content split + copy audit + css polish: content (news/pages/uploads) moves to the ctao/content repo (build overlays it — two-repo build.sh, link-content.sh for local dev); portal copy trimmed to source-documents-only (dashboard empty states, minimal privacy/disclaimer, no mock badges); css: inverted selection on navy bands, featured-card text-track floor, 44px toc target, mobile search dates on own line, footer link row gap; DESIGN.md rewritten as a short handoff
This commit is contained in:
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
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---
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title: "15th CTAO Council Meeting Report from the Managing Director"
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description: "The 15th meeting of the CTAO Council was held 13-14 November in La Palma, shortly after the LST telescope prototype was inaugurated on the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, the northern hemisphere site of the CTA Observatory."
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date: 2018-12-18
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category: news
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author: CTAO
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cover: /uploads/Council-768x432.jpg
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draft: false
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---
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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.
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## Investment and budget growth
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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.
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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.
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## A new pathfinder strategy
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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.
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## Status of the CTAO ERIC
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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.
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## Agreements for the CTA-South site
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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!
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---
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title: "2025 Year in Review: A Message from the CTAO Director General"
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description: "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. This marked the official start of the CTAO construction phase. A major step forward.…"
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date: 2025-12-22
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category: news
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author: CTAO
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cover: /uploads/CTAOHolidaysCard_2025-1600x1066.jpeg
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draft: false
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---
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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.
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## Growing our team and membership
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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.
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## Progress at the telescope sites
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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.
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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.
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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.
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## Inspiring curiosity in everyone
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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.
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## Looking ahead to 2026
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2025 was a year of new starts and building foundations; in 2026 we will build further.
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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.
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I wish you all a very happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year!
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**Stuart McMuldroch**
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CTAO Director General
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---
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title: "ACADA Software System Passes its Critical Design Review"
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description: "On September 23, the CTAO ACADA Collaboration achieved yet another milestone when the CTAO Central Organisation officially approved and closed out the Critical Design Review (CDR) of the Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA) system.…"
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date: 2024-10-04
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category: news
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author: CTAO
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cover: /uploads/Screenshot-2024-10-04-at-12.17.16-768x432.png
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draft: false
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---
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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.
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## What the ACADA system does
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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.
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## Integration campaigns with LST-1
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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.
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## Approving the Critical Design Review
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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.
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## Next steps for the collaboration
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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.
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Congratulations to the ACADA Collaboration on this significant milestone!
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-25
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---
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title: "AES Andes Announces Cancellation of INNA, the Industrial Complex Planned Near Paranal"
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description: "On 23 January, AES Andes announced on their website 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…"
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date: 2026-02-03
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category: news
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author: CTAO
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cover: /uploads/DSC7159-CC-768x512.jpg
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draft: false
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---
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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).
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## Threat to Paranal Observatory
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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.
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## Welcoming the announcement
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> “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.”
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## Broader lessons for observatories
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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.
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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.
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---
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title: "AMANAR: Under the Same Sky"
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description: "This summer, the CTA Observatory will collaborate in the “AMANAR: Under the same sky” project in the Canary Islands and in October in Tindouf, Algeria. The project will use astronomy to promote and support the scientific education of young…"
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date: 2019-07-08
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category: news
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author: CTAO
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cover: /uploads/imagen-1-768x510.jpg
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draft: false
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---
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[AMANAR website](https://www.galileomobile.org/amanar)
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[IAC press release (en español)](http://www.iac.es/divulgacion.php?op1=16&id=1585)
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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.
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## Project origins and partners
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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.
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## Summer activities and camp visit
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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.
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> “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.”
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## The CTAO Astrodiversity program
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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.
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## About GalileoMobile:
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GalileoMobile is an international project, itinerant and non-profit, whose objective is to share Astronomy with students and teachers of rural communities with reduced access to programs of this type. The team consists of a group of 15 volunteer astronomers, educators and science communicators from around the world. Since its creation in 2008, GalileoMobile has reached more than 1,400 teachers and 16,000 students, donating hundreds of telescopes and organizing public sky observations for thousands of people in 15 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Peru, Spain, Uganda and the United States of America.
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---
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title: "Jak działa to demo: portal statyczny + CMS oparty o git"
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description: "Architektura rozwiązania, przydatne linki i porównanie klas rozwiązań: strona w 100% statyczna z graficznym edytorem treści vs CMS z własną bazą danych."
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date: 2026-07-23
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category: demo
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author: Cyfronet
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cover: /diagrams/cover-git-cms.svg
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lang: pl
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draft: false
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---
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Ten portal to **statyczne pliki HTML** generowane z plików Markdown trzymanych
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w repozytorium git. Redaktor dostaje **graficzny edytor w przeglądarce** —
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a mimo to **po stronie publicznej** nie działa żadna aplikacja ani baza:
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między czytelnikiem a treścią jest wyłącznie serwer plików. Jedyny działający
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serwis (Gitea) obsługuje edycję i stoi poza ścieżką czytelnika — wracamy do
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tego uczciwie niżej. Ten artykuł został napisany i opublikowany dokładnie tą
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ścieżką.
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## Od zapisu do publikacji
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Publikacja jest automatyczna — zapis w edytorze po chwili sam pojawia się
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na stronie, bez żadnego ręcznego deployu. Każda zmiana to commit, więc
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**pełna historia treści i możliwość cofnięcia są w gicie za darmo**.
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## Jak to wygląda na maszynie
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Dla porównania — ta sama maszyna z klasycznym CMS-em. Układ diagramu jest
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celowo identyczny, żeby różnice było widać na pierwszy rzut oka: tu każdy
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element działa bez przerwy, a panel logowania i aplikacja są wystawione
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do internetu.
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## Gdzie co jest
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| Co | Gdzie |
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|---|---|
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| Portal | strona główna tego serwisu |
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| Edytor treści | `/admin/` (link „Content editor" w stopce) |
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| Gitea (repo `ctao/portal`) | port 3000 na maszynie demo |
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| Konto demo | użytkownik `ctao` (hasło u prowadzącego demo) |
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| Dokumentacja wdrożenia | katalog `deploy/` w repo: `README.md` (runbook) i `DEPLOY-LOG.md` (pełna historia decyzji) |
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Całość działa w podmanie na jednej maszynie: kontener Gitei, kontener nginx
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i jednorazowy kontener builda odpalany przez systemd timer.
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## Dlaczego strona statyczna
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- **Bezpieczeństwo**: publicznie wystawione są tylko pliki. Nie istnieje
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panel admina dostępny z internetu, baza do wykradzenia ani runtime z CVE.
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- **Utrzymanie**: nie ma aplikacji, która musi być monitorowana i
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aktualizowana pod presją łatek bezpieczeństwa. Do utrzymania zostaje git
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(który i tak utrzymujemy) i krótki skrypt builda.
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- **Szybkość**: statyczny HTML to najszybsza możliwa strona — istotne też
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dla SEO.
|
||||
- **Historia**: wersjonowanie treści to naturalna cecha gita, nie płatna
|
||||
funkcja produktu.
|
||||
|
||||
## Dwie klasy rozwiązań
|
||||
|
||||
Linia podziału jest często mylona: nie chodzi o to, czy treść leży w bazie
|
||||
czy w plikach, tylko o to, **czy między czytelnikiem a treścią stoi
|
||||
działająca aplikacja**.
|
||||
|
||||
| | Statyczne + git-CMS *(to demo)* | CMS serwujący stronę aplikacją |
|
||||
|---|---|---|
|
||||
| Przykłady | Sveltia, Decap (+ Astro / Hugo / Eleventy) | Strapi, WordPress, Drupal, Grav, TinaCMS |
|
||||
| Treść żyje w | plikach Markdown w gicie | zwykle w bazie; Grav — w plikach, Tina — w gicie |
|
||||
| W produkcji działa | serwer plików | aplikacja (zwykle + baza), non stop |
|
||||
| Utrzymanie | skrypt builda + serwis gitowy | patche, aktualizacje, backupy bazy |
|
||||
| Historia zmian | git, wbudowana | zależnie od produktu (bywa płatna) |
|
||||
|
||||
Dwa doprecyzowania, żeby tabela nie upraszczała: **Grav** trzyma treść
|
||||
w plikach bez żadnej bazy — ale stronę i tak serwuje aplikacja PHP, więc pod
|
||||
względem powierzchni ataku i utrzymania należy do prawej kolumny. **TinaCMS**
|
||||
trzyma treść wręcz w Markdownie w gicie, ale do działania edytora wymaga
|
||||
stale działającego backendu z bazą — jest hybrydą, która dziedziczy koszty
|
||||
obu światów.
|
||||
|
||||
Ograniczenia poszczególnych rozwiązań, które zweryfikowaliśmy podczas
|
||||
researchu:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Strapi** — historia wersji treści nie istnieje w darmowym self-hosted
|
||||
(tylko płatne plany Growth/Enterprise). Wymaga stale działającego Node +
|
||||
Postgresa i regularnych aktualizacji.
|
||||
- **WordPress** — największy ekosystem, ale i największa historia podatności
|
||||
(głównie pluginy); publiczny panel logowania i PHP do ciągłego patchowania.
|
||||
- **Grav** (PHP, flat-file — „lekka" alternatywa) — poważne podatności RCE
|
||||
w ostatnich latach; nadal wymaga serwera PHP wystawionego do internetu.
|
||||
- **TinaCMS** — edytuje Markdown, ale wymaga backendu: chmura Tina jest
|
||||
darmowa tylko do 2 użytkowników, a self-hosting to własny serwer Node +
|
||||
baza (Mongo/Postgres) + auth — wracamy do utrzymywania aplikacji.
|
||||
- **Ryzyko open-core**: funkcje potrafią z czasem przechodzić do płatnych
|
||||
planów (przykład wyżej). Gdy treść i jej historia leżą w gicie, nie ma
|
||||
funkcji, którą dostawca mógłby przenieść do płatnego planu.
|
||||
|
||||
## Plusy i minusy obu podejść
|
||||
|
||||
Portal ma być utrzymywany przez co najmniej 6 lat, więc bilans trzeba robić
|
||||
w dwóch horyzontach. Poniżej ocena podejść jako klas rozwiązań, nie
|
||||
konkretnych produktów.
|
||||
|
||||
**Krótkoterminowo (uruchomienie i pierwsze miesiące)**
|
||||
|
||||
| | Statyczne + git | CMS z bazą |
|
||||
|---|---|---|
|
||||
| Plusy | mało ruchomych części od pierwszego dnia; edytor graficzny gotowy; historia i rollback od razu, w gicie | bogatszy panel od ręki: role i uprawnienia, workflow redakcyjny, relacje między treściami, więcej gotowych integracji |
|
||||
| Minusy | uprawnienia proste (dziedziczone z gita — bez ról redakcyjnych); przeglądanie historii na razie w interfejsie gita, nie w edytorze | więcej komponentów do postawienia, spięcia i zabezpieczenia od pierwszego dnia (aplikacja, baza, backupy) |
|
||||
|
||||
**W horyzoncie 6 lat**
|
||||
|
||||
| | Statyczne + git | CMS z bazą |
|
||||
|---|---|---|
|
||||
| Plusy | strona publiczna bez aplikacji = brak presji łatek na ścieżce czytelnika; do utrzymania zostaje serwis gitowy (najlepiej ten, który zespół i tak ma); treść w otwartym formacie przetrwa każdą wymianę narzędzi | jeśli z czasem będą potrzebne funkcje aplikacyjne (konta, personalizacja, treści silnie strukturalne), platforma już je ma |
|
||||
| Minusy | przy bardzo dużej skali (tysiące stron) buildy rosną i wymagają optymalizacji; zaawansowane funkcje redakcyjne zależą od tempa rozwoju narzędzi open-source | kilka dużych migracji wersji w 6 lat (zmiany łamiące); baza wymaga backupów i testów odtwarzania; stała powierzchnia ataku; ryzyko przenoszenia funkcji do płatnych planów |
|
||||
|
||||
## „Czy Gitea to nie jest po prostu drugi CMS?"
|
||||
|
||||
Uczciwe pytanie: Gitea też ma logowanie, bazę i wymaga aktualizacji
|
||||
bezpieczeństwa, a dla edytorów musi być dostępna spoza VPN. Czy różnica nie
|
||||
sprowadza się więc do tego, że zamiast CMS-a utrzymujemy Giteę?
|
||||
|
||||
Częściowo tak — i dlatego nie twierdzimy, że utrzymanie jest zerowe. Różnica
|
||||
polega na trzech rzeczach:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Gitea stoi poza ścieżką czytelnika.** Może mieć przerwę, aktualizację,
|
||||
a nawet zostać przejęta — portal dalej stoi i serwuje bezpieczne pliki.
|
||||
Najgorszy scenariusz włamania to wandalizm treści: widoczny, z pełną
|
||||
historią, odwracalny jednym revertem. W CMS-ie serwującym stronę ten sam
|
||||
incydent oznacza przejętą stronę publiczną.
|
||||
- **Zespół już utrzymuje Giteę.** Docelowo repozytorium treści może żyć na
|
||||
istniejącej instancji zespołu — wtedy krańcowy koszt utrzymania jest
|
||||
bliski zera, a logowanie załatwia jedna integracja z AAI.
|
||||
- **Klasa oprogramowania.** Gitea to pojedynczy program w Go z SQLite:
|
||||
aktualizacja to podmiana obrazu i restart, bez ekosystemu pluginów i bez
|
||||
drzewa zależności npm po stronie serwera. Platformy CMS to frameworki
|
||||
aplikacyjne z regularnymi migracjami głównych wersji.
|
||||
|
||||
## Gdzie jeszcze może się przydać
|
||||
|
||||
Ten sam wzorzec — edytor graficzny nad repozytorium Markdown — nie jest
|
||||
ograniczony do portalu. Naturalni kandydaci u nas:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Projekt Mickiewicza** — treści redagowane przez osoby nietechniczne,
|
||||
a publikowane jako strona statyczna.
|
||||
- **Dokumentacja Episodes Platform** — już dziś jest w Markdownie; podpięcie
|
||||
edytora dałoby wygodną edycję w przeglądarce zamiast edytora plików
|
||||
w Gitei, bez żadnych zmian w istniejącym repozytorium.
|
||||
|
||||
Koszt wdrożenia w takich miejscach jest niewielki: edytor to jeden statyczny
|
||||
plik HTML plus konfiguracja wskazująca repozytorium i strukturę treści.
|
||||
|
||||
## Brak lock-inu
|
||||
|
||||
Każdy element jest wymienialny osobno, bo treść to czysty Markdown:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Sveltia ↔ Decap** — ten sam format konfiguracji; podmiana = jedna linijka
|
||||
`<script>`.
|
||||
- **Astro ↔ Hugo / Eleventy** — Markdown zostaje bez zmian, wymieniamy tylko
|
||||
szablony.
|
||||
- **Gitea ↔ dowolny hosting gitowy** — GitHub, GitLab i inne.
|
||||
- Nawet rezygnacja z całego podejścia = eksport trywialny, bo treść od
|
||||
początku leży w otwartym formacie w naszym repozytorium.
|
||||
|
||||
Wniosek z tego demo: zaczynamy od najprostszego rozwiązania, które spełnia
|
||||
wymagania — graficzny edytor dla redaktorów i bezpieczna, bezobsługowa strona
|
||||
publiczna. Złożoność dodajemy dopiero wtedy, gdy pojawi się potrzeba, której
|
||||
to podejście nie obsłuży.
|
||||
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "ASTRI-Horn is first Cherenkov telescope in dual-mirror configuration to detect the Crab Nebula at TeV energies"
|
||||
description: "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."
|
||||
date: 2019-05-07
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/15354061055_c2311325a0_k_small-768x513.png
|
||||
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 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.”
|
||||
|
||||
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) with the support of MIUR (the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research) and with in collaboration with a number of Italian Universities (including, Perugia, Padova and Roma Tor Vergata) and the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), and the direct the participation of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and FAPESP in Brazil and North-West University in South Africa
|
||||
|
||||
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a global initiative to build the world’s largest and most sensitive high-energy gamma-ray observatory with 118 telescopes split between two sites: one in the northern hemisphere on the island of La Palma, Spain, and the other in the southern hemisphere near Paranal, Chile. More than 1,400 scientists and engineers from 31 countries across five continents and more than 200 research institutes are participating in the CTA project. CTA will be the foremost global observatory for very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy over the next decade and beyond and will be the first ground-based gamma-ray astronomy observatory open to the world-wide astronomical and particle physics communities. CTA will address some of the greatest mysteries in astrophysics, seeking the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles, probing extreme environments and exploring physics frontiers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Contacts:
|
||||
|
||||
Giovanni Pareschi
|
||||
|
||||
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera – ASTRI Princilpal
|
||||
|
||||
[giovanni.pareschi@inaf.it](mailto:giovanni.pareschi@inaf.it)
|
||||
|
||||
+39 331 6113735
|
||||
|
||||
Megan Grunewald
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO Outreach and Communications Officer
|
||||
|
||||
[megan.grunewald@cta-observatory.org](mailto:megan.grunewald@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
+49 6221-516471
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Board of Governmental Representatives Approves the CTAO’s Cost Book and Scientific & Technical Description"
|
||||
description: "On 24 June 2021, the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) approved the CTA Observatory’s (CTAO’s) Cost Book and Scientific & Technical Description, fundamental documents towards the establishment of the final legal entity of CTAO as…"
|
||||
date: 2021-06-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/CTANorth_4LST5MST_featureimage_350_160-768x351.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 24 June 2021, the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) approved the CTA Observatory’s (CTAO’s) Cost Book and Scientific & Technical Description, fundamental documents towards the establishment of the final legal entity of CTAO as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The decision comes after the approval of the Cost Book by the [CTAO Council](https://www.cta-observatory.org/about/governance/) this week. The BGR, comprised of representatives of the future ERIC member countries, is one of the key committees created to prepare and evaluate documentation for the transition of CTAO’s legal status from the current gGmbH (under German law) to an ERIC (under European law).
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.”
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Board of Governmental Representatives Submits the Formal Request to Establish the CTAO ERIC"
|
||||
description: "On May 31, the CTAO’s Board of Governmental Representatives submitted the formal request to the European Commission to establish the CTAO ERIC, which will be CTAO’s final legal entity in charge of overseeing the construction and operation…"
|
||||
date: 2022-06-01
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/ESO_small-768x387.jpg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Barcelona Raman Lidar Pathfinder detects the volcano dust plume at La Palma"
|
||||
description: "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.…"
|
||||
date: 2021-10-14
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/20210325_194553_small-768x346.jpeg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Building CTA: December 2018 Project Office Update"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2018-12-18
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/projectoffice1_small-768x378.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*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
|
||||
|
||||
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
|
||||
|
||||
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 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
|
||||
|
||||
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
|
||||
|
||||
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
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Bibha Chowdhuri: A Ray of Light"
|
||||
description: "In the tenth article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Atreyee Sinha (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Ritam Sinha (University of Jerusalem) delve into the life and achievements of Bibha Chowdhuri, first Indian woman to…"
|
||||
date: 2022-11-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_BC-01-1-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Atreyee Sinha, Maria Zambrano Research Fellow at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM, Spain) and Ritam Sinha, Theoretical Physicist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)*
|
||||
|
||||
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!
