. The development of Consortium papers is progressing well, with two papers currently under final review by the Consortium. The multi-wavelength and multi-messenger coordination is also taking shape, moving now from the identification of CTA’s needs to the securing of access to data. The Analysis and Simulations Working Group reported on the development of analysis pipelines and their application to first real data from prototype telescopes. To improve the performance of event reconstruction and classification, the use of deep learning methods is also being explored. The planning of the next large-scale Monte Carlo simulation dubbed “Prod5” is basically finished, and the production recently began. Finally, a new task group was set up to address the still open questions related to the Instrument Response Functions of CTA. +## Project progress and approvals + The project also reported important progress during the meeting, with the cost book review completed and its approval now achieved during the June CTAO Council meeting. The CTAO Council has furthermore approved the deployment of five MSTs on the CTA-North site as pathfinder telescopes, paving the way for a gradual build-up of the array. Critical Design Reviews (CDRs) for the MST telescope and cameras are planned later this year, and an engineering review for the SST is scheduled for this summer. First steps towards the definition of a science plan for the construction phase were also presented. +## Consortium Board decisions + During its meeting, the Consortium Board discussed issues related to Consortium publications, the improvement of the IT support for the Consortium activities, a low-carbon charter for Consortium members, and future Consortium meetings. Due to the uncertain situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to also hold the next Consortium meeting in the second semester of 2020 as an online meeting. Hopefully, the situation resumes to normal in 2021 allowing again for in-person meetings. The decisions on the meetings next year will be taken once the evolution of the COVID-19 situation has become more clear. diff --git a/src/content/news/meet-cta-north-site-manager-paolo-calisse.md b/src/content/news/meet-cta-north-site-manager-paolo-calisse.md index 3c745ed..3d1e420 100644 --- a/src/content/news/meet-cta-north-site-manager-paolo-calisse.md +++ b/src/content/news/meet-cta-north-site-manager-paolo-calisse.md @@ -12,10 +12,14 @@ draft: false Paolo Calisse joined the CTAO in January 2019 as the CTA-North Site Manager. Before CTA, he spent his career participating in leading-edge projects involving balloon- ground- and air-borne experiments for astronomy and atmospheric science in Antarctica, the Atacama Desert and other remote sites all over the world. This included commissioning the ALMA antennas and the development of instrumentation for atmospheric science, site testing and operation of instrumentation at many remote stations in Antarctica. Most recently, he was the Site Manager of the Simons Observatory, an experiment dedicated to cosmology currently under construction at 5,200 m altitude in Chile. +## Role at the CTA-North site + Paolo will now have a key role in supervising CTAO activities at the CTA-North site at Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. He will supervise the integration and commissioning of the four Large-Sized and fifteen Medium-Sized Telescopes at the site. He will also provide the link between the site and the CTAO Project Office in Bologna, as well as the interface between the local project stakeholders and the hardware and software contributors. Once the array is operational, he will be responsible for the on-site management of science and technical operations. ## Conoce al Administrador de la sede CTA-Norte, Paolo Calisse Paolo Calisse se unió en enero de este año a CTAO como Administrador de la sede CTA-Norte. Antes de CTA, participó en proyectos de vanguardia que incluían experimentos con globos, experimentos terrestres o aéreos para la astronomía y ciencias de la atmósfera en la Antártida, el Desierto de Atacama y otros sitios remotos distribuidos por todo el mundo. Su trabajo abarcó desde la puesta en marcha de las antenas ALMA hasta el desarrollo de la instrumentación para las ciencias atmosféricas, así como la caracterización del emplazamiento y la operación de la instrumentación en diversos lugares remotos de la Antártida. Más recientemente, fue Administrador del Observatorio Simons, un experimento dedicado a cosmología actualmente en construcción a 5,200 m de altitud en Chile. +## Papel en el emplazamiento CTA-Norte + Paolo tendrá ahora un papel clave en la supervisión de las actividades de CTAO en el emplazamiento CTA-Norte en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos en La Palma. Supervisará la integración y puesta en marcha de los cuatro Large-Sized Telescopes (telescopios grandes) y de los quince Medium-Sized Telescopes (telescopios medianos) en el observatorio. También actuará como enlace entre el emplazamiento y la Oficina del Proyecto CTAO en Bolonia, así como de conexión entre las partes interesadas locales del proyecto y los contribuyentes de hardware y software. Una vez que la red de telescopios esté operativa, Paolo será el responsable de la administración de las operaciones científicas y técnicas en el observatorio. diff --git a/src/content/news/meet-cta-south-site-manager-volker-heinz.md b/src/content/news/meet-cta-south-site-manager-volker-heinz.md index 358a0af..0134202 100644 --- a/src/content/news/meet-cta-south-site-manager-volker-heinz.md +++ b/src/content/news/meet-cta-south-site-manager-volker-heinz.md @@ -12,10 +12,14 @@ draft: false On 1 July 2019, Volker Heinz joined the CTAO as the CTA-South Site Manager. As a member of the CTA construction project, and later CTA operations, based in Chile, Volker has a key role in building up the CTA-South site team and leading and coordinating the on-site construction and operation of the observatory. Working closely with the CTAO Project Office, the ESO Project Coordination Office and external contributors involved in CTA, he will be responsible for a broad range of construction, logistics and operations matters. +## From industry to the ELT + After graduating from the University of Applied Sciences in Koblenz as a Mechanical Engineer in 1993, Volker worked in industry for eight years, mainly in the area of commissioning and field service for complex mechanical presses for automotive applications and steam turbines. In 2001, Volker joined ESO as the team lead of the mechanical group on Paranal in Chile, performing assembly, integration and verification work and organizing the telescope and facility maintenance. Following assignments for ALMA in Garching, Germany and as engineering team lead for the APEX project, Volker was in charge of the ALMA antenna station subproject, where he was responsible for 192 antenna foundations at the 5,000-meter altitude site in Chile. From there, he moved to the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) as its project manager for technical infrastructure, where he managed transport and handling, mirror coating, power backup and distribution, cryogenics infrastructure and mirror in-situ cleaning. ## Conoce al Administrador de la sede CTA-Sur, Volker Heinz El 1 de julio del 2019, Volker Heinz se unió a CTAO como Administrador de la sede CTA-Sur. Como miembro del proyecto de construcción CTA en Chile, y en un futuro de su operación, Volker tiene un papel clave creando el equipo para la sede CTA-Sur y liderando y coordinando la construcción y operación del observatorio en dicho emplazamiento. Trabajará en estrecha relación con la Oficina del Proyecto CTAO, con la Oficina de Coordinación de Proyectos de ESO y con colaboradores externos involucrados en CTA, siendo el responsable de una amplia gama de asuntos relacionados con la construcción, logística y operación. +## De la industria al ELT + Tras graduarse como Ingeniero Mecánico en la Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas de Coblenza (Alemania) en 1993, Volker trabajó en la industria durante ocho años, especialmente en el área de puesta en marcha y servicio externo para complejas presas mecánicas para aplicaciones automotrices y turbinas de vapor. En 2001, Volker se unió a ESO como líder del grupo de mecánica en Paranal (Chile), realizando trabajos de ensamblaje, integración y verificación y organizando el mantenimiento del telescopio y las instalaciones. Siguiendo con sus designaciones para ALMA en Garching (Alemania) y como líder del grupo de ingenieros en el proyecto APEX, Volker estuvo al cargo del subproyecto de la estación de antenas ALMA, donde fue responsable de los cimientos de 192 antenas a 5000 metros de altitud en Chile. Desde allí, se trasladó al Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) como Director de Proyecto para la infraestructura técnica, donde dirigió su transporte y tratamiento, revestimiento de espejos, distribución y reserva de energía, infraestructura criogénica y limpieza de los espejos in-situ. diff --git a/src/content/news/memory-dr-berrie-giebels.md b/src/content/news/memory-dr-berrie-giebels.md index a19d01c..c5b6ef2 100644 --- a/src/content/news/memory-dr-berrie-giebels.md +++ b/src/content/news/memory-dr-berrie-giebels.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false With great sadness, we share the news of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Berrie Giebels. Berrie left us at the age of 52 on the 20th of November 2023. +## Career in gamma-ray astronomy + Berrie undertook his PhD from 1995 to 1998 in Bordeaux on the Cherenkov experiment CELESTE. After a year at Collège de France and three years at SLAC, he joined the gamma-ray astronomy group at Laboratoire Leprince Ringuet (LLR) to work on H.E.S.S. and *Fermi*-LAT. At LLR, Berrie led the development of the mechanical structure of the LAT calorimeter, and worked on the early beam tests of the calorimeter at SLAC and CERN. His astrophysical interests converged around Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) physics, and he became an expert on AGN variability. He was an enthusiastic advocate of “GeV-TeV” astronomy, and pushed hard to improve the connection between the *Fermi* satellite and the TeV ground-based instruments. Berrie was instrumental in the development of the NectarCAM at LLR, the Medium-Sized Telescopes’ camera for the CTAO-North, assembling the team and securing the financing needed to develop the mechanics of the first camera at LLR. In later years, Berrie became the scientific director for astroparticle physics and cosmology at IN2P3/CNRS, where he was an unwavering supporter of the CTAO. He played a crucial role in getting national funding for the project in France. He served as CNRS Delegate in the CTAO Council, and was Deputy Director of IN2P3 from 2021 until his death. +## A mentor to students + Berrie was always eager to share his enthusiasm for and knowledge of astronomy and physics, seeking out opportunities to work with undergraduate and master’s students at École Polytechnique. He cared and took the time to organize enriching educational experience: on one occasion, he led a project to develop a cloud chamber at LLR, pushing the undergraduate students to think seriously about the project, treating it as if it were to be launched into space. He accomplished this by having them defend their design to a product assurance engineer and by engaging in extensive GEANT4 simulations. Berrie was the PhD advisor of a number of current CTAC members, such as David Sanchez and Jonathan Biteau. He was a mentor and friend to many junior physicists at LLR, including ourselves. +## Kindness, humour and friendship + Berrie was highly regarded and respected by his colleagues for his extensive expertise. He was generous in the sharing of his knowledge and skills. In addition to the qualities that made him an outstanding scientist, Berrie was also a great friend to many. His kind and gentle nature, combined with his wonderful sense of humour and his sincerity, made people feel at ease around him. This contributed to his many friendships and his success in leading and managing teams of scientists. We will always remember Berrie for his kindness, his sense of humour, and his enthusiasm, aptitude and passion for science. We will remember him for the smaller things too, such as his fondness of the Dutch Goose bar in Menlo Park, and his love of orange clothing, as a way of celebrating his native Netherlands. You will be missed, Berrie. diff --git a/src/content/news/message-from-md-closing-the-book-on-2020.md b/src/content/news/message-from-md-closing-the-book-on-2020.md index 2ca63d6..d920946 100644 --- a/src/content/news/message-from-md-closing-the-book-on-2020.md +++ b/src/content/news/message-from-md-closing-the-book-on-2020.md @@ -13,10 +13,16 @@ draft: false The famous song “Money, Money makes the world go round…” from the film Cabaret has been playing through my head as we near the end of 2020. It may sound a bit indecent to talk of money in the context of our ambitious, grand and splendid scientific project, but I hope you will agree that it is only honourable and honest to raise this theme, with the objective to ensure the necessary funding to sustain the construction of the Observatory. +## Committing funds for construction + And as our (multiple) governing bodies are now faced with what we can feasibly realise from our grand scheme with the available funding, it has not come as a negative signal, but vice versa, as a strong incentive! With the cost book in place and the ERIC on the horizon, we have come to the point where our shareholders are faced with the urgency of committing funds for construction, signaling that the project is mature and that the conditions for its realisation are, finally, well assessed. +## A phased approach + For now, this means we will not get everything we want – the full baseline design of 118 telescopes – but that we will take a phased approach with up to nine telescopes on the northern array and around 65 telescopes in the south. We are working hard with our Project Scientist and the CTA Consortium (CTAC) to ensure that the configurations we build now will have the greatest potential for achieving CTA’s scientific goals. Even with these initial arrays, CTA will be larger and more advanced than anything we have now, but, rest assured, we will not be deterred from continuing to seek funding for the full baseline array. +## Working diligently together + Fortunately, the CTAO staff, CTAC Board Chair and Spokespersons and the telescope management teams are working diligently, together, to support this effort. Naturally, this stage involves everyone related to the CTA project and, after more than a decade of brilliant work by hundreds of scientists and engineers, we will begin our transformation from a population of independent tribes into a compact and well-structured army, moving from guerrilla warfare to military campaign! Forza e Coraggio. diff --git a/src/content/news/message-from-md-from-a-united-effort-brings-construction-within-reach.md b/src/content/news/message-from-md-from-a-united-effort-brings-construction-within-reach.md index cebd173..bbfddff 100644 --- a/src/content/news/message-from-md-from-a-united-effort-brings-construction-within-reach.md +++ b/src/content/news/message-from-md-from-a-united-effort-brings-construction-within-reach.md @@ -15,10 +15,16 @@ Originally published in the [December 2021 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https:// I am happy to report that the year 2021 started quite positively for the CTA Observatory (CTAO). In spite of the pandemic accompanying us and showing no clear signs of when it will leave, progress for the CTAO has been tangible on various fronts. From the political side, the advancement of funds that will allow us to launch the South site infrastructural work is a strong, positive message from our shareholder countries that so generously took this initiative. From the technical side, civil engineering studies are preparing for the realization of the sites’ infrastructure, while ongoing or concluded reviews are paving the road toward the mass construction of telescopes and cameras. From the managerial point of view, key new recruits are reinforcing the CTAO team. +## Advancing the ERIC process + As for the ERIC, the process that shall lead to the final application of CTAO’s legal entity to the European Commission, which started in the spring of 2018, is advancing through the numerous complex issues that should be fixed before the final step. We are moving closer to finalizing the preparation of policies and regulations that will conclude the transition from the present legal entity to the new one. +## Teachings of Greek philosophers + Even though we are progressing at a steady pace, the frequent challenges and bumps in the road bring out the philosopher in me. I am passionate about philosophy and like to refer to its wisdom often, especially the teachings of the early Greek philosophers. Among them, I find Parmenides and his school particularly interesting, including its most important representative: Zeno of Elea, who was well-known for the paradoxes he conceived to support monism, the Parmenides’ approach to interpret the physical world. The most famous and interesting is the paradox of Achilles and the tortoise, who contrived to have a footrace. Achilles, sure to be much quicker, gave the tortoise a hundred-metre head start. In the time that it took Achilles to travel the hundred metres, the tortoise moved ten, so that when Achilles got there, he found the tortoise still had a lead. No matter how many times Achilles advanced to the tortoise’s last position, the tortoise had moved forward a bit more by the time he got there. Zeno’s conclusion was that the slowest runner in the race, the tortoise, will never be overtaken by the fastest runner, Achilles. +## Convergence on the horizon + Fortunately, Carl Friedrich Gauss developed a mathematical theory for the problem (the series converges, luckily!) and demonstrated the inconsistency of Zeno’s conclusion. I do not need to say now who, in our own scenario, is the tortoise and who is Achilles, but it is reassuring that the convergence of the groups and the process involved in our new legal structure is on the horizon so that we can, finally, put the full force of the CTAO and its resources behind building this spectacular observatory! diff --git a/src/content/news/microquasars-the-elusive-gamma-ray-emitters.md b/src/content/news/microquasars-the-elusive-gamma-ray-emitters.md index 615fbd3..ca3f468 100644 --- a/src/content/news/microquasars-the-elusive-gamma-ray-emitters.md +++ b/src/content/news/microquasars-the-elusive-gamma-ray-emitters.md @@ -18,15 +18,24 @@ Microquasars are Galactic binary systems composed of a star and a compact object The word “microquasar” was used for the first time in 1992 to describe the Galactic binary system 1E1740.7–2942, characterized by radio-emitting double-sided jets [1]. The jets resembled the relativistic collimated outflows launched by quasars (active galaxies with supermassive black holes at the centre that devour its surrounding material), although, in the latter case, the powerful jets reach distances of up to millions of light years. Thus, we can say that microquasars, as their name suggests, are the little siblings of the quasars, sharing multiple similarities. One of the advantages of studying microquasars is that, given their smaller size, processes inside the system and jets happen on a shorter timescale, allowing scientists to analyze rapid variabilities in their emission. +## Elusive gamma-ray emitters + Microquasars’ outflows are efficient sites of extreme particle acceleration and are responsible for transient and persistent non-thermal radiation, spanning from radio to gamma-ray energies. Nevertheless, the emission at GeV and TeV energies from microquasars has only been sporadically observed up to this point, making these systems a class of non-thermal emitters that is actually “elusive” in the gamma-ray energy range. With its improved sensitivity compared to the current gamma-ray instruments, CTA will be fundamental to the study of these systems and the physical processes inside the jets. In particular, two microquasars, SS 433 and Cygnus X-1, have been drawing attention over the past few years. +## Observations of SS 433 + Prolonged observations of SS 433 with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory were able to resolve two lobes at energies of ~20 TeV related the terminal parts of its jets, where the relativistic outflows interact with the surrounding environment [2]. According to the authors, to produce such a TeV signal, the system needs to accelerate particles up to PeV energies along the jets and, therefore, SS 433 might be a so-called Galactic PeVatron. Furthermore, a recent study with the *Fermi*-LAT has reported sub-TeV persistent emission from a site lying in the proximity of the eastern lobe [3]. Still some mysteries remain: What is the maximum energy to which the particles are accelerated in the jets? Does gamma-ray emission occur near or inside the binary system? What are the exact acceleration sites and mechanisms? CTA’s excellent angular resolution will play a key role in answering these questions. +## Microquasars in the Cygnus region + In the Cygnus region, three microquasars have been observed above 50 MeV: Cygnus X-1, Cygnus X-3 and V404 Cygni (see e.g. [4,5]). The case of Cygnus X-1 is intriguing. At GeV energies, short-time transient emission [6] and persistent emission coming from the jets [7] have been detected, while at TeV energies, only a hint during a short hard X-ray flare has been reported by MAGIC [8]. Therefore, even though theoretically predicted, a clear TeV component has not yet been detected. According to recent simulations, the CTA-North array, located in La Palma (Spain), would detect a short transient event, similar to the hint reported by MAGIC, in just a few minutes, and would be able to characterize the TeV persistent emission from the jet with a set of prolonged observations (see Figure 1). ![](/uploads/Fig1_v3_b-1600x1099.png) +## What CTA will unveil + With CTA, we expect to unveil the timing of a possible TeV flare in a multi-wavelength context, the maximum limit of acceleration along the jets, the nature of the emission mechanisms (leptonic/hadronic) responsible for the very high-energy gamma-ray radiation and more.  