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
Further Reading:
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.tifr.res.in/~ipa1970/news/2021/JanJune/05-S_C_Roy_R_Singh_Vol51(1-2).pdf](https://www.tifr.res.in/~ipa1970/news/2021/JanJune/05-S_C_Roy_R_Singh_Vol51(1-2).pdf)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://books.google.es/books/about/A_Jewel_Unearthed_Bibha_Chowdhuri.html?id=qIJhuwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y](https://books.google.es/books/about/A_Jewel_Unearthed_Bibha_Chowdhuri.html?id=qIJhuwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y)
|
||||
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: The Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of"
|
||||
description: "In the second article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Dominik Elsässer (Researcher at the TU Dortmund and CTAC member) delves into the academic career of Cecilia Payne-Gasposchkin and her scientific discovery."
|
||||
date: 2022-03-31
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_CP_cap-01-1600x840.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.cta-observatory.org/outreach-education/astrodiversity/building-from-diversity/)” project.
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by Dominik Elsässer, Researcher at the Technical University Dortmund (TU Dortmund; Germany)*
|
||||
|
||||
“The stars in the sky – what are they made of?“
|
||||
|
||||
This is a question that probably most astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts have heard, and that must have been asked countless times throughout all human history. Some of the most fascinating mysteries in 21st century physics, those about the origin and the composition of the cosmic rays, and about the nature of the dark matter, are coming from the very same human trait of curiosity: to find out what all the objects in the Universe consist of.
|
||||
|
||||
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).
|
||||
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Chien-Shiung Wu: The Queen of Nuclear Research"
|
||||
description: "In the eleventh article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Marianna Giustino, MSc. Student in Physics at the Collegio Universitario Luciano Fonda, presents the life and achievements of the brilliant Chien-Shiung Wu, nicknamed…"
|
||||
date: 2022-12-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_CSW-01-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Marianna Giustino, MSc. Student in Physics at the University of Trieste and student of the Collegio Universitario Luciano Fonda (Italy).*
|
||||
|
||||
Imagine being a Chinese woman born in 1912, at the very beginning of the Xinhai Revolution. Imagine being highly interested in poetry and science but not being allowed to attend any school. This is the context in which Chien-Shiung Wu, the “Queen of Nuclear Research,” was born.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Wu suffered a stroke on 16 February 1997, in New York City. In accordance with her wishes, her ashes were buried in the courtyard of the Ming De School, the one that her father had founded.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
Bibliography:
|
||||
|
||||
[https://scienzapertutti.infn.it/rubriche/biografie/2372-chien-shiung-wu](https://scienzapertutti.infn.it/rubriche/biografie/2372-chien-shiung-wu)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Shiung_Wu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Shiung_Wu)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/](https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.aauw.org/resources/faces-of-aauw/chien-shiung-wu-overlooked-for-nobel-prize/](https://www.aauw.org/resources/faces-of-aauw/chien-shiung-wu-overlooked-for-nobel-prize/)
|
||||
|
||||
[The Nobel Prize in Physics 1957. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Tue. 27 Dec 2022.](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1957/summary/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Wolf Prize Laureate in Physics 1978 – Chien-Shiung Wu](https://wolffund.org.il/2018/12/09/chien-shiung-wu/)
|
||||
@@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Frank Kameny: From Astronomer to Activist for LGBTQIA+ Rights"
|
||||
description: "In the sixth article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Eugenia Gatti (CTAO HR Specialist and member of the CTAO Gender Equality Plan Group) gives us a glimpse into the life of Frank Kameny, who was banned from working as an…"
|
||||
date: 2022-07-29
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_FK-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Eugenia Gatti (CTAO HR Specialist and member of the CTAO Gender Equity Plan Group).*
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
The end of Kameny’s scientific career was a loss for science but a win for LGBTQIA+ rights. But how many other marginalized people and their potential contributions to science have been lost, as well? Thanks to Frank Kameny and all the activists from our past, present and future, there is a path forward for equal rights for all in society and science.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
Bibliography:
|
||||
|
||||
[Frank Kameny’s Orderly, Square Gay-Rights Activism | The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/29/frank-kamenys-orderly-square-gay-rights-activism)
|
||||
|
||||
[Frank Kameny: Astronomer and Gay Rights Pioneer | Capitol Technology University (captechu.edu)](https://www.captechu.edu/blog/frank-kameny-astronomer-and-gay-rights-pioneer)
|
||||
|
||||
[Astronomer Frank Kameny: Founding Father of the Gay Rights Movement (wondriumdaily.com)](https://www.wondriumdaily.com/astronomer-frank-kameny-founding-father-of-the-gay-rights-movement/)
|
||||
|
||||
[The Mattachine Society – LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide – Research Guides at Library of Congress (loc.gov)](https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/mattachine)
|
||||
|
||||
[About | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month | Library of Congress (loc.gov)](https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Frank Kameny | Making Gay History](https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/episode-1-5/)
|
||||
|
||||
[The A.P.A. Ruling on Homosexuality – The New York Times (nytimes.com)](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/23/archives/the-issue-is-subtle-the-debate-still-on-the-apa-ruling-on.html)
|
||||
|
||||
[Franklin E. Kameny (1925–2011) · Vol. 43, Issue 1 (aas.org)](https://baas.aas.org/pub/franklin-e-kameny-1925-2011/release/1)
|
||||
|
||||
[Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org)](https://www.hrc.org/our-work/stories/repeal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell)
|
||||
|
||||
[A. Cech, T. J. Waidzunas, Systemic inequalities for LGBTQ professionals in STEM. Sci. Adv. 7, eabe0933 (2021).](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe0933)
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Henrietta Swan Leavitt: Shortening Astronomical and Societal Distances"
|
||||
description: "In the third article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Simone Iovenitti (Post-doc Researcher at the INAF-OAB and CTAC member) delves into the history behind Henrietta Leavitt’s discovery that allowed to measure extragalactic…"
|
||||
date: 2022-04-29
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_HL-01-1600x840.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
This article is part of the “[Building from Diversity](https://www.cta-observatory.org/outreach-education/astrodiversity/building-from-diversity/)” project. *Written by Simone Iovenitti, Post-doc Researcher (INAF-OAB; Italy)*
|
||||
|
||||
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].
|
||||
|
||||
———-
|
||||
|
||||
[1] Webb, Stephen (1999). [*Measuring the Universe: The Cosmological Distance Ladder*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ntZwxttZF-sC). Springer Science & Business Media. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1852331061](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1852331061).
|
||||
|
||||
[2] [https://apod.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate20.html](https://apod.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate20.html)
|
||||
|
||||
[3] Leavitt, Henrietta S. (1908). “1777 variables in the Magellanic Clouds”. *Annals of Harvard College Observatory*. 60: 87–108. Bibcode:[1908AnHar..60…87L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1908AnHar..60...87L).
|
||||
|
||||
[4] Leavitt, Henrietta S.; Pickering, Edward C. (1912). “Periods of 25 Variable Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud”. *Harvard College Observatory Circular*. 173: 1–3. Bibcode:[1912HarCi.173….1L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1912HarCi.173....1L).
|
||||
|
||||
[5] Hubble, Edwin P. (1929). “A spiral nebula as a stellar system, Messier 31”. [*Astrophysical Journal*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_Journal). 69: 103–158. Bibcode:[1929ApJ….69..103H](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1929ApJ....69..103H). doi:[10.1086/143167](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F143167).
|
||||
|
||||
[6] Johnson, George (2005). [*Miss Leavitt’s Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How To Measure the Universe*](https://archive.org/details/missleavittsstar00john) (1st ed.). New York: Norton. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-393-05128-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-05128-5).
|
||||
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Finding the First Pulsar in the Armagh Planetarium with Jocelyn Bell"
|
||||
description: "In 1967, Jocelyn Bell discovered the first radio pulsar, changing the history of astronomy forever. In the first article of the CTA’s “Building from Diversity” series, Michael Burton (Director of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium)…"
|
||||
date: 2022-02-28
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_JB-01-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Michael Burton, Director of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium*
|
||||
|
||||
The story of Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s discovery of pulsars is one of the best known in astronomy. The story of how, as a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, she detected “a bit of scruff” on the chart recorder of the radio telescope designed by her supervisor Anthony Hewish. A telescope that she’d built in 1967 as part of her PhD – the Interplanetary Scintillation Array at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cambridge.
|
||||
|
||||
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!
|
||||
@@ -1,67 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Margherita Hack: Astronomer and Changemaker, now has her own Statue"
|
||||
description: "In the fifth article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Anna Wolter, in collaboration with Claudia Mignone (INAF), delves into the personality and social impact of the astronomer Margherita Hack, of whom the first statue of a…"
|
||||
date: 2022-06-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_MH-01-1-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Anna Wolter with the collaboration of Claudia Mignone (INAF)*
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
References and more information
|
||||
|
||||
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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLOvtkg4JUQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLOvtkg4JUQ) 1922-2022: 100 anni di Margherita Hack | Editoriale Scienza
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.spreaker.com/show/marga](https://www.spreaker.com/show/marga) Podcast di Federico Taddia – per sentire la voce di Margherita..
|
||||
|
||||
[https://lasinodoroedizioni.it/catalogo/profilo-di-donna/margherita-hack/](https://lasinodoroedizioni.it/catalogo/profilo-di-donna/margherita-hack/) *Margherita Hack* (P. Greco)
|
||||
|
||||
English:
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01665-4](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01665-4) *First public statue of female scientist in Italy celebrates astronomer* (D. Castelvecchi)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://sites.google.com/laudefontenebro.com/womeninscience/twentieth-century/margherita-hack](https://sites.google.com/laudefontenebro.com/womeninscience/twentieth-century/margherita-hack)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://wave-network.org/inspiring-thursday-margherita-hack/](https://wave-network.org/inspiring-thursday-margherita-hack/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.italiani.it/en/daisy-hack-astrophysicist-and-scientist/](https://www.italiani.it/en/daisy-hack-astrophysicist-and-scientist/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.seminarsonly.com/news/google-paid-tribute-to-margherita-hack-with-doodle-on-her-birthday/](https://www.seminarsonly.com/news/google-paid-tribute-to-margherita-hack-with-doodle-on-her-birthday/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.google.com/doodles/margherita-hacks-99th-birthday](https://www.google.com/doodles/margherita-hacks-99th-birthday)
|
||||
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Milla Baldo Ceolin: A Golden Mimosa of Particle Physics"
|
||||
description: "In the eight article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Elisa Prandini (researcher at the University of Padova, Italy) delves into the professional life, achievements and legacy that Milla Baldo, first woman to become a full…"
|
||||
date: 2022-09-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_MB-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Elisa Prandini, Researcher at the Physics and Astronomy Department of the University of Padova (Italy)*
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
Bibliography:
|
||||
|
||||
“Milla Baldo Ceolin”, Maria Nicolaci, Ed. Asino d’oro 2015
|
||||
|
||||
J. Prowse and M. Baldo Ceolin, “Anti-Lambda Hyperon”, Phys.Rev.Lett.1, (1958), 179
|
||||
|
||||
Baldo Ceolin, “The Discreet Charm of the Nuclear Emulsion Era”, Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Vol. 52:1-21 (2002)
|
||||
|
||||
https://www.scienzainrete.it/contenuto/articolo/milla-baldo-ceolin-signora-dei-neutrini
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/massimilla-baldo_(Dizionario-Biografico)/](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/massimilla-baldo_(Dizionario-Biografico)/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.pd.infn.it/it/giornate-in-ricordo-di-milla-baldo-ceolin/](https://www.pd.infn.it/it/giornate-in-ricordo-di-milla-baldo-ceolin/)
|
||||
|
||||
This article was written with the support of Giovanni Busetto, Michele Doro, Sabine Hemmer, Mauro Mezzetto and Giulio Peruzzi.
|
||||
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Mirjana Pović: Fulfilling Dreams in Africa through Astronomy"
|
||||
description: "In the ninth article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Isabel Márquez and Josefa Masegosa (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA, Spain) shares the story of Mirjana Pović and the impact of her academic and societal…"
|
||||
date: 2022-10-31
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_MP-01-1600x840.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
Bibliography:
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07198-z](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07198-z)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.iaa.csic.es/en/news/researcher-mirjana-povic-receives-jocelyn-bell-burnell-award-european-astronomical-society/](https://www.iaa.csic.es/en/news/researcher-mirjana-povic-receives-jocelyn-bell-burnell-award-european-astronomical-society/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://epws.org/woman-scientist-mirjana-povic/](https://epws.org/woman-scientist-mirjana-povic/)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.amit-es.org/cientificas/mirjana-povic](https://www.amit-es.org/cientificas/mirjana-povic)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirjana_Povi%C4%87](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirjana_Povi%C4%87)
|
||||
|
||||
[https://naukas.com/2019/02/26/la-astronoma-que-ilumina-a-las-futuras-estrellas-de-la-ciencia/](https://naukas.com/2019/02/26/la-astronoma-que-ilumina-a-las-futuras-estrellas-de-la-ciencia/)
|
||||
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Sally Ride: The Sky is No Longer the Limit"
|
||||
description: "In the seventh article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Viviana Gammaldi (researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain) gives us a glimpse into the achievements of Sally Ride, who was the first American female…"
|
||||
date: 2022-08-31
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_SR-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Viviana Gammaldi, Researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)*
|
||||
|
||||
When I was a child, I wanted to be an astronaut. I love to talk about it. I am proud of myself because I am currently an astrophysicist, which is, in a sense, somehow similar. It is clear that I was totally fascinated by the sky at first, but this soon turned into a fascination with the Universe.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
Bibliography:
|
||||
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Vera Cooper Rubin: Uncovering Dark Matter, a Missing Chunk of the Universe"
|
||||
description: "In the fourth article of the CTAO’s “Building from Diversity” series, Anjana Kaushik Talluri (PhD Student at the University of Minnesota) presents the story of how Vera Rubin provided the first strong evidence of dark matter and how her…"
|
||||
date: 2022-05-31
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Poster_ilustracion_facebook_VR-01-1600x840.png
|
||||
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 Anjana Kaushik Talluri, PhD student at the University of Minnesota*
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
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
|
||||
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
|
||||
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
|
||||
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Carola Dobrigkeit: Unveiling Cosmic Rays from Brazil"
|
||||
description: "Carola Dobrigkeit was the first woman to hold a position at the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics within the Department of Cosmic Rays and Chronology at Unicamp, where she dedicated her career to the exploration of the cosmic rays, the…"
|
||||
date: 2023-10-31
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Picture1.png
|
||||
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/)
|
||||
|
||||
Carola Dobrigkeit Chinellato, born in 1952, moved to Brazil from Germany as a child. She grew up in Campinas, Brazil, and was just 15 years old when her curiosity for physics was piqued. Inspired by a teacher who presented her with the challenging task of teaching her classmates who had failed final exams, Carola’s fascination with physics and teaching grew. During her school vacations, she dedicated her time to providing physics tutoring to her classmates, a venture that not only satisfied her love for the subject but also helped her earn some extra money.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Professor Carola Dobrigkeit is still showing us that there is more than one way to obtain a result, both in life and in work. Her distinguished career is a testament to her unwavering determination and boundless passion for unravelling the Universe’s secrets. Her extensive contributions to high-energy cosmic rays and particle physics [5] have not only pushed the frontiers of human understanding but have also broken down barriers related to gender in the scientific realm. Carola Dobrigkeit’s work serves as a powerful reminder of humanity’s innate curiosity and our relentless pursuit of knowledge about the enigmatic cosmic wonders that encompass our planet.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by Daniela Zigante, Journalist of the CTAndo Group, Insitute of Physics of São Carlos, University of São Paulo (Brazil). Article reviewed by Cibelle Celestino Silva, Institute of Physics of São Carlos, University of São Paulo (Brazil).*
|
||||
|
||||
*References*
|
||||
|
||||
[1] [https://www.nature.com/articles/159694a0](https://www.nature.com/articles/159694a0)
|
||||
|
||||
[2] [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4249511](https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4249511)
|
||||
|
||||
[3] [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0550321381902832?via%3Dihub](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0550321381902832?via%3Dihub)
|
||||
|
||||
[4] [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0370269387908719?via%3Dihub](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0370269387908719?via%3Dihub)
|
||||
|
||||
[5] [https://scholar.google.com.br/citations?hl=pt-BR&user=2AQtV4YAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate](https://scholar.google.com.br/citations?hl=pt-BR&user=2AQtV4YAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate)
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Enrique Pérez Montero: A Living Oxymoron"
|
||||
description: "“Enrique is blind and an astronomer, or rather, Enrique is a blind astronomer. A living oxymoron.” Enrique Pérez lost his sight years ago, but that didn’t stop him from exploring the Universe: he kept working in the field and became a…"
|
||||
date: 2023-07-31
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/EnriquePerezMontero_rocco-768x461.jpg
|
||||
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 Emilio García, Head of the Communication and Scientific Culture Unit at the IAA-CSIC*
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Katherine Johnson: Human Calculator and Trailblazer"
|
||||
description: "The first article of the second edition of the Building from Diversity series features Katherine Johnson, an American mathematician whose work at NACA/NASA were fundamental to the success of several crewed spaceflights."
|
||||
date: 2023-04-29
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/featured-image-01-768x351.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
*Article reviewed by Alejandra Aguirre-Santaella, PhD at the UAM and IFT.*
|
||||
|
||||
*References*
|
||||
|
||||
1. https://www.eldiario.es/hojaderouter/ciencia/katherine-johnson-nasa-estados-unidos-matematicas 1 3986045.html
|
||||
2. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_kjohnson.html
|
||||
3. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/katherine-johnson-the-girl-who-loved-to-count
|
||||
4. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/a-lifetime-of-html
|
||||
5. https://www.fablabsantcugat.com/blog/katherinejohnsonlamakerdelanasaquenosllevoalaluna
|
||||
6. https://www.nationalgeographic.es/historia/2020/10/matematica-katherine-johnson- labor-esencial-luna-recibe-medalla-hubbard
|
||||
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Marie Curie: The Strange Case of Cherenkov Radiation"
|
||||
description: "In this article of the second edition of the Building from Diversity series, we delve into a lesser-know story about Marie Curie: how she came across Cherenkov light, fundamental for the operation of the CTAO telescopes, albeit unknowingly."
|
||||
date: 2023-06-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/MarieCurie_FeatureImage-01-1600x837.png
|
||||
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 Laura Paganini, science communicator at the INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera*
|
||||
|
||||
When you think about women that strongly impacted the history of science, Marie Curie will most likely come to your mind. Maria Salomea Skłodowska–Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, the only woman to do so twice and the only person to obtain it in two different scientific disciplines: physics and chemistry [1]
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
*Article reviewed by Anna Wolter, researcher at the INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera (Italy).*
|
||||
|
||||
*References*
|
||||
|
||||
1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie)
|
||||
2. [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/marie-curie/facts/](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/marie-curie/facts/)
|
||||
3. [Madame Curie. A Biography, Eve Curie, 1947](https://archive.org/details/madamecurie035051mbp)
|
||||
4. [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/marie-and-pierre-curie-and-the-discovery-of-polonium-and-radium/](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/marie-and-pierre-curie-and-the-discovery-of-polonium-and-radium/)
|
||||
5. [Handbook of Radioactivity Analysis (Third Edition), Michael F. L’Annunziata, 2012](https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780123848734/handbook-of-radioactivity-analysis)
|
||||
6. [APSNews (Volume 29, Number 11), 2020](https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/index.cfm)
|
||||
|
||||
(a) The paper “Electromagnetic waves, the propagation of potential, and the electromagnetic effects of a moving charge” was published in “The Electrician”, in 1888
|
||||
|
||||
(b) As quoted in Madame Curie: A Biography (1937) by Eve Curie Labouisse, as translated by Vincent Sheean, p. 341
|
||||
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Sandra Faber: A Luminous and Inspiring Scientific Career"
|
||||
description: "Despite the low representation of women in astronomy in the 60s, Sandra Faber pursued her deep interest in the field and became one of the most prominent figures of contemporary astronomy."