Particularly, CTA’s unprecedented sensitivity between 20 GeV to 300 TeV will allow us to delve into these sources like never before: at the lowest energies, we will be able to comprehend the physics mechanisms between the GeV and TeV gamma-ray component (e.g., in Cygnus X-1) and, at the highest energies, we will be able to open a new window at the high end of the electromagnetic spectrum to study the jet-medium interaction (e.g., in SS 433). Thanks to CTA’s improved angular resolution, lower energy threshold and fast telescope repositioning to respond to external triggers for transient events, a better understanding of the physics of extreme particle acceleration in microquasars will finally be well within our grasp. + — [1] Mirabel, I. F. et al., Nature 358, 215 (1992) [2] Abeysekara, A. U. et al. (HAWC Collaboration), Nature 562, 82 (2018) diff --git a/src/content/news/mst-prototype-records-first-light.md b/src/content/news/mst-prototype-records-first-light.md index 6997fff..2acd0db 100644 --- a/src/content/news/mst-prototype-records-first-light.md +++ b/src/content/news/mst-prototype-records-first-light.md @@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ draft: false In September 2018, the [Medium-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) structure (MST-STR) and FlashCam teams started a joint test campaign in Berlin-Adlershof that resulted in the capture of the MST prototype’s first Cherenkov light. The integration of the camera with the telescope structure took place on 18 September. Thanks to advanced planning, the teams quickly completed the next steps of installing and testing the camera. Just 36 hours after the arrival of the camera from Heidelberg, it was ready for observation and data collection. +## Recording the first Cherenkov light + The next night, the MST directed its powerful eye towards the sky and successfully recorded its first Cherenkov light from air showers. The test campaign proceeded, verifying the interfaces and integration procedure of the telescope and camera, mirror alignment procedures, and the routine and remote operation of the telescope and camera. In addition, an unexpected visit of the massive storm Xavier to the region helped to confirm the telescope’s and camera’s durability in extreme environmental conditions. > “Everything performed as expected and the system integration went even smoother than anticipated, due to the very professional preparation of the technical teams from MST-STR and FlashCam – we couldn’t be happier,” said German Hermann (MPIK), project leader of FlashCam. “A big thank you to both the FlashCam and MST-STR teams for the very efficient cooperation,” added Markus Garczarczyk (DESY), project leader of MST-STR. +## Continued testing in Berlin + After six successful weeks, the camera was unmounted and returned to Heidelberg for further lab testing, while the MST structure will be operated and tested for another year in Berlin to verify its performance in preparation for the pre-production readiness review. +## About the Medium-Sized Telescopes + The MSTs are planned for both the northern and southern hemisphere arrays (25 in the south and 15 in the north) to cover the middle of CTA’s energy range (100 GeV to 10 TeV). An international collaboration of institutes and universities from Brazil (Universidade de Sao Paulo) and Germany (DESY, Humboldt University, University of Erlangen, University of Tübingen), are involved in designing and building the MST structure, and institutes from France (CEA Saclay), Italy (INAF) and Poland (Instytut Fizyki Jadrowej Polskiej Akademi Nauk) will provide the mirrors. The universities of Zurich, Erlangen, Tübingen and Innsbruck and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg are executing the FlashCam project. diff --git a/src/content/news/mst-structure-successfully-undergoes-cdmr.md b/src/content/news/mst-structure-successfully-undergoes-cdmr.md index 6672064..510a422 100644 --- a/src/content/news/mst-structure-successfully-undergoes-cdmr.md +++ b/src/content/news/mst-structure-successfully-undergoes-cdmr.md @@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ draft: false From 8-10 November 2022, a panel of CTAO and external experts conducted the Critical Design and Manufacturing Review (CDMR) of the Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) structure in Berlin (Germany). After the evaluation, the panel concluded that the MST structure has successfully undergone the review and that the CDMR will be considered officially passed after completing a few high-priority action items. This technical gate review ensures that the design of the MST meets the CTAO specifications and requirements. +## Review process and expert panel + The CDMR, jointly organized by the CTAO Project Office and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) group, began in May 2022 with the preparation of the review documentation by the MST team that was submitted to the panel in July/August. The submission included an extensive data package covering 29 topical areas, as defined in the review plan published beforehand. A panel of independent external experts and members of the CTAO revised the documentation and participated in the face-to-face meeting this week in Berlin, led by Stefano Stanghellini, CTAO Telescope Coordinator, and Nick Whyborn, CTAO Lead Systems Engineer. Among the experts were those with expertise in science and scientific performance, mechanical engineering and structural analysis, systems engineering, control systems, software, RAM, quality assurance, safety, electrical systems EMC, and civil engineering and management. +## Panel's assessment and action items + The panel were impressed by the dedication and work of the MST team, and did not find any obstacles that would prevent the MST structure for passing the review. As agreed with the MST team, a few high-priority action items will be addressed, after which the CDMR will be considered officially passed. +## The MST and Alpha Configuration + The MST will be the CTAO’s “workhorse,” optimized to detect the CTAO’s core energy range, from about 150 GeV to 5 TeV. The approved Alpha Configuration for the CTAO includes 23 MSTs – 14 in the southern hemisphere and 9 in the northern hemisphere. Read more about the MST in [the dedicated webpage](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/). diff --git a/src/content/news/multi-messenger-astrophysics.md b/src/content/news/multi-messenger-astrophysics.md index c8b1c5e..55bc924 100644 --- a/src/content/news/multi-messenger-astrophysics.md +++ b/src/content/news/multi-messenger-astrophysics.md @@ -10,16 +10,21 @@ draft: false After years of preparation, a fundamentally new domain of astronomy and astrophysics has shown its first results: multi-messenger astrophysics. Throughout the past decade, several new astrophysical messengers have provided us with new insights into the most violent phenomena in the Universe: starting with high-energy gamma rays, the detection of an astrophysical flux of high-energy neutrinos and the first direct detection of gravitational waves. Building on these significant breakthroughs, many high-energy astrophysics observatories and groups started to work towards a dream that is now coming true: multi-messenger astrophysics, which, via the exchange and combination of data from very different observatories and messengers, opens new windows and provides unprecedented insights into the most violent phenomena ever observed. +## The GW170817 neutron star merger + The most striking example illustrating the viability of this approach is the detection of electromagnetic signals complementing gravitational waves from the merger of a binary neutron star system. This event, named GW170817, is probably the best-covered astrophysical phenomenon in recent history. Thanks to the huge effort by observatories around the world, it provides for the first time an observational link between binary mergers, short gamma-ray bursts and optical emissions known as kilonovae, and resolves the origin of heavy elements in the Universe [1]. As a hint for the expected CTA performance, H.E.S.S. was the first ground-based instrument to observe the region covering the source region, including the kilonova named SSS17a/AT2017gfo. No high-energy gamma-ray emission could be detected during an extensive observation campaign covering timescales from a few hours to several days after the gravitational wave event [2]. The image below illustrates the simulated response of CTA follow-up observations of the gravitational wave event GW170817. Thanks to the large field-of-view of CTA, only two individual pointings would be necessary to cover most of the localization region provided by the LIGO and VIRGO gravitational wave interferometers (coloured region). Combined with its high sensitivity, CTA will therefore be able to efficiently search for associated high-energy gamma-ray emission. ![](/uploads/Fabian2.png) - *Credit: F. Schüssler, IRFU/CEA Paris-Saclay* +## Open data and information exchange + This very recent example just scratches the surface of the enormous potential of these searches. It is all made possible through the rapid exchange of information across very different instruments and the subsequent joint data analyses. These collaborations build on a long history in astronomy of telescopes at far corners of the Earth jointly monitoring variable objects as the globe rotates. The real-time exchange of information in the study of gamma-ray bursts was introduced in the late 1990s. It is this culture of open data and fast information exchange that will ensure the success of multi-messenger astrophysics. +## CTA leading the revolution + CTA, with its large field-of-view, extremely fast reaction to alerts and very-high sensitivity, is well suited to lead this revolution. The follow-up observations of gravitational wave events have been assigned the highest priority in CTA’s key science project on transient phenomena. Based on the significant experiences gained with H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS, preparations for these technically challenging observations are well underway. [1] B.P. Abbott, et al., Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger, Astrophys. J. Letters 848 (2017) L12. diff --git a/src/content/news/november-2021-consortium-meeting-wrap-up-2.md b/src/content/news/november-2021-consortium-meeting-wrap-up-2.md index f2d7de8..c08932a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/november-2021-consortium-meeting-wrap-up-2.md +++ b/src/content/news/november-2021-consortium-meeting-wrap-up-2.md @@ -14,14 +14,20 @@ Almost 400 members of the CTA Consortium met between November 22 and December 2, Highlights from the parallel sessions were reported the second week during the plenary sessions, where the SWG highlighted progress in the Consortium papers on PeVatrons, Galaxy Clusters and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB), with solid estimates of GRB detection rates becoming available. +## CTAO and ASWG plenary sessions + A central topic covered during the CTAO plenary session was the layouts of the Alpha Configuration. Owing to the collaboration between the Project Scientist, ASWG and SWG, the appropriate instrument response functions were derived and used for science benchmarks to compare different configurations. The Project Scientist also reported on the formation of a CTAO simulation team and its specific objectives. Additional updates from the CTAO Managing Director and Project Manager are included throughout this newsletter. In the ASWG plenary, impressive progress was reported both on the analysis of the LST-1 data, where 500 h of data were logged so far, and on the development of analysis pipelines. The Gammapy team reported consolidation of the interface, aiming for a V1.0 release in the near future. The plenary meeting concluded with reports from the telescope teams, with steady progress in all groups, but hardware and commissioning efforts somewhat impacted by Covid restrictions and, in case of the LST-1, by the dramatic volcano eruption on La Palma. +## Collaboration Board meetings + Meetings of the Collaboration Board (CB) took place on December 1 and 2. During these meetings, EPFL/Lausanne was admitted as new Consortium party, SAPO reported on the latest publications and news, and the future evolution of the Consortium as well as steps to organize and support early career scientists were discussed. The next CTAC meeting in Spring 2022 will hopefully return to a hybrid format. A key point of the agenda was the election of a new CB chair, with Jürgen Knödlseder stepping down of this position by the end of the year. The election of the new CB chair was carried out electronically, and on December 15 the result was announced: Vitor de Souza will serve as the new CB chair. +## Thanks to Jürgen Knödlseder + We would like to use this opportunity to thank Jürgen Knödlseder for 9 years of service as CB chair. Elected in 2013, Jürgen chaired over 30 CB meetings, and guided discussions in the CB over a wide range of topics, including CTA science goals & performance requirements; site evaluation and selection; optimization of array layouts; staging scenarios; data rights and data policies; the evolution of the Consortium towards CTAO construction and operation; or the relation between CTAC and CTAO. Recurrent CB topics concerned the SWG and ASWG coordinator appointments, assembling list of candidates, asking and sometimes convincing the persons to stand for the election, and organizing the election as well as discussion of dates, locations and formats of Consortium meetings. During Jürgen’s term, the number of country members in the Consortium increased considerably, the SAPO mandate and organization were refined, along with the publication policy, as well as the SWG and ASWG and the rotation schemes for coordinators. In his role as CB Chair, Jürgen was extremely engaged, ensuring that the CB is properly informed and involved, that the votes and discussions are properly documented, and that well-defined procedures are established through governance documents. Jürgen has truly shaped the way how the CB works, and with that of course how the Consortium works. An important and lasting achievement is that Jürgen raised awareness regarding the environmental footprint of the Consortium, and the Carbon footprint in particular of in-person Consortium meetings; even beyond Covid, his arguments and concerns will have a strong impact on the way we organize meetings. CTAC owes great thanks to Jürgen for his many contributions. diff --git a/src/content/news/october-2019-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md b/src/content/news/october-2019-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md index 26bbd58..ad00114 100644 --- a/src/content/news/october-2019-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md +++ b/src/content/news/october-2019-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md @@ -14,10 +14,18 @@ For its biannual meeting the CTA Consortium gathered on 21 – 25 October in Bol Compared to former meetings, more emphasis was put on the parallel sessions where Consortium Working Groups could meet and Consortium members could directly interact with staff from the CTAO to together push the project ahead. The parallel sessions were followed by a plenary session and a meeting of the Consortium Board. +## Science working group highlights + Highlights from the meeting included the excellent progress by the Science Working Groups, with two more Consortium publications coming close to journal submission. The first one investigates the detectability of Galactic PeVatrons with CTA, while the second one studies the science prospects of a CTA survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud. A big step forward was also taken in the identification of the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger needs for CTA science, and efforts of writing White Papers on synergies with the Athena X-ray satellite and the SKA radio observatory are underway. Also the Analysis and Simulations Working Group reported good progress, gearing up for the next large scale Monte Carlo simulation dubbed “Prod5” which will include a detailed model that is based on the measured performances of CTA prototype telescopes and cameras. +## Progress on the project + The project has also reported important progress during the meeting. The most important message conveyed was the need for a reduction in the construction cost of about 20% to allow for the implementation of the CTA threshold array in the Phase 1 of the project. Good progress was also reported on the setting up of the CTA SST project, and with the organisation of the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the LST, an important milestone was reached. +## Consortium Board milestone + An important milestone was also reached on Friday, when the Consortium Board met for the first time under the new Consortium Memorandum of Understanding. The Consortium Board adopted transition regulations that define the process of setting up the new Consortium without disturbing the activities of the current Consortium members. The transition period will be concluded by the admission of members to the new Consortium and the election of the chairs of the Consortium Board and the Consortium Spokespersons. In the meantime, the current Consortium Board chair and Spokespersons continue their activities. +## Reducing the environmental footprint + The Consortium Board also discussed measures to reduce the environmental footprint of the CTA Consortium and agreed to reduce the number of Consortium meetings, to promote and facilitate remote participation in meetings and to adopt low carbon-footprint measures. The first steps into this direction will be adopted for the next Consortium meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, which will take place the week of 18 – 22 May 2020. diff --git a/src/content/news/october-2019-cta-project-update.md b/src/content/news/october-2019-cta-project-update.md index 2fd2f89..96b9417 100644 --- a/src/content/news/october-2019-cta-project-update.md +++ b/src/content/news/october-2019-cta-project-update.md @@ -34,11 +34,9 @@ On 1 July 2019, the CTA-South Site Manager Volker Heinz started his activities, In the next few months and until the end of 2019, the following project reviews will be held: -Large-Sized Telescope Critical Design Review: 15-17 October, Munich - -Medium-Sized Telescope Structure Critical Design Review: 10-12 December, Zeuthen - -CTA-North Definition Review: 17-19 December, Bologna +- Large-Sized Telescope Critical Design Review: 15-17 October, Munich +- Medium-Sized Telescope Structure Critical Design Review: 10-12 December, Zeuthen +- CTA-North Definition Review: 17-19 December, Bologna These reviews are organized by the Project Office Systems Engineering Group in collaboration with the relevant teams. diff --git a/src/content/news/october-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md b/src/content/news/october-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md index 60736b4..0011684 100644 --- a/src/content/news/october-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md +++ b/src/content/news/october-2020-consortium-meeting-wrap-up.md @@ -14,16 +14,22 @@ As the on-going Covid-19 pandemic prevents the organisation of in-person meeting The meeting sessions were organised jointly between the CTA Consortium and the CTA Observatory for the benefit of CTA. Specifically, CTAO organised dedicated parallel sessions on Outreach, Science Tools software, the Science Data Challenge, and satellite constellations as well as plenary sessions on Project Science and Project Activities. The CTA Consortium focused in the parallel and plenary sessions on Consortium Working Groups activities. +## Science working group activities + Consortium publications are still a major focus of the Science Working Groups. Two publications were submitted since the last Consortium meeting, one on the sensitivity of CTA for probing cosmology and fundamental physics with gamma-ray propagation and a second on estimates of the CTA sensitivity to a dark matter signal from the Galactic Centre. Both papers are rigorous and comprehensive pieces of work, highlighting the enormous science potential of CTA. Many more Consortium publications are in the makings, some in a pretty advanced state. During the meeting, the creation of a joint CTAC-CTAO task force for the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger coordination was announced. Multi-wavelength and multi-messenger aspects are crucial for reaching the CTA science goals, and some of those will directly impact the design and the operations of the Observatory. This includes establishing contacts with the relevant science communities and networks, defining operations requirements and assuring the embedding of CTA in the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger environment. An increasingly tight collaboration has also been reported between the Analysis and Simulations Working Group, the CTAO computing department and the CTA Project Scientist. Topics that are addressed by this collaboration include for example the definition of the Instrument Response Functions or the provision of reference data sets and data from prototypes that are needed for software testing. Furthermore, the Analysis and Simulations Working Group also presented first results of the “Prod5” Monte Carlo simulations during the meeting. +## Project progress and resources + Federico Ferrini, the CTAO Managing Director, reported during the meeting on the current challenge of matching the construction needs of CTA with the available resources. Finding a match is at the focus on the current CTAO activities, and a close collaboration between CTAO and CTAC will be more important than ever to respond to this challenge. While the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down the CTA project, important progress was nevertheless reported during the meeting. The LST-1 Critical Design Review and the ACADA Preliminary Design Review were declared as “PASSED”, the SST Engineering Review was organised and held, and the NectarCAM Critical Design Review is under preparation. In addition, the Hosting Agreement for the SDMC in Zeuthen was signed, and a cooperation agreement with CERN that will give access to CERN resources and services is under preparation. Preparation of the array sites in the North and the South is continuing, including the conceptual design of the Operations building and a site survey in the North, and the construction planning in the South. The telescope teams have also reported good progress. The LST-1 commissioning proceeds well despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with as recent highlights the detection of pulsations from the Crab pulsar and the detection of the blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501. The MST and SST Consortia are getting organised, formalising multi-lateral agreements between the contributing institutes that will deliver complete telescopes and camera systems to CTA. +## Consortium Board decisions + During its meeting, the Consortium Board discussed a variety of topics, including the Rules of Procedure of the Membership Committee, the support of the Schwarschild Couder Telescope (SCT) project and the signature of a Diversity Charter. Furthermore, the Consortium Board also approved the nomination of Soebur Razzaque as new Co-Chair of the Speaker’s and Publication Office (SAPO) and of four new SAPO members, starting all their mandates on 1 January 2021. Due to the uncertain situation related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Consortium Board also decided to organise the next Consortium meeting in the 1st semester of 2021 as an online meeting. diff --git a/src/content/news/paranal-la-palma-sites-chosen-final-negotiations-host-worlds-largest-array-gamma-ray-telescopes.md b/src/content/news/paranal-la-palma-sites-chosen-final-negotiations-host-worlds-largest-array-gamma-ray-telescopes.md index dc78a64..6ede5c5 100644 --- a/src/content/news/paranal-la-palma-sites-chosen-final-negotiations-host-worlds-largest-array-gamma-ray-telescopes.md +++ b/src/content/news/paranal-la-palma-sites-chosen-final-negotiations-host-worlds-largest-array-gamma-ray-telescopes.md @@ -14,14 +14,20 @@ The Board, composed of representatives of ministries and funding agencies from A > “All sites considered in this final round were of high quality, and the enthusiasm and strong support of CTA by the site proponents made this a very difficult decision for the Resource Board,” said CTA Spokesperson Werner Hofmann. “This decision is an important step towards realization of CTA,” said Chair of the CTA Resource Board Beatrix Vierkorn-Rudolph. Vice-Chair Giampaolo Vettolani added, “We hope our supporters and scientists from Namibia and Mexico will continue to contribute scientifically and technically to CTA, driven by the common interest to build the best possible instrument for the entire community.” +## Coverage of the night sky + In order to optimize the coverage of the night sky, the CTA Observatory will consist of about 100 telescopes on the [southern site](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) and about 20 telescopes on the [northern site](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/). > “This is a significant step towards realizing CTA as the most advanced instrument on the planet for very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy and towards making CTA’s full power available to the science community early in the next decade,” said CTA Co-Spokesperson Rene Ong. +## The southern and northern sites + The southern site is less than 10 km southeast of ESO’s existing Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, which is considered one of the driest and most isolated regions on earth – an astronomical paradise. In addition to the ideal conditions for year-round observation, collaboration with ESO offers CTA the opportunity to take advantage of existing infrastructure (roads, accommodation, water, electricity, etc.) and access to established facilities and processes for the construction and operation of the observatory. The northern site is located on the existing site of the Instituto Astrofisica de Canarias Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma, the fifth largest island in the Canary Islands. At 2,200 m altitude and nestled on a plateau below the rim of an extinct volcanic crater, the site currently hosts the two Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) telescopes. This location offers an ideal atmosphere that is mostly free and clear of pollution and turbulence for year-round observation. +## The pre-construction phase + Currently in its pre-construction phase, determining the array sites is a critical factor in the CTA construction project. “The selection of array sites is crucial to the progress of CTA and has many implications for the project plans and designs,” said CTA Project Manager Christopher Townsley. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 676134. diff --git a/src/content/news/pathfinder-barcelona-raman-lidar-completes-its-performance-evaluation-phase.md b/src/content/news/pathfinder-barcelona-raman-lidar-completes-its-performance-evaluation-phase.md index f3dd643..8b9ba71 100644 --- a/src/content/news/pathfinder-barcelona-raman-lidar-completes-its-performance-evaluation-phase.md +++ b/src/content/news/pathfinder-barcelona-raman-lidar-completes-its-performance-evaluation-phase.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false The Pathfinder Barcelona Raman LIDAR (pBRL), developed as a prototype system for atmospheric monitoring at the CTAO, has completed its performance evaluation phase. Its design and capabilities have now been thoroughly assessed and published in two comprehensive papers in the Remote Sensing journal. The evaluation confirmed strong overall performance, with just a few aspects to be optimised in the final design. +## The atmosphere as a detector + Cherenkov telescopes, like those used by the CTAO, rely on the Earth’s atmosphere as part of the detector. It is in the atmosphere, between altitudes of 5 and 18 km, where high-energy gamma rays interact and create particle showers that emit Cherenkov light. Since atmospheric conditions affect how this light reaches the telescopes, the atmosphere must be continuously monitored to meet the CTAO’s demanding accuracy requirements. As part of this monitoring strategy, researchers from In-Kind Contribution teams in Spain (IFAE and UAB/CERES-IEEC), Slovenia (University of Nova Gorica), and Italy (INFN-Padova), in collaboration with members from the CTAO Central Organisation, developed the pBRL as an atmospheric calibration pathfinder device. +## How the pBRL works + LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems use a laser and telescope to probe the atmosphere. The laser sends short pulses of light upward, which are scattered by aerosols and molecules. The telescope collects the returning light, and by measuring the delay, researchers can determine the amount and type of atmospheric content at different altitudes. This information is then used to correct atmospheric effects in CTAO observations. What sets the pBRL apart from other LIDAR systems is its large mirror of 1,8 metres diameter, dual-laser configuration and uniquely designed detection units. The pBRL emits two laser beams at different wavelengths simultaneously, and the returning signal is split into four distinct wavelength channels. One of these channels isolates the Raman-scattered light — light that has interacted with nitrogen molecules in the air, causing its wavelength to shift slightly. This advanced setup enables researchers to extract much more detailed information about the atmosphere, including the identification of specific gases and aerosol types. +## Testing and published results + The prototype [was installed on the CTAO-North site](https://www.ctao.org/news/lidar-pathfinder-cta-north-first-light/) in La Palma, Spain, in 2021 for a one-year testing period. With the data collected, the pBRL team assessed its performance, design, data analysis and software. Their findings are detailed in two scientific papers published this year: [the first article](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/1074) focuses on the system design and technical performance, while [the second](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1815) presents a newly developed data analysis software suite and results from the measurement campaigns. The results also include an assessment of the pBRL’s performance under challenging atmospheric conditions caused by dust from the  eruption of the Tajogaite volcano in La Palma in 2021, providing valuable data that helped validate the system’s reliability. +## Toward the final design + With the evaluation of the pathfinder now complete, the teams are incorporating the lessons learned into the final design of the Barcelona Raman LIDAR system. These improvements will ensure even greater robustness and accuracy for long-term operation, supporting the Observatory’s goal of delivering high-quality gamma-ray data under different atmospheric conditions. diff --git a/src/content/news/pevatrons-hunt-for-galactic-cosmic-rays.md b/src/content/news/pevatrons-hunt-for-galactic-cosmic-rays.md index d14dc10..85cdc80 100644 --- a/src/content/news/pevatrons-hunt-for-galactic-cosmic-rays.md +++ b/src/content/news/pevatrons-hunt-for-galactic-cosmic-rays.md @@ -16,26 +16,30 @@ Originally published in the [March 2020 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mai Cosmic rays are charged particles, mainly protons and helium nuclei, that arrive isotropically (i.e. exhibiting the same behaviour in all directions) from space and continuously bombard Earth’s atmosphere. They were discovered by Victor Hess in 1912, when he measured an increasing radiation level in the atmosphere with altitude, using his balloon to reach a height of 5.3 km. He rightly postulated the extraterrestrial origin of cosmic rays and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936 for his discovery. -Decades of measurements helped to construct the energy spectrum of cosmic rays observed from Earth. It is one of the most famous plots of modern physics, exhibiting a remarkable power law in energy over several orders of magnitude (see inset in Figure 1). This power law has a break in energy at a few Peta-electronvolts (PeV, +## The knee and PeVatrons -1015 eV), which is referred to as the *knee*. Below the *knee*, cosmic rays are believed to be of Galactic origin, but the sources where they are produced are still unknown. Sources capable of accelerating particles up to at least PeV energies are called PeVatrons, and astronomers are actively on the hunt for these extreme accelerators within our Galaxy. +Decades of measurements helped to construct the energy spectrum of cosmic rays observed from Earth. It is one of the most famous plots of modern physics, exhibiting a remarkable power law in energy over several orders of magnitude (see inset in Figure 1). This power law has a break in energy at a few Peta-electronvolts (PeV, 1015 eV), which is referred to as the *knee*. Below the *knee*, cosmic rays are believed to be of Galactic origin, but the sources where they are produced are still unknown. Sources capable of accelerating particles up to at least PeV energies are called PeVatrons, and astronomers are actively on the hunt for these extreme accelerators within our Galaxy. Several strong arguments suggest that the fast shock wave in the remnants of exploding stars (Supernova Remnants; SNRs), could be the acceleration site of cosmic rays and thus, the PeVatrons, too. Thus far, an emission detected by HAWC associated to SNR G106.3+2.7 suggests cosmic-ray proton acceleration up to PeV, but other scenarios related to electron acceleration cannot be ruled out [1]. Therefore, SNRs have not been established as a Galactic PeVatron yet, leaving this hypothesis still open. ![](/uploads/ScienceArticle_WH_RO_AFB.docx-1024x852-1.png) - *Figure 1: The origin of cosmic rays is explored with neutral messengers, such as gamma rays. The inset shows the cosmic-ray energy spectrum observed from Earth with the main spectral features. Credit: HAP/A. Chantelauze* +## Probing with neutral messengers + Understanding the origin of cosmic rays using direct measurements is an impossible task due to the presence of interstellar magnetic fields that deviate the path of these charged particles before they reach Earth. Neutral messengers generated by cosmic-ray interactions, such as gamma rays and neutrinos, are used to determine the origin of cosmic rays (Figure 1). The gamma-ray energy is approximately a factor 10 lower than the parent cosmic-ray energy [2]. Thus, we can probe PeVatrons by searching for gamma-ray emission at energies up to 100 TeV and above. Current Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) have limited sensitivity above a few tens of TeV, which hampers measurements of the most interesting energy range for PeVatron investigation. Besides the putative SNR G106.3+2.7, so far, the discovery of only one PeVatron in our Galaxy has been reported by the H.E.S.S. Collaboration, located within the Galactic Center region, possibly connected to past active phases of the supermassive black hole Sgr A* [3]. This source is not powerful enough to explain the total amount of cosmic rays arriving on Earth; however, its detection has opened up new possibilities for the acceleration of PeV cosmic rays in our Galaxy, indicating that other types of astrophysical sources besides SNRs can be Galactic PeVatrons. +## CTA's Small-Sized Telescopes + CTA, the next generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, will include up to 70 [Small-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) (SST) in its [southern array](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) (CTA-South), located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The SSTs will be responsible for the high end of the observatory’s sensitivity between ~5 and 300 TeV. The large detection area of the SSTs improves by several orders of magnitude the gamma-ray sensitivity at TeV energies with respect to current IACTs and opens a new window to the unexplored Universe up to 300 TeV, boosting the probability of detecting PeVatrons. ![](/uploads/SNR.png) - *Figure 2: Simulated images of the bright SNR RX J1713.7-3946, one of the main targets of CTA to study cosmic-ray acceleration, which illustrate different gamma-ray emission scenarios [6]. Credit: CTA Consortium* +## Two PeVatron search strategies + As part of its core scientific objectives, CTA will perform PeVatron searches using two strategies. The first is to observe known potential PeVatron candidates, provided by current IACTs and water Cherenkov detectors like HAWC [4,5], showing emission above a few tens of TeV together with no significant suppression in their gamma-ray spectrum. An ideal target is the SNR RX J1713.7-3946, due to its high brightness and many existing multiwavelength studies, whose CTA simulated emission under different theoretical scenarios is shown in Figure 2. The second strategy is to perform deep follow-up observations of new PeVatron candidates discovered during CTA’s Galactic Plane survey, which will provide an unprecedented dataset of new sources owing to the improved CTA sensitivity and angular resolution. CTA will therefore be a unique instrument for PeVatron hunting, capable of detecting with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy TeV gamma rays produced by PeV cosmic rays, which will significantly increase our chance to solve an almost 110-year-old mystery:  Where do Galactic cosmic rays originate? diff --git a/src/content/news/preparations-begin-for-cta-north-site-construction.md b/src/content/news/preparations-begin-for-cta-north-site-construction.md index 9aadc7d..1b5a7e8 100644 --- a/src/content/news/preparations-begin-for-cta-north-site-construction.md +++ b/src/content/news/preparations-begin-for-cta-north-site-construction.md @@ -12,8 +12,14 @@ Originally published in the [October 2019 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://m The first phase of the CTA-North site’s infrastructure design commenced in August 2019 as CTA site hosting partner the [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias](http://www.iac.es/index.php?lang=en) (IAC) initiated a contract for the infrastructure design and planning of the remaining Large-Sized Telescope (LST) foundations (LST 2, LST 3 and LST 4) and one of the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST), the MST 3, as well as the auxiliary instrumentation for the site (three weather stations and several atmospheric monitoring and calibration devices). This project also includes roads and fencing, as well as accesses, underground services and power networks, to complete the infrastructure for the central part of the array. +## Permits and construction tender + The IAC has hired a group of experienced local firms – Onazol & F4 Ingenieros, H&T Ingenieros, Estudio AT3 and Innovasol Medioabiental – to prepare the studies and documentation necessary for the construction permits (a preliminary study, basic project study and environmental impact study) and the tender for construction (detailed design reviews). The CTA Observatory (CTAO) and the LST and MST teams are contributing the technical requirements and related guidance to the contractors. The work is scheduled to end by June 2020 when, if all goes as planned, the permitting process will be complete, and the construction tender process can be executed. +## Funding from the ERDF + The work is being funded by the IAC from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is a fund allocated by the European Union for investments in the infrastructure and services of underdeveloped regions. +## The next phase + The next phase will include preparations for the final detailed design of the operations building and the remaining MST foundations and infrastructure. The contract for this work will be awarded before the end of 2019. diff --git a/src/content/news/redshift-why-does-distance-matter-to-cta.md b/src/content/news/redshift-why-does-distance-matter-to-cta.md index 9b8f85e..116d0b4 100644 --- a/src/content/news/redshift-why-does-distance-matter-to-cta.md +++ b/src/content/news/redshift-why-does-distance-matter-to-cta.md @@ -10,12 +10,13 @@ draft: false Originally published in the [May 2021 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/892f3f0c743d/cta-newsletter-december2020-english). *Written by: Paolo Goldoni* -*Only by knowing the distance of the objects we observe can we begin to understand their physical nature. In 1923, Edwin Hubble demonstrated that some of the so-called “nebulae” he saw were, actually, galaxies located millions of light years away. He did so by observing a particular type of variable star in the “nebulae,” the Cepheids, discovered by Henrietta Leavitt a few years before, whose period of variation is linked to their luminosity. The period of the Cepheids in the nebulae that Hubble observed implied such a luminosity that they were undoubtedly extragalactic. In doing so, he also established a correlation between the distance and the redshift of the optical spectra of the galaxies he observed. Since then, the redshift is the quantity most used to measure the distance of extragalactic objects. +*Only by knowing the distance of the objects we observe can we begin to understand their physical nature. In 1923, Edwin Hubble demonstrated that some of the so-called “nebulae” he saw were, actually, galaxies located millions of light years away. He did so by observing a particular type of variable star in the “nebulae,” the Cepheids, discovered by Henrietta Leavitt a few years before, whose period of variation is linked to their luminosity. The period of the Cepheids in the nebulae that Hubble observed implied such a luminosity that they were undoubtedly extragalactic. In doing so, he also established a correlation between the distance and the redshift of the optical spectra of the galaxies he observed. Since then, the redshift is the quantity most used to measure the distance of extragalactic objects.* + +## What the redshift is The redshift is an increase of the light’s wavelength (decrease of energy) that occurs when a light source moves away from the observer. It is typically measured in optical and near-infrared by the spectral lines of the source (Figure 1). In extragalactic astronomy, the redshift (also called cosmological redshift) is due to the expansion of the Universe that increases the distance between the galaxies and the Earth. ![](/uploads/800px-Redshift.svg-1-1.png) - *Figure 1. Absorption spectral lines in the optical spectrum of a supercluster of distant galaxies (upper panel) compared to a close-by object, the Sun (bottom panel). Arrows indicate the redshift, i.e. the increase of the wavelengths (lower energy). Credit: Georg Wiora* ## Blazars and their Distance in Very High-Energy Astronomy @@ -26,14 +27,17 @@ In the most numerous class of VHE blazars, BL Lacs, the jet emission dominates o The lack of knowledge of blazars’ redshift (or distance) is particularly problematic in the VHE domain: the blazars’ VHE spectra we observe with our telescopes are distorted by the interaction of the VHE gamma rays with photons and particles encountered along their travel to Earth. This distortion is dependent on the distance and so, its value is needed to correct the spectra and obtain the real emission of the source. Conversely, if a model of the source emission is assumed, the properties of the intergalactic medium can be extracted. +## The Extragalactic Background Light + Several physical processes are responsible for the distortion of the VHE spectra, but in this article, we will concentrate on the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), which is the integration of all the optical and near-infrared light emitted by the stars and galaxies during the history of the Universe, and whose value, usually measured in the optical range, is not very well known yet. The optical photons from the EBL interact with the VHE gamma rays from blazars, annihilating and giving rise to an electron and a positron (see Figure 2). This effect is strongly dependent on the redshift of the blazar and so, by knowing the redshift and observing VHE gamma rays, we can measure the EBL. ![](/uploads/gpropa_300ppi.png) - *Figure 2: Cosmic journey of gamma rays from a distant galaxy down to the CTA Observatory. Among other physical processes, some gamma rays produce electron-positron pairs when interacting with EBL photons (top left process)* +## Measuring the EBL with CTA + This measurement is one of the main science cases of CTA. Thanks to its unprecedented sensitivity, wide field of view and extended spectral range, in fact, CTA will obtain many more blazar spectra and with a much higher signal-to-noise than previous instruments. These spectra, in principle, will allow to measure the EBL with precision comparable to the optical one, allowing a fundamental cross-check between the two methods. Unfortunately, if the distance of the blazars is not known, the quality of the measurements in general can be affected. For this reason, a group of CTA Consortium members has performed observations from some of the world’s greatest optical observatories (ESO, Keck, SALT) in order to measure the redshift of bright gamma-ray blazars that likely will be detected with CTA. A paper presenting the measurement of 11 blazar redshifts, which will be crucial for future CTA scientific studies, has recently accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal [1]. This effort is just beginning, and it will increase the number of gamma-ray blazars with known redshift, thus, helping to maximise the scientific return of CTA. [1] Goldoni, P. Et al. 2020, ArXiV:201205176 diff --git a/src/content/news/right-direction-gct-team-begins-observations-paris.md b/src/content/news/right-direction-gct-team-begins-observations-paris.md index 20760aa..81c8785 100644 --- a/src/content/news/right-direction-gct-team-begins-observations-paris.md +++ b/src/content/news/right-direction-gct-team-begins-observations-paris.md @@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ draft: false In November 2015, a CTA telescope prototype, the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), recorded CTA’s first ever Cherenkov light while undergoing testing at l’Observatoire de Paris in Meudon, France. Since then, the telescope’s camera has been undergoing vigorous laboratory testing to prepare it for its installation on pre-production telescopes. +## A two-week commissioning campaign + In March 2017, the camera was taken from its laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, back to Meudon for a two-week commissioning campaign. A team of 12 worked around the clock to install the camera and run observing shifts with the goal to finalise the safety and operation procedure tests for the telescope and camera. This was the first time the camera would include a dedicated safety system and the first time the telescope would track cosmic sources. Although the Meudon site is appropriate for prototype work, Paris, aptly named the “City of Lights,” is not an ideal location to capture cosmic light from the night sky. However, as seen in the below video, the team was still able to capture thousands of images for analysis, including observations of blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501. +## The GCT's high-speed camera + The GCT is proposed as one of CTA’s Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs), covering the high end of the CTA energy range, between about 1 and 300 TeV (tera-electronvolts). To detect the short flashes of light produced by cosmic rays and gamma rays as they hit the earth’s atmosphere, the telescope’s camera must be about a million times faster than a digital camera. To do this, it uses high-speed digitisation and triggering technology capable of recording images at a rate of one billion frames per second and sensitive enough to resolve single photons. +## Routine operations in Paris + The camera will now remain in Paris where observatory staff will conduct routine operations with the help of remote camera support to better understand the stability and reliability of the system. diff --git a/src/content/news/sct-detects-crab-nebula.md b/src/content/news/sct-detects-crab-nebula.md index 2c6dd98..4d5be3a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sct-detects-crab-nebula.md +++ b/src/content/news/sct-detects-crab-nebula.md @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ cover: /uploads/CTA_SCT_01_02_small-768x432.png draft: false --- -*[Read the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Press Release](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2020-11) * +*[Read the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Press Release](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2020-11)* Armado, AZ — On 1 June 2020, scientists from the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Consortium announced at the 236th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) that they have detected gamma rays from the Crab Nebula using a prototype telescope proposed for CTA, the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT), proving the viability of the novel telescope design for use in gamma-ray astrophysics. diff --git a/src/content/news/sct-first-light.md b/src/content/news/sct-first-light.md index 220b8fd..ffe60e1 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sct-first-light.md +++ b/src/content/news/sct-first-light.md @@ -10,10 +10,18 @@ draft: false Less than a week after its inauguration on 17 January 2019, the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT), a prototype telescope proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), successfully detected its first Cherenkov light on January 23 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona. A dual-mirrored Medium-Sized Telescope, the SCT is proposed to cover the middle of CTA’s energy range (80 GeV – 50 TeV). +## The first light run + The week following the inauguration, the camera was operated for the first time with the mirrors uncovered in a commissioning test run. During the first few minutes of this “first light” run on the evening of January 23, cosmic-ray-induced Cherenkov air shower events were identified in the raw, uncalibrated camera data. +## Cherenkov light and the camera + [Cherenkov light](https://www.cta-observatory.org/about/how-cta-works/) is the result of a gamma ray or cosmic ray from an astrophysical source interacting with the Earth’s atmosphere. The flash of bluish light only lasts a few billionths of a second and is extremely faint. Gamma-ray telescope cameras are sensitive to these faint flashes. The pSCT camera triggers when several neighboring pixels detect light within a few nanoseconds of one another. The camera has a modular design, with 25 modules each containing 64 pixels. The central module is not yet installed in order to shine a laser beam along the central axis for telescope alignment, and a neighboring module was disabled during the test run. The pixel amplitudes are raw and uncalibrated, but the early results are a major milestone for the SCT team. +## The dual-mirror optical system + The SCT’s dual-mirror optical system improves on the single-mirror designs traditionally used in gamma-ray telescopes by dramatically enhancing the optical quality of their focused light over a large region of the sky and by enabling the use of compact, highly-efficient photo-sensors in the telescope camera. The pSCT commissioning will continue in 2019, including alignment of the mirror panels of both the primary and secondary mirror, positioning of the camera with respect to the focal plane and calibration of the camera data.  A project is underway to increase the number of pixels in the pSCT camera by a factor of seven in order to match the wide field of view of the mirrors. +## The CTA telescope array + CTA will consist of 118 telescopes split between a southern array in Paranal, Chile and a northern array on the island of La Palma, Spain. Three classes of telescopes (Small-, Medium- and Large-Sized Telescopes) will be used to detect gamma rays in the energy range 20 GeV to 300 TeV with about ten times increased sensitivity compared to any current observatory. Notable for providing improved gamma-ray angular resolution and its very-high-resolution camera (>11,000 pixels), the SCT is proposed for the medium-sized CTA telescopes, which are considered to be the “workhorses” of the arrays with 15 planned for the north site and 25 for the south site. diff --git a/src/content/news/sct-inauguration.md b/src/content/news/sct-inauguration.md index b5f32eb..e9edc54 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sct-inauguration.md +++ b/src/content/news/sct-inauguration.md @@ -54,13 +54,13 @@ Vladimir Vassiliev [vvv@astro.ucla.edu](mailto:vvv@astro.ucla.edu) -University of California, Santa Cruz** +University of California, Santa Cruz -**David Williams** +David Williams -**831-459-3032** +831-459-3032 -**[daw@ucsc.edu](mailto:daw@ucsc.edu) +[daw@ucsc.edu](mailto:daw@ucsc.edu) ## Media contacts: diff --git a/src/content/news/sdmc-building-competition-winner-announced.md b/src/content/news/sdmc-building-competition-winner-announced.md index ae6119d..32c7634 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sdmc-building-competition-winner-announced.md +++ b/src/content/news/sdmc-building-competition-winner-announced.md @@ -12,12 +12,16 @@ CTA’s Science Data Management Centre (SDMC), which will be in charge of scienc In preparation for the new personnel, planning is underway to outfit the DESY campus with a new SDMC building as part of a campus master plan, which includes a new canteen and education center. +## Design competition for the building + A competition to design and construct a new building was initiated by DESY in 2018. The final decision on the winning design, with an award for the first, second and third winner, was [announced on 11 March 2019](http://www.desy.de/news/news_search/index_eng.html?openDirectAnchor=1595&two_columns=0). The first prize went to Heinle Wischer und Partner Freie Architekten GbR from Berlin, along with Ulrich Krüger Landschaftsarchitekten from Dresden. > “Planning a new building for the Science Data Management Centre, SDMC, and developing a masterplan for DESY’s research campus at Zeuthen is an exciting and complex challenge. That is why we decided, for the first time, to hold a competition to decide who should be awarded the contract,” explains Christian Harringa, Administrative Director of DESY and a member of the jury. The task was demanding: to design a high-quality new building within the context of planning a campus that would take into account the various different typologies of the existing interior and exterior spaces to form a prestigious whole. > “The offices of Heinle Wischer und Partner and Ulrich Krüger Landschaftsarchitekten presented outstanding and compelling plans,” Christian Stegmann was pleased to announce. He is in charge of DESY’s Zeuthen site as well as being the head of the Astroparticle Physics department. +## Temporary space for the team + Until the new building is constructed, CTAO personnel have taken up residence in an existing building on campus (the “Seevilla” at the South end of the campus) that has been recently renovated to host eight employees with room to grow. The temporary space now provides workspace for the Observation Execution System (OES) Coordinator and Science User Support System (SUSS) Coordinator and will eventually also be the home office of the SDMC coordinator.  