|
||||
date: 2023-10-04
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/sandrafaber-scaled-1-1600x1101.jpg
|
||||
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 Nicole Araneda, PhD Student at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid*
|
||||
|
||||
In the world of science, figures like Galileo, Newton and Einstein tend to dominate the spotlight, but many other notable figures have contributed significantly to our understanding of the cosmos. One of them is American scientist, Sandra Faber.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Sandra Faber’s legacy transcends her gender and inspires us all, regardless of our circumstances or obstacles. Her story reminds us that with passion, perseverance and commitment we can reach for the stars, both figuratively and literally. Her life is a powerful reminder that there are no limits that cannot be overcome in the search for knowledge. Science is a world of infinite possibilities, and anyone can be part of it, contributing to expanding our understanding of the Universe.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
*Article reviewed by Viviana Gammaldi, researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain).*
|
||||
|
||||
*References*
|
||||
|
||||
[1] [https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/9240/Sandra-Faber](https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/9240/Sandra-Faber)
|
||||
|
||||
[2] [https://mlubos.eu/index.php?a=11111032f31111111010](https://mlubos.eu/index.php?a=11111032f31111111010)
|
||||
|
||||
[3] [https://www.astro.ucsc.edu/faculty/index.php?uid=smfaber](https://www.astro.ucsc.edu/faculty/index.php?uid=smfaber)
|
||||
|
||||
[4] [https://scientificwomen.net/women/faber-sandra-35](https://scientificwomen.net/women/faber-sandra-35)
|
||||
|
||||
[5] [Faber, S. M., and J. S. Gallagher (1979), ARA&A 17, 135](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.aa.17.090179.001031)
|
||||
|
||||
[7] [https://www.ucolick.org/~faber/](https://www.ucolick.org/~faber/)
|
||||
|
||||
[8] [https://news.ucsc.edu/2017/05/faber-gruber-prize.html](https://news.ucsc.edu/2017/05/faber-gruber-prize.html)
|
||||
|
||||
[9] [https://www.ucobservatories.org/cool_timeline/astronomer-sandra-faber-honored-in-white-house-ceremony/](https://www.ucobservatories.org/cool_timeline/astronomer-sandra-faber-honored-in-white-house-ceremony/)
|
||||
|
||||
[10] [https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/leading-astronomers-and-geophysicists-honoured-ras-bicentenary-year-0](https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/leading-astronomers-and-geophysicists-honoured-ras-bicentenary-year-0)
|
||||
|
||||
[6] [Lin, D. N. C., Faber, S. M. Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 266, p. L21-L25 (1983)](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983ApJ...266L..21L/abstract)
|
||||
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Camera Installation Marks Completion of LST-4 Construction"
|
||||
description: "On 22 May, the CTAO LST Collaboration reached another major milestone with the successful installation of the camera for LST-4, one of the three Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) under construction at the CTAO-North site on La Palma, Spain.…"
|
||||
date: 2025-05-29
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/LST4Camera-1600x1200.jpg
|
||||
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!
|
||||
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Can You Hear Me? Un viaggio nel tempo con i messaggeri dell’Universo"
|
||||
description: "On 6 May 2019, the Bologna community is invited to partake in an evening of cosmic and Earthly pleasures at the public event of the Cherenkov Telescope Array’s First Science Symposium, which is taking place the same week at Teatro Duse in…"
|
||||
date: 2019-04-16
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/FacebookBanner.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Bologna, Italy** – On 6 May 2019, the Bologna community is invited to partake in an evening of cosmic and Earthly pleasures at the public event of the Cherenkov Telescope Array’s First Science Symposium, which is taking place the same week at Teatro Duse in Bologna. The public event, called ‘Can You Hear Me?’ will take the audience on a fantastic journey through space and time to discover and experience some of the Universe’s greatest mysteries.
|
||||
|
||||
Presenter, Stefano Sandrelli (INAF), will begin the journey in the age of the “father of observational astronomy,” Galileo Galilei, and continue through time to the present frontier of multi-messenger astrophysics, where the audience will hear from some of the greatest modern minds in the field: Nobel Laureates Takaaki Kajita and Rai Weiss and CTA pioneer and spokesperson, Werner Hofmann.
|
||||
|
||||
And to be sure the ears and eyes are as stimulated as the mind, the audience will be treated to a series of entertainment interludes that will feature performances by theatrical group [Kepler 452](https://kepler452.it/) and one of Italy’s most popular music bands, [Lo Stato Sociale](http://lostatosociale.net/home/).
|
||||
|
||||
## Event Details:
|
||||
|
||||
[Teatro Duse](https://www.teatrodusebologna.it/), Via Cartoleria 42, 40124 Bologna
|
||||
|
||||
Doors open at 8:00 p.m. Entrance is free, but seat reservations are required.
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Catching Gamma-Ray Bursts with CTA? Yes we can!"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2019-10-17
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/GRB.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
[Lee este artículo en español en nuestra CTA Newsletter.](https://mailchi.mp/00a6b9b4cd4e/cta-newsletter-october2019-spanish-1474929)
|
||||
|
||||
Originally published in the [October 2019 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/12cb6698d185/cta-newsletter-october2019-english).
|
||||
|
||||
*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.*
|
||||
|
||||
## 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)
|
||||
|
||||
[2] Ruiz Velasco et al., CTA symposium, Bologna 2019
|
||||
|
||||
[3] [Naurois et al., GCN #25566](https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn3/25566.gcn3)
|
||||
|
||||
[4] [Inoue et al. 2019](https://pos.sissa.it/358/703/pdf)
|
||||
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CHEC-S Camera Achieves First Light on the ASTRI-Horn Telescope"
|
||||
description: "On Monday 29 April, the Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) prototype camera, CHEC-S, was installed on the ASTRI-Horn telescope, a prototype Small-Sized Telescope (SST) for CTA. The following day, the camera was turned on and achieved first…"
|
||||
date: 2019-05-22
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/d2019-05-17_CHECS-on-ASTRI_EventMovie_001.gif
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On Monday 29 April, the Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) prototype camera, CHEC-S, was installed on the ASTRI-Horn telescope (left), a prototype Small-Sized Telescope (SST) for CTA. The following day, the camera was turned on and achieved first light, recording thousands of Cherenkov events in the first evening of observations. No re-alignment of the telescope optics was required following the mounting of CHEC. Images appear clear and in-focus with the PSF of the telescope well-matched to the camera pixel size. A selection of these events can be seen below.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Two things are immediately clear from such images. First, looking at the right, there is an ambiguity in the fixed image – it is not easy to tell from which direction it originated. Think of a perfectly symmetric train – how can you tell which end is the front? The answer is that you need to see it move. The same is true here, and this ambiguity is removed by the additional timing information evident in the images to the left – we can now tell without question from which direction the Cherenkov light came. Second, each of these images lasts 128 nanoseconds. That allows Cherenkov light to propagate across the full camera without truncation, something that has not been possible with previous generations of Cherenkov cameras.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Find more technical information on CHEC in: White, R. et al. ([arXiv:1709.05799](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.05799))
|
||||
|
||||
For more information on the ASTRI project, see: S. Scuderi et al. ([https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201920901001](https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201920901001))
|
||||
|
||||
## Contacts
|
||||
|
||||
Richard White – CHEC Project Coordinator
|
||||
|
||||
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
|
||||
|
||||
[richard.white@mpi-hd.mpg.de](mailto:richard.white@mpi-hd.mpg.de)
|
||||
|
||||
+49-6221-516-141
|
||||
|
||||
Salvatore Scuderi
|
||||
INAF – ASTRI Project Manager
|
||||
[Salvatore.scuderi@inaf.it](mailto:Salvatore.scuderi@inaf.it)
|
||||
+39 347 0380166
|
||||
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Chile Site Instruments Continue to Multiply"
|
||||
description: "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."
|
||||
date: 2016-03-26
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/PB221085_web2-768x576.jpeg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
-25
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Critical Design Review of the Large-Sized Telescope Successfully Approved and Closed"
|
||||
description: "The CTAO LST Collaboration 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…"
|
||||
date: 2024-09-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/DJI_20240822122702_0114_D-1600x900.jpg
|
||||
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!
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "First ‘CTA around the world’ Event to be Held in Bologna on 22 October"
|
||||
description: "A night of science, appetizers and friends … is there a better plan for a Tuesday after class or work? Join us for our “AstroChat Night” in Bologna at 19:30 on Tuesday, 22 October at Birreria Popolare (Via dal Luzzo 4a)."
|
||||
date: 2019-10-16
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/FeaturedImage-2-768x380.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
A night of science, appetizers and friends … is there a better plan for a Tuesday after class or work? Join us for our “AstroChat Night” in Bologna at 19:30 on Tuesday, 22 October at Birreria Popolare (Via dal Luzzo 4a).
|
||||
|
||||
Organized by the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), this event is your opportunity to chat with our panel of experts to resolve some of your curiosities about the Universe, learn about the latest advancements in science technology and find out what it takes to become a scientist in the exciting world of astronomy and astrophysics. Have you ever wondered what kinds of objects are in outer space? Do you know why astrophysics is useful for daily life? Have you ever wondered if what you see in movies about the Universe is real? Would you like to pursue a career in science but don’t know where to start? Come with all your questions and have a seat with our experts — the science and the appetizers are on us!
|
||||
|
||||
CTA, whose headquarters is located in Bologna, is holding its bi-annual Consortium meeting in Bologna during the week of 21 October so we’re lucky to have four CTA members to answer your questions (in Italian or English): Carla Aramo (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN), Vito Conforti (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, INAF), Rubén López-Coto (INFN) and Chiara Montanari (CTAO):
|
||||
|
||||
## Carla Aramo
|
||||
|
||||
I am in charge of the Naples group of CTA-INFN and work on the characterization of the photodetectors in the camera of the Medium-Sized Telescope prototype, pSCT, for CTA, which reveal the Cherenkov light emitted by the particles in the cascades that develop in the atmosphere. I also work in the characterization of the atmosphere with the use of the Lidar ARCADE, which I helped install on the CTA-North site in La Palma. I also take care of outreach and scientific communication, organizing many activities both for schools and for public events, such as the “European Researchers’ Night”.
|
||||
|
||||
## Vito Conforti
|
||||
|
||||
I’m a computer scientist. My adventure began at the age of 10 with my first Olivetti PC, without a hard disk and with a green monitor. At the age of 13 I attended the first Computer Science course where my passion for the subject was born. My adventure at INAF started with the goal of creating a generic Instrument Workstation supporting ground instrumentation and space telescopes. Over time I became responsible for the data acquisition system and software manager of the ASTRI-Horn telescope (Small-Sized Telescope proposed for CTA). I also participate in the implementation of the CTA Observatory telescope control system.
|
||||
|
||||
## Rubén López-Coto
|
||||
|
||||
I am a physicist, with a PhD in astroparticle physics. I have studied the most extreme gamma-ray Universe for more than nine years, investigating the physics behind the most exotic events in the Cosmos and trying to understand how particles can move almost at the speed of light and where they are produced. I also work in the software and hardware development of Cherenkov telescopes. All this allowed me to travel around the world to collaborate with groups from different countries and to live in very different cities. I currently work at INFN as Deputy Software Coordinator of the Large-Sized Telescope for CTA.
|
||||
|
||||
## Chiara Montanari
|
||||
|
||||
The only label I can accept is “Life Explorer”, and the reason is evident: we all are exploring life! I am an engineer with 15 years polar mission experience. I participated in five missions in Antarctica, leading the missions at the most extreme international research bases on the planet. In 2015, I published a book named “Cronache dai ghiacci” about my experience in the Antarctic Plateau, where I proposed the extreme environment as a metaphor of the current world. I am now working for the CTA construction project as the Interface Manager for the CTAO in Bologna.
|
||||
|
||||
This event is part of the “CTA around the world” program created by CTAO with the aim of carrying out outreach events about the highest-energy Universe and CTA at different cities around the globe, where CTA meetings take place. Events performed under this program are conducted by CTA members in the local language.
|
||||
|
||||
We look forward to seeing you in Bologna at Birreria Popolare on Tuesday, 22 October!
|
||||
|
||||
**Contact**: [CTAO Outreach and Education Coordinator, Alba Fernández-Barral](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
## More information:
|
||||
|
||||
CTA is a large-scale, global project to build the world’s most powerful instrument for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. It will be not only the largest and most sensitive high-energy gamma-ray observatory ever built, but also the first observatory open to the world-wide astronomy and physics communities as a facility devoted to high-energy astronomy. The observatory will be located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma (Spain), and near the Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). More than 1,500 scientists and engineers from 31 countries are engaged in the scientific and technical development of CTA. The preparation of the design and the implementation of the observatory is managed by CTAO.
|
||||
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Consortium 2.0: Preparing for Construction and Operations"
|
||||
description: "The CTA Consortium’s new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), officially became effective on 2 October 2019 after 52 signatures were obtained (or two-thirds of 78 parties)."
|
||||
date: 2019-10-07
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/DSCF2816_small-1600x731.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by: Jürgen Knödlseder, Chair, CTA Consortium*
|
||||
|
||||
The CTA Consortium’s new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), officially became effective on 2 October 2019 after 52 signatures were obtained (or two-thirds of 78 parties). The [CTA Consortium](https://www.ctao.org/partners/ctao-consortium/) is the group of scientists and engineers that devised the CTA concept more than a decade ago and have been the driving force behind its design. When the Consortium was formed in 2008, the primary goal was the design and promotion of a next generation Cherenkov telescope instrument that can address the many open questions that exist in high-energy astrophysics. At that time, issues like data access and data rights, writing observation proposals and dealing with commissioning and early operations were not the main focus.
|
||||
|
||||
Today, the Consortium is composed of more than 1,500 members from 200 institutes in 31 countries. And with the construction of CTA on the horizon and the first Large-Sized Telescope prototype under commissioning on the CTA-North site on La Palma, all these issues need to be carefully addressed. For this reason, the CTA Consortium has been working since 2014 on a new MoU, which defines the vision for how scientists and engineers in CTA will work together moving forward.
|
||||
|
||||
This new MoU was endorsed by the CTA Consortium Board during its 2nd semester meeting in Berlin in 2018, and the signature of the document was started in May this year. Now that the document has become effective, a transition period of approximately one year has begun and will be completed when Consortium members are admitted under the new rules and a new CTA Consortium management team is elected. When this is accomplished, the CTA Consortium 2.0 will be fully installed, operational and prepared for the exciting years to come, when the CTA Observatory will be built and will commence its first science operations.
|
||||
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Consortium Holds its Biannual Meeting in Lugano, Switzerland"
|
||||
description: "The CTA Consortium gathered on 3-7 June for its biannual meeting in Lugano, Switzerland, in a breath-taking location next to Lake Lugano (see image). About 200 scientists and engineers from 21 countries met during one week to share the…"
|
||||
date: 2019-06-28
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/DSCF4008_small-768x453.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by: Jürgen Knödlseder, Chair, CTA Consortium*
|
||||
|
||||
The CTA Consortium gathered on 3-7 June for its biannual meeting in Lugano, Switzerland, in a breath-taking location next to Lake Lugano (see image). About 200 scientists and engineers from 21 countries met during one week to share the results of their work, to make progress on the implementation plans for the observatory and to discuss the future. The event was organised and sponsored by our Swiss colleagues from the University of Geneva, the University of Zürich and ETH Zürich, and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
The Lugano Consortium meeting was an excellent event, and in the name of the entire Consortium, I would like to warmly thank the organisers and sponsors for their hospitality and the seamless organisation of an unforgettable week.
|
||||
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Consortium Holds its Bi-annual Meeting in Orsay, France"
|
||||
description: "During the week of 14 May, the CTA Consortium held its bi-annual meeting in France on the campus of Orsay, south of Paris. More than 260 scientists and engineers attended the gathering, joining ten different parallel sessions and a plenary…"
|
||||
date: 2018-05-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/DSCF2816_small-1600x731.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by: Jürgen Knödlseder, Chair, CTA Consortium*
|
||||
|
||||
During the week of 14 May, the CTA Consortium held its bi-annual meeting in France on the campus of Orsay, south of Paris. More than 260 scientists and engineers attended the gathering, joining ten different parallel sessions and a plenary session over the course of the week. The event concluded with two hands-on sessions on software tools and the meeting of the Consortium Board.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Consortium Meeting Comes to a Close in Bologna"
|
||||
description: "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."
|
||||
date: 2016-10-28
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/IMG_9836_web-768x438.jpeg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Jean-Pierre Ernenwein from CPPM (France) was nominated as the new Chair of the Speaker’s And Publication Office (SAPO) and will begin 1 January 2017.
|
||||
|
||||
The 2nd semester 2017 Consortium meeting will be held in La Palma, Spain in November.
|
||||
|
||||
The Consortium meets bi-annually. The next meeting will be 15-19 May 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
|
||||
|
||||
For more images from the event, visit our [Flickr page](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/albums/72157670525544004).
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Cherenkov Telescope Array Hosts its First Science Symposium"
|
||||
description: "The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will host its first CTA Science Symposium 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…"
|
||||
date: 2019-02-06
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/SM_Ad_open_small_cropped-2-768x385.png
|
||||
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).
|
||||
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA-North Film to Premiere on 10 June via Live Streaming Event on Sky-Live.TV"
|
||||
description: "On 10 June 2020 at 20:00 CEST, the next release in our series of films 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 and the IAC."
|
||||
date: 2020-06-05
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/CTA_streaming01_friomonday-1600x900.jpg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
## 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:
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbktxl7gq5ehCaec-O-NVUa](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbktxl7gq5ehCaec-O-NVUa)
|
||||
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Promoted to Landmark Status on the 2018 ESFRI Roadmap"
|
||||
description: "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."
|
||||
date: 2018-07-17
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/esfri_roadmap_photo_article-768x384.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Prototype Telescope Achieves First Light"
|
||||
description: "On 26 November 2015, a prototype telescope proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), recorded CTA’s first ever Cherenkov light while undergoing testing at l’Observatoire de Paris in Meudon, France."
|
||||
date: 2015-11-26
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/cta42-1600x1067.jpg
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
## 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.”
|
||||
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Prototype Telescope, ASTRI, Achieves First Light"
|
||||
description: "During the nights of 25 and 26 May, the camera of the ASTRI telescope prototype recorded its first ever Cherenkov light while undergoing testing at the astronomical site of Serra La Nave (Mount Etna) in Sicily managed by INAF-Catania. This…"
|
||||
date: 2017-06-14
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/15354061055_c2311325a0_k_small-768x513.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
During the nights of 25 and 26 May, the camera of the ASTRI telescope prototype (pictured to the left) recorded its first ever Cherenkov light while undergoing testing at the astronomical site of Serra La Nave (Mount Etna) in Sicily managed by INAF-Catania. This comes not long after its optical validation was achieved in November 2016. This accomplishment was the first optical demonstration for astronomical telescopes using the novel Schwarzschild Couder dual-mirror design. The ASTRI telescope is a proposed [Small-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) design for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
|
||||
|
||||
Although the camera was not fully configured, the ASTRI team was still able to capture its first Cherenkov light and produce beautiful images of the showers generated by cosmic rays in the Earth’s atmosphere. The image below shows one of the events captured by the team. This information will allow scientists to reconstruct the direction of gamma-ray photons emitted from celestial sources (indicated by the yellow line on the image on the left). The camera is based on novel SiPM small pixel sensors (7 mm x 7 mm) and CITIROC ASICS peak-finder front-end electronics. The camera was specifically designed to fit on the dual mirror ASTRI telescopes for covering a large field of view of 10O x 10O.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.*
|
||||
-33
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Prototype Telescope, ASTRI, Demonstrates Viability of Novel Schwarzschild-Couder Design"
|
||||
description: "In October 2016, the ASTRI telescope prototype, a novel dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder telescope design proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), passed its biggest test yet by demonstrating a constant point-spread function of a…"
|
||||
date: 2016-11-11
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/cta40-1600x1050.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
In October 2016, the ASTRI telescope prototype (pictured below), a novel dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder telescope design proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), passed its biggest test yet by demonstrating a constant point-spread function of a few arc minutes over a large field of view of 10 degrees.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
For more information, including Italian language content, go to: [http://www.inaf.it/en/inaf-news/astri-telescope-2020-vision](http://www.inaf.it/en/inaf-news/astri-telescope-2020-vision).