The team at the SDMC will grow to support the construction of the CTA software products and to organize the required tasks in preparation for the science operations, including support for science planning, data processing and simulations and science user support. [Read more about the competition and award ceremony.](http://www.desy.de/news/news_search/index_eng.html?openDirectAnchor=1595&two_columns=0) diff --git a/src/content/news/sdmc-first-stone-ceremony.md b/src/content/news/sdmc-first-stone-ceremony.md index e1de28a..2b8b955 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sdmc-first-stone-ceremony.md +++ b/src/content/news/sdmc-first-stone-ceremony.md @@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ draft: false ## Follow the ceremony live: ->> [English broadcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye24BOZpfs4) +> [English broadcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye24BOZpfs4) ->> [German broadcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe5hNfoIB-g) +> [German broadcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe5hNfoIB-g) On Wednesday, 2 March 2022, the first stone-laying ceremony for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) took place at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) campus in Zeuthen, Brandenburg (Germany). To celebrate this milestone, Brandenburg’s Science Minister, Manja Schüle, and Head of the Sub-Department Large-Scale Facilities and Basic Research at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Volkmar Dietz, participated in the ceremony on campus, together with the Managing Director of the CTAO gGmbH, Federico Ferrini and the Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors, Helmut Dosch. diff --git a/src/content/news/seasons-greeting-from-the-director-general.md b/src/content/news/seasons-greeting-from-the-director-general.md index e41a217..fc5729f 100644 --- a/src/content/news/seasons-greeting-from-the-director-general.md +++ b/src/content/news/seasons-greeting-from-the-director-general.md @@ -12,14 +12,22 @@ I have the pleasure and honour as the new Managing Director of the CTAO to send When I accepted the position, I knew that there would be a steep learning curve in understanding this ambitious project and all its many facets. I have learned a lot in a short time, but, through all the ups and downs, one thing has been steady and true: it is these people who will realize the vision of creating the world’s premier gamma-ray Observatory. +## Thanks to the CTAO staff + I would therefore like to thank the CTAO gGmbH staff, all the In-Kind Contribution teams and Collaborations, the members of the extended science collaboration, and those governing bodies that support us and ensure we can make progress. And a special thank you must be extended to Federico Ferrini, who prepared the CTAO for this transition and was my co-pilot throughout the year. +## Significant progress in 2023 + Together, we have made significant progress in 2023: The CTAO now stands as a top-ranked priority among new ground-based infrastructure projects in the ASTRONET Roadmap; the CTAO-North Site now has foundations in advance of hosting three new Large-Sized Telescopes; the Medium-Sized Telescope structure has successfully passed the critical design review; the tender to implement the electromechanical structures for 25 Small-Sized Telescopes was issued; and the integration of the ACADA software with the LST-1 has been accomplished, among other actions. +## A new phase in 2024 + While it’s worth reflecting on our successes, it’s even more crucial to prepare for the future as the CTAO enters a new phase in 2024 with an increase in activities and progress. Thanks to the support of our funding organizations, we plan to double our staff, make key advances in infrastructure, prepare to accept the first telescopes, help define the science collaboration leading the Key Science Projects, and host the second CTAO Science Symposium and our first CTAO School to train future generations. I am very excited about the next phase of our journey. We have set ambitious goals and outlined strategic priorities that are the path to our future. With your continued dedication, I am confident that we will reach new heights and make even greater progress. +## Celebrate the holidays + So, for now, please celebrate the holidays and take a well-earned rest. There is much to come and much to do in the months and years ahead. I look forward to the day, in the not-so-distant future, when the CTAO will generate its first science through the efforts of our extended team! Happy Holidays, diff --git a/src/content/news/shotaro-abe-wins-first-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md b/src/content/news/shotaro-abe-wins-first-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md index c26b31a..370e9db 100644 --- a/src/content/news/shotaro-abe-wins-first-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md +++ b/src/content/news/shotaro-abe-wins-first-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md @@ -10,12 +10,20 @@ draft: false On 14 October, the inaugural [Werner Hofmann Scientific Award](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/werner-hofmann-scientific-award/) was presented at the CTAO Construction Meeting that is taking place this week at the CTAO [Science Data Management Centre (SDMC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/) in Zeuthen, Germany. Following a rigorous nomination and review process by an international panel of experts, the award was given to Shotaro Abe, a researcher at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR) and University of Tokyo, for his groundbreaking work on dark matter and PeVatrons. Abe received the award from Prof. Werner Hofmann, which included a trophy, a monetary prize, and the opportunity to present his research to an audience of CTAO experts from around the world. +## Two major mysteries in astrophysics + Abe’s doctoral studies, completed this past March, focused on two major mysteries in astrophysics: dark matter, the invisible form of matter that makes up around 25% of the Universe but whose nature remains unknown, and PeVatrons, cosmic accelerators capable of producing particles at petaelectronvolt (PeV) energies, far beyond the reach of human-made accelerators. +## Large-zenith-angle observation techniques + To tackle these challenges, Abe developed innovative large-zenith-angle observation techniques, which involve observing sources low on the horizon. These were long considered impractical because the atmosphere absorbs more gamma rays at such angles, and the telescope’s response strongly varies, creating complex uncertainties. As a member of the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/), Abe led an international team working with the [Large-Sized Telescope (LST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) prototype, LST-1, located on [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/), and through careful calibration and analysis, he was able to turn these challenges into an advantage, extending LST-1’s sensitivity above 20 TeV with just 40 hours of observation. +## Influential scientific studies + Alongside these technical achievements, Abe published influential scientific studies. For dark matter, he investigated the Galactic Centre to search for gamma rays from the annihilation of Higgsino, a dark matter candidate. Using telescope simulations, he showed that CTAO-North could detect this elusive particle by 2030, demonstrating that such searches are feasible from the northern hemisphere and not only from the south, as previously thought. In his PeVatron studies, Abe applied wide-field analyses methods, which examine a large region of the sky simultaneously, revealing subtle variations in the gamma-ray spectrum across the Galactic Centre and providing new insights into the origin and structure of extreme cosmic accelerators. +## The Werner Hofmann Scientific Award + Launched in early 2025 by the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/), the Werner Hofmann Scientific Award recognises early-career researchers who make significant contributions to gamma-ray astronomy and the CTAO through innovative research, technical advances, or emerging scientific leadership. Named after Prof. Hofmann, a pioneering figure in the field, the award honours his lasting impact on the vision and design of the CTAO. The evaluation committee for the 2025 edition brought together experts from different countries and fields, including Hofmann, to select the winner: Catherine Boisson (Observatoire de Paris, France), Rubén López-Coto (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC, Spain), Alison Mitchell (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany), Masahiro Teshima (Max Planck Institut für Physik, MPI, and ICRR, Japan), and Roberta Zanin (CTAO Project Scientist). Congratulations to Shotaro Abe on this well-deserved recognition! diff --git a/src/content/news/small-sized-telescope-harmonization-process-and-status.md b/src/content/news/small-sized-telescope-harmonization-process-and-status.md index 3a0a7c9..a44a564 100644 --- a/src/content/news/small-sized-telescope-harmonization-process-and-status.md +++ b/src/content/news/small-sized-telescope-harmonization-process-and-status.md @@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ draft: false CTA is a large science infrastructure with many individual units and a high degree of complexity. There are many good reasons to design and implement the simplest and most harmonized system possible. In fact, a high degree of simplification will be a crucial success factor both during construction and operation. This need for harmonization applies to many subsystems and components of the array. One prominent area concerns the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) where harmonization is of very high importance due to the large number of units to be built, operated and maintained. +## Deciding on one SST design + Recognizing this, the CTA Observatory (CTAO) Project Office initiated discussions among the SST technical teams and shareholders in February 2018. As a result, the shareholders and those observers interested in providing SSTs as an in-kind contribution unanimously agreed on 9 May 2018 to implement only one SST design at the observatory. Concerning the process to arrive at a single SST design from three proposed designs, the CTAO Council mandated the CTA Project Manager to carry out an SST harmonization review involving external experts. Following this mandate, a Request for Information was issued on 1 August 2018, resulting in three submissions by the deadline of 31 October 2018. +## The Harmonization Review Panel + In November 2018, the Council unanimously approved the appointment of the members and charges of the external SST Harmonization Review Panel. The panel formed and conducted four remote conferences between 7 January and 4 March 2019 and held a final in-person meeting with the three SST teams on 27-29 March 2019. The report of the panel was delivered on 3 April 2019 and was immediately made available to the Council and the submitting teams. +## The chosen CTA-SST design + Based on the review findings and recommendations, and taking into account funding considerations, the CTAO Management formulated its proposal for a unified SST design (the “CTA-SST”). In its June 2019 meeting and following the CTAO Management proposal, the Council decided that “the CTA-SST design should be based on the ASTRI/CHEC design (pictured above), taking into account the experience gained from all designs.” Since June 2019, various discussions have taken place among the teams and shareholders interested in joining the common SST effort. It is expected that a CTA-SST Consortium will form by the Council meeting this November. The teams that have decided not to join the CTA-SST Consortium are looking into other areas of contribution to CTA. As expected, reaching this point has not been an easy process. We recognize the years of dedication and hard work that have been invested into each of the proposed designs. I would like to thank the SST teams and the panel of reviewers for their participation and diligence as we continue our pursuit to build the best instrument possible for our collective goals. diff --git a/src/content/news/small-sized-telescopes-pass-readiness-review-to-proceed-to-factory-testing.md b/src/content/news/small-sized-telescopes-pass-readiness-review-to-proceed-to-factory-testing.md index 371c784..2fddf71 100644 --- a/src/content/news/small-sized-telescopes-pass-readiness-review-to-proceed-to-factory-testing.md +++ b/src/content/news/small-sized-telescopes-pass-readiness-review-to-proceed-to-factory-testing.md @@ -12,14 +12,22 @@ On 2–3 December, the [CTAO Central Organisation’s](https://www.ctao.org/orga With the positive TRR outcome, the SST Collaboration team immediately proceeded to factory testing, which will run until the end of January 2026. At the end of the testing program a Pre-Shipment Review (PSR) will be held to clear the shipment of the first telescope to the [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) site in Chile, which is expected between February and March 2026. If all goes as planned, the telescope will be integrated on site between late May and early June. +## Steady progress and serial production + This accomplishment is the culmination of the SST Collaboration’s steady progress over the past year. After completing the [telescope’s Critical Design Review](https://www.ctao.org/news/sst-structure-advances-to-serial-production/https:/www.ctao.org/news/sst-structure-advances-to-serial-production/) in February 2025, which confirmed that the structure meets the technical and scientific requirements set by the Observatory, the serial production of 14 SST structures was initiated. This is the first part of a contract awarded by [INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica)](http://www.inaf.it/en) to the Dal Ben company for the construction of a total of 25 units. The approved Alpha Configuration foresees a total of 37 SSTs. The [CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)](https://www.cnrs.fr/en) has assigned a contract for the construction of the remaining 12 SST structures to an industry group led by Dal Ben SpA, including its French subsidiary Dal Ben SAS. Activities started in September 2025, and telescope production will occur in two phases through early 2027: the first telescope structure, as a qualification model for the tender, then the additional eleven structures. Preparations for procurement and the manufacturing is under way, which will start after the current factory testing of the first SST. +## A dual-mirror optical design + The SSTs represent the smallest class of telescopes for the CTAO, optimised to detect the most energetic gamma rays in the Observatory’s energy range, from 5 to 300 TeV. Standing nine metres tall and weighing 17.5 tonnes, each SST employs a compact, dual-mirror Schwarzschild–Couder optical system. This design enables excellent spatial resolution across a wide field of view while maintaining a small focal ratio suitable for compact cameras. Each telescope includes a segmented 4.3-metre primary mirror, made up of 18 hexagonal elements, which reflects light onto a monolithic 1.8-metre secondary mirror. The Cherenkov light is then focused into the camera, which is being developed by an international team led by the [MPIK (Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik)](https://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/mpi/en/), where it is digitised and processed. This dual-reflector system differentiates the SSTs from the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) and Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs), which use single-mirror designs. +## The SST Collaboration + The SST Collaboration is an In-Kind Contribution team for the CTAO, responsible for developing the SSTs. It comprises research institutions and universities from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA. +## Funding for the first telescopes + The production of the aforementioned first 14 telescopes are carried out with contribution of the Next Generation EU funds within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 – Education and Research, Component 2 – From Research to Business (M4C2), Investment Line 3.1 – Strengthening and creation of Research Infrastructures, Project IR0000012 – “CTA+ – Cherenkov Telescope Array Plus;” Cup: C53C22000430006. diff --git a/src/content/news/sst-structure-advances-to-serial-production.md b/src/content/news/sst-structure-advances-to-serial-production.md index 8757949..0524611 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sst-structure-advances-to-serial-production.md +++ b/src/content/news/sst-structure-advances-to-serial-production.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false On 5 June, a delegation from the [CTAO SST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) and the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/)’s Telescope team visited the facilities of the Italian company Dal Ben, located in the Veneto region, to inspect the progress of the [Small-Sized Telescope (SST)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) electromechanical structures’ production. In a significant step forward, the SST structures have now officially entered serial production following the approval of their final design. +## Critical Design Review approval + The approval to enter the new phase came two months ago with the successful completion of the Critical Design Review (CDR), a rigorous evaluation confirming that the structure meets all technical and scientific requirements set by the Observatory. The review, carried out by a panel of CTAO experts and external professionals, took place in February 2025 and resulted in a broadly positive outcome, with only minor adjustments required. These have since been resolved through close cooperation between the SST Collaboration and the CTAO Central Organisation’s Telescope team, allowing the serial production phase to start. +## Production contracts and schedule + Now, production is underway for the first batch of 10 SST structures, as part of a contract awarded by [INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica)](http://www.inaf.it/en) to the Dal Ben company for the construction of a total of 25 units. At least one is expected to be fully assembled later this year for testing at Dal Ben’s facilities. Meanwhile, the [CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique](https://www.cnrs.fr/en)) has issued a call for bids to assign a second contract for the construction of an additional 12 SST structures, with the contract award expected in the coming months. According to the current schedule, the first SSTs are expected to be ready at the CTAO’s southern hemisphere array site, [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/), in Chile by the middle of next year, where the approved Alpha Configuration foresees a total of 37 SSTs. +## A compact dual-mirror design + The SSTs represent the smallest class of telescopes for the CTAO, optimised to detect the most energetic gamma rays in the Observatory’s energy range, from 5 to 300 TeV. Standing nine metres tall and weighing 17.5 tonnes, each SST employs a compact, dual-mirror Schwarzschild–Couder optical system. This design enables excellent spatial resolution across a wide field of view while maintaining a small focal ratio suitable for compact cameras. Each telescope includes a segmented 4.3-metre primary mirror, made up of 18 hexagonal elements, which reflects light onto a monolithic 1.8-metre secondary mirror. The Cherenkov light is then focused into a camera where it is digitised and processed. This dual-reflector system differentiates the SSTs from the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) and Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs), which use single-mirror designs. +## Collaboration and funding + The SST Collaboration is an In-Kind Contribution team for the CTAO, responsible for developing the SSTs. It comprises research institutions and universities from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The production of the aforementioned first 10 telescopes are carried out with contribution of the Next Generation EU funds within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 4 – Education and Research, Component 2 – From Research to Business (M4C2), Investment Line 3.1 – Strengthening and creation of Research Infrastructures, Project IR0000012 – “CTA+ – Cherenkov Telescope Array Plus”. diff --git a/src/content/news/sst-undergoes-the-product-review.md b/src/content/news/sst-undergoes-the-product-review.md index 6c07f80..453631a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sst-undergoes-the-product-review.md +++ b/src/content/news/sst-undergoes-the-product-review.md @@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ draft: false On February 15, 2023, the Product Review of the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) was held at the CTAO office in Bologna (Italy). This review is the formal conclusion of the Design Verification and Engineering Review (DVER) that the telescope underwent in July 2020. During the DVER, certain actions towards the industrialization of the SST and the optimization of the maintenance activities, with a view to reducing the maintenance workload and the cost of the SSTs, were recommended. Thus, the Product Review examined the implementation of the recommended actions and the resulting design choices. +## Toward the Critical Design Review + The review was jointly organized by the SST team and the CTAO Project Office, and was carried out along with a panel consisting of experts from the CTAO, collaborating and external institutes. As a result of the review, the preliminary design presented for the SST was unanimously considered globally adequate for further development until the Critical Design Review (CDR). The process is not yet finished: the panel will issue a detailed report with final recommendations to consider for the CDR, the final review for all subsystems to verify that the design is successfully completed and satisfies the specified requirements before its formal acceptance as a CTAO telescope. The CTAO Project Office would like to thank all participants and in particular the external panel members and chair for their participation, involvement and dedication in the Product Review of the SST. +## About the SST + The SST, one of the three types of telescopes that the CTAO will use to cover its unprecedented energy range, is optimized to detect the highest-energy gamma rays, from about 0.5 TeV up to 300 TeV. The SSTs will outnumber all the other telescopes with 37 planned to be spread out over ~3 km2 in the [southern hemisphere array](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) only. The SST full design is based on the so-called ASTRI structure and the Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC). Read more about the SST on [the dedicated webpage](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/). diff --git a/src/content/news/status-volcanic-eruption-la-palma.md b/src/content/news/status-volcanic-eruption-la-palma.md index f8a7bcd..9a323fa 100644 --- a/src/content/news/status-volcanic-eruption-la-palma.md +++ b/src/content/news/status-volcanic-eruption-la-palma.md @@ -16,18 +16,24 @@ La erupción se inició el 19 de septiembre de 2021 en Cumbre Vieja (El Paso), a Tras el período de luna llena, durante el cual los telescopios Cherenkov no operan, se esperaba reanudar las observaciones con el LST-1 la noche del jueves 23 de septiembre. Sin embargo, tras una inspección en el emplazamiento, y debido al cambio en la dirección del viento hacia el ORM que portó ceniza, se ha decidido suspender cualquier movimiento del telescopio y cubrir los espejos para prevenir daños hasta el 25 de octubre, cuando se realizará una nueva evaluación. Se está controlando el nivel de ceniza en el aire que, hasta el momento, no representa un riesgo para la salud. No obstante, la evolución del fenómeno y los posibles efectos secundarios están siendo continuamente analizados con el fin de tomar las medidas necesarias para mantener la seguridad de los trabajadores de CTAO y del LST-1. Más información sobre la situación actual, los riesgos y las reglas a seguir en La Palma en [las páginas de las autoridades oficiales](https://riesgovolcanico-lapalma.hub.arcgis.com/). +## Cómo ayudar a los afectados + Estamos en contacto con el ORM, el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) y las autoridades locales para seguir monitoreando la situación de este evento que, lamentablemente, ya ha causado graves daños materiales a los residentes de la isla. Más de 6000 personas han sido evacuadas, muchas de las cuales han perdido sus hogares y pertenencias. Por ello, en nombre de CTAO y del LST-1, queremos animar a los miembros de CTA y a todas aquellas personas que quieran ayudar a los ciudadanos de La Palma en estos momentos tan difíciles a hacerlo a través de las plataformas facilitadas por las autoridades públicas locales. Más información sobre cómo ayudar a las personas afectadas por la erupción volcánica: - [Cabildo de La Palma](https://www.cabildodelapalma.es/es/como-ayudar-afectados-volcan-de-la-palma) - [Ayuntamiento El Paso](https://elpaso.es/donaciones-damnificados-por-la-erupcion-volcanica/?fbclid=IwAR0W0kFd-7X-MIj1Zcvi4X_T82sP5mgERarlfqu0IWehBjut68Yu-d1vti4#iLightbox[gallery144457]/0) - [Ayuntamiento Los Llanos de Aridane](https://www.facebook.com/aytoAridane/posts/4728570020500334) +## English version + The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) team, on behalf of all their members, express their sincere solidarity to the citizens of the Canary Island of La Palma, who are suffering the consequences of the volcanic eruption, as well as gratitude and support to all the emergency units that work tirelessly in the area to avoid personal damages. The eruption initiated on September 19, 2021, in Cumbre Vieja (El Paso), at more than 20 km away in a straight line (~ 65 km by road) from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), where the CTAO-North site and the LST-1 therein are located. Additionally, the altitude of the eruption was about 600 m a.s.l., well below the ~2200 m a.s.l. where the CTAO site stands. We would like to confirm that all CTAO and LST-1 members at La Palma are ok and safe. After the moon break during which the Cherenkov telescopes do not operate, the observations with the LST-1 were expected to resume on the night of Thursday, September 23.  However, after an inspection of the site and due to a shift of the wind towards the ORM that brought ash, it was decided to suspend all movement of the telescope and to cover the mirrors to prevent any damage until Monday October 25, when further evaluation will be performed. The ash level in the air is being monitored and so far, it does not represent a health risk. Nevertheless, the evolution of the phenomenon and possible side effects are continuously analyzed in order to take any action to keep the safety of the CTAO and LST-1 crew. Updated information about the current situation, risks and rules to follow at La Palma can be found [in the local authorities’ websites.](https://riesgovolcanico-lapalma.hub.arcgis.com/) +## How to help those affected + We are in touch with the ORM, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and local authorities to keep monitoring the situation of this event that, unfortunately, has already caused serious material damages to the residents at the southern region of the island. More than 6,000 people have been evacuated, many of whom have lost their homes and belongings. Therefore, on behalf of CTAO and LST-1, we would like to encourage CTA members and everyone that would like to help La Palma residents in these difficult times to support with donations through the platforms open by the public administrations. More information to help people affected by the volcanic eruption: - [Cabildo de La Palma](https://www.cabildodelapalma.es/es/como-ayudar-afectados-volcan-de-la-palma) diff --git a/src/content/news/strategic-plan-for-european-astronomy-ranks-ctao-as-priority.md b/src/content/news/strategic-plan-for-european-astronomy-ranks-ctao-as-priority.md index d98139e..70d7456 100644 --- a/src/content/news/strategic-plan-for-european-astronomy-ranks-ctao-as-priority.md +++ b/src/content/news/strategic-plan-for-european-astronomy-ranks-ctao-as-priority.md @@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ draft: false The recently-released ASTRONET [Science Vision and Infrastructure Roadmap 2022-2035](https://www.astronet-eu.org/?page_id=521) includes the CTAO as the top-ranked priority amongst new ground-based infrastructure projects. The strategic plan highlights that “as the first true large-scale observatory targeting these [very high] energies, it [the CTAO] is expected to lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of the origins and production of non-thermal particles in the Universe.” The ASTRONET roadmap provides an overview of the status of European Astronomy, as well as recommendations to funding agencies for the next decade, based on the priorities of the community. +## Unique capabilities and community support + The 2022-2035 roadmap emphasizes CTAO’s unique capabilities and the strong support it receives from the community. Moreover, it stresses how the Observatory will be a key facility to address important science questions, such as the exploration of fundamental physics, including the nature of dark matter, the origin and acceleration of cosmic rays, the formation and evolution of compact objects, among others. The CTAO was included in the previous ASTRONET 2008 roadmap as a priority for medium-sized ground-based facilities. The repeated inclusion of the Observatory as a priority within the European astronomy roadmap reflects the continuing interest of the scientific community in the CTAO and its potential to unravel great scientific unknowns. +## Beginning the construction phase + The CTAO organization is expected to become a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) before fall 2023. The launch of the CTAO ERIC initiates the official beginning of the construction phase of the Observatory, which will be the first open ground-based gamma-ray observatory on the planet. > “The construction of the CTAO will begin soon – the commitment of the countries is clear and the financing for the construction is confirmed, while the technical aspects and the management plans are almost finished,” explains Federico Ferrini, Managing Director of CTAO gGmbH. “The competences already assumed by the designated Director General of the CTAO ERIC, Stuart McMuldroch, reassures the timely completion of this transition and beginning of construction, which will open exciting times for science.” +## The ASTRONET coordination forum + ASTRONET is a group of European funding agencies, community representatives and infrastructures working together as a forum for coordination for all aspects of European Astronomy. Formed in the early 2000’s with EU funding, it was responsible for the first European Science Vision and Infrastructure Roadmaps (2007/8) and their revisions (2013/14). It currently includes representatives from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and ESO. The European Astronomical Society (EAS), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the SKAO are also observers, and it has connections to independent research consortia such as the AstroParticle Physics European Consortium (APPEC), the Opticon Radionet Pilot (ORP) and Europlanet. Read the full roadmap on the [ASTRONET’s website](https://www.astronet-eu.org/). diff --git a/src/content/news/stuart-mcmuldroch-joins-ctao.md b/src/content/news/stuart-mcmuldroch-joins-ctao.md index 2129e25..b81ea42 100644 --- a/src/content/news/stuart-mcmuldroch-joins-ctao.md +++ b/src/content/news/stuart-mcmuldroch-joins-ctao.md @@ -12,10 +12,16 @@ Dr. Stuart McMuldroch has been appointed as the second Managing Director of the > “We are very fortunate that Stuart is already able to join the CTAO during this important period,” says Prof. Federico Ferrini, current CTAO gGmbH Managing Director. “Working side-by-side through this transition will allow us to achieve the objectives that will ensure an optimal start of the construction phase in the CTAO ERIC era.” +## Experience managing international projects + McMuldroch has a PhD in Astronomy and more than 22 years of experience managing large-scale international projects at academic, commercial and government organizations. He was part of the New Horizons and GOES-R space missions as team leader for the design and construction of key optical subsystems. Prior to his appointment as designated Director General for the CTAO ERIC, McMuldroch was the Head of the Giant Magellan Telescope program office at the Center for Astrophysics (CfA)/Harvard & Smithsonian. +## Preparing for the construction phase + Ferrini will continue to manage the day-to-day business of the CTAO gGmbH, focusing on tasks such as running the operational business processes of the CTAO gGmbH, preparing the governing policies and rules of the CTAO ERIC and transferring all relevant assets from the CTAO gGmbH to the CTAO ERIC for the eventual liquidation of the former legal entity. In parallel, McMuldroch will focus on the preparation of the CTAO ERIC and the construction project. This encompasses preparing the CTAO ERIC’s organizational structure and business process, ramping up the staff, coordinating activities for the establishment and full operability of the ERIC, as well as preparing construction, including the project schedule. > “The CTAO is an exceptional project that is entering an extremely exciting and challenging construction phase,” says Dr. Stuart McMuldroch, designated Director General of the CTAO ERIC and Co-Director of the gGmbH. “I am looking forward to working with Federico and the rest of the CTAO team – we have a lot to do, but I am optimistic and energised about the path ahead!” +## A joint working approach + This joint working approach builds upon the already well-established collaboration of Dr. Stuart McMuldroch and Prof. Federico Ferrini in addition to that of the CTAO gGmbH Council and the BGR; all of whom are working towards the common goal of constructing the first, open ground-based gamma-ray observatory on the planet. diff --git a/src/content/news/sub-consortium-forms-build-first-pre-production-mst-cta.md b/src/content/news/sub-consortium-forms-build-first-pre-production-mst-cta.md index 07515a9..c30f744 100644 --- a/src/content/news/sub-consortium-forms-build-first-pre-production-mst-cta.md +++ b/src/content/news/sub-consortium-forms-build-first-pre-production-mst-cta.md @@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ draft: false Representatives of CTA Consortium institutes from France, Germany and Spain met in Saclay (France) in December 2016 to lay the foundations for an international sub-consortium that aims to deliver to CTAO one fully-equipped and functional Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) with a NectarCAM camera for the pre-production phase of CTA. The sub-consortium, named MSTN, proposes to install this telescope on CTA’s northern hemisphere site at Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. +## Prototype and camera testing + A total of 40 MSTs (25 in the southern hemisphere and 15 in the northern hemisphere) are planned to cover the central CTA energy range (100 GeV to 10 TeV). An MST prototype was deployed in Berlin in 2012 (pictured to the left) and has been undergoing performance testing, which will be used as input to the construction of the MSTN pre-production telescope. Similarly, elements of the NectarCAM are undergoing extensive tests in Saclay, and the results will be utilized building the pre-production camera. +## International construction effort + The construction of the telescopes will be an international effort. The telescope structure will be provided jointly by Spain, Germany and Brazil, and the mirrors and the camera will come from France with possible contributions from Spain. Installation, commissioning and operation of the telescope in La Palma will be done within the framework of CTAO after a Pre-Production Readiness Review as an in-kind contribution to CTA. DESY, a German institute, will be responsible for the delivery of the telescope, with Stefan Schlenstedt (Germany) as the Principal Investigator and Jean-François Glicenstein (France) as the Co-Principal Investigator of the sub-consortium. The project will be overseen by a steering committee of funding agency representatives that is chaired by Carlos Delgado (Spain). +## A major milestone for CTA + The formation of the MSTN sub-consortium (pictured above) is seen as a major milestone towards the construction of CTA. It is considered as a first step that will pave the way towards the building, installation and commissioning of more MSTs equipped with NectarCAM cameras during the production phase of CTA. diff --git a/src/content/news/successful-first-test-of-the-small-sized-telescopes-with-the-array-control-and-data-acquisition-software.md b/src/content/news/successful-first-test-of-the-small-sized-telescopes-with-the-array-control-and-data-acquisition-software.md index bdff79a..944078e 100644 --- a/src/content/news/successful-first-test-of-the-small-sized-telescopes-with-the-array-control-and-data-acquisition-software.md +++ b/src/content/news/successful-first-test-of-the-small-sized-telescopes-with-the-array-control-and-data-acquisition-software.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false On 21–22 April, experts from the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) and the [Small-Sized Telescope (SST) Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) successfully established the first direct communication between the telescope structure and the [Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) software. As the central system that will eventually send commands to operate both CTAO telescope arrays, conducting integration tests between ACADA and the telescope is a critical pre-shipment milestone to minimise potential compatibility risks before the [SSTs](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) are delivered to the remote [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) site in Chile. +## Synergy between the two groups + The rapid success of these integration tests was the direct result of exceptional synergy between the two groups. In the weeks leading up to the campaign, the SST Collaboration and the Central Organisation’s ACADA, Telescope, and System Integration teams worked together closely to lay the groundwork for the software deployment. This joint preparation paid off during the on-site work at the facilities of Dal Ben S.p.A., the company in charge of the mass production of the SST structures, in San Stino di Livenza, Italy. It took barely two days of joint, hands-on work at the factory for these two highly complex systems to successfully communicate with one another. > “Integrating the array control software with the instrument control software is a challenging transition for any observatory,” says Dominik Neise, ACADA Lead Developer. “The fact that the system responded accurately to our commands almost immediately significantly de-risks our schedule. We resolved a few minor issues on the spot, proving that our teams are fully aligned and capable of troubleshooting together under real-world conditions.” +## Executing commands and retrieving data + During the tests, ACADA successfully executed commands instructing the telescope to perform repositioning and source tracking, whilst also retrieving monitoring data, such as temperature, from the sensors. Moreover, because only the mechanical structure is currently available at the Dal Ben S.p.A. factory, the SST camera team developed a simulation of the camera instrument. This allowed the teams to run the camera’s integration tests with ACADA, as well, ensuring a highly realistic, end-to-end testing environment. > “What is particularly encouraging is how smoothly the system behaved once connected to the real telescope structure,” says Vito Conforti, SST Telescope Control Software Lead and ACADA Release Manager. “This achievement reflects the extensive development and validation activities carried out across all Telescope Control Software subsystems, and the strong collaboration within the SST teams, from structure to camera, as well as with ACADA. It provides clear evidence that the adopted approach is robust and that the system is well prepared for the next phases of integration.” +## About the SST Collaboration + The CTAO SST Collaboration is an In-Kind Contribution team tasked with developing and building the SSTs. Ultimately, 37 of these telescopes will be integrated into the CTAO-South array in Chile to study the highest-energy Universe. Following their installation and commissioning, they will be formally accepted by the Central Organisation for operation as an integral part of the Observatory. +## The final phase of testing + With this first round of command execution and data exchange completed successfully, the teams will return to the Dal Ben S.p.A. factory in early May for the final phase of the testing campaign. Confidence remains exceptionally high as the project moves steadily towards shipment and installation of the first SSTs at the CTAO-South array this year. diff --git a/src/content/news/surveying-large-magellanic-cloud.md b/src/content/news/surveying-large-magellanic-cloud.md index 07f8235..45c6eef 100644 --- a/src/content/news/surveying-large-magellanic-cloud.md +++ b/src/content/news/surveying-large-magellanic-cloud.md @@ -12,12 +12,15 @@ draft: false If you gaze up at a dark night sky, you can easily see the Milky Way, the barred-spiral galaxy hosting our solar system. If you are in the southern hemisphere, you can even spot one of our closest neighbor galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC may be much smaller than the Milky Way, but it is the fourth largest galaxy in our Local Galaxy Group and full of a variety of interesting known and candidate sources of gamma-ray photons. +## An active star-forming galaxy + The LMC is one of the nearest star-forming galaxies and is very active, with five times the star formation rate density of the Milky Way. This activity is demonstrated by more than 60 supernova remnants, dozens to hundreds of H II regions (clouds of luminous interstellar gas), bubbles and shells observed at various wavelengths. Some of the most exceptional objects the LMC hosts include the star-forming region 30 Doradus, the star cluster RMC 136, the remnant of Supernova 1987A and the puzzling 30 Dor C super-bubble. Supernova 1987A was first recorded in 1987 and is the closest supernova in recent times. Considering its distance, the almost face-on inclination and the typical angular resolution of CTA, the LMC is perhaps the only object that can provide us with a global and significantly resolved view of an external galaxy at gamma-ray energies. -![](/uploads/LMC-1-1.png) +## A proposed survey scheme +![](/uploads/LMC-1-1.png) *Skymap Credit: SkyView, A. Mellinger* The above image shows a proposed survey scheme composed of six pointings evenly distributed around the LMC centre at a separation distance of 2 degrees (green circles, for a typical field-of-view radius of 3 degrees). @@ -26,4 +29,6 @@ The current Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. instruments have revealed a small number of s ![](/uploads/LMC_comparison1-1024x318-1.png) +## Addressing CTA science objectives + Observations of this star-forming galaxy will address many CTA science objectives: population studies of supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae; transport of cosmic rays on large scales — from their release into the interstellar medium to their escape from the system; and the search for a signature of dark matter. diff --git a/src/content/news/swiss-cta-days-2022.md b/src/content/news/swiss-cta-days-2022.md index 15c8a77..34eb2aa 100644 --- a/src/content/news/swiss-cta-days-2022.md +++ b/src/content/news/swiss-cta-days-2022.md @@ -8,12 +8,18 @@ cover: /uploads/featureimage_SwissCTADays-768x351.png draft: false --- -During 14-15 December, members of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium (CTAC) and Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) gathered in Zürich (Switzerland) to hold the *“*Swiss CTA Days.” The event, hosted by the University of Zürich, focused on the Swiss scientific community’s current and future activities to support the technological and scientific development of the CTAO. +During 14-15 December, members of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium (CTAC) and Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) gathered in Zürich (Switzerland) to hold the “Swiss CTA Days.” The event, hosted by the University of Zürich, focused on the Swiss scientific community’s current and future activities to support the technological and scientific development of the CTAO. + +## Swiss institutes and work packages The University of Zürich, the University of Geneva, the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique (LASTRO) and the Advanced Quantum Architecture (AQUA) Laboratory of the EPFL, ETHZ and the CSCS Swiss National Supercomputing Centre of ETH members participates actively in the development of the CTAO, which has been selected as a project relevant to Switzerland in the Roadmap for large Research Infrastructures of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Four work packages are run by these institutes and financed by SERI under two performance agreements. +## The two-day workshop + The workshop initiated with a welcome and remarks by the scientific and institutional representatives from a variety of institutes involved in CTAC and CTAO, such as Stephan Neuhauss (Vice Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Zürich), Rudolf Mumenthaler (Director of University Library Zurich), Brigitte Galliot (Vice Rector for Research University of Geneva), Teresa Montarulli (Coordinator of the Swiss CTA Collaboration) and Roberta Zanin (CTAO Project Scientist). During the first day, the discussion focused on the four work packages run by the Swiss institutes involved in the construction of the CTAO and financed by SERI. The packages are related to the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs), the software development of the data formats and data handling for the CTAO’s Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA) software, the calibration and bulk archive that interfaces with the science archive for scientists’ use. This software development concerns the Data Pipeline and Preservation System (DPPS) of CTAO. Moreover, participants discussed the development of one of the four off-site data centres, under the responsibility of CSCS and LASTRO of EPFL. The centre will manage CTAO data and also is being organized in synergy with SKAO to equip Switzerland with a data server effective for many Petabyte projects in astronomy. The second day of the workshop served as an opportunity to talk about the scientific interests of the Swiss community and to discuss recent scientific publications within the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomical field. +## Looking ahead + Building on the scientific and technological expertise developed by the Swiss community in relation to the current generation ground-based high-energy gamma-ray telescopes, the group’s participation becomes more fundamental as the CTAO approaches the establishment of its final legal entity, the CTAO ERIC, and the beginning of construction. diff --git a/src/content/news/switzerland-and-croatia-officially-become-members-of-the-ctao-eric.md b/src/content/news/switzerland-and-croatia-officially-become-members-of-the-ctao-eric.md index 2bc0925..5334ebf 100644 --- a/src/content/news/switzerland-and-croatia-officially-become-members-of-the-ctao-eric.md +++ b/src/content/news/switzerland-and-croatia-officially-become-members-of-the-ctao-eric.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false From 19 to 21 November 2025, the [CTAO ERIC Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) convened at the CTAO [Science Data Management Centre (SDMC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/) in Zeuthen, Berlin, for its fifth meeting. During the session, the Council unanimously approved a revision of the CTAO ERIC Statutes to formally include Switzerland and Croatia as full members, granting them corresponding voting rights. +## Confirmed as founding members + Switzerland and Croatia were initially endorsed as members by the CTAO ERIC Council in June 2025. Following internal approval, the European Commission was formally notified, allowing the Statutes to be updated to reflect their membership. The modification approved at November’s meeting not only confirms their status as Founding Members—joining within 18 months of the ERIC’s establishment—but also grants both countries full membership rights. > “The addition of Switzerland and Croatia to our growing membership strengthens the CTAO community and underscores our shared commitment to advancing gamma-ray astronomy and astroparticle physics across and beyond Europe,” says Francisco Colomer, Chair of the CTAO ERIC Council. +## Continued contributions to the Observatory + Both countries have long supported the CTAO, particularly through their contributions to [in-kind collaborations](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/), which have advanced the development of telescope hardware and the Observatory’s computing infrastructure. As official Council members, Switzerland and Croatia will continue to contribute to the development of the Observatory, enabling their respective scientists and institutions to actively participate in the CTAO’s scientific programme. This will reinforce their participation in gamma-ray, astroparticle, and multi-messenger astronomy, while fostering national expertise in data science and enabling broader participation of their scientific communities. +## The growing ERIC membership + The [CTAO ERIC members](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) now include Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Further countries — Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and the United States — are engaged in the process of joining the CTAO ERIC as Strategic Partners or Third Parties. ![](/uploads/SwitzerlandDelegation-Nov2025-1600x901.png) diff --git a/src/content/news/telescope-construction-begins-on-ctaosouth-with-signing-of-major-contract.md b/src/content/news/telescope-construction-begins-on-ctaosouth-with-signing-of-major-contract.md index 708242b..1adf823 100644 --- a/src/content/news/telescope-construction-begins-on-ctaosouth-with-signing-of-major-contract.md +++ b/src/content/news/telescope-construction-begins-on-ctaosouth-with-signing-of-major-contract.md @@ -12,20 +12,26 @@ On 2 July, a major contract, worth several million Euros, was signed between the > “We’re excited to see telescope construction begin on site after years of planning and preparation,” says Volker Heinz, CTAO Construction Programme Manager. “We’re grateful for ESO’s support in securing this fundamental step. Soon, we’ll be ready to receive the telescopes on site, with the first expected to be built as early as the middle of next year.” +## The world’s largest gamma-ray observatory + The CTAO will be the world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. It is composed of two arrays of telescopes: CTAO-South, and [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) in La Palma, Spain. With locations in both hemispheres, the Observatory will cover the full gamma-ray sky, capturing the ever-elusive [Cherenkov light](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/). When cosmic gamma rays reach the atmosphere and interact with it, they generate a cascade of ultra-energetic particles; as they move through the air, these particles create a faint blue flash of “Cherenkov light.” By analysing this faint light, scientists can infer much about the cosmic sources, like supermassive black holes and supernova remnants, that emitted the original gamma rays. +## Telescopes for the CTAO-South site + To capture Cherenkov light, the CTAO-South site will cover an area of about three-square kilometres and consist of 51 individual telescopes of different sizes to detect both bright and faint events. The awarded contract includes the construction of foundations for the [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) and [Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/). The MST and SST are two of the three telescope types that the CTAO will deploy to span its broad energy range from 20 GeV to 300 TeV. The MST, weighing approximately 89 tonnes and featuring a 12-meter mirror reflector, is designed to cover the core energy range between 150 GeV and 5 TeV. The SST, which has a dual-mirror configuration and weighs about 17.5 tonnes, will focus on detecting the most energetic cosmic sources, which emit gamma rays at the high end of the CTAO’s energy range, from 5 to 300 TeV. +## An open observatory in Chile + As the first open ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, the CTAO will make its data and analysis software publicly available for the entire global scientific community to share, strengthening worldwide collaboration and helping to answer questions across both astronomy and particle physics, including decades-long mysteries, such