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Prototype Telescope, the SST-1M, Catches its First Glimpse of the Sky"
|
||||
description: "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)…"
|
||||
date: 2017-09-07
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/SST1M_event-1-768x366.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Releases its Updated Science Case"
|
||||
description: "On 27 September 2017, the latest iteration of the Cherenkov Telescope Array’s (CTA’s) science case, Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, was released via the CTA Library and arXiv. The work includes more than 200 pages that…"
|
||||
date: 2017-09-27
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
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 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*.
|
||||
-25
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Representatives Meet with Local Officials in La Palma to Discuss Plans for Northern Hemisphere Array"
|
||||
description: "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 (IAC), and local…"
|
||||
date: 2017-07-28
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/IMG_7254-copy2.png
|
||||
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)
|
||||
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Estreno del vídeo de CTA-Sur el 17 de marzo en un evento online en directo"
|
||||
description: "El 17 de marzo del 2021 a las 17:30 CLST/21:30 CET, se estrenará “CTA-Sur: Nuestros ojos en el sur hacia el Universo de altas energías”, que forma parte de la serie de vídeos creados por CTAO. Se hará a través de un evento online en…"
|
||||
date: 2021-03-10
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Web_Cover-768x402.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Conéctate al evento a través de estos canales:
|
||||
|
||||
[Canal de YouTube de CTAO](https://youtu.be/30iP0bIE0CA)
|
||||
|
||||
[Canal de Facebook de ESO Chile](https://www.facebook.com/ESO.Chile)
|
||||
|
||||
[Canal de YouTube de PUC](https://www.youtube.com/c/AstrofísicaUC)
|
||||
|
||||
[Canal de Facebook de PUC](https://www.facebook.com/AstrofisicaUC)
|
||||
|
||||
El 17 de marzo del 2021 a las 17:30 CLST/21:30 CET, se estrenará “CTA-Sur: Nuestros ojos en el sur hacia el Universo de altas energías”, que forma parte de [la serie de vídeos](https://youtu.be/Teyjh-KJ1aE) creados por el Observatorio CTA (CTAO). Se hará a través de un evento online en directo co-organizado por CTAO, el Observatorio Europeo Austral (ESO) y la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), como parte de las iniciativas llevadas a cabo en el [Día de la Astronomía](https://diadelaastronomia.cl/).
|
||||
|
||||
Capturar las cascadas de partículas procedentes de los rayos gamma que interactúan con la atmósfera de la Tierra es un gran desafío. Por ello, CTAO usará 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, el Administrador de la Sede CTA-Sur, Volker Heinz, presentará el emplazamiento sur, localizado cerca del Observatorio de Paranal de ESO en el Desierto de Atacama al norte de Chile.
|
||||
|
||||
El evento (en español) incluirá presentaciones a cargo del Administrador de la Sede CTA-Sur, Volker Heinz; la Coordinadora de ESO para CTAO, Lieselotte Jochum; y los representantes del consorcio de CTA en Chile, Walter Max-Moerbeck, Profesor asistente en el Departamento de Astronomía de la Universidad de Chile, y Claudio Dib, Profesor titular del Departamento de Física de la Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. Lesly Albornoz y Gioser Salazar, de la Fundación Intérpretes para Chile, proporcionarán interpretación en lengua de señas chilena.
|
||||
|
||||
Este es el tercer vídeo de una serie sobre CTAO. Los dos primeros lanzamientos son: “[La ciencia de CTA: Desde la emisión hasta el descubrimiento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gRHFQP_SjU)”, una animación sobre el funcionamiento de CTA, y “[CTA-Norte: Nuestros ojos desde el norte hasta el Universo de altas energías](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZx--MqstMo)”, un recorrido por el emplazamiento CTA-Norte. El último vídeo, todavía por estrenar, cubrirá el total de la iniciativa global para construir CTA e incluirá entrevistas con algunos de los científicos y equipos del proyecto CTA.
|
||||
|
||||
No te olvides de suscribirte a nuestro canal de YouTube y sigue la serie de vídeos aquí:
|
||||
|
||||
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbktxl7gq5ehCaec-O-NVUa](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqd_CmPv1afbktxl7gq5ehCaec-O-NVUa)
|
||||
|
||||
## Watch via these feeds:
|
||||
|
||||
[CTAO YouTube Channel](https://youtu.be/30iP0bIE0CA)
|
||||
|
||||
[ESO Chile Facebook Feed](https://www.facebook.com/ESO.Chile)
|
||||
|
||||
[PUC YouTube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/AstrofísicaUC)
|
||||
|
||||
[PUC Facebook Feed](https://www.facebook.com/AstrofisicaUC)
|
||||
|
||||
On 17 March 2021 at 17:30 CLST/21:30 CET the next release in our [series of films](https://youtu.be/Teyjh-KJ1aE) about CTA — “The CTA-South Site: Our Southern Eye on the High-Energy Universe” — will premiere on a live streaming event co-hosted by the CTA Observatory (CTAO), European Southern Observatory (ESO) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), as part of the activities carried out for the [Astronomy Day](https://diadelaastronomia.cl/).
|
||||
|
||||
Capturing particle showers from a gamma ray that interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere is a pretty big challenge! That’s why CTAO 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-South Site Manager, Volker Heinz, will introduce you to the southern site, which is located near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
|
||||
|
||||
The event (in Spanish) will include presentations by CTA-South Site Manager, Volker Heinz; ESO Coordinator for CTAO, Lieselotte Jochum; and representatives from the CTA Chile consortium: Walter Max-Moerbeck, Assistant Professor at the Department of Astronomy of Universidad de Chile, and Claudio Dib, Full Professor of the Department of Physics of Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. Chilean sign language interpretation will be provided by Lesly Albornoz and Gioser Salazar from Fundación Intérpretes para Chile.
|
||||
|
||||
This is the third film in a series about the CTAO. The first two releases: “[CTA Science: Emission to Discovery](https://youtu.be/5gRHFQP_SjU),” an animation about how CTA works and “[The CTA-North Site: Our Northern Eye on the High-Energy Universe](https://youtu.be/tZx--MqstMo),” a tour of the CTA-North site. The final release will cover the full spectrum of the global initiative to build CTA and will include 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)
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Spanish Scientific Community Gathers to Discuss the Latest Progress on the CTA Project"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2022-09-22
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/09.20_CTA_018-1-scaled-1-1600x1068.jpg
|
||||
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).
|
||||
-15
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Telescope Prototype, the Gamma-Ray Cherenkov Telescope, Inaugurated on 1 December"
|
||||
description: "On 1 December 2015, l’Observatoire de Paris hosted the inauguration of the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT) prototype, which will detect very high-energy gamma rays for the world’s largest gamma ray observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)."
|
||||
date: 2015-12-01
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/img_3730_23354500732_small_web-768x513.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 1 December 2015, l’Observatoire de Paris hosted the inauguration of the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT) prototype. The GCT will detect very high-energy gamma rays for the world’s largest gamma ray observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
|
||||
|
||||
The event was held at the Observatory’s Meudon site with speeches and presentations by representatives from l’Observatoire de Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Region Ile-de-France, the CTA and GCT consortia. Following the presentation, attendees were given a tour of the telescope and its camera, which captured CTA’s first Cherenkov light during testing just days before the event. The telescope is one of the very first to use the Schwarzschild-Couder dual-mirror optical design, which has recently been recognized as well-suited to ground-based gamma-ray astronomy, providing good image quality over a large field of view and allowing the construction of telescopes and cameras that are more compact than the single-mirror systems that are currently in use.
|
||||
|
||||
The GCT is one of CTA’s [small size telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) (SSTs) and will cover the high end of the CTA energy range, between about 1 and 300 TeV (tera-electronvolts). Around 70 SSTs are needed to make sure CTA is sufficiently sensitive at these enormous energies. The GCT is one of three different SST implementations being prototyped and tested around the world. Current expectations are that the array will include approximately 35 GCTs. They will be built by an international collaboration with contributions from institutes and universities in Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
|
||||
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO Adopts the Gammapy Software Package for Science Analysis"
|
||||
description: "On 1 June 2021, the CTA Observatory (CTAO) announced that it is adopting the Gammapy package as the Science Analysis Tools for the Observatory. The CTA Science Analysis Tools is a software package for the scientific analysis of CTA data.…"
|
||||
date: 2021-06-10
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Screenshot-2021-06-03-at-09.12.43-768x409.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 1 June 2021, the CTA Observatory (CTAO) announced that it is adopting the [Gammapy](https://gammapy.org/) package as the Science Analysis Tools for the Observatory. The CTA Science Analysis Tools (hereafter Science Tools) is a software package for the scientific analysis of CTA data. It is one of the core products that the CTA Observatory will provide to the world-wide science community during the lifetime of the observatory. The Science Tools are the interface to that community and are envisioned as a set of the highest quality software tools with documentation and tutorials that are rich in functionality and allow any user to create flexible and interoperable analysis workflows that enable the science analysis of CTA data. In addition to the science community’s use of the Science Tools, the software plays an integral role in the science operation workflows of the CTA Observatory, itself. The tools are part of the pipelines for science verification, both in the automated on-line and off-line analysis workflows, and of the CTA science platform for interactive access to results by the science users.
|
||||
|
||||
For the implementation of the Science Tools, two independent packages were developed over the years by two different teams: [ctools](http://cta.irap.omp.eu/ctools/) and Gammapy. However, due to their implementation details and philosophy, the two packages cannot be merged.
|
||||
|
||||
To decide between the two proposed solutions, the CTAO worked with the CTAO Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), which is a group of independent experts formed to advise the CTAO Council and provide advice and recommendations based on the assessment of the scientific and technical activities carried out for the CTA project. The CTAO issued a Request for Information (RFI) to both teams for their written input. At a virtual meeting in May 2021, the groups presented their proposals and responded to questions from the STAC members together with the CTAO Managing Director Federico Ferrini, Project Manager Wolfgang Wild, and Computing Coordinator Stefan Schlenstedt. The STAC made its final deliberations in a closed session, and, in line with the STAC recommendation, the CTAO decided to adopt the Gammapy package as the Science Analysis Tool for the Observatory.
|
||||
|
||||
> “Once again we have been faced with making a difficult decision between more than one viable solution for the observatory,” says CTAO Project Manager Wolfgang Wild. “We are grateful for the immense amount of work both teams put into developing their products, but we are also excited that we are finally at the point in the project where we are finalizing major decisions that move us closer to constructing and operating the Observatory.”
|
||||
-159
@@ -1,159 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Advances Towards Early Science in La Palma as LST Collaboration Announces Inauguration of Large-Sized Telescope Sub-Array"
|
||||
description: "(Versión en español abajo) La Palma, Spain, 27 May 2026 — The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the future world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, continues its steady advance towards initial…"
|
||||
date: 2026-05-27
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/DSC00216_1-1600x1069.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*(Versión en español abajo)*
|
||||
|
||||
**La Palma, Spain, 27 May 2026 —** The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the future world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, continues its steady advance towards initial operations. In a joint press conference held in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands (Spain), representatives from the [CTAO Central Organisation](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) (CTAO ERIC), the [CTAO LST Collaboration](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/), the Cabildo de La Palma, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) came together to underscore the project’s advancement towards groundbreaking science, a progress marked by the upcoming inauguration of the four [Large-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) (LSTs) on 15 October 2026 at the [CTAO-North](https://ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) site.
|
||||
|
||||
The press event was held to coincide with the [CTAO ERIC Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/) meeting on the island, which brought together delegates from more than 10 countries, including current and prospective CTAO ERIC members. It featured the Vice-President of the Cabildo de La Palma, Juan Ramón Felipe San Antonio; the Director of the IAC, Valentín Martínez; the President of the CTAO ERIC Council, Francisco Colomer; the CTAO Project Scientist, Roberta Zanin; and the Chair of the LST Collaboration’s Steering Committee, Juan Cortina.
|
||||
|
||||
The Vice President conveyed the greetings of the President of the Cabildo de La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez, and emphasised the absolute support of this administration for all the technological and scientific advancements taking place on La Palma through the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM, in Spanish), managed by the IAC.
|
||||
|
||||
> “It is an honour for our island to welcome the delegations and organisations from the countries of the CTAO. This meeting and these telescopes serve as confirmation that La Palma remains, in its own right, one of the science capitals of the world and one of the clearest windows for looking at the sky,” the Vice President stated, highlighting that “the sky over La Palma possesses exceptional conditions, protected by law, which have turned the ORM into a sanctuary for the study of the Universe.” Felipe San Antonio reiterated that “the deep-rooted connection the people of La Palma have with astronomy marks our very identity; we know how to look to the sky, as well as to the future.”
|
||||
|
||||
For his part, the Director of the IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet, stressed that the inauguration of these magnificent telescopes has been made possible thanks to inter-institutional collaboration and public support: “Hosting this meeting this week is confirmation that La Palma is a global benchmark in astrophysics and that the relationship between society and public administrations is a true model of success.” Specifically, he pointed out that “within this network, this is manifested in the support the Spanish government has given to the construction of these telescopes using FEDER (European Regional Development Fund) funds; coupled with the support of the Canary Islands Government and the Cabildo de La Palma.”
|
||||
|
||||
> “It is an absolute pleasure to gather our international delegations at the CTAO’s northern hemisphere site to witness our rapid advancement firsthand,” stated Francisco Colomer, President of the CTAO ERIC Council and Programs Director for the Spanish Deputy Directorate General for International Consortia, Organisms and Research Infrastructures. “As a European organisation, the CTAO has a truly global reach and support, while simultaneously generating a profound national and local impact. For Spain, hosting CTAO-North means spearheading a next-generation scientific endeavour and represents a major strategic commitment to the future of European astrophysics.”
|
||||
|
||||
The construction of the Observatory is progressing at an exceptional pace. As the CTAO moves closer to initial operations and its first scientific results, the Central Organisation is rapidly expanding its workforce on the island. Since 2025 alone, the team has welcomed five new members, including several native La Palma professionals, with further employment opportunities planned for 2026 and 2027.
|
||||
|
||||
> “With the rapid advancement of the CTAO-North array, we are getting closer to opening a completely new window to the extreme Universe, giving us the ability to answer some of the most exciting questions in astronomy, such as the nature of dark matter,” highlighted Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientist. “Moreover, we are committed to ensuring our La Palma neighbours are part of this endeavour through outreach and education programmes, so they can participate in and feel proud of the unprecedented science that will be conducted on the island.”
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
Importantly, the October inauguration is not the final step, but rather the gateway towards the realisation of the Observatory. Following this achievement, the LST Collaboration will continue working on technical tests required before the telescopes can be formally accepted and operated by the Central Organisation. Once accepted, they will be fully integrated within the CTAO-North array, which will also eventually feature [Medium-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) (MSTs).
|
||||
|
||||
Following the press conference, the international CTAO ERIC delegates will visit the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory to experience the project’s scale and impact in person. The visit to the CTAO-North site will be led by Patricia Márquez, CTAO-North Station Manager, whilst the detailed tour of the LSTs will be guided by Daniel Mazin, Project Manager of the LST Collaboration.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
To cover its broad energy range, the CTAO will use three types of telescopes: the Large-Sized Telescopes (LST), the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST) and the Small-Sized Telescopes (SST). More than 60 telescopes will be distributed between two telescope 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 in the southern hemisphere at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The Headquarters of the CTAO 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 is a Big Data project. 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.