as the origin and role in the galaxies of relativistic cosmic particles or the nature of dark matter. The CTAO will be the first observatory of its kind built in Chile, able to observe the high-energy Universe with unparalleled sensitivity. Its location near Cerro Paranal, far from light pollution sources and under one of the world’s darkest and most pristine night skies, is key to detecting the extremely faint Cherenkov blue light. +## Establishing the CTAO ERIC + In January 2025, the CTAO was established as a [European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) by the European Commission. The Founding Members of the CTAO ERIC are Austria, the Czech Republic, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain. Additionally, Japan is a Strategic Partner, and the accession of Switzerland and Croatia as Founding Members is being processed. ![](/uploads/CTAOSouthFoundationsSigning2.jpg) - *Representatives from ESO and Chile companies sign CTAO-South contract. Credit: ESO* ![](/uploads/CTAOSouthFoundationsSigning3.jpg) - *CTAO and ESO representatives at a contract-signing ceremony. Credit: ESO* diff --git a/src/content/news/testowy-artykuł-tytuł.md b/src/content/news/testowy-artykuł-tytuł.md index fafda32..3fcf792 100644 --- a/src/content/news/testowy-artykuł-tytuł.md +++ b/src/content/news/testowy-artykuł-tytuł.md @@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ _Artykuł testowy — treść skopiowana z newsa CTAO:_ [_Preparing the Montpell This configuration provides scientists with highly detailed atmospheric profiles, allowing them to pinpoint various aerosols. [![Widok placu budowy CTAO-South na pustyni Atakama](/uploads/MontpellierRamanLidar-1600x1069.jpg "Tytuł zdjęcia")](https://www.ctao.org/news/italian-minister-of-university-and-research-visits-the-ctao-south-site-in-chile/) - _Zdjęcie testowe — kliknięcie prowadzi do powiązanego newsa CTAO._ ## Two instruments, two sites diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric.md index 0f50d0e..d9d60d0 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric.md @@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ The CTAO ERIC Members are Austria, Czech Republic, European Southern Observatory Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/7 of 7 January 2025 setting up the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory ERIC (CTAO ERIC) is available on the [Official Journal of the European Union](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202500007). -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. +## About the CTAO The CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory; [www.ctao.org](https://www.ctao.org/)) will be the world’s largest and most powerful [observatory for gamma-ray astronomy](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/). The CTAO’s unparalleled accuracy and broad energy range (20 GeV- 300 TeV) will help to address some of the most perplexing questions in astrophysics, falling under [three major themes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/study-themes/): understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments, such as black holes or neutron stars; and exploring frontiers in physics, searching for dark matter or deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity. Additionally, the CTAO will play a key role in both multi-wavelength and multi-messenger fields in the coming decades thanks to its enhanced performance, which will allow it to provide fundamental gamma-ray information in the quest to probe the most extreme scenarios. @@ -38,10 +38,14 @@ The CTAO is a [Big Data project](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data The [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/) (legally, the CTAO ERIC) is in charge of the construction and operations of the Observatory. This group works in close cooperation with partners from around the world toward the development of the Observatory. Major partners include [In-Kind Contribution Collaborations](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) that are developing essential hardware and software, in addition to the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/), an international group of researchers who works in the scientific exploitation of the Observatory. +## About the ERIC + The [European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)](https://www.eric-forum.eu/) is a specific legal form under EU law that facilitates the establishment and operation of [Research Infrastructures](https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/research-infrastructures_en) with a European interest. A European Commission decision is required to set up a new ERIC. The CTAO is the 29th ERIC created since 2009 and proves that the ERIC legal instrument facilitates pan-European and international scientific collaboration. The members of an ERIC are EU Member States, associated countries within the EU framework programme for research and innovation and, under certain conditions, other non-EU countries and intergovernmental organisations. +## Press release and support materials + Read the press release by the European Commission on [their dedicated webpage](https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/commission-facilitates-worlds-largest-and-most-powerful-ground-based-gamma-ray-observatory-2025-01-08_en?prefLang=es). > Lee y descarga la nota de prensa en español aquí: “[El CTAO se convierte en un Consorcio Europeo de Infraestructuras de Investigación](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAOERIC_NotadePrensa.pdf)“. @@ -62,6 +66,8 @@ Support materials, such as renderings, photos and videos, are available for down > CTAO Telescopes rendering: [Link to Download](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctao-universe/53482410243/in/album-72157672713462861). +## Media contact + For further information and interview inquiries (both in person and online), please contact: Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-cohosts-95th-cci-meeting.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-cohosts-95th-cci-meeting.md index eb4158a..493c076 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-cohosts-95th-cci-meeting.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-cohosts-95th-cci-meeting.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false During the week of 4 May, the CTAO Central Organisation co-hosted, along with the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the University of Bologna, and the Galileo National Telescope, the [International Scientific Committee of the Canary Islands Observatories](https://www.iac.es/es/observatorios-de-canarias/comite-cientifico-internacional) (CCI, in Spanish) at the home of the CTAO Headquarters in Bologna, Italy. With its northern hemisphere array, CTAO-North, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) on the island of La Palma, the CTAO is an active member of the committee. +## The CCI and its meetings + The CCI is the body established under the International Agreements that created the Canary Islands Observatories, the ORM (La Palma) and Teide Observatory (Tenerife), which are managed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. It holds biannual meetings to ensure the management of the various instruments located at the observatories can effectively participate in the decisions concerning the use, maintenance, and enhancement of these scientific facilities. +## Project status and telescopes + This is the CTAO’s and INAF’s first time hosting the meeting. Isabella Pagano, INAF Science Director, welcomed attendees, and Stuart McMuldroch, Director General of the CTAO, presented a report on the project’s status. The CTAO-North site is already the home of four Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) that are under various stages of development by the CTAO LST Collaboration. The first telescope, the LST-1, is wrapping up its commissioning and is expected to be accepted by the Central Organisation in 2027. In preparation for the operation of this “sub-array” of telescopes, the Central Organisation has been rapidly growing its team on site to ease the transition and ensure early science can begin, even as the rest of the array is under construction. > “With the start of the construction phase, the CTAO has become an active research infrastructure within the CCI community,” says Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist. “The CTAO is strengthening its engagement with the other facilities at the ORM, fostering synergies that will enhance scientific exploitation and maximise the observatory’s scientific impact.” +## Astronomical sites around Bologna + The CTAO Central Organisation was delighted to co-host the event alongside INAF, the University of Bologna, and the Galileo National Telescope. Each host gave participants the opportunity to visit a special astronomical site in and around Bologna. The CTAO provided access to its offices at its headquarters, while INAF organized a guided tour of the Medicina Radio Observatory, home to the historic Northern Cross Radio Telescope. The University of Bologna hosted participants at the Accademia delle Scienze, located within the university museum complex, which also includes La Specola Museum, the city’s astronomical museum. At La Specola, participants also learned about the pioneering work of Guido Horn d’Arturo, whose innovative segmented mirror designs anticipated technologies now used in modern observatories such as the CTAO. > “There is tremendous excitement surrounding the upcoming operations of the CTAO-North array and the groundbreaking science it will deliver,” said McMuldroch. “We are grateful to contribute to this committee and to strengthen collaboration with neighbouring observatories as we prepare for what lies ahead.” diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-engages-with-slovenian-industry-at-big-science-business-meeting.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-engages-with-slovenian-industry-at-big-science-business-meeting.md index c6f6958..d40e374 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-engages-with-slovenian-industry-at-big-science-business-meeting.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-engages-with-slovenian-industry-at-big-science-business-meeting.md @@ -12,8 +12,14 @@ On 3 February, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) hosted t The event, focused on exploring cooperation with CERN and the CTAO, brought together representatives from high-tech companies, research infrastructures, and leading Slovenian scientists. It was also attended by high-level government authorities, including state secretaries from the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Matjaž Frangež, and from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Jure Gašparič. +## Presentations and roundtable discussion + The programme featured presentations by Peter Volasko (Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation) on Slovenia’s membership in CERN; by Samo Stanič (University of Nova Gorica and Slovenia’s delegate on the CTAO Council) on synergies between academia and industry; and by Stuart McMuldroch, who detailed the CTAO’s status. A roundtable discussion followed, focusing on knowledge transfer and how local industry can capitalise on the economic potential of “Big Science.” +## Computing and networking opportunities + The event was also attended by Stefan Schlenstedt and Igor Oya, the CTAO Computing Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator, respectively. Their presence enabled targeted networking discussions focused on opportunities related to the critical [software systems, data handling, and high-tech requirements](http://ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) for the Observatory’s operation. +## Slovenia's role in the Observatory + As a [founding member of the CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/), Slovenia plays a crucial role in the Observatory’s development. Consequently, this meeting served as a timely opportunity to explore potential stronger participation of Slovenian companies, particularly during the current construction phase of the Observatory. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-enters-a-new-phase-of-growth.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-enters-a-new-phase-of-growth.md index a2f924f..c524ddb 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-enters-a-new-phase-of-growth.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-enters-a-new-phase-of-growth.md @@ -8,14 +8,18 @@ cover: /uploads/AAFF_CTAO_Logo_RGB_Negative-2_cherenkov-1600x960.png draft: false --- -**Bologna, Italy – **On Thursday, 18 April, during the closing session of the CTAO Science Symposium at Teatro Duse in Bologna, the Managing Director of the CTAO, Dr. Stuart McMuldroch, officially announced the Observatory’s new phase of growth. Supported by the 30M Euro endorsement by the [CTAO’s governing bodies](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) in September 2023, this new period puts an end to the design phase of the Observatory, as it embarks on major infrastructure development to operate intermediate telescope array configurations in the upcoming years. +**Bologna, Italy –** On Thursday, 18 April, during the closing session of the CTAO Science Symposium at Teatro Duse in Bologna, the Managing Director of the CTAO, Dr. Stuart McMuldroch, officially announced the Observatory’s new phase of growth. Supported by the 30M Euro endorsement by the [CTAO’s governing bodies](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) in September 2023, this new period puts an end to the design phase of the Observatory, as it embarks on major infrastructure development to operate intermediate telescope array configurations in the upcoming years. > “We are moving from individual prototype telescopes to building intermediate array configurations on both sites in Spain and Chile,” explained Dr. McMuldroch during his presentation. “While our goal is to reach the Alpha Configuration, these subsets will already be more powerful than any existing instrument.” > “The intermediate array configurations will have a performance two to three times better than the current generation of ground-based instruments, allowing the CTAO to detect fainter sources and minute-scale variability from gamma-ray signals,” says Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist. +## Growth in software and personnel + The growth of the CTAO will not only be apparent in terms of hardware, but also software and personnel. Firstly, the Observatory will start applying advanced software packages, moving from testing to integrating key systems that control the telescopes and process data. Additionally, the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/) will double its staff to support the advancement of the Observatory on all fronts, from science and engineering to computing and administration. +## A new visual identity and website + To showcase this milestone, Stuart also launched the CTAO’s new visual identity and website during his talk. An important update is that the “CTAO” will now define the Observatory and international project, discontinuing the term “CTA.” > “The CTAO is built thanks to a growing international partnership composed of various teams with different tasks, scopes and even management, but who share a common goal: to build the world’s largest gamma-ray observatory to achieve transformational science,” says Stuart. “The “CTAO” encompasses that joint effort, representing all the groups involved.” @@ -23,5 +27,3 @@ To showcase this milestone, Stuart also launched the CTAO’s new visual identit The CTAO’s new logo and brand reflect this fresh phase of growth and collaboration with a clean, modern aesthetic that clearly positions the Observatory for its current and future status in the field. The website ([www.ctao.org](http://www.ctao.org)) is the most visible manifestation of this transition, providing an immersive and engaging interface for the general public and scientists to interact with the science, technology and partners behind the CTAO. Watch the launch video: - -You are currently viewing a placeholder content from **Default**. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-eric-council-is-officially-established-and-elects-francisco-colomer-as-its-chair.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-eric-council-is-officially-established-and-elects-francisco-colomer-as-its-chair.md index dfbc4a8..fd408ca 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-eric-council-is-officially-established-and-elects-francisco-colomer-as-its-chair.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-eric-council-is-officially-established-and-elects-francisco-colomer-as-its-chair.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false On February 12, 2025, the [CTAO ERIC Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) was formally established during its inaugural meeting in Bologna, Italy, solidifying the governance framework of the CTAO. Following the [European Commission’s creation of the CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/) in January 2025, the newly formed Council plays a fundamental role in steering the organisation’s future. As the Observatory’s governing body, the Council brings together delegates from all governing parties that form the CTAO ERIC to oversee strategy and decision-making in pursuit of CTAO’s mission and objectives. +## Council elects its chair + The first CTAO ERIC Council Meeting, held February 12–13, marked the beginning of a new management era. In a unanimous decision, the Council elected Dr. Francisco Colomer (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities) as its Chair. Dr. Colomer previously served as a member of the Board of Governmental Representatives, the group responsible for the successful legal transition of the Observatory to an ERIC. Additionally, Dr. Mathieu de Naurois (Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet IN2P3-CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique, France) was appointed as Vice-Chair of the CTAO ERIC Council. > “We are witnessing the birth of a long waited European Research Infrastructure Consortium, CTAO ERIC, to build and operate a unique instrument, only possible thanks to the cooperation of many international parties,” says Dr. Colomer. “This demonstrates that science brings people together, different interests can be accommodated when we work for a common goal.” +## Appointing the director general + During the meeting, the Council also appointed Dr. Stuart McMuldroch as CTAO ERIC Director General. Dr. McMuldroch, who became a Director of the Observatory in May 2023, will now lead the next phase of the Observatory’s development as it moves from design to construction and operation. > “It is an honour to have the confidence of the Council to lead the Observatory at such a pivotal moment,” says Dr. McMuldroch. “I am passionate and determined to make this exciting project a success, driving it toward groundbreaking scientific discoveries.” +## CTAO ERIC members and partners + The CTAO ERIC Members are Austria, Czech Republic, European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. Additionally, Switzerland is an Observer, Japan is a Strategic Partner and Australia is a Third Party. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-eric-forum.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-eric-forum.md index 124bb84..c25fb29 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-eric-forum.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-eric-forum.md @@ -10,14 +10,19 @@ draft: false From 28 to 29 January, the CTAO ERIC participated in the [ERIC Forum](https://www.eric-forum.eu/) Annual Meeting at the Club University Foundation in Brussels, Belgium. During the event, Designated Director General for the [CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/), Stuart McMuldroch, signed the Memorandum of Understanding to make the CTAO the Forum’s newest member after the European Commission [established it as an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) on January 7, 2025](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/). +## Collaborating with Forum members + The ERIC Forum supports the 29 ERICs in their mission to deliver excellent science and services by serving as a collaborative platform for its members (source: [https://www.eric-forum.eu](https://www.eric-forum.eu)). As an ERIC and a member of the ERIC Forum, the CTAO will now collaborate with Forum members to identify and address common challenges, contributing to the continuing development of ERIC regulation and the European research framework, and participating in advancing ERIC visibility, impact, and sustainability. ![](/uploads/Eric_Forum-3-1600x900.jpg) ![](/uploads/Eric_Forum-4-1-1600x900.jpg) +*Top Left: (from left to right) Antje Keppler, Chair of the ERIC Forum; Michael Arentoft, Head of Unit Open Science & Research Infrastructures, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission; Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO ERIC Designated Director General; Jana Pavlic-Zupanc, BBMRI-ERIC, ERIC Forum 2 Project Coordinator; Agnès Robin, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission;, Tiziana della Ragione, Research Program Administrator at ERA and Research Infrastructures Unit, European Commission. Right: Group photo at the ERIC Forum Annual Meeting. (Credit: ERIC Forum)* -*Top* *Left: (from left to right) Antje Keppler, Chair of the ERIC Forum; Michael Arentoft, Head of Unit Open Science & Research Infrastructures, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission; Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO ERIC Designated Director General; Jana Pavlic-Zupanc, BBMRI-ERIC, ERIC Forum 2 Project Coordinator; Agnès Robin, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission;, Tiziana della Ragione, Research Program Administrator at ERA and Research Infrastructures Unit, European Commission. Right: Group photo at the ERIC Forum Annual Meeting. (Credit: ERIC Forum)* +## A crossroads of European research The annual meetings bring together ERIC representatives, policymakers, and key stakeholders like EU institutions (Commission, Council, Parliament, Committee of the Regions), ESFRI, national ministries, funding bodies, user communities, international partnerships, regulatory authorities and industry. This significant crossroads of the European research community will be an asset and resource for the CTAO’s development while supporting the enhancement of the European Research Area (ERA) through shared advancements and collaboration. +## The current CTAO ERIC members + The current CTAO ERIC Members are Austria, Czech Republic, European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. Additionally, Switzerland is an Observer, Japan is a Strategic Partner and Australia is a Third Party. The establishment of the CTAO ERIC enables the Observatory’s construction to advance rapidly and provide a framework for distributing its data worldwide, significantly accelerating its progress toward scientific discovery. [Read more about the ERIC and what it means for the CTAO here](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/). diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-iac-in-celebrating-its-40th-anniversary.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-iac-in-celebrating-its-40th-anniversary.md index a162769..14fcc7a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-iac-in-celebrating-its-40th-anniversary.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-joins-the-iac-in-celebrating-its-40th-anniversary.md @@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ The [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC),](https://www.iac.es/en) hostin This milestone is commemorated under the theme ‘Soñando Estrellas’ (‘Dreaming of Stars’), the title of a book in which Francisco Sánchez, the IAC’s founding director, recounts the history of the institute. +## The anniversary celebration + The celebration took place at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and included speeches by IAC Director and delegate for Spain in the CTAO ERIC Council, Valentín Martínez Pillet; Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres; Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant; and President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo. Among other distinguished attendees were the President of the Cabildo of La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez; the President of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila; the Rector of the University of La Laguna (ULL), Francisco García; and the President of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Eloísa del Pino Matute, along with various international, national, regional, and local authorities. +## The CTAO's strong presence + The CTAO had a strong presence at the anniversary, underlining its close partnership with the IAC and its role in the site’s continued scientific growth and excellence. The IAC’s Roque de los Muchachos Observatory is home to CTAO-North, one of the CTAO’s two telescope arrays — the other, [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/), is located near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. CTAO-North will host two of the [three types of telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/) that the CTAO will deploy: the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) and the [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/)). At present, the site includes the LST prototype, LST-1, which is undergoing commissioning, along with three additional LSTs under construction by the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/). It will also include an operations building and calibration and atmospheric characterisation devices. Representing the [CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) at the anniversary were Francisco Colomer, Chair of the [CTAO ERIC Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) and Programme Director at the Spanish Deputy Directorate General for International Consortia, Organisations and Research Infrastructures; Volker Heinz, Construction Programme Manager; and Patricia Márquez, Construction Lead Engineer. @@ -24,6 +28,8 @@ Also present were representatives of different CTAO teams, including Ramón Garc The CTAO delegation guided attendees on a detailed tour of the CTAO-North site, showcasing the LST-1 prototype and giving authorities and guests firsthand insight into the array’s significant progress. +## Cherenkov telescopes in La Palma + In his speech, Valentín Martínez spoke of the evolution of Cherenkov telescopes. “These telescopes were unimaginable 40 years ago. Today they are a reality in La Palma. They are also being built in Chile, but — for now — we have the world’s largest concentration of this type of telescope,” he emphasised. La Palma holds a unique place in the history of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy, having hosted three generations of Cherenkov telescopes. These include decommissioned HEGRA array and the still-operational MAGIC Telescopes, both predecessors of the CTAO, which will be the first to operate as an open, proposal-driven observatory. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-launches-the-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-launches-the-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md index f579941..5ff14d7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-launches-the-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-launches-the-werner-hofmann-scientific-award.md @@ -12,10 +12,16 @@ On May 12, the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/tea > “The award is for PhD students who are currently enrolled or have completed their thesis within 12 months of the call opening, and whose contributions have been significant in either science or instrumentation development within the field,” says Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist and award coordinator. +## Research focus and prize + Nominees’ research must focus on very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy, with contributions in theoretical, observational, or instrumental areas. While the research does not need to be exclusively about the CTAO, it should have a clear and relevant connection to the project, either scientifically or technologically. The winner will receive a certificate, a commemorative medal, a monetary prize, and an invitation to present their work at the next CTAO Symposium, providing exposure to the broader multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomical community. +## Named in honour of Werner Hofmann + The award is named in honour of Werner Hofmann, a pioneer in high-energy gamma-ray astronomy, who played a key role in establishing Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) as essential tools for exploring the extreme Universe. He was a founding figure behind the CTAO concept and served as Spokesperson of the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/) for over 15 years until last summer, making the Consortium Meeting the ideal occasion for the Central Organisation to announce the award. > “The award was discussed among members of various CTAO teams, and we hoped the announcement would come as a pleasant surprise to him—which, I believe, it did,” says Zanin. “It not only honours his outstanding contributions to CTAO’s scientific and technical progress, as well as his support for the next generation of researchers, but also stands as a lasting testament to his legacy for future generations.” +## The first call opens soon + The call for the first Werner Hofmann Scientific Award, to be presented in autumn 2025, will open soon. Further information and guidelines are available [on the dedicated webpage](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/werner-hofmann-scientific-award/). diff --git a/src/content/news/the-ctao-participates-in-the-creation-of-the-new-high-energy-interest-group-within-the-international-virtual-observatory-alliance.md b/src/content/news/the-ctao-participates-in-the-creation-of-the-new-high-energy-interest-group-within-the-international-virtual-observatory-alliance.md index bd75e61..1a6529a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-ctao-participates-in-the-creation-of-the-new-high-energy-interest-group-within-the-international-virtual-observatory-alliance.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-ctao-participates-in-the-creation-of-the-new-high-energy-interest-group-within-the-international-virtual-observatory-alliance.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false On November 17, the Executive Board of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) announced the founding of the High Energy Interest Group or HEIG during the IVOA Interoperability Meeting in Malta. The creation of this group is the result of an effort between multiple instruments and observatories, including the CTAO, to address current and future needs of high- and very high-energy astrophysics within IVOA. +## About the IVOA + The IVOA is a forum that facilitates and coordinates global efforts to establish agreed-upon standards, protocols, and methods aligned with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles. These efforts enable the development of interoperable frameworks and applications as an integrated virtual observatory. Its goal is to allow astronomers to seamlessly access and analyze data from different astronomical fields and multiple archives, offering advanced visualization tools and a uniform system for the publication of data. To achieve this, one of the core initiatives includes the creation of standardized data format and exchange methods, as well as a registry of available services and their capabilities. The HEIG will ensure the observatories and instruments in the high-energy field integrate into the interoperable virtual observatory framework. > “High-energy astrophysics instruments are built to detect and measure the properties of individual particles, such as photons or cosmic rays. The techniques required to do so are very different from those applied at other wavelengths, like in optical or radio astronomy,” explains Catherine Boisson, researcher at LUTH and member of the HEIG. “The establishment of the HEIG within the IVOA allows for the development of standardized requirements for representing high-energy astrophysics data and enhances interoperability both among instruments within the field and across other wavelength domains.” +## The CTAO as a founding member + Based on its commitment to Open Science, the CTAO will be the first ground-based gamma-ray observatory to operate as an open, proposal-driven observatory providing public access to its high-level science data and software products. As such, the CTAO was not only a founding member but also a key contributor to the creation of the HEIG, laying the groundwork to ensure that the future CTAO’s products and services will be interoperable. The CTAO is represented within the HEIG by Karl Kosack, Mathieu Servillat, Catherine Boisson, and Matthias Fuessling, all members of the Data Model group from the CTAO Central Organisation’s Computing Department, as well as Bruno Khélifi, a member of the Very-High Energy Data Format group. All of them played a crucial role in shaping the vision for the HEIG in collaboration with other instruments and, under the guidance of Matthieu Servillat, made significant contributions to the preparation of its foundational document. +## Membership and leadership + The groups and projects that participated in the foundation of the HEIG, and that will become members, belong to multi-messenger astrophysics, including X-ray, gamma-ray, cosmic-ray, and neutrino instruments. Bruno Khélifi has been appointed as the HEIG Chair, with Janet Evans, who works on the Chandra satellite, serving as vice-Chair. More details on the mission of the HEIG are available [on the dedicated webpage](https://wiki.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/view/IVOA/HEGroup). diff --git a/src/content/news/the-dark-side-of-the-matter.md b/src/content/news/the-dark-side-of-the-matter.md index 0412a06..440f8e7 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-dark-side-of-the-matter.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-dark-side-of-the-matter.md @@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Originally published in the [March 2020 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mai *Written by: Gabrijela Zaharijas* -Only a small fraction of the total mass of the Universe is formed by known particles (baryonic matter and neutrinos), while the rest is composed of dark matter – 25 percent of the total energy density of the Universe. This makes dark matter an integral part of the so-called Lambda CDM Cosmological Model*, *which is what scientists use to describe the nature of the Universe according to its age, rate of expansion, history and contents. +Only a small fraction of the total mass of the Universe is formed by known particles (baryonic matter and neutrinos), while the rest is composed of dark matter – 25 percent of the total energy density of the Universe. This makes dark matter an integral part of the so-called Lambda CDM Cosmological Model, which is what scientists use to describe the nature of the Universe according to its age, rate of expansion, history and contents. The existence of dark matter was first indicated in the 1930s when Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky found an anomaly as he was attempting to estimate the mass of large galaxy clusters using velocity measurements of individual galaxies within those clusters. He found the observed velocities were surprisingly high and postulated that the galaxies must be subject to a gravitational field much stronger than the one simply created by the mass of the observed systems and, thus, that the extra mass was the result of some form of unobserved “dark” type of matter. It took many scientists and 40 years to confirm these predictions, when American astrophysicist Vera Rubin provided robust observational evidences of the discrepancy between the predicted and observed rotational motion of stars in galaxies. Consequently, we now know that all galaxies sit at the centres of dark matter “halos,” characterized by a large central density but extending far beyond the visible galaxy’s size. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-first-ctao-school-is-a-wrap.md b/src/content/news/the-first-ctao-school-is-a-wrap.md index 7b15597..fdbee82 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-first-ctao-school-is-a-wrap.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-first-ctao-school-is-a-wrap.md @@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ draft: false The first CTAO School came to a close last week, and the organisers, instructors and students agree that it was a resounding success! The 27 PhD students travelled from 12 different countries for the two-week workshop that took them to Italy and Spain for a deep dive into CTAO science, technology and data analysis. +## First week in Bertinoro + The school kicked off in Bertinoro, Italy, with a masterclass in gamma-ray astrophysics that included hands-on sessions on how to prepare a science proposal for the prototype Large-Sized Telescope (LST), the LST-1. The students learned about the open questions in the field and then were instructed to select a topic for which they could apply LST-1 observations. To be able to prepare the science proposal, they also learned how to estimate the required observing time and conditions to reach the selected scientific goal. +## Second week in La Palma + For the second week, the students travelled to La Palma in the Canary Islands, which is the home of the CTAO-North site. To learn about the Cherenkov detection principles, the students were led by the instructors through the various steps of data analysis, from the event reconstruction to the production of the physical results that are needed for publications. Special attention was given to high-level analysis with the Gammapy software, which is the basis for future CTAO science analysis. ![The students visit the prototype Large-Sized Telescope, the LST-1.](/uploads/03_CTAOS_v2.jpg) @@ -30,9 +34,11 @@ Just as important, the students had time to bond and enjoy the beautiful island > “The school answered every lingering question I had about research topics like gamma-ray production mechanisms or extensive air shower physics, as well as giving me the opportunity to examine the hardware on current state-of-the-art IACTs in person,” said Luca Riitano, a fourth year PhD student at University of Wisconsin-Madison. “All this complimented by the beautiful locations in which the school took place and the new connections made with the lecturers and students alike.” +## Organisers and funding + The success of the first  CTAO School is in large part to the [organisers](https://www.school.cta-observatory.org/organizers), namely the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC), which includes school instructors.[[1]](#_ftn1) The chairs of the LOC and SOC would like to relay the following statement: -“This is an exciting moment for everyone involved. Bringing students from around the world to learn about a field and project we are so passionate about has been both fulfilling and fun. It was inspiring to watch the next generation of astroparticle physicists explore the fundamentals and frontier of the field, present their innovative ideas and work together to enhance each other’s knowledge, all against the backdrop of two phenomenal locations: Bertinoro and La Palma. And nothing was better than watching their joy and awe as they experienced working at the ORM, where three more LSTs are under construction and they had the opportunity to operate the ‘crown jewel’ of the CTAO-North site, the LST-1. We can’t wait to do it again!” +> “This is an exciting moment for everyone involved. Bringing students from around the world to learn about a field and project we are so passionate about has been both fulfilling and fun. It was inspiring to watch the next generation of astroparticle physicists explore the fundamentals and frontier of the field, present their innovative ideas and work together to enhance each other’s knowledge, all against the backdrop of two phenomenal locations: Bertinoro and La Palma. And nothing was better than watching their joy and awe as they experienced working at the ORM, where three more LSTs are under construction and they had the opportunity to operate the ‘crown jewel’ of the CTAO-North site, the LST-1. We can’t wait to do it again!” We would like to extend a special thanks to the CTAO LST Collaboration, as well as the Gammapy, MAGIC, GTC and TNG teams for their support and participation. The CTAO School was organized by the CTAO Central Organisation in cooperation with the CTAO LST Collaboration. The first week of the school in Bertinoro was funded by the Cherenkov Telescope Array Plus project (IR0000012; CUP C53C22000430006) within the Italian Resilience and Recovery Plan (PNRR), as an activity led by the University of Bologna and INAF, with contribution from INFN. The second week was supported by funds from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation and the Japanese Institute for Cosmic Ray Research. Read more about the Scientific and Local Organizing Committees on the [Organisers](https://www.school.cta-observatory.org/organizers) page. @@ -40,7 +46,7 @@ To learn more about the school, head to [the website](https://www.school.cta-obs To see more photos and testimonials from the school, go to our [Flickr site](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctao-universe/albums/72177720318481849/). -[[1]](#_ftnref1) **Bertinoro LOC: **Tiziana Abegg (CTAO Central Organisation), Michelangelo Bottura (CTAO Central Organisation), Andrea Bulgarelli (INAF-OAS Bologna), Vito Conforti (INAF-OAS Bologna), Paolo Da Vela (INAF-OAS Bologna), Stefano Marchesi (University of Bologna, INAF-OAS Bologna; Chair), Eleonora Torresi (INAF-OAS Bologna) +[[1]](#_ftnref1) **Bertinoro LOC:** Tiziana Abegg (CTAO Central Organisation), Michelangelo Bottura (CTAO Central Organisation), Andrea Bulgarelli (INAF-OAS Bologna), Vito Conforti (INAF-OAS Bologna), Paolo Da Vela (INAF-OAS Bologna), Stefano Marchesi (University of Bologna, INAF-OAS Bologna; Chair), Eleonora Torresi (INAF-OAS Bologna) **La Palma LOC:** Paolo Calisse (CTAO Central Organisation), Pilar Coca Llano (CIEMAT), Juan Cortina (CIEMAT/IAC), Alice Donini (INAF), Alba Fernández-Barral (CTAO Central Organisation), Patricia Márquez (IFAE), Daniel Mazin (ICRR), Mireia Nievas (IAC; Chair) diff --git a/src/content/news/the-low-end-why-cta-interested-low-energy-gamma-rays.md b/src/content/news/the-low-end-why-cta-interested-low-energy-gamma-rays.md index f609d95..7719e77 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-low-end-why-cta-interested-low-energy-gamma-rays.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-low-end-why-cta-interested-low-energy-gamma-rays.md @@ -17,15 +17,19 @@ Originally published in the [December 2018 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https:// When we talk about CTA, we usually talk about studying the Universe at the highest energies. Scientists, however, also talk about low energies with CTA, which seems strange because those “low” energies are still a million times higher than the energy of X-rays. Therefore, it’s all a matter of perspective. The low energies from CTA’s perspective are those on the low edge (20 GeV to around 200 GeV) of its full energy range between 20 GeV and 300 TeV. Why are these low energies important and what do scientists hope to discover through their study? This is an overview of why scientists are scrambling to push for excellent sensitivity of CTA in this lower-energy band. ![](/uploads/AGN_Redshift_compare-1.png) - *Figure 1: Comparison of the potential observation of the very-high energy (VHE) Universe without CTA vs. with CTA. (Credit: adapted from D. Nakajima, ICRR)* +## The main physics case + The main physics case comes from the fact that the Universe is not entirely transparent to gamma rays because of the pair production between the gamma rays and the low-energy (this time really low, in the range of infrared and optical) photons of the background light, which has been filling the Universe since the first stars were created. This absorption is, however, energy dependent. So, if we can measure sources up to a few hundreds of million parsecs (which we call the nearby Universe!) with 1 TeV gamma rays, we can reach distances 10 times further with 100 GeV gamma rays, and at 20 GeV the Universe is transparent down to its origins (i.e. close to the Big Bang). This is why when CTA extends the sensitivity to lower gamma-ray energies, it increases the observable volume significantly, which is illustrated schematically in Figure 1. Through a larger accessible volume, we do not only increase fundamentally the number of sources and phenomena we can study, but, as is the case in all other wavelengths, we are also able to look into the past by measuring gamma rays that were produced billions of years before reaching the Earth. How were gamma rays produced in the past? Are gamma-ray sources in the distant Universe the same as close by? Are there new unseen phenomena? These are just a few of the questions that have convinced scientists to construct CTA’s Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs), which will be devoted to the study of low-energy gamma rays. The LST prototype, LST-1, was recently inaugurated on CTA’s north site on the island of La Palma, Spain. ![](/uploads/Fermi_CTA.png) - *Figure 2: Comparison of CTA’s projected sensitivity and Fermi-LAT’s sensitivity at the same energies in the low-energy gamma-ray regime.* +## Sensitivity to transient phenomena + CTA will not be the only instrument sensitive to low-energy gamma rays. Gamma-ray satellites like *Fermi*-LAT, for example, also can measure in this energy regime. However, because satellites have a small collection area (<1m2), they struggle to measure transient phenomena. CTA’s collection area will be about a million times larger, which results in a much-improved sensitivity on short timescales where the hadronic background is unimportant. Fig. 2 demonstrates that for every short-time phenomena (like a flare) with a duration of less than a day, CTA’s sensitivity is many orders of magnitude better than the satellite-based *Fermi*-LAT. This is extremely important as we expect many time-variable phenomena like flares of extragalactic sources (e.g. blazars and radio galaxies), as well as galactic transients (e.g. gamma-ray binaries and soft gamma-ray repeaters) to happen on time scales of hours and below. CTA will be opening a new window in the time domain for these gamma-ray energies. +## Gamma-ray bursts as targets + Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are one of the clear targets for CTA in the low-energy gamma-ray regime. These bursts release most of their energy in the MeV domain and typically last only for 0.1-1000s, and their origin has been a matter of debate for several decades. The most prominent explanation is that the short GRBs (with a typical prompt emission of less than a few seconds) are mergers of black holes or neutron stars, whereas long GRBs (with a typical prompt emission of several tens of seconds) have their origin in asymmetric explosions of hypernovae. However, as of now, no GRB has been detected by CTA precursors like H.E.S.S., MAGIC or VERITAS. With CTA, its lower energy threshold and the ability of the LSTs to rotate within 20s to any point in the sky following a GRB alert, scientists hope to finally measure GRB signals on many occasions and shed light on the processes responsible for these mysteriously short but enormously luminous explosions. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-lst-collaboration-finalises-mirror-installation-on-lst-3.md b/src/content/news/the-lst-collaboration-finalises-mirror-installation-on-lst-3.md index c5e81a5..6bbfc5a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-lst-collaboration-finalises-mirror-installation-on-lst-3.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-lst-collaboration-finalises-mirror-installation-on-lst-3.md @@ -10,14 +10,22 @@ draft: false On 15 May, the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) successfully completed the installation of all 198 mirror facets on LST-3, one of the [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) currently under construction at [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) on La Palma, Spain. The mirror installation process, which began on 31 March, is a meticulous and collaborative effort involving multiple research institutions and companies. Each mirror is installed individually, requiring careful alignment and coordination. +## Mirrors in Cherenkov telescopes + Mirrors are a critical component of Cherenkov telescopes, as they reflect the faint Cherenkov light produced when high-energy gamma rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere onto the telescope’s camera. In the case of the LSTs—the largest class of CTAO telescopes—198 hexagonal mirrors are required to cover its massive 400 m² reflective surface (the equivalent of around two tennis courts). Each mirror facet is coated with a multi-layer material designed to maximise reflectivity while ensuring long-term durability. Mounted on a lightweight carbon-fiber structure, each mirror segment weighs just 50 kg. This balance between strength and weight allows the LST to maintain structural integrity while enabling rapid repositioning to capture brief, transient gamma-ray events. The mirrors are positioned 28 metres from the camera, forming a 23-metre diameter parabolic dish. This design creates a so-called isochronous surface, meaning that the reflected light coming from any point of the large dish arrives at the camera simultaneously—an essential feature for accurately reconstructing the particle showers caused by gamma-ray interactions and determining their origin in the sky. +## Active Mirror Control system + With the installation now complete, the LST Collaboration will proceed to equip each mirror with cables for precision actuators as part of the Active Mirror Control system. This system enables micron-level adjustments to each mirror, ensuring optimal pointing accuracy and observational performance. +## The next milestones + The LST Collaboration will continue working on the LST-3, along with the other two LSTs currently under construction at the site, with the next major milestone being the installation of one of the cameras. All three telescopes are expected to be completed by spring next year, joining the LST-1, inaugurated in 2018 and currently under commissioning. +## Companies and research groups + The companies and research groups from the LST Collaboration involved in the mirror installation are: CaSana (company and main work centre), Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU), ICRR, University of Tokyo, Chiba University and shifters from INFN. For the cable work: FZU, Palacký University Olomouc, and MPP. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-lst2-mechanical-structure-completed-with-installation-of-the-camera-support-structure.md b/src/content/news/the-lst2-mechanical-structure-completed-with-installation-of-the-camera-support-structure.md index 723e71a..36adc6d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-lst2-mechanical-structure-completed-with-installation-of-the-camera-support-structure.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-lst2-mechanical-structure-completed-with-installation-of-the-camera-support-structure.md @@ -10,24 +10,30 @@ draft: false On 3 July, the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) successfully installed the camera support structure (CSS) on the LST-2, one of the three [Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) currently under development on the [CTAO-North](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site in La Palma, Spain. The CSS is a composite structure comprising a carbon-fibre arch made of six tubes and a camera frame that secures the telescope’s camera. With the CSS now in place, the LST-2’s mechanical structure is complete, paving the way for the integration of the optical elements. +## Holding the camera steady + The CSS is responsible for holding the camera, which measures 3-by-3 metres and weights 2.5 tonnes, steady at the so-called focal distance, even as the telescope moves. The focal distance is the precise point where [all the reflected Cherenkov light converges and can be captured for analysis](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/). For the LSTs, this distance is approximately 28 metres, about the height of a ten-story building. +## Designing and reinforcing the structure + The robust CSS, including the parabolic arch and camera frame, was designed by the LST team at LAPP (Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules) in France. This system is made of carbon fibre to keep the large structure stable and light, enabling rapid repositioning of the telescope while minimising shadowing of the camera. To reinforce and stabilise the CSS, the LST team at INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy) also installed a set of 26 carbon-fibre tension rods. With the full system in place, the camera remains extremely stable, shifting by less than 3 cm sideways and less than 1 cm towards the mirrors, even when the telescope is pointing directly upwards at the zenith. +## The installation operation + The installation on 3 July was coordinated by both teams. Following months of ground-level assembly and preparation, the teams used a 75-metre-high crane to lift and position the arch on the telescope. Rope access techniques were then employed to fine-tune the fittings along the arch before the crane was released. The operation concluded with the tensioning of all 26 rods. This achievement marks the installation of the final mechanical component of the LST-2, which now enters the integration phase, during which the optical systems, including the mirrors and camera, will be installed. +## About the LST Collaboration + The [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) is an In-Kind Contributor (IKC) for the Observatory, in charge of building the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs). The collaboration is made up of over 400 scientists and engineers from 67 different institutes across 11 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. Congratulations to the LST Collaboration for this milestone! ![](/uploads/LST2_CSS_3-1600x1200.jpeg) - *Preparation work for the CSS lift, with the camera frame visible in the picture. Credit: Alejandro Ruiz Sabina, IAC* ![](/uploads/LST2_CSS_2-1600x1200.jpeg) - *A 75-metre-high crane was used to lift and position the CSS. Credit: Alejandro Ruiz Sabina, IAC* diff --git a/src/content/news/the-multiple-synergies-with-ctao.md b/src/content/news/the-multiple-synergies-with-ctao.md index 31fcfd9..eb0f143 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-multiple-synergies-with-ctao.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-multiple-synergies-with-ctao.md @@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ Several decades of efforts and technological breakthroughs have pushed the obser As it is clear from the figure, which shows the Crab Nebula (one of the most notable gamma-ray sources) seen through different wavebands, each observational technique reveals a distinct and complementary perspective into the source. This is because different frequency ranges are dominantly the result of different physical processes, and an integral view of the object is only possible through a combined, multi-wavelength panorama. ![](/uploads/crab-1.png) - *Figure 1: Multiwavelength observation of the Crab Nebula. Credits:  NRAO/AUI and M. Bietenholz; NRAO/AUI and J.M. Uson, T.J. Cornwell (radio); NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Gehrz / University of Minnesota (infrared); NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll / Arizona State University (visible); NASA/Swift/E. Hoversten, PSU (ultraviolet); NASA/CXC/SAO/F.Seward et al.(X-rays); NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT/R. Buehler (gamma rays).* This already rich observational landscape has been further incremented by other carriers of cosmic information — cosmic rays, neutrinos and gravitational waves — which add truly unique insight into the physical mechanisms of sources and represent a crucial frontier in high-energy astrophysics today. It is nevertheless not possible to directly identify the origin of these other messengers without the help of more accurate observations using photons, and astronomers cannot prescind from a synergetic approach combining electromagnetic and multi-messenger probes to understand the energetic universe. diff --git a/src/content/news/the-sst-camera-prototype-records-first-signals-during-test-campaign.md b/src/content/news/the-sst-camera-prototype-records-first-signals-during-test-campaign.md index c162e7e..e5d5872 100644 --- a/src/content/news/the-sst-camera-prototype-records-first-signals-during-test-campaign.md +++ b/src/content/news/the-sst-camera-prototype-records-first-signals-during-test-campaign.md @@ -10,20 +10,30 @@ draft: false From 22 to 29 July, the [CTAO SST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) conducted a successful test campaign on the new camera prototype design for the [Small-Sized Telescope (SST).](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) The camera prototype was shipped to Tenerife, Spain, and integrated into the ASTRI-2 telescope, a pathfinder for the SST, for testing under real observational conditions. With a quarter of its full array of pixels installed, the camera recorded its first signals from the night sky just hours after installation, marking an important technical step in the SST’s ongoing development. +## Detecting Cherenkov light + When high-energy gamma rays interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, they produce a brief, faint flash of bluish [Cherenkov light](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/), lasting only a few nanoseconds (billionths of a second). Though invisible to the naked eye, this light can be captured by the ultra-fast, sensitive cameras of the CTAO telescopes. Depending on the telescope type, the CTAO uses different kinds of cameras, but all of them are composed of hundreds of detectors, or pixels. For the SST, the smallest of the CTAO’s [three telescope types](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/), the camera consists of 2048 silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) that convert Cherenkov light into digital signals, enabling scientists to analyse and study gamma rays. As a complex and critical component, the camera must be rigorously tested at various stages of its development. +## The QCAMi test campaign + ![](/uploads/SST_camera.png) *ASTRI-2 telescope in Tenerife with the camera prototype installed. Credit: Connor Duffy, U. Groningen* In July, the SST Collaboration conducted a comprehensive test campaign on the new SST camera prototype design, known as QCAMi. To evaluate its performance, the camera, equipped with a quarter of the total 2048 SiPMs, was installed on the ASTRI-2 telescope in Tenerife, in a collaborative effort with the [ASTRI Mini-Array project](http://www.astri.inaf.it/). ASTRI was designed not only as a stand-alone experiment, but also as a pathfinder for the SST. -Within hours of installation, the prototype camera successfully recorded signals from the night sky, including muon rings and cosmic-ray showers moving across the camera in the nanosecond timescale. These tests are part of the planned prototyping phase, and the excellent results further validate the expectations of strong performance from the final camera. *Left: The left panel shows a Cherenkov cascade detected by the QCAMi, while the right panel shows a muon ring. Credit: SST Collaboration* +Within hours of installation, the prototype camera successfully recorded signals from the night sky, including muon rings and cosmic-ray showers moving across the camera in the nanosecond timescale. These tests are part of the planned prototyping phase, and the excellent results further validate the expectations of strong performance from the final camera.  + +*Left: The left panel shows a Cherenkov cascade detected by the QCAMi, while the right panel shows a muon ring. Credit: SST Collaboration* + +## The Small-Sized Telescopes The SSTs are optimised to detect the most energetic gamma rays within CTAO’s range, from 5 to 300 TeV, and will be installed at [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/), the Observatory’s southern hemisphere array site. Standing nine metres tall and weighing 17,5 tonnes, each SST features a compact dual-mirror Schwarzschild–Couder optical system. This system includes a segmented 4,3-metre primary mirror made up of 18 hexagonal elements, which reflects light onto a 1,8-metre monolithic secondary mirror. This dual-mirror design provides excellent spatial resolution across a wide field of view while maintaining a compact focal length ideal for lightweight cameras. +## The SST Collaboration + The SST Collaboration is an [In-Kind Contribution team](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/) for the CTAO, responsible for developing the SSTs. It is coordinated by the INAF institute from Italy and comprises research institutions and universities from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and UK. The SST cameras will be built by a team of institutes from Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, UK, and Australia, led by the Max-Planck-Institute für Kernphysik in Heidelberg, Germany. The Italian participation in this campaign was supported by the Next Generation EU funds within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 4 – Education and Research, Component 2 – From Research to Business (M4C2), Investment Line 3.1 – Strengthening and creation of Research Infrastructures, Project IR0000012 – “CTA+ – Cherenkov Telescope Array Plus.” diff --git a/src/content/news/thierry-stolarczyk-elected-cospokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md b/src/content/news/thierry-stolarczyk-elected-cospokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md index c687ee3..3f6cd6a 100644 --- a/src/content/news/thierry-stolarczyk-elected-cospokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md +++ b/src/content/news/thierry-stolarczyk-elected-cospokesperson-of-the-ctao-consortium.md @@ -10,12 +10,20 @@ draft: false On November 25, Dr. Thierry Stolarczyk was appointed as the new Co-Spokesperson of the [CTAO Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/). He succeeds Dr. Rene Ong (UCLA), who was integral to leading the Consortium through significant milestones and pivotal developments over the past decade. We are very grateful to Rene for his long-term dedication and varied contributions to the progress of the project. +## Career in particle physics and astrophysics + Dr. Stolarczyk is Director of Research at the Institute of Research into the Fundamental laws of the Universe (IRFU) at [CEA Paris-Saclay](https://www.cea.fr/paris-saclay/Pages/Accueil.aspx). He brings extensive experience in particle physics and astrophysics to his new role. His distinguished career began in the late 1980s with the underground solar neutrino experiment GALLEX, in Italy. In 1993, he joined the NOMAD neutrino oscillation experiment at CERN, where he made substantial contributions to the construction and calibration of the central detector and advanced the understanding of neutrino interactions. In 1998, he joined the Antares neutrino undersea telescope during its early phases, playing a key role in setting up its first software chains as he analyzed the initial data. From 2005 onward, he became the leader of the Antares and KM3NeT projects at CEA, took responsibility in the publication committees of Antares, and led several KM3NeT preparatory phase strategic work packages. +## Contributions to the CTAO + Dr. Stolarczyk’s contributions to the CTAO have been equally impactful on many different fronts. He joined the project in 2012 and took the lead of the site infrastructure work package during the preparatory phase, which culminated in selecting the [CTAO’s two array sites](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/) in La Palma and Chile. Since 2015, he has made the development of a new data reconstruction pipeline the primary focus of his group at CEA Paris-Saclay. This sub-work package, which he currently leads, will deliver the Observatory’s Data Processing Pipeline System within the [Data Processing and Preservation System.](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) +## Scientific work and outreach + On the scientific front, Dr. Stolarczyk has contributed to numerous publications and supervised multiple PhD students.  He served as Coordinator of the Transient and Multi-Wavelength Working Group from 2022 to 2023. Beyond research, throughout his career, he has contributed to the organisation of scientific conferences and demonstrated a deep commitment to education and outreach, actively participating in regional and national initiatives to promote the CTAO and its science to the general public. +## Leading the CTAO Consortium + As Co-Spokesperson, Dr. Stolarczyk will now steer the CTAO Consortium, a collaboration of 1,500 scientists from more than 150 institutes across 25 countries. The Consortium conceived the Observatory’s concept over a decade ago and the initial definition of its key science goals. Congratulations, Dr. Stolarczyk, on your new role, and we wish you every success in your next chapter with the CTAO! diff --git a/src/content/news/university-of-california-awarded-3-9million-to-develop-alignment-system-for-mst.md b/src/content/news/university-of-california-awarded-3-9million-to-develop-alignment-system-for-mst.md index 7f765c1..376691d 100644 --- a/src/content/news/university-of-california-awarded-3-9million-to-develop-alignment-system-for-mst.md +++ b/src/content/news/university-of-california-awarded-3-9million-to-develop-alignment-system-for-mst.md @@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ draft: false The United States (U.S.) National Science Foundation has awarded $3.9 million to researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz) to lead the development of a next-generation telescope alignment system for the [Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs)](https://www.cta-observatory.org/project/technology/mst/). The alignment systems will be the first major U.S. contribution to the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO). The researchers will work with an international team to build and test systems in Santa Cruz and eventually install the final designs in seven telescopes. +## The medium-sized telescopes + The MST is one of three types of telescopes that will form the CTAO’s two array so of telescopes. It is optimized to capture the CTAO’s core energy range, from about 150 GeV to 5 TeV. Nine MSTs will be built at the CTAO-North array site on La Palma, Spain, while 14 will be part of the CTAO-South array in Chile. Every telescope has around 100 mirror segments that will each need their own alignment system. The lab at UC Santa Cruz will develop ideas for the systems, build prototypes and work with manufacturers to find a scalable option. In addition to being accurate, reliable and cost-effective, the systems must also be resilient. > “We need it to withstand the weather and the elements, because, unlike optical telescopes, gamma-ray telescopes don’t have domes over them. They’re sitting out in the weather,” said David Williams, researcher in the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) and adjunct professor of physics who has worked on the development of the CTAO for nearly 20 years. The project is based out of the SCIPP, which “has long had a strength in doing instrumentation for high-energy particle physics and now high-energy particle astrophysics,” said Williams. +## Training early career scientists + Designing and testing the systems will allow early career scientists and students to experience hands-on research and training and contribute to a large international research infrastructure. “We’re going to be able to see things with higher resolution,” said Amy Furniss, new UC Santa Cruz teaching professor, working on the alignment system project. “We’re going to be able to see things farther afield, and our students, our graduate students and our faculty here at UC Santa Cruz, by putting in that work at the fundamental level, are going to be part of making this huge effort possible,” she said. +## Collaborators and the SCT + The UC Santa Cruz team will work with colleagues at UCLA, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) and Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics Tuebingen (IAAT) in Germany. The UC Santa Cruz team will also install alignment systems on the Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT), a dual-mirrored telescope that is being developed and proposed as an alternative type of medium telescope for the CTAO. diff --git a/src/content/news/vink-awarded-nwo-grant-for-sst-cameras.md b/src/content/news/vink-awarded-nwo-grant-for-sst-cameras.md index 33184e1..d794059 100644 --- a/src/content/news/vink-awarded-nwo-grant-for-sst-cameras.md +++ b/src/content/news/vink-awarded-nwo-grant-for-sst-cameras.md @@ -12,10 +12,16 @@ draft: false On 21 May 2021, CTA Consortium member Jacco Vink (University of Amsterdam) was awarded with a 1.5 million euro grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research’s (NWO’s) [Investment Grant NWO Large programme](https://www.nwo.nl/en/researchprogrammes/nwo-investment-grant-large/grants), allocated for the production of [Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) cameras for the CTA-South array in Chile. The project will be led by Vink in collaboration with other Dutch CTA members and groups from the University of Amsterdam (Sera Markoff and Christoph Weniger), the University of Groningen (Manuela Vecchi and Andrey Baryshev) and its NOVA lab, where the mass-production of the cameras’ focal plane units might be performed. +## Growing Dutch support for CTA + Over the years, the Dutch teams have been especially involved in the definition of scientific cases and prospects within the CTA Consortium, but this grant allows their contribution to the technological development of the CTA Observatory (CTAO). > “I am very excited that the Netherlands can also contribute to the construction of this important observatory,” explains Jacco Vink. “The grant shows that the support of CTA in the Netherlands is growing, and we will make an effort to simultaneously increase the interest of Dutch scientists in CTA and grow the gamma-ray community in the Netherlands.” +## About the SST cameras + The NWO grant will potentially be used towards the provision of elements for the SST cameras, based on the Compact High Energy Cameras (CHEC) prototype design. The SST cameras will each consist of 2048 silicon photo-multiplier pixels forming approximately a 9o x 9o field of view when installed on the smallest of the CTA telescopes, the SST. The SSTs will cover the highest end of CTA’s energy range (1-300 TeV) and thus, they are optimized to observe the most extreme accelerators in the Universe, known as PeVatrons, and star-forming regions. The full-scope configuration for the CTA southern hemisphere site array, CTA-South, located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile is expected to include 70 SSTs spread out over a diameter of about two kilometres. +## The Netherlands in the CTAO + The Netherlands is currently part of the [CTAO gGmbH Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) as an associate member. The CTA Observatory is expected to transition to its final legal entity as an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) in 2022, after which construction on the sites will take place for around five years. diff --git a/src/content/news/what-propogation-of-energetic-light-can-tell-us.md b/src/content/news/what-propogation-of-energetic-light-can-tell-us.md index 95a735a..6a09f55 100644 --- a/src/content/news/what-propogation-of-energetic-light-can-tell-us.md +++ b/src/content/news/what-propogation-of-energetic-light-can-tell-us.md @@ -10,18 +10,26 @@ draft: false *Written by: Jonathan Biteau and Manuel Meyer* -*Photons at energies beyond a billion times that of X-rays cannot reach us from the outer edges of the observable Universe. Only a fraction of these very-high-energy gamma rays reach our atmosphere to produce firework-like visual displays called air showers. While our eyes can’t see these rapid air showers, telescopes can. Today, the H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS telescopes observe gamma rays and tell us the story of their travels, taking nano-second pictures of the fireworks they initiate in the atmosphere. In the not-too-distant future, CTA will measure these gamma rays with its improved sensitivity and will write down the chronicles of gamma-ray propagation on cosmological scales. +*Photons at energies beyond a billion times that of X-rays cannot reach us from the outer edges of the observable Universe. Only a fraction of these very-high-energy gamma rays reach our atmosphere to produce firework-like visual displays called air showers. While our eyes can’t see these rapid air showers, telescopes can. Today, the H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS telescopes observe gamma rays and tell us the story of their travels, taking nano-second pictures of the fireworks they initiate in the atmosphere. In the not-too-distant future, CTA will measure these gamma rays with its improved sensitivity and will write down the chronicles of gamma-ray propagation on cosmological scales.* ![](/uploads/gpropa_100ppi-1024x507-1.png) ***Fig. 1**: Cosmic journey of gamma rays from a distant galaxy down to the CTA Observatory. Some gamma rays produce electron-positron pairs when interacting with EBL photons (red). The pairs, deflected by the intergalactic magnetic field, scatter off CMB photons resulting in a gamma-ray halo (orange). Exotic processes such as Lorentz invariance violation (gray) or coupling to axion-like particles (light blue) could modify the absorption, resulting in characteristic spectral features.* +## Absorption by background light + Gamma rays are emitted in distant galaxies located billions of light years away. The chief foe that gamma rays face in the intergalactic medium is the army of lower-energy photons called the extragalactic background light (EBL). The EBL radiation spans the ultraviolet, optical and infrared bands and is created mainly by stars and dust in galaxies over the history of the Universe. EBL photons interact with gamma rays to generate pairs of electrons and positrons. This absorption, depicted in **Fig. 1** (red box), becomes stronger with increasing gamma-ray energy and source distance. By measuring it in gamma-ray spectra of extragalactic sources, CTA will probe with unrivaled accuracy the spectrum and evolution of the EBL, thereby unveiling the formation and evolution of dust and stars in galaxies. +## Magnetic fields and gamma-ray halos + The electrons and positrons produced in the interaction with EBL photons do not reach Earth, however, they can scatter off photons of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This transfers energy from the pairs to the CMB photons, transforming them to gamma rays with lower energies than that of the initial parent gamma ray, as shown in **Fig. 1** (orange box). Because electrons and positrons are charged particles, they are affected by the intergalactic magnetic field in cosmic voids, which deflects their trajectory on scales of millions of light years. This creates a diffuse gamma-ray halo around otherwise point-like sources. CTA will search for such halos, and possibly detect for the first time the elusive remnant of cosmic magnetism in the most rarefied corners of the Universe. +## Beyond the standard models + In their struggle for survival, gamma rays could be helped by new processes, which lie beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. The first is Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) at the Planck scale, the frontier of current physical theories. This process could shield gamma rays from interacting with the EBL, resulting in an unexpectedly large number of cosmic-trotters reaching Earth at the highest energies probed by CTA (**Fig. 1**, gray box). The second is a cloak called an axion-like particle. Gamma rays could put this cloak on within magnetic fields, effectively escaping interactions with the EBL. Cloaked-uncloaked oscillations (**Fig. 1**, light blue box) would result in larger-than-expected fluctuations in the gamma-ray spectra, which CTA will constrain with its excellent energy reconstruction. +## An epic cosmic journey + Gamma rays from extragalactic sources tell us the story of an epic cosmic journey, probing the very fabric and content of the Universe in large voids. A first report of the potential of CTA to constrain gamma-ray propagation can be found in [1], but the CTA Consortium is actively preparing the scientific machinery to greet cosmic-trotters and recount their odyssey. [1] Studying cosmological gamma-ray propagation with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, F. Gaté, R. Alves Batista, J. Biteau, J. Lefaucheur, S. Mangano, M. Meyer, Q. Piel, S. Pita, D. Sanchez, I. Vovk (for the CTA Consortium), ICRC proceedings (2017). diff --git a/src/content/news/women-cta-meeting-4.md b/src/content/news/women-cta-meeting-4.md index 197f9fd..434a396 100644 --- a/src/content/news/women-cta-meeting-4.md +++ b/src/content/news/women-cta-meeting-4.md @@ -74,6 +74,4 @@ Mutual respect is paramount, and your right to be treated equally, with dignity To privately report a violation of the CTAO Code of Conduct for Events and Meetings during or after the *“Women of CTA” event,* please contact the organizer, [Alba Fernández-Barral](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org) (CTAO Outreach and Education Coordinator). -* * - *The “CTAO Code of Conduct for Events and Meetings” is based on the “CTAO Code of Conduct” (May 2018)* diff --git a/src/content/pages/disclaimer.md b/src/content/pages/disclaimer.md index 26b7099..6fa39ed 100644 --- a/src/content/pages/disclaimer.md +++ b/src/content/pages/disclaimer.md @@ -12,3 +12,8 @@ of the information, software or data products made available here. External links are provided for convenience; the CTAO is not responsible for the content of external sites. + +## Content credit + +Sample news content on this demonstration portal is reproduced from the official CTAO website +([ctao.org](https://www.ctao.org/)) for evaluation purposes only.