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO Central Organisation (legally, the CTAO ERIC) is in charge of the construction and operation of the Observatory and manages the four sites. Thus, it is made up of the groups and people dedicated to the management and administration of the Observatory’s development and the overall project, science, computing or systems engineering activities, among others. The CTAO ERIC is financially supported by a growing list of countries and organisations. 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 engaged in the process of joining the CTAO ERIC as Strategic Partners or Third Parties.
|
||||
|
||||
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 (IKC) that are developing essential hardware and software, in addition to the CTAO Consortium, an international group of researchers who works on the scientific exploitation of the Observatory. Among the IKC is the CTAO LST Collaboration, in charge of developing the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs).
|
||||
|
||||
When gamma rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere, they generate cascades of particles that produce Cherenkov light. 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 GeV and 3 TeV.
|
||||
|
||||
Despite standing 45 meters tall and weighing 100 tonnes, each LST can reposition to any point in the sky within 20 seconds. Both this rapid repositioning and the low-energy threshold of the LSTs are critical for the CTAO’s studies of galactic transients, high-redshift active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts.
|
||||
|
||||
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)
|
||||
|
||||
> [LST-1 Timelapse](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO_Emission_LightHunters.mp4) (Credit: Daniel Lopez and CTAO)
|
||||
|
||||
> “Exploring the Universe at the Highest Energies with the CTAO” Film – [Link to Download](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/Exploring-the-Universe-at-the-Highest-Energies-with-the-CTAO.mp4) & [Link To YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-JyExCq7Y)
|
||||
|
||||
> How CTAO Works Science Animation – [Link to Download](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/How_CTAO_Works.mp4) & [Link to YouTube](https://youtu.be/5gRHFQP_SjU?si=7hYdLrUJcWL4NF7A)
|
||||
|
||||
Go to [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctao-universe/albums) for more images and to the [Media Library](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/media-library/) for more video clips.
|
||||
|
||||
## El CTAO avanza hacia los primeros resultados científicos en La Palma mientras la Colaboración LST anuncia la inauguración del subconjunto de los telescopios grandes
|
||||
|
||||
**La Palma, España, 28 de mayo de 2026** — El [Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO)](https://www.ctao.org/), el futuro observatorio de astronomía de rayos gamma más grande y potente del mundo, continúa su avance constante hacia su fase de operaciones iniciales. En una rueda de prensa conjunta celebrada en Santa Cruz de La Palma, Islas Canarias (España), representantes de la [Organización Central del CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/es/organisation/team/) (CTAO ERIC), la [Colaboración LST del CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/es/partners/in-kind-contributors/), el Cabildo de La Palma y el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) se reunieron para destacar el avance del proyecto hacia una ciencia pionera. Este progreso está marcado por la próxima inauguración de los [cuatro Large-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) (LST, los telescopios grandes) el 15 de octubre de 2026 en el emplazamiento [CTAO-Norte](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/).
|
||||
|
||||
El evento de prensa se celebró coincidiendo con la reunión del [Consejo del CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/es/organisation/governance/) en la isla, que agrupó a delegados de más de 10 países, incluyendo miembros actuales y potenciales del CTAO ERIC. Contó con la presencia del Vice-Presidente del Cabildo de La Palma, Juan Ramón Felipe San Antonio; el Director del IAC, Valentín Martínez; el Presidente del Consejo del CTAO ERIC, Francisco Colomer; la Responsable Científica del CTAO, Roberta Zanin; y el Presidente del Comité Directivo de la Colaboración LST, Juan Cortina.
|
||||
|
||||
El vicepresidente trasladó el saludo del presidente del Cabildo de La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez, e insistió en el apoyo absoluto de esta administración a todos los avances tecnológicos y científicos que tienen lugar en La Palma a través del Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, del Instituto de Astrofísico de Canarias. “Para nuestra isla es un honor recibir a las delegaciones y organizaciones de los países del CTAO. Esta reunión y estos telescopios son la constatación de que La Palma sigue siendo, por derecho propio, una de las capitales mundiales de la ciencia y una de las ventanas más nítidas para mirar al cielo”, aseguró el vicepresidente y remarcó que “el cielo de La Palma posee unas condiciones excepcionales, protegidas por la Ley, que ha convertido al ORM en un santuario para el estudio del Universo”. Felipe San Antonio reiteró “el arraigo de los palmeros con la astronomía marca nuestra propia identidad, sabemos mirar al cielo y también al futuro”.
|
||||
|
||||
Por su parte, el director del IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet insistió en que la inauguración de estos magníficos telescopios es posible gracias a la colaboración interinstitucional y al apoyo social. “La celebración de esta reunión esta semana es la constatación de que La Palma es un referente mundial en Astrofísica y que la relación entre sociedad y administraciones es todo un modelo de éxito”, explicó Martínez Pillet. En concreto, expuso que “en esta red se manifiesta en el apoyo del Gobierno de España ha dado a la construcción de estos telescopios con fondos Feder; a lo que se suma el apoyo del Gobierno de Canarias y del Cabildo de La Palma”.
|
||||
|
||||
> “Es un absoluto placer reunir a nuestras delegaciones internacionales en el emplazamiento del hemisferio norte del CTAO para presenciar de primera mano nuestro rápido avance”, afirmó Francisco Colomer, Presidente del Consejo del CTAO ERIC y Director de Programas de la Subdirección General de Consorcios, Organismos e Infraestructuras de Investigación Internacionales de España. “Como organización europea, el CTAO tiene un alcance y un apoyo verdaderamente globales, al mismo tiempo que genera un profundo impacto nacional y local. Para España, albergar CTAO-Norte significa liderar un esfuerzo científico de próxima generación y representa un gran compromiso estratégico para el futuro de la astrofísica europea.”
|
||||
|
||||
La construcción del Observatorio avanza a un ritmo excepcional. A medida que el CTAO se acerca a sus operaciones iniciales y a sus primeros resultados científicos, la Organización Central está ampliando rápidamente su plantilla en la isla. Desde 2025, el equipo ha dado la bienvenida a cinco nuevos miembros, incluyendo varios profesionales nativos de La Palma, con más oportunidades de empleo previstas para 2026 y 2027.
|
||||
|
||||
> “Con el rápido avance de CTAO-Norte, estamos cada vez más cerca de abrir una ventana completamente nueva al Universo extremo, brindándonos la capacidad de responder a algunas de las preguntas más emocionantes de la astronomía, como la naturaleza de la materia oscura”, destacó Roberta Zanin, Responsable Científica del CTAO. “Además, estamos comprometidos a garantizar que nuestros vecinos de La Palma formen parte de este progreso a través de programas de divulgación y educación, para que puedan participar y sentirse orgullosos de la ciencia sin precedentes que se llevará a cabo en la isla.”
|
||||
|
||||
Como prueba de este compromiso, tan solo en este mes de mayo, el Observatorio coorganizó el [evento “Women of CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/news/ctao-and-cabildo-of-la-palma-organise-women-of-ctao-2026/)” con el Cabildo de La Palma, celebró la escuela internacional “CTAO School”, atrayendo a la isla a estudiantes de doctorado de todo el mundo, y celebró el éxito de las prácticas de una estudiante local de formación profesional.
|
||||
|
||||
Paralelamente a estas iniciativas comunitarias, el desarrollo tecnológico del Observatorio sigue avanzando rápidamente. Un claro ejemplo es el trabajo de la Colaboración LST, un equipo internacional de más de 500 miembros de todo el mundo. La Colaboración es responsable de diseñar y construir los LST, el mayor de los tres tipos de telescopios del CTAO, que ahora se encuentran en las etapas finales de construcción — un proceso que también ha tenido un impacto socioeconómico tangible en La Palma, con la contratación de más de 30 empresas locales durante esta fase. En octubre tendrá lugar la inauguración oficial de los cuatro LST en CTAO-Norte, un importante anuncio realizado durante la conferencia de prensa.
|
||||
|
||||
> “La próxima inauguración es un hito histórico para el futuro del Observatorio, pero especialmente para la Colaboración LST”, explicó Juan Cortina, Presidente del Comité Directivo de la Colaboración LST. “Nuestros equipos de científicos e ingenieros han trabajado incansablemente durante años para llegar a este punto. Este logro culmina la fase de construcción y estamos encantados de celebrarlo junto a socios de todo el mundo, incluyendo representantes institucionales de alto nivel y científicos de renombre mundial, como el Premio Nobel Takaaki Kajita.”
|
||||
|
||||
Es importante destacar que la inauguración de octubre no es el paso final, sino más bien un paso clave hacia la materialización del Observatorio. Tras este logro, la Colaboración LST continuará trabajando en las pruebas técnicas necesarias para que los telescopios puedan ser aceptados y operados oficialmente por la Organización Central. Una vez aceptados, se integrarán completamente en la red de CTAO-Norte, que en un futuro también contará con [Medium-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/) (MST, telescopios de tamaño medio).
|
||||
|
||||
Tras la conferencia de prensa, las delegaciones internacionales del CTAO ERIC visitarán el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos para presenciar en persona la magnitud y el impacto del proyecto. La visita al emplazamiento CTAO-Norte será dirigida por Patricia Márquez, Responsable de la Estación CTAO-Norte, mientras que el recorrido detallado de los telescopios LST será guiado por Daniel Mazin, Gerente de Proyecto de la Colaboración LST.
|
||||
|
||||
Con la inminente inauguración de los LST, organizada por la Colaboración LST, y la constante expansión de las operaciones y del equipo de la Organización Central en la isla, el CTAO se encuentra en el umbral de una nueva era en la astronomía de rayos gamma. El camino hacia descubrimientos sin precedentes ha comenzado oficialmente, y La Palma se encuentra en el corazón del mismo.
|
||||
|
||||
El CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory; www.ctao.org) será el observatorio de astronomía de rayos gamma más grande y potente del mundo. La incomparable precisión y el amplio rango de energía del CTAO (20 GeV – 300 TeV) ayudarán a abordar algunas de las preguntas más emocionantes de la astrofísica, las cuales se agrupan en [tres temas principales](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/science/study-themes/):
|
||||
|
||||
- Comprender el origen y el papel de las partículas cósmicas relativistas.
|
||||
|
||||
- Investigar entornos extremos, como los agujeros negros o las estrellas de neutrones.
|
||||
|
||||
- Explorar las fronteras de la física, buscando materia oscura o desviaciones de la teoría de la relatividad de Einstein.
|
||||
|
||||
Además, el CTAO desempeñará un papel clave en la astronomía multionda y multimensajero en las próximas décadas gracias a su mayor rendimiento, lo que le permitirá proporcionar información fundamental sobre los rayos gamma en la búsqueda por explorar los escenarios más extremos.
|
||||
|
||||
El CTAO es un proyecto Landmark del Foro Estratégico Europeo sobre Infraestructuras de Investigación (ESFRI), uno de los “Siete Magníficos” de la estrategia europea de astrofísica de partículas de ASPERA, y una de las principales prioridades entre los nuevos proyectos de infraestructura terrestre para el período 2022-2035 en la hoja de ruta de ASTRONET.
|
||||
|
||||
Para cubrir su amplio rango de energía, el CTAO utilizará [tres tipos de telescopios](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/): los Large-Sized Telescopes (LST, telescopios grandes), los Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST, telescopios de tamaño medio) y los Small-Sized Telescopes (SST, telescopios pequeños).
|
||||
|
||||
Más de 60 telescopios se distribuirán entre los dos emplazamientos de telescopios: [CTAO-Norte](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/), ubicado en el hemisferio norte en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) en La Palma (España), y [CTAO-Sur](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/), localizado en el hemisferio sur en el Observatorio Paranal del Observatorio Europeo Austral (ESO) en el Desierto de Atacama (Chile). La [sede central](https://www.ctao.org/es/organisation/facilities/) del CTAO está albergada por el Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) en Bolonia (Italia), y el [Centro de Gestión de Datos Científicos](https://www.ctao.org/es/organisation/facilities/) (SDMC) tiene su sede en el campus de Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY en Zeuthen (Alemania).
|
||||
|
||||
El CTAO es un [proyecto de Big Data.](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/) El Observatorio generará cientos de petabytes (PB) de datos al año (~12 PB tras la compresión). Basado en su compromiso con la Ciencia Abierta, el CTAO será el primer observatorio de rayos gamma terrestre en operar como un observatorio abierto e impulsado por propuestas de observación, proporcionando acceso público a sus datos científicos de alto nivel y productos de software.
|
||||
|
||||
La Organización Central del CTAO (legalmente, el CTAO ERIC — Consorcio Europeo de Infraestructuras de Investigación) está a cargo de la construcción y operación del Observatorio, y gestiona las cuatro sedes. Así, está compuesta por los grupos y personas dedicados a la gestión y administración del desarrollo del Observatorio y de las actividades generales del proyecto, ciencia, computación o ingeniería de sistemas, entre otros. El CTAO ERIC cuenta con el respaldo financiero de una lista creciente de países y organizaciones. Los miembros del CTAO ERIC incluyen Alemania, Austria, Croacia, Eslovenia, España, Francia, Italia, el Observatorio Europeo Austral (ESO), Polonia, la República Checa y Suiza. Otros países —Australia, Brasil, Estados Unidos, Japón y Sudáfrica— están en proceso de unirse al CTAO ERIC como Socios Estratégicos o Terceras Partes.
|
||||
|
||||
La Organización Central trabaja en estrecha cooperación con grupos socios de todo el mundo para el desarrollo del Observatorio. Los principales socios incluyen las Colaboraciones de Contribuciones en Especie (IKC, por sus siglas en inglés), que están desarrollando hardware y software esenciales, además del Consorcio CTAO, un grupo internacional de investigadores que trabaja en la explotación científica del Observatorio. Entre las IKC se encuentra la Colaboración LST del CTAO, encargada de desarrollar los LST.
|
||||
|
||||
Cuando los [rayos gamma interactúan con la atmósfera terrestre](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/), generan cascadas de partículas que producen luz Cherenkov. Debido a que los rayos gamma de menor energía crean solo pequeñas cantidades de luz Cherenkov, se necesitan telescopios con grandes áreas colectoras para detectarla. El LST, con su reflector de 23 metros de diámetro, proporcionará la sensibilidad única del CTAO en el rango de baja energía entre 20 GeV y 3 TeV.
|
||||
|
||||
A pesar de sus 45 metros de altura y un peso de 100 toneladas, cada LST puede reposicionarse para apuntar a cualquier punto del cielo en tan solo 20 segundos. Tanto este rápido reposicionamiento como el bajo umbral de energía de los LST son críticos para los estudios del CTAO sobre eventos transitorios galácticos, núcleos activos de galaxias lejanas y estallidos de rayos gamma.
|
||||
|
||||
La Colaboración LST del CTAO es responsable de diseñar y construir estos telescopios. Está formada por más de 500 científicos e ingenieros de 25 instituciones distribuidas en 11 países: Alemania, Brasil, Bulgaria, Croacia, España, Francia, Italia, Japón, Polonia, República Checa y Suiza.
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral, Directora de Comunicación del CTAO
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org) (español, inglés e italiano)
|
||||
|
||||
+39-051-6357-270
|
||||
|
||||
Para su comodidad, a continuación se proporcionan los enlaces al contenido más actualizado. A menos que se indique lo contrario, el crédito correspondiente para el contenido es “CTAO”. Por favor, consulte [las normas de uso](https://www.ctao.org/es/news-resources/media-library/media-usage/) en nuestra web.
|
||||
|
||||
> Fotos del evento – [Enlace a la carpeta](https://ctaoobservatory.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/ctao-outreach/IgCZLenTv8sGR6-CZ33bRD3OAXcZHJp3OgHyxD_Rl-vBaWw?e=OUduw5) (Crédito: )
|
||||
|
||||
> [LST-1 Timelapse](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO_Emission_LightHunters.mp4) (Crédito: Daniel Lopez y CTAO)
|
||||
|
||||
> [Folleto Divulgativo](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/Brochure_Spanish_0704.pdf)
|
||||
|
||||
> [Animación Científica](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/How_CTAO_Works.mp4)
|
||||
|
||||
> [“Exploring the Universe at the Highest Energies with the CTAO” Film](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/Exploring-the-Universe-at-the-Highest-Energies-with-the-CTAO.mp4)
|
||||
|
||||
Ve a [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctao-universe/albums) para más imágenes y a la [Media Library](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/media-library/) (Biblioteca multimedia) para más clips de video.
|
||||
@@ -1,105 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO and the Cabildo of La Palma Highlight Local Astronomy Professionals with the Event Women of CTAO: Our Island, Our Science"
|
||||
description: "(Versión en español abajo) 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…"
|
||||
date: 2026-05-07
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Banner_Women-of-CTAO-scaled-e1778057208344-1600x801.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*(Versión en español abajo)*
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
> “Recognising and showcasing the fantastic women professionals in the field of astronomy and cutting-edge scientific research that we have here is a task we gladly undertake. It is a pleasure to say that the scientific vanguard is present in La Palma and has talented female voices with much to share and contribute to the economic development of this island,” explains Perestelo.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
## El CTAO y el Cabildo de La Palma Ponen en Valor a las Profesionales Locales de Astronomía con el Evento “Women of CTAO: Nuestra Isla, Nuestra Ciencia”
|
||||
|
||||
El próximo sábado 16 de mayo a las 11:00 h, el Teatro Chico (C. Díaz Pimienta 1, Santa Cruz de La Palma) acogerá la sexta edición de “Women of CTAO”, un evento de divulgación que pone el foco en las mujeres que están haciendo posible uno de los proyectos científicos más ambiciosos del planeta: [el CTAO, el mayor observatorio del mundo para la astronomía de rayos gamma.](https://www.ctao.org/es/)
|
||||
|
||||
Este año, el evento contará con la participación de tres mujeres vinculadas a La Palma que trabajan en el emplazamiento CTAO-Norte, el conjunto de telescopios del CTAO situado en el Roque de los Muchachos. En un formato de mesa redonda conversacional, estas tres profesionales compartirán su experiencia trabajando en el proyecto, acercándonos no solo al CTAO, sino también a sus trayectorias personales y profesionales:
|
||||
|
||||
- Patricia Márquez, responsable del emplazamiento CTAO-Norte. Natural de Madrid, con trayectoria internacional, residen en La Palma desde 2018.
|
||||
- Mónica Deza, coordinadora de la oficina CTAO-Norte. Natural de Buenos Aires, se vino a Europa hace más de 25 años. En el 2023, se mudó a La Palma.
|
||||
- Carolina Hernández, administradora y coordinadora de seguridad de los Large-Sized Telescopes (LST), los telescopios más grandes del CTAO, natural de La Palma.
|
||||
|
||||
“Women of CTAO” se celebra en colaboración con el [Cabildo de La Palma](https://www.cabildodelapalma.es/es) y [SODEPAL](https://sodepal.es/), consolidándose como una iniciativa que promueve la divulgación científica, la igualdad de oportunidades y la conexión entre la ciudadanía y los grandes proyectos internacionales que tienen sede en la isla.
|
||||
|
||||
El acto contará con la participación institucional de Miriam Perestelo, consejera de Promoción Económica del Cabildo de La Palma y consejera delegada de SODEPAL, así como de Raquel Rebollo, consejera de Turismo del Cabildo de La Palma.
|
||||
|
||||
> “El reconocimiento y la visibilidad de las fantásticas profesionales del ámbito de la astronomía y la más alta investigación científica con que contamos es una tarea que asumimos con mucho gusto. Es un placer contar que la vanguardia científica está presente en La Palma y tiene voces femeninas llenas de talento y de cosas que contar y aportar al desarrollo económico de esta isla”, explica Perestelo.
|
||||
|
||||
Raquel Rebollo, consejera de Turismo, considera el evento como “una ventana de visibilidad hacia La Palma, impulsando el astroturismo a partir de las historias de vida de las mejores embajadoras que puede tener el sector, en general, y este nicho de mercado en particular, sus profesionales al poner en relación su experiencia laboral con la vida en la isla”.
|
||||
|
||||
La conversación será moderada por Arianne Vera y Joaquín Hernández, alumnos del ciclo de FP de Marketing y Publicidad del IES José María Pérez Pulido (Los Llanos de Aridane), aportando una mirada fresca y joven al diálogo científico. Para garantizar la accesibilidad, el evento se desarrollará íntegramente en español y contará con interpretación a lengua de signos española (LSE). Tras el evento, los asistentes podrán disfrutar de un espacio de *networking* en el mismo teatro para llevar la conversación “fuera del escenario”. Será el momento ideal para charlar directamente con las ponentes y compartir impresiones en un ambiente distendido.
|
||||
|
||||
> “El evento “Women of CTAO” es una de las muchas acciones previstas para acercar las novedades de nuestro observatorio a la sociedad y promover la diversidad en la ciencia”, afirma Alba Fernández-Barral, Directora de Comunicación del CTAO. “Nuestro objetivo es ofrecer referentes a las nuevas generaciones y crear oportunidades reales, motivo por el cual la participación y moderación por parte de los estudiantes del IES José María Pérez Pulido es tan importante para nosotros. Nos hace mucha ilusión celebrar la sexta edición aquí y agradecemos inmensamente al Cabildo de La Palma y a Sodepal todo su apoyo”.
|
||||
|
||||
El CTAO contará con dos conjuntos de telescopios: uno en La Palma (CTAO-Norte) y otro en Chile (CTAO-Sur). A medida que el Observatorio avanza hacia la fase de operaciones científicas, los equipos en la isla están creciendo rápidamente, con la incorporación de cinco profesionales al equipo de CTAO-Norte desde 2025, un [puesto actualmente vacante](https://www.ctao.org/es/opportunities/career/) y más plazas que se sumarán a lo largo de 2026 y 2027.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
El CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, [https://www.ctao.org/es/](https://www.ctao.org/es/)) será el [observatorio de astronomía de rayos gamma más grande y potente del mundo](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/science/how-ctao-works/). Su precisión sin precedentes y su amplio rango de energía (20 GeV – 300 TeV) ayudarán a responder algunas de las preguntas más complejas de la astrofísica, centradas en [tres grandes temas](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/science/study-themes/): comprender el origen y el papel de las partículas cósmicas relativistas; explorar entornos extremos, como agujeros negros o estrellas de neutrones; y explorar las fronteras de la física, buscando materia oscura o desviaciones de la teoría de la relatividad de Einstein.
|
||||
|
||||
Para cubrir su amplio rango de energía, el CTAO utilizará [tres tipos de telescopios](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/): Large-Sized Telescopes (LST), Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST) y Small-Sized Telescopes (SST). Más de 60 telescopios se distribuirán en dos emplazamientos: [CTAO-Norte](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-north/) en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchacho en La Palma (España), y [CTAO-Sur](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) en el Desierto de Atacama (Chile). La [sede central](https://www.ctao.org/es/organisation/facilities/) del CTAO se encuentra en Bolonia (Italia) y el Centro de Gestión de Datos Científicos (SDMC) en Zeuthen (Alemania).
|
||||
|
||||
El CTAO es un [proyecto de Big Data](https://www.ctao.org/es/emission-to-discovery/data-and-computing/). El Observatorio generará cientos de petabytes (PB) de datos al año (~12 PB tras la compresión). Fiel a su compromiso con la Ciencia Abierta, el CTAO será el primer observatorio de rayos gamma de este tipo en operar de forma abierta y basada en propuestas de observación, proporcionando acceso público a sus datos científicos de alto nivel y software. La comunidad científica española, por ser país anfitrión de los telescopios, contará con un 10% del tiempo de observación reservado para sus investigaciones.
|
||||
|
||||
La entidad responsable de la construcción y operación del observatorio CTAO es la llamada [Organización Central del CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/es/organisation/team/) (legalmente, “CTAO ERIC”, Consorcio de Infraestructura de Investigación Europea). Los miembros del CTAO ERIC incluyen a Austria, Croacia, la República Checa, el Observatorio Europeo Austral (ESO), Francia, Alemania, Italia, Polonia, Eslovenia, España y Suiza. Otros países (Australia, Brasil, Japón, Sudáfrica y los Estados Unidos) están en proceso de unirse al CTAO ERIC como Socios Estratégicos o Terceras Partes.
|
||||
|
||||
La Organización Central trabaja en estrecha cooperación con socios del proyecto de todo el mundo para el desarrollo del Observatorio. Dentro de los principales socios están las llamadas “[Colaboraciones de Contribución en Especie](https://www.ctao.org/es/partners/in-kind-contributors/)”, grupos internacionales de científicos e ingenieros que desarrollan hardware y software esenciales para el Observatorio. Entre ellos se encuentran las “Colaboraciones de Telescopios” y existe una por cada uno de los tres tipos de telescopios que el CTAO usará (los LSTs, MSTs y SSTs). Actualmente en La Palma, hay cuatro LSTs en diferentes fases de construcción por parte de la Colaboración LST del CTAO. El prototipo de los LSTs, conocido como LST-1, fue inaugurado en 2018 y lleva desde entonces en fase de puesta en marcha. Una vez finalizada la construcción, los telescopios deben pasar un período de pruebas gestionado por la Colaboración del LST, tras lo cual la Organización Central los aceptará y operará como parte del observatorio CTAO. En el futuro, el conjunto de CTAO-Norte contará también con MSTs.
|
||||
|
||||
Alba Fernández-Barral, Directora de Comunicación del CTAO
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:Alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org) (español, inglés o italiano)
|
||||
|
||||
Para su comodidad, a continuación se proporcionan los enlaces al contenido más actualizado. A menos que se indique lo contrario, el crédito correspondiente para el contenido es “CTAO”. Por favor, consulte [las normas de uso](https://www.ctao.org/es/news-resources/media-library/media-usage/) en nuestra web.
|
||||
|
||||
[Women of CTAO Póster](https://ctaoobservatory.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/ctao-outreach/IQDwEFcryMTCSrc5y7pIflMyAQbSbosJyusxdkIQSL4tWKQ?e=xer44K)
|
||||
|
||||
[Nota de Prensa](https://ctaoobservatory.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/ctao-outreach/IQA4UjM2njDMQoLnQ6dvdBu5AWZEf32mTVJgOAMpZQncOhg?e=bYoHJj)
|
||||
|
||||
Ediciones Anteriores:
|
||||
|
||||
[Women of CTAO Primera Edición – Crédito Tiziana Abegg (CTAO)](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/womenofctao_2019.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
[Women of CTAO Segunda Edición – Crédito Megan Grunewald (CTAO)](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/WoC.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
Vídeos e Información Adicional:
|
||||
|
||||
[LST-1 Timelapse](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO_Emission_LightHunters.mp4) (Crédito: Daniel Lopez y CTAO)
|
||||
|
||||
[Folleto CTAO](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/ES_Flyer_Dic25-2.pdf)
|
||||
|
||||
[Folleto Divulgativo](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/Brochure_Spanish_0704.pdf)
|
||||
|
||||
[Animación Científica](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/How_CTAO_Works.mp4)
|
||||
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO Consortium Spring 2025 Meeting: A Week of Scientific Synergies and News"
|
||||
description: "From May 12 to 16, the 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…"
|
||||
date: 2025-05-20
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/ConsortiumGroupPicture_May2025-1600x1200.jpeg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Marica Branchesi provided an insightful overview of the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA gravitational wave detectors, whose gravitational wave signals will be followed up by the CTAO to better understand the mechanisms behind these events.
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Antoine Kouchner presented groundbreaking results from the KM3NeT neutrino telescope, which recently recorded the most energetic neutrino ever detected. Neutrinos and gamma rays are complementary messengers that can contribute to reveal the origin of the cosmic rays, one of the main targets of the CTAO.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "“CTA Observatory: Connecting Minds Worldwide to Unravel the Mysteries of the Extreme Universe” at the Expo 2020 Dubai"
|
||||
description: "On Friday, 22 October 2021 at 11:00 Dubai time (9:00 CEST), the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) will host the event “CTA Observatory: Connecting Minds Worldwide to Unravel the…"
|
||||
date: 2021-10-19
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/FeatureImage-01-768x351.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On Friday, 22 October 2021 at 11:00 Dubai time (9:00 CEST), the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)](http://www.inaf.it/en?set_language=en) will host the event “CTA Observatory: Connecting Minds Worldwide to Unravel the Mysteries of the Extreme Universe” at the Italy Pavilion of the Expo 2020 Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The international event will serve as an introduction to the CTAO’s state-of-the-art technology, its enormous scientific potential and the extensive global network contributing to its development to all nations participating in the Expo 2020 Dubai. Among the renowned speakers and representatives that will participate in the event are Nobel Laureate in Physics 2015, Prof. Takaaki Kajita, and the Ambassador of Italy at the United Arab Emirates, Ambassador Nicola Lener. The event will be live streamed on the CTAO, INAF and Expo 2020 Dubai social media channels.
|
||||
|
||||
Links to Live Streaming:
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ctaobservatory/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0IHTTfgiiyCFLp-SH8egMw)
|
||||
|
||||
INAF: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/inaftv)
|
||||
|
||||
Expo 2020 Dubai: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ItalyExpo2020), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/italyexpo2020)
|
||||
|
||||
Watch it back:
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
The theme of the Italian Pavilion is “Beauty connects people – celebrating beauty as the connecting element between creativity and knowledge.” The pavilion itself is constructed from the hulls of three ships: “Inspired by the connecting routes of the Mediterranean, it will take visitors on a journey through history to the future.” Throughout history, the splendor of the night sky has inspired artists, philosophers and scientists. Thus, following this theme, the “CTA Observatory: Connecting minds worldwide to unravel the mysteries of the Extreme Universe” event will tap into the excitement of exploration and the bond that we all share in our quest to push beyond the boundaries of our understanding of the Universe.
|
||||
|
||||
> “CTAO will be a very powerful observatory accessible by scientists of the international community. It will open a new window in the observations of the high-energy Universe”, says Marco Tavani, President of INAF. “With CTAO we will study in an unprecedented way the most extreme cosmic sources including black holes, neutron stars, supernova remnants, and other mysterious objects. We will unveil their secrets with the aim of learning about physical processes that can be useful to mankind.”
|
||||
|
||||
The event, which will be carried out in English, will be held in the Auditorium of the Italian Pavilion. Registration to attend is required and can be done through the Expo 2020 Dubai App and website, as well as through the Italian Pavilion App. The event will be also live streamed on the CTAO, INAF and Expo 2020 Dubai Facebook and YouTube channels.
|
||||
|
||||
The Expo 2020 Dubai is an a World Expo. It was initially expected to be performed between October 2020 and March 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed and will be open from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. This World Expo, whose topic is “Connecting Minds, Creating Future,” expects to gather more than 25 million visitors.
|
||||
|
||||
## Speakers
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
## Links to Live Streaming
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ctaobservatory/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0IHTTfgiiyCFLp-SH8egMw)
|
||||
|
||||
INAF: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/inaftv)
|
||||
|
||||
Expo 2020 Dubai: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ItalyExpo2020), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/italyexpo2020)
|
||||
|
||||
## Contacts
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO: [Alba Fernández-Barral](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org), CTAO Outreach & Education Coordinator
|
||||
|
||||
INAF: [Marco Galliani](mailto:marco.galliani@inaf.it), INAF Communication Officer
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO Finalises Asset Transfer from gGmbH to ERIC"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2025-10-02
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/AssetTransferAgreement1-768x403.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Publishes its Gender Equality Plan"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2022-06-17
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/diversity_header-1600x1068.jpeg
|
||||
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)
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO’s Growth Defines the First Quarter of 2025"
|
||||
description: "Strengthened by the establishment of the ERIC this past January, the CTAO Central Organisation has continued the rigorous recruitment campaign it launched last year, resulting in a significant increase in new hires and career opportunities…"
|
||||
date: 2025-03-27
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/StaffZeuthen2024-1600x1192.jpg
|
||||
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/).
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Joins the STARMUS Festival 2025 in La Palma"
|
||||
description: "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. A unique global event, STARMUS blends astrophysics, space exploration, art,…"
|
||||
date: 2025-05-07
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/CTAO_STARMUS-1600x1205.png
|
||||
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).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
-27
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Receives Commemorative Plaque Celebrating its ERIC Status Under the Danish EU Presidency"
|
||||
description: "On 22 October, during the Research and Technology Infrastructure (RTI) Summit 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Francisco Colomer, Chair of the CTAO ERIC Council, received a commemorative plaque from the European Commission on behalf of the…"
|
||||
date: 2025-10-24
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/ERICPlateCeremony-scaled-e1761294863228-1600x1250.jpg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO Releases the Layout of its Arrays for the Alpha Configuration"
|
||||
description: "The CTAO released the final 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…"
|
||||
date: 2022-07-15
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/CTAO_North_Alpha_Final_2024-768x432.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Calling All Early-Career Scientists: New “CTAO School” Launches in June 2024"
|
||||
description: "In June 2024, the CTAO gGmbH, in cooperation with the LST Collaboration, will inaugurate the first CTAO School."
|
||||
date: 2023-11-23
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/CTAO-School-2023-Instagram-Post-LinkedIn-Post-1920-x-1080-px-1600x900.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
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/)
|
||||
|
||||
## Funding
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO School is organized by the CTAO gGmbH in cooperation with the LST Collaboration. The first week of the school in Bertinoro is 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. The second week is supported by funds from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation and the Japanese Institute for Cosmic Ray Research.
|
||||
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO Science Data Management Centre Inauguration on 14 October 2024, Zeuthen (Germany)"
|
||||
description: "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."
|
||||
date: 2024-10-08
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/4_building_side2-DESY-UlrikeBehrens-1600x1033.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
> [CTAO SDMC Live Streaming in English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-K8hcsvQr0)
|
||||
|
||||
> [CTAO SDMC Live Streaming in German](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6HT8Vxj5Q)
|
||||
|
||||
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
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO Chief Communications Officer
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
Ulrike Behrens
|
||||
|
||||
Head of Communications at DESY Zeuthen
|
||||
|
||||
[ulrike.behrens@desy.de](mailto:ulrike.behrens@desy.de)
|
||||
|
||||
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)
|
||||
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Science Symposium Returns in April 2024 for its Second Edition"
|
||||
description: "The CTAO will host the second edition of its CTAO Science Symposium 15-18 April 2024 in Bologna, Italy."
|
||||
date: 2023-11-17
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Featured-Image-Still-1600x900.png
|
||||
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/)
|
||||
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "New Hub for High-Energy Astrophysics – CTAO Science Data Management Centre Opens at DESY in Zeuthen"
|
||||
description: "On October 14, the CTAO, along with hosting partners and shareholders Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, celebrated the official inauguration of the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) on the DESY campus in Zeuthen."
|
||||
date: 2024-10-14
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/1_building_front-DESY-SusannNiedworok-1600x920.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
> [CTAO SDMC Live Streaming in English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-K8hcsvQr0)
|
||||
|
||||
> [CTAO SDMC Live Streaming in German](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6HT8Vxj5Q)
|
||||
|
||||
Zeuthen, Germany – On October 14, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), along with hosting partners and shareholders [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY](https://desy.de/), celebrated the official inauguration of the Science Data Management Centre (SDMC) on the DESY campus in Zeuthen.
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
## The new SDMC facility
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
*CTAO SDMC in Zeuthen, Germany. Credit: DESY*
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
> “The opening of the SDMC represents a significant success and major milestone for the Observatory,“ explained Stuart McMuldroch during the inauguration. “The SDMC is a critical and essential part of our international effort to explore the high-energy Universe. It will provide essential data processing, software, and computing capabilities that significantly advance our mission. We are grateful to DESY and all those who made the SDMC a reality.”
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
## 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.”
|
||||
|
||||
## Further information and inquiries
|
||||
|
||||
For further information and interview inquiries (both in person and online), please contact:
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO Chief Communications Officer
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
Ulrike Behrens
|
||||
|
||||
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).
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO requires the collaboration and investment of a wide international network of countries and contributors. The Observatory is supported financially by a growing list of shareholders, which includes more than ten countries and an intergovernmental organisation. More than 1,500 people working in different international teams contribute to the implementation of the CTAO, as well as to its scientific, software and hardware development.
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO was included in the 2008 roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and promoted to a Landmark project in 2018 and is a top-ranked priority amongst new ground-based infrastructure projects in ASTRONET’s “Roadmap 2022-2035: A Strategic Plan for European Astronomy.”
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO SDMC is one of the Observatory’s four facilities. Located on the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY campus in Zeuthen, Germany, it serves as the scientific gateway for data received from the two telescope arrays and will coordinate both software and computing efforts, making CTAO’s data products available to the worldwide community. This approach stems from CTAO’s commitment to Open Science, making it the first observatory of its kind to operate as an open, proposal-driven observatory providing public access to its high-level science data and software products.
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO SDMC will be the home of the CTAO Computing Department. From handling the proposal submissions to the dissemination of data to scientists, the computing team is working to develop a package of hardware and software products to support the flow of data. Operating from the CTAO SDMC, they will coordinate with several off-site data centre partners for the Observatory’s data processing and simulation needs and are directly responsible for the installation of the on-site data centres and control rooms at the two array sites.
|
||||
|
||||
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-1.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)
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Signs Cooperation Agreement with the Square Kilometre Array Organisation"
|
||||
description: "The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKAO) will engage in closer collaboration under a new agreement signed by the two research infrastructures. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)…"
|
||||
date: 2020-01-29
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/SKA.jpeg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
-35
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTAO-US Teams Awarded Nearly $4 Million NSF Grant to Develop Small-Sized Telescope Cameras"
|
||||
description: "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). Led by the…"
|
||||
date: 2025-09-26
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/53487690837_d39a9479b3_k-1600x900.jpg
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
## 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.
|
||||
|
||||
They are also engaged through [In-Kind Contribution collaborations](https://www.ctao.org/partners/in-kind-contributors/), with a particular focus on the design of an alternative structural configuration for the [Medium-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/mst/), known as Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT), featuring an innovative dual-mirror optical system. This optical design was first conceived by CTAO-US members in 2006, and a prototype was inaugurated in 2019 at the Whipple Observatory in Arizona. New funds will now enable them to build cameras for the SST, which incorporate the same dual-mirror optical system, and a very similar camera design featuring many of the same components, as the SCT.
|
||||
-46
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The CTAO Will Double its Staff as Major Infrastructure Development Begins In 2024"
|
||||
description: "On 6 September 2023, the 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…"
|
||||
date: 2023-09-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Chile_V04_Final-scaled-1-1600x901.jpeg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
*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.
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO gGmbH 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 science collaboration, 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 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 has a [Flickr page](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/) with images and photography for public use with appropriate credit. See our [Media Usage](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/media-library/media-usage/) page for further guidance on how to credit the material on this site and our Flickr page.
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO Chief Communication Officer
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
+39-051-6357-270
|
||||
|
||||
(English, Spanish and Italian)
|
||||
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA’s Galactic Plane Survey Will Provide Unprecedented View of Our Galaxy"
|
||||
description: "At the highest photon energies that will be explored by CTA, our knowledge about the Milky Way is still incomplete, and to fill this gap, CTA will conduct a complete and deep survey of the Galactic Plane during its first decade of…"
|
||||
date: 2017-01-02
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/GP_Simulation-1-1600x940.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by Jürgen Knödlseder, CTA Consortium Board Chair*
|
||||
|
||||
Astronomical surveys of our Milky Way present a fundamental means to discover and understand the objects that populate our local neighbourhood in the Universe. Surveys of the Milky Way have been conducted at nearly all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, revealing the stars and the matter between them that form our Galaxy. At the highest photon energies that will be explored by CTA, our knowledge about the Milky Way is still incomplete, and to fill this gap, CTA will conduct a complete and deep survey of the Galactic Plane during its first decade of operations. The plan is to dedicate more than 1,600 hours of observing time to scrutinizing our Galaxy, which will provide an unprecedented legacy dataset that will form the basis for countless follow-up studies.
|
||||
|
||||
The above image represents what CTA may observe during its Galactic Plane Survey. It is based on a simulation of the events that will be recorded by both CTA arrays, which, when combined, will provide an unprecedented view of our Milky Way. The simulation reflects our current knowledge about the population of very-high-energy sources in our Galaxy and comprises objects such as the remnants of supernova explosions, the nebulae created by young energetic pulsars and diffuse emission components arising from the interaction of energetic particles with the interstellar medium and radiation fields. In total, we expect to be able to detect about 500 individual sources of gamma-ray emission in the course of the survey. An important fraction of these sources will be spatially resolved by CTA, providing insights into the physics that accelerate particles to the highest energies and how these particles leave their accelerating sources.
|
||||
|
||||
It also is expected that the survey will lead to the discovery of new and unexpected phenomena in our Galaxy, such as new source classes and new types of transient phenomena. The detection of hundreds of new very-high-energy gamma-ray sources will substantially increase the galactic inventory and permit high statistics population studies for the first time. The survey also will be fundamental to unveiling sources that are capable of accelerating particles to PeV energies, which is key to understanding the origin of the cosmic rays that permeate our Milky Way.
|
||||
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "DESY Hosts Thai Royalty at DESY-NARIT Cooperation Agreement Signing"
|
||||
description: "On 18 November 2015, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand attended the signature ceremony of the DESY-NARIT Cooperation Agreement on Astroparticle Physics at DESY Hamburg."
|
||||
date: 2015-11-18
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/news4.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 18 November 2015, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand attended the signature ceremony of the DESY-NARIT (National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand) Cooperation Agreement on Astroparticle Physics at DESY Hamburg. A new Consortium member, NARIT intends to collaborate with CTA on mirror re-coating and array control, as well as provide 1-1.2 full-time employees from Thailand to work with DESY in Hamburg.
|
||||
|
||||
More information: [http://www.narit.or.th/en/index.php/news/400-desy-narit-mou-astroparticle-physics-cooperation](http://www.narit.or.th/en/index.php/news/400-desy-narit-mou-astroparticle-physics-cooperation)
|
||||
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Astronomical Infrastructures of the Future Meet in Granada"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2022-10-06
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Instituto-Astrofisica-5-10-22-A-135-de-169-scaled-1-1600x1004.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Re-play the event [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/4-90-PjQvts).
|
||||
|
||||
More photos [on our Flickr channel.](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta_observatory/albums/72177720302769042)
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
[Read IAA-CSIC press release on their website.](https://www.iaa.csic.es/noticias/astronomia-futuro-sera-colaborativa-multionda-mas-diversa-y-verde)
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
The [European Southern Observatory (ESO)](http://www.eso.org) is an intergovernmental organization established in 1962 supported by 16 Member States, the host country Chile and strategic partners. ESO is a member of the CTAO gGmbH Council and hosts the CTAO Southern Array site in Chile. During the session, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) project, which will operate from Chile, was discussed. Its objective is to observe the Universe in optical and infrared with greater detail even than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. Its 39-meter-diameter segmented mirror will allow the study of extrasolar planets and their atmospheres, planet-forming disks beyond our Solar System, dark energy and the formation of galaxies.
|
||||
|
||||
The [Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO)](http://www.skao.int), the largest scientific infrastructure planned to date, is an international effort to build the most powerful radio telescope in the world, consisting of a telescope with 197 parabolic antennas in South Africa and another with more than 130,000 low-frequency antennas in Australia. It will allow, among other things, to make a movie of the universe since the Big Bang, to observe the first stars and galaxies, to study ultra-compact objects such as pulsars, to detect (if they exist) signs of extraterrestrial life and even to detect the traces of black hole collisions. SKAO and CTAO signed a collaboration agreement in 2020, with the aim of sharing experience and knowledge in areas such as engineering, science, technology or administration
|
||||
@@ -1,103 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "“ESCAPE to the Future” Event Recommits CTAO and ESCAPE Partners in Collaboration for Open Science"
|
||||
description: "The CTAO, in partnership with many of Europe’s biggest facilities in physics-related disciplines, has just recommitted to a long-term deal to build synergies and work on Open Science topics. This agreement was signed at the “ESCAPE to the…"
|
||||
date: 2022-10-26
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/GiovanniLamanna_ESCAPEtotheFuture-768x512.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), in partnership with some of Europe’s biggest facilities in physics-related disciplines, has just recommitted to a long-term deal to collaborate on Open Science topics, from science data management to developing science tools, services and research software, among others. The agreement was signed at the “[ESCAPE to the Future](https://projectescape.eu/events/escape-future)” conference on October 25-26, 2022, where partners of the [European Science Cluster of Astronomy & Particle physics ESFRI research infrastructure (ESCAPE) project](https://projectescape.eu/), as well as members of the scientific community and the European Commission, gathered at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science in Brussels (Belgium).
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO’s participation in the ESCAPE Project has helped the Observatory gain experience and knowledge in key aspects of cutting-edge data management systems, such as data lake technologies and software repositories, as well as understanding how to build a science platform and developing links to the Virtual Observatory. The CTAO has also been able to test several of its use cases on ESCAPE systems, whilst also implementing example analysis workflows. The outcome of CTAO’s work within the ESCAPE project was presented during the conference by Matthias Füßling, CTAO SUSS (Science User Support System) Coordinator, and Gareth Hughes, CTAO Science Platform Developer.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
|
||||
[Read the ESCAPE announcement.](https://projectescape.eu/news/escape-future-event-recommits-escape-partners-collaboration-open-science)
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral, CTAO Outreach, Education and Communication Officer.
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
+39-051-6357-270
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Giovanni Lamanna, Director of the [LAPP](https://lapp.in2p3.fr/) Laboratory, CNRS-IN2P3/USMB and ESCAPE Coordinator.
|
||||
|
||||
[giovanni.lamanna@lapp.in2p3.fr](mailto:giovanni.lamanna@lapp.in2p3.fr)
|
||||
|
||||
+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.
|
||||
|
||||
European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is a cloud for research data in Europe allowing for universal access to data; a single online platform where all European researchers will be able to: (i) find, access and re-use data produced by other scientists; (ii) deposit, analyse and share data they have been paid to produce. EOSC will help increase recognition of data intensive research and data science. Its architecture is developed as a data infrastructure common serving the needs of scientists, providing both common functions and localised services delegated to community level. EOSC will federate existing resources across national data centres, European e-infrastructures and research infrastructures by gradually opening up its user base to the public sector and industry.
|
||||
|
||||
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
|
||||
|
||||
Germany: MPIK
|
||||
|
||||
Spain: IFAE-BIST, IFAE-PIC and UCM
|
||||
|
||||
The following CTAO and CTAC member participate actively in the ESCAPE Project on behalf of the CTAO (in alphabetical order by surname):
|
||||
|
||||
Catherine Boisson
|
||||
|
||||
Agustin Bruzzese
|
||||
|
||||
Daniel Nieto Castaño
|
||||
|
||||
Jose Luis Contreras
|
||||
|
||||
Nuria Álvarez Crespo
|
||||
|
||||
Axel Donath
|
||||
|
||||
Matthias Füssling
|
||||
|
||||
Enrique García
|
||||
|
||||
Frederic Gillardo
|
||||
|
||||
Gareth Hughes
|
||||
|
||||
Jordi Delgado Mengual
|
||||
|
||||
Gonzalo Merino
|
||||
|
||||
Nadine Neyroud
|
||||
|
||||
Cosimo Nigro
|
||||
|
||||
Quentin Remy
|
||||
|
||||
Javier Rico
|
||||
|
||||
Mathieu Servillat
|
||||
|
||||
Berkay Turk
|
||||
|
||||
Thomas Vuillaume
|
||||
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "ESO Becomes Shareholder of Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory"
|
||||
description: "On 7 March 2019, ESO officially became a shareholder of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory gGmbH (CTAO). The formal steps were concluded during the meeting of the CTA Council on 7–8 March at ESO’s headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany."
|
||||
date: 2019-03-07
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/eso17xx_ctaa_small-768x507.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 7 March 2019, ESO officially became a shareholder of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory gGmbH (CTAO). The necessary formal steps were concluded during the meeting of the CTA Council on 7–8 March at ESO’s headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany, after ESO had participated in the project for some time as an observer.
|
||||
|
||||
ESO already signed an agreement on 19 December 2018 to host the southern site of the CTA in the Atacama desert near the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. The Paranal site, home of the Very Large Telescope, offers excellent viewing conditions and well-established infrastructure, making it an attractive location for new facilities such as CTA–South. The northern site of the CTA will be based on La Palma in the Canary Islands.
|
||||
|
||||
As a shareholder, ESO will be represented at the [CTA Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/), which shall govern the observatory, joining shareholders from 11 countries and associate members from another two. The current legal entity is the CTAO gGmbH, a German non-profit limited liability company. The participating countries are currently in the process of establishing the CTAO European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CTAO ERIC) which will construct, commission and operate for an intended period of 30 years the immense observatory.
|
||||
-41
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "ESO Technical Analysis Confirms Planned Industrial Complex Will Have Extensive Impact on Paranal Observatory"
|
||||
description: "In January, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) publicly raised the alarm about the threat that the industrial megaproject INNA posed to the world’s darkest and clearest skies for astronomy, those of ESO’s Paranal Observatory and the…"
|
||||
date: 2025-03-17
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Chile_nightsky-1600x622.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
In January, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) publicly [raised the alarm](https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2501/?lang) about the threat that the industrial megaproject INNA posed to the world’s darkest and clearest skies for astronomy, those of ESO’s Paranal Observatory and the site of the [CTAO’s southern hemisphere array (CTAO-South)](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/). The project — by AES Andes, a subsidiary of the U.S. power company AES Corporation — includes multiple energy and processing facilities, spread over an area of more than 3,000 hectares, the size of a small city. Its planned location is just [a few kilometers from the Paranal telescopes](https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/images/INNA-map-EN/). A preliminary analysis revealed that, due to its size and proximity to Paranal, the INNA project posed significant risks to astronomical observations. Now, an in-depth technical analysis by ESO has confirmed that INNA’s impact on the facilities at Paranal Observatory, Chile would be devastating and irreversible.
|
||||
|
||||
ESO’s technical report focuses on those site characteristics that are most critical for the performance of the observatories and that could be impacted by the INNA project, concluding that the construction and operation of this project will cause artificial light contamination (“light pollution”) and an increase in ground motions or vibrations, atmospheric turbulence and dust contamination of optical surfaces.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
|
||||
For its technical analysis, a team of experts led by ESO Director of Operations Andreas Kaufer joined forces with Martin Aubé, a world-leading expert on sky brightness at astronomical sites, to run simulations using the most advanced light-pollution models. As input, the simulations used publicly available information provided by AES Andes when submitting the project for environmental assessment, which states the complex will be illuminated by over 1,000 light sources.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
|
||||
Furthermore, INNA’s infrastructure is likely to encourage the development of an industrial hub in the area, which could turn Paranal into an unusable site for top-level astronomical observations.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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/)
|
||||
-51
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "EU Particle Physics & Astronomy Commit to the Research Data Revolution Making the European Open Science Cloud a Reality"
|
||||
description: "In 2019, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) will get a €16 million boost by the European Commission for its implementation."
|
||||
date: 2018-11-20
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/03-Escape-logo-1600x1131.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
First quarter 2019, sees the exciting launch of one out of the five successfully retained INFRA-EOSC-04-2018 Cluster projects, which the European Commission supports with €16 million to boost the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
|
||||
|
||||
## About EOSC:
|
||||
|
||||
European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is a cloud for research data in Europe allowing for universal access to data; a single online platform where all European researchers will be able to:
|
||||
|
||||
(i) find, access and re-use data produced by other scientists;
|
||||
|
||||
(ii) deposit, analyse and share data they have been paid to produce.
|
||||
|
||||
EOSC will help increase recognition of data intensive research and data science. Its architecture is developed as a data infrastructure commons serving the needs of scientists, providing both common functions and localised services delegated to community level. EOSC will federate existing resources across national data centres, European e-infrastructures and research infrastructures by gradually opening up its user base to the public sector and industry.
|
||||
|
||||
**ESCAPE** – « The European Science Cluster of Astronomy & Particle Physics ESFRI Research Infrastructures » answers the EOSC ambition in bringing People, Data, Services, Training, Publications, Projects & Organisations, all together in an integrated and federated environment. The project is led by the IN2P3, the national institute of nuclear and particle physics within CNRS, the French public research organisation, with a consortium of 31 partners including 27 European partner institutions, two pan-European research organisations, and two SMEs.
|
||||
|
||||
Multi-messenger astronomy and accelerator-driven particle physics are two pillars of the ESCAPE project. Through the combination of the experimental investigations of the two extremes, from the largest-scale structures in the observable Universe to the most fundamental particles, the astronomy-related projects and the accelerator-based particle physics facilities will open together new paths towards the understanding of the Universe. A deluge of data is expected in the next years by the next generation facilities prioritised in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) – the major facilities identified in the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures – and other world-class projects. This €16 million funding boost will help Europe’s world-leading research infrastructures work together to find common solutions to their data challenges, their data interoperability, their data access and to accentuate the openness of Fundamental Science research to the full international community, from professionals to the public.
|
||||
|
||||
> “It is the first time that many of the greatest European scientific facilities in physics and astronomy have combined forces to make their data and software interoperable and open, committing to make the European Science Cloud a reality. This is an important milestone for European scientific research,” said Dr. Giovanni Lamanna, Director of the IN2P3 laboratory LAPP (Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules) and Principal Investigator of the ESCAPE project.
|
||||
|
||||
**People:** European astronomers and particle physicists are celebrating the €16 million boost for Open Science today, through ESCAPE. ESCAPE is not just about providing tools for the expert European science community. Members of the public will be able to access world-class data and participate in science discovery, through citizen science mass participation experiments.
|
||||
|
||||
**Data:** Many of Europe’s greatest laboratories and research infrastructures are combining forces to make all their data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable, through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Users are invited to contribute to define the main common functionalities of EOSC and the needs of their own community. European astronomers and particle physicists are committing to build EOSC through ESCAPE.
|
||||
|
||||
**Training:** ESCAPE’s work-plan emphasises a strong component of training – the aim is to attract and educate young scientists towards Open Science and data stewardship, in using the newly developed tools and methodologies. The EOSC will be developed to serve the needs of scientists and to respond to the global cultural change recognising research data as a significant output of research that needs appropriately curated throughout and after the period conducting the research.
|
||||
|
||||
**Services:** ESCAPE will extend the concepts of the astronomical Virtual Observatory seamlessly into the domains of solar physics, particle physics and astroparticle physics. ESCAPE will leverage the long-standing expertise of the particle physics community in large-scale distributed computing and data resources, building new tools to deal with the data avalanche from the next generation of facilities to create a giant “data lake” of up to multi-Exabytes federating national and regional data centres. A new science analysis platform will be built, so users of the EOSC can tap into existing software and bring their own, using the power of high-performance and high-throughput computing. Finally, ESCAPE will create a new open source software repository, to maximise software re-use and co-development, to identify open standards for software release, to investigate data mining tools and new analysis techniques. The ESCAPE domain-based repository will be part of the global EOSC catalogue of scientific software.
|
||||
|
||||
**Projects:** ESCAPE builds on the successes of an earlier EU-funded cluster project, ASTERICS2, which built some of the fundamental infrastructure, data management and scientific software solutions as well as policies for interoperability and joint scheduling.
|
||||
|
||||
The funding was made through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, which is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding over 7 years (2014 to 2020).
|
||||
|
||||
**Organisations:** ESCAPE’s domain expert and skilled consortia of facilities is broad, and knowledgeable. It includes ESFRI projects/landmarks such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), the European Solar Telescope (EST), the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR), the High Luminosity-Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), the cubic-kilometre-sized Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Two pan-European International Organizations, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the European Southern Observatory (ESO), are also members of the ESCAPE cluster. The European Virtual Observatory (EURO-VO) is also actively engaged in this endeavour. ESCAPE also brings on board other world-class established astronomical observatories, such as those operated by ESO (e.g. APEX ALMA, the Paranal and La Silla observatories), research infrastructures such as the European Gravitational-Wave Observatory (EGO-Virgo) and the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIV-ERIC).
|
||||
|
||||
## The complete list of ESCAPE partners
|
||||
|
||||
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), ASTRON, CWI and NIKHEF institutes of the Stichting Nederlandse Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Instituten (NWO-I), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), European Southern Observatory (ESO), The Square Kilometre Array Organization (SKA), Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR GMBH), Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van Belgie (ORB), Università degli Studi di Roma Torvergata (UNITOV), Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), Istituto Nazionale d’Astrofisica (INAF), Instituto de Fisica de Altas Energias (IFAE), Stiftung Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften EV (MPG), Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), Stiftung Kiepenheuer-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS), Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (UHEI), GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung Gmbh (GSI), The University of Edinburgh (UEDIN), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Joint Institute for Very Long Baseline Interferometry, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (JIV-ERIC), European Gravitational Observatory / Osservatorio Gravitazionale Europeo (EGO), The Open University (OU), Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial Esteban Terradas (INTA), HITS GGMBH (HITS), Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory GGMBH (CTAO GGMBH), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG), Surfsara BV, TRUST-IT Services (TRUST-IT), OROBIX Srl (OROBIX).
|
||||
|
||||
Contact Person: [Dr Giovanni Lamanna](http://lappweb.in2p3.fr/~lamanna/giovannilamanna.html), Director of the [LAPP](https://lapp.in2p3.fr/) Laboratory, CNRS-IN2P3/USMB, ESCAPE Coordinator.
|
||||
|
||||
Email: giovanni.lamanna@lapp.in2p3.fr
|
||||
|
||||
Phone: +33 (0) 4 50 09 16 00
|
||||
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Evento en Granada el 27 de Abril para Explorar la Ciencia Abierta y Oportunidades con el CTAO"
|
||||
description: "El jueves 27 de abril a las 12:00 CEST, el CTAO y el IAA-CSIC 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…"
|
||||
date: 2023-04-12
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/featureimage_CTAOevento-01-768x351.png
|
||||
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).
|
||||
|
||||
La preparación del diseño e implementación del CTAO está gestionada por CTAO gGmbH, entidad legal interina hasta que se establezca la entidad final como CTAO ERIC (Consorcio Europeo de Infraestructuras de Investigación), a cargo de la construcción y operación del Observatorio. CTAO gGmbH está gobernado por el Consejo de CTAO, compuesto por accionistas de 11 países y una organización intergubernamental (ESO), así como miembros asociados de dos países. El CTAO gGmbH trabaja en estrecha colaboración con el Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium (CTAC), grupo de más de 1500 físicos e ingenieros que contribuyen a la definición del diseño del instrumento y el programa científico desde 25 países. Asimismo, el CTAO cuenta como socios con los denominados equipos de contribución en especie (IKC, por sus siglas en inglés), que proporcionan bienes y servicios para el desarrollo y la construcción de software y hardware del Observatorio, entre los que se encuentras las Colaboraciones del LST, MST y SST.
|
||||
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Federico Ferrini Begins Tenure as CTA Managing Director"
|
||||
description: "On 1 March 2018, Prof. Federico Ferrini became CTA’s new Managing Director, succeeding Prof. Ueli Straumann who has served since 2016. Beyond his deep experience in the field of astrophysics, Ferrini brings extensive knowledge in the…"
|
||||
date: 2018-03-01
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 1 March 2018, Prof. Federico Ferrini became CTA’s new Managing Director, succeeding Prof. Ueli Straumann who has served since 2016.
|
||||
|
||||
Beyond his deep experience in the field of astrophysics, Ferrini brings extensive knowledge in the management of large international scientific projects. After dedicating more than 30 years to astrophysics research and teaching at the University of Pisa, which included directing the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, Ferrini was named Director of the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in 2011. As director, he fostered the collaboration and technical advancement of the VIRGO interferometric antenna – one of the three largest gravitational detectors in the world. Some of his other professional positions have included Scientific Attaché at the Permanent Mission of Italy in Geneva and Chair of both the CERN Pension Fund Governing Board and Investment Committee.
|
||||
|
||||
> “At this critical point of the CTA project, we look forward to Federico bringing his long-standing experience on the VIRGO project to build on the progress made by Ueli in the construction of what will be the world’s preeminent observatory for studying the high-energy Universe,” said Gabriel Chardin, Chair of the CTA Council.
|
||||
|
||||
During his three-year tenure, Ferrini intends to apply his leadership and enthusiasm to the CTA construction project with the goal of bringing its vast scientific potential closer to reality.
|
||||
|
||||
> “It is an honour to be selected to help lead CTA as it prepares for construction and begins building telescopes on site,” said Ferrini. “CTA is a major pillar for the future of astro-particle physics, and I look forward to collaborating with the highly-motivated people who have contributed to bringing CTA to this exciting point in its development. My predecessor, Ueli, is one of those people — he has done outstanding work forging a path to achieving CTA’s ambitious objectives, and I plan to continue following that path.”
|
||||
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Final Agreements Signed for CTA’s Southern Hemisphere Site in Chile"
|
||||
description: "On 19 December 2018, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will sign the final agreements needed for CTA’s southern hemisphere array to be hosted near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in…"
|
||||
date: 2018-12-19
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/composition_cta_paranal_4K_sct_small-768x324.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Santiago, Chile** – On 19 December 2018, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) signed the final agreements needed for CTA’s [southern hemisphere array](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/) to be hosted near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Current gamma-ray telescope arrays only consist of a handful of individual telescopes, but CTA — with its larger collecting area and wider sky coverage — will be the largest and most sensitive array of gamma-ray telescopes in the world, with unprecedented accuracy and 10 times more sensitive than existing instruments.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
> “Operating CTA at Paranal will open a new window on the Universe for astronomers in the ESO Member States, Chile, and worldwide,” commented Barcons. “ESO’s rich experience of maintaining and operating fleets of telescopes in remote areas will be invaluable for the CTA project.”
|
||||
|
||||
> “Thanks to the agreements signed today, CTAO will not only benefit from Chile’s spectacular night sky but also from ESO’s facilities and deep experience, which will be an invaluable contribution to the realisation of this ambitious system of telescopes” said Ferrini. “Furthermore, the synergies between ESO and CTAO will mark this new, fast-growing era of multi-messenger astrophysics for decades to come as we explore potential collaborations with other large infrastructures such as ALMA, SKA and gravitational wave interferometers.”
|
||||
|
||||
On 17 December 2018, CTAO’s Managing Director, Federico Ferrini, met CONICYT’s Executive Director, Christian Nicolai Orellana to sign a scientific collaboration agreement, which aims to foster astronomical research in Chile, capitalising on the opening of a new observational window as enabled by CTA-South.
|
||||
|
||||
> “The installation of this new observatory will bring the study of the most extreme phenomena in the Universe to Chile,” explained Orellana. “The project will be complemented with the installation of another array of telescopes in the northern hemisphere, which will foster scientific collaboration between both sides of the globe. In this way, Chile will be hosting the greatest concentration of technology observing phenomena from Earth. Thus, reaffirming Chile and its spectacular sky, the natural astronomical laboratory par excellence, as a world leader in astronomy.”
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
|
||||
Notes
|
||||
|
||||
[1] The Netherlands and South Africa attend as observers.
|
||||
|
||||
This project is receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programs under agreement No 676134.
|
||||
-37
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "First Meeting of New IAC and CTAO Directors Marks Next Phase of Collaboration"
|
||||
description: "(English/Spanish) 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…"
|
||||
date: 2024-11-15
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Photo1-768x576.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
(English/Spanish)
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
—
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "First ‘Women of CTA’ Meeting to be Held in Bologna, Italy on 11 February"
|
||||
description: "In recognition of the United Nations’ International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will host its first Women of CTA meeting on 11 February 2019 in Bologna, Italy."
|
||||
date: 2019-01-18
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/WoC_web-3-768x402.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
In recognition of the United Nations’ [International Day of Women and Girls in Science](https://www.womeninscienceday.org/), the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will host its first *Women of CTA* meeting on 11 February 2019 in Bologna, Italy. The meeting, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 16:00 in the [Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna](http://www.pinacotecabologna.beniculturali.it/it/) (Via delle Belle Arti 56) and will feature three experts from the astrophysics and engineering fields that will share their broad experience from their academic and professional careers and contributions to CTA: Prof. Patrizia Caraveo (INAF, Milan), Dr. Emma de Oña-Wilhelmi (IEEC-CSIC, Barcelona; DESY, Zeuthen) and Chiara Montanari (CTAO, Bologna). Following their presentations, the speakers will be available for questions in English and Italian. No reservations necessary, but seating is limited.
|
||||
|
||||
## Meet the speakers:
|
||||
|
||||
## Prof. Patrizia Caraveo
|
||||
|
||||
Prof. Caraveo earned her degree in physics in 1977 at the University of Milan. She has the rank of Research Director (since 2002) at the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Milano and is a contract professor at Pavia University. She has taken part in several international space missions dedicated to high-energy astrophysics, starting from the European mission COS-B. Currently, she is involved in the exploitation of ESA’s Integral, of NASA’s Swift, of the Italian Agile and of the NASA Fermi missions, all fully operational in orbit. She also represents INAF within the CTA Consortium Board and has served on the CTAO Council. She is a recognized leader in the study of neutron stars behavior at different wavelengths. Her work lead to the discovery (and to the understanding) of Geminga, the first radio-quiet pulsar. Owing to such results, she won the Premio Nazionale Presidente della Repubblica in 2009. Moreover, she shared with her Swift, Fermi and Agile colleagues the Bruno Rossi prize of the American Astronomical Society in 2007, 2011 and 2012. In 2014, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Women in Aerospace European Society and was included by Thomson Reuters in the list of Highly Cited Researchers for Space Science. In 2017 she was awarded the title of Commendatore dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
|
||||
|
||||
## Dr. Emma de Oña Wilhelmi
|
||||
|
||||
Emma is a doctor in astrophysics with almost 20 years of experience in the field. Her research activity focuses on the understanding of the non-thermal processes and very high-energy emission of sources located in our own Galaxy, such as Supernova Remnants (SNRs), Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) and binary systems. She has been an active member and held leadership positions with several former and present gamma-ray instruments, such as HEGRA, H.E.S.S., MAGIC and CTA. Among others, she has been Convener of the Galactic Working Group in MAGIC and CTA, Convener of SNRs, PWNe and pulsars Working Group in H.E.S.S. and she is the current Science Coordinator for CTA. Her activities in the gamma-ray regime are complemented with multi-wavelength developments in X-rays and in radio, and was PWNe Coordinator for the X-rays satellite XIPE. In 2012, she obtained a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (Spanish tenure-track) at the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC) in Barcelona, whom she represents for CTA-Spain and the Large-Sized Telescope consortium. She currently holds a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researcher at DESY in Zeuthen, Germany.
|
||||
|
||||
## Chiara Montanari
|
||||
|
||||
Chiara is an engineer with 15 years polar mission experience that defines herself as a “Life Explorer.” As a five-time expedition leader to Antarctica, she has traveled to the most extreme stations on the planet. In addition to her polar missions, she also has worked in the United Kingdom with the broadcast industry, information and communications technology, as well as the energy efficiency and educations sectors and has been conducting research in organisational theories at Politecnico di Milano and the International Research Centre on Epistemology and Anthropology of Complexity (Bergamo). In 2014, Chiara was awarded by the city of Milan with “Ambrogino d’oro” (civic medal) for her engagement in boosting technological transfer, entrepreneurship and innovation. In 2015, she published the book “CRONACHE DAI GHIACCI, 90 GIORNI IN ANTARCTICA.” Chiara is now putting her skills to work for the CTA construction project as the new Interface Manager for the CTAO Project Office. [Read more.](http://www.chiaramontanari.net/en/about-me/)
|
||||
|
||||
This event is part of a global effort to raise awareness and find solutions to gender inequality and the overall under-representation of women, especially in leadership roles, in science. One of the foundations of the movement is that equality is fundamental to developing a healthy and productive environment to achieve social and scientific goals. However, despite the global efforts, there is still a lot of work to do. According to a study in 14 countries around the world presented by the UN, the probabilities of graduating with a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or Doctorate degree in science are 18%, 8% or 2%, respectively, for female students against the 37%, 18% and 6% for male students [1]. Worldwide, women represent less than 30% of the total researchers [2].
|
||||
|
||||
These disparities persist in many different ways, one of which is called the “Leaky Pipeline.” This metaphor is used to illustrate how women enter the field at a higher percentage (sometimes exceeding men) but drop off as they move “up the ladder” to the higher stages of their career. And at an even more fundamental level, girls run into gender stereotypes before starting undergraduate degrees, deterring them from pursuing scientific/technological careers compared to degrees in humanities.
|
||||
|
||||
As one of the important factors that gives rise to these disparities is the reduced visibility of female leaders and their achievements in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers, we hope that highlighting women who are leading and contributing to CTA will create a spark for girls and women interested in or pursuing a STEM career. CTA is an international institution proud of its diversity, which aims to be a reference of equity and respect in science as well as to work internationally to help to achieve gender equality, empowering women of CTA and their professional accomplishments, which will hopefully inspire future generations of researchers.
|
||||
|
||||
This first edition of Women of CTA, which we expect to become an annual event, is just one of the projects we will pursue to promote diversity in our “astrodiversity” program.
|
||||
|
||||
We look forward to seeing you in Bologna on 11 February!
|
||||
|
||||
[1] [http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/index.shtml](http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/index.shtml)
|
||||
|
||||
[2] [http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/women-science](http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/women-science)
|
||||
|
||||
Contact: [Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Gammapy Receives the Jury Prize at the Open Science Awards for Open-Source Research Software"
|
||||
description: "On 5 February 2022, the open-source Gammapy software package, on which the official 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…"
|
||||
date: 2022-02-08
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/FeatureImage_Gammapy-01-768x351.png
|
||||
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/)
|
||||
-79
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Groundbreaking Ceremony Marks the Beginning of CTAO-South Array Construction in Chile"
|
||||
description: "Paranal, Chile, 17 December 2025 — Representatives from the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and governmental authorities gathered today to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the…"
|
||||
date: 2025-12-18
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/CTAO-South-Groundbreaking_1-1600x1040.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Paranal, Chile, 17 December 2025 —** Representatives from the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and governmental authorities gathered today to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the CTAO’s southern site, [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/). After years of successful site preparations, the event marked the beginning of construction on the telescope foundations, paving the way for the first telescopes to be completed by the end of 2026. The CTAO will be the world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, and the first to be built in the Southern Hemisphere. With it, Chile will open a new observational window, exploring the Universe at the highest energies.
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
|
||||
Following the ceremony, participants moved to the CTAO-South site, located 10 kilometres southeast of Paranal in the Atacama Desert, for a symbolic onsite celebration. There, Volker Heinz, CTAO Construction Programme Manager, welcomed the attendees to the site and then the representatives buried a time capsule containing items from Chile and partner countries around the world, symbolising how the work undertaken in Chile will contribute to scientific progress on a global scale. The capsule also included scientific items representing the ultimate goal of the telescopes now under construction: to advance our understanding of the Universe and expand human knowledge. A commemorative plaque, set upon nearby stones, now marks the location of the buried capsule, beside the future telescope area.
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO, ESO, and Chile [signed agreements](https://www.ctao.org/news/final-agreements-signed-for-cta-southern-hemisphere-site-in-chile/) to have the CTAO southern array hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in 2018. “Paranal is a unique place in the world to study the Universe,” highlighted Heinz during his welcoming speech at CTAO-South, explaining that Paranal is already home to ESO’s VLT — a key instrument in the discoveries recognised by the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics — and the ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope that can be seen under construction in the distance from CTAO-South. “The Atacama Desert now welcomes another world-leading facility, and, in just one year, we expect to have here CTAO telescopes providing the first-ever observations of the gamma-ray sky from Chile.”
|
||||
|
||||
To cover its broad energy range — from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, billions of times more energetic than visible light — the CTAO will employ three types of telescopes: the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs), the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs), and the Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs). The current configuration for CTAO-South includes more than 50 telescopes. To give the CTAO a complete view of the night sky, it will have two arrays of telescopes located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The CTAO-South site in Chile, in tandem with the CTAO-North site in La Palma, Spain, will revolutionize our view of the high-energy Universe.
|
||||
|
||||
With its unprecedented sensitivity and precision, the CTAO will help address some of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics. Its research will focus on three key areas: understanding the origin and role of relativistic cosmic particles; probing extreme environments such as black holes and neutron stars; and exploring the frontiers of physics by searching for dark matter and testing the limits of Einstein’s theory of relativity. In addition, the CTAO will play a key role in multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy in the coming decades, providing essential gamma-ray data to complement observations across the entire electromagnetic spectrum and from other cosmic messengers such as neutrinos and gravitational waves.
|
||||
|
||||
The CTAO is also a Big Data project, expected to generate hundreds of petabytes of data each year (around 12 PB after compression). Committed to the principles of Open Science, it will be the first gamma-ray observatory to operate as an open, proposal-driven facility, providing public access to its high-level scientific data and software products. Ten per cent of the observing time at CTAO-South is reserved for Chilean scientists, guaranteeing that Chile, as host country, gains direct scientific returns and strengthens its own research capacities through the Observatory’s presence.
|
||||
|
||||
As construction begins in the Atacama Desert, today’s ceremony symbolises not only a technological milestone but also a shared commitment from Chile and the international community to push the boundaries of what we know about the most energetic and mysterious corners of the Cosmos.
|
||||
|
||||
The [CTAO ERIC](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/team/) (also known as CTAO Central Organisation) is in charge of the construction and operation of the CTAO. Thus, it is made up of the groups and people dedicated to the management and administration of the Observatory’s development and the overall project, science, computing and systems engineering activities. The high-level organisational structure is broken into five main groups: Director’s Office, On-Site Construction, Project Office, Project Science Office, and Administration Office. The Central Organisation is responsible for managing the [CTAO’s four sites](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/facilities/): the Headquarters hosted by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Bologna (Italy), the Science Data Management Centre hosted by the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY in Zeuthen (Germany) and the [two telescope arrays](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/), CTAO-North at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain), and CTAO-South, at the ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile).
|
||||
|
||||
This group works in close cooperation with [partners](https://www.ctao.org/partners/) from around the world toward the development of the Observatory. Major partners include In-Kind Contribution Collaborations that are developing essential hardware and software, in addition to the CTAO Consortium, an international group of researchers who works on the scientific exploitation of the Observatory.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal, ESO will host and operate the south array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.
|
||||
|
||||
## Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral, CTAO Chief Communications Officer
|
||||
|
||||
Email: [alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
Cell: +39-051-6357-270
|
||||
|
||||
(English, Spanish and Italian)
|
||||
|
||||
## Bárbara Ferreira, ESO Media Manager
|
||||
|
||||
Garching bei München, Germany
|
||||
|
||||
Email: [press@eso.org](mailto:press@eso.org)
|
||||
|
||||
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
|
||||
|
||||
Cell: +49 151 241 664 00
|
||||
|
||||
## Francisco Rodríguez, ESO Head of Communication Chile
|
||||
|
||||
Santiago, Chile
|
||||
|
||||
Email: [francisco.rodriguez@eso.org](mailto:francisco.rodriguez@eso.org)
|
||||
|
||||
Tel: +56 2 2463 3151
|
||||
|
||||
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 CTAO-South Groundbreaking event – [Link to Folder](https://ctaoobservatory.sharepoint.com/sites/ctao-outreach/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2Fctao%2Doutreach%2FShared%20Documents%2FExternal%2FPress%20Release%20and%20Announcements%20Review%2FGroundbreakingEventPressRelease%5FUnderEmbargo&p=true&ct=1766055773346&or=Teams%2DHL&ga=1&LOF=1) (credit: ESO/CHEPOX)
|
||||
|
||||
> “Exploring the Universe at the Highest Energies with the CTAO” Film – [Link to Download](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/Exploring-the-Universe-at-the-Highest-Energies-with-the-CTAO.mp4) & [Link To YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-JyExCq7Y)
|
||||
|
||||
> How CTAO Works Science Animation – [Link to Download](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/How_CTAO_Works.mp4) & [Link to YouTube](https://youtu.be/5gRHFQP_SjU?si=7hYdLrUJcWL4NF7A)
|
||||
|
||||
> CTAO-South Film – [Link to Download](https://www.ctao.org/wp-content/uploads/CTAO-South-Film.mp4) & [Link to YouTube](https://youtu.be/XoVS5mBZbUc?si=I3zF9iMWboAJ5XMP)
|
||||
|
||||
> CTAO-South rendering: [Link to Download](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctao-universe/53205280258/in/album-72157672713462861)
|
||||
|
||||
Go to [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctao-universe/albums) for more renderings and to the [Media Library](https://www.ctao.org/news-resources/media-library/) for more video clips.
|
||||
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Hadrons or Leptons? That is the question!"
|
||||
description: "Extragalactic 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…"
|
||||
date: 2017-10-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/cena_croppednews.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
The figure above (extracted from *Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array*, arXiv:1709.07997; see also A. Zech, M. Cerruti, D. Mazin, 2017, A&A, 602, A25 for a recent update) shows the spectrum expected for the hadronic (left) and the inverse Compton (right) scenarios for the gamma ray emission of the blazar PKS 2155-304. The black symbols show the data currently available from Fermi/LAT (below 1025 Hz) and H.E.S.S. Detailed simulations with CTA (red points) show how the combination of the large energy band coverage with the excellent energy resolution and high event statistics up to the highest energies will allow us to discriminate between the hadronic and the leptonic emission scenarios in these types of sources.
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "CTA Headquarters and Science Data Management Centre Sites Selected"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2016-06-13
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/BolognaHQ-768x412.png
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "High-Energy Neutrino Transients with CTA"
|
||||
description: "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, which is anticipated to…"
|
||||
date: 2019-05-20
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/BlazarNeutrino2_1920x1080_M__1_.0-768x429.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
[Lee este artículo en español en nuestra CTA Newsletter.](https://mailchi.mp/c5e62e3745e5/cta-newsletter-may2019-espanol-1407189)
|
||||
|
||||
Originally published in the [May 2019 issue of the CTA Newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/d1b97d007914/cta-newsletter-may2019-english).
|
||||
|
||||
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).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
*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.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
*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)
|
||||
[2] IceCube Coll., Science, 342, 1242856 (2013)
|
||||
[3] MAGIC Coll. et al., ApJ Lett. 863, 10A (2018)
|
||||
-42
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Il CTAO Organizza L’Evento Pubblico e Gratuito “DM dall’Universo” il 16 Aprile a Bologna"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2024-03-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
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!
|
||||
|
||||
L’evento è gratuito e aperto a tutta la cittadinanza. Tuttavia, per motivi organizzativi, è obbligatorio prenotarsi tramite il [sistema di biglietteria Viva Ticket](https://www.vivaticket.com/it/ticket/dm-dall-universo/232593) del Teatro Duse.
|
||||
|
||||
In particolare, incoraggiamo gli studenti di tutte le età a partecipare all’evento. Nel caso in cui una classe, o una sua parte, desiderasse partecipare, il professore o professoressa può inviare un’email all’indirizzo [symposium@cta-observatory.org](mailto:symposium@cta-observatory.org) e gli organizzatori forniranno loro i biglietti per sedersi insieme vicino al palco (il numero di posti riservati per le classi è limitato).
|
||||
|
||||
L’evento “DM dall’Universo” si terrà in concomitanza con il [CTAO Science Symposium](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/), la conferenza scientifica organizzata dal CTAO che riunisce a Bologna scienziati da tutto il mondo impegnati nella ricerca astrofisica nelle alte energie. Il [CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory)](https://www.ctao.org/), la cui sede si trova a Bologna, è il più grande osservatorio astronomico per l’osservazione dei raggi gamma ad energia molto elevata, che cambierà la conoscenza dell’Universo nei prossimi anni, con una vasta rete di telescopi situati in Spagna e in Cile.
|
||||
|
||||
[Visita il nostro sito web](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/dm-dall-universo) per ulteriori informazioni e per accedere al sistema di prenotazione dei biglietti. Vi aspettiamo tutti al Teatro Duse il prossimo 16 aprile!
|
||||
|
||||
## Informazioni di Biglietteria:
|
||||
|
||||
TEATRO DUSE
|
||||
|
||||
Via Cartoleria 42 Bologna
|
||||
|
||||
051 231836 | [biglietteria@teatroduse.it](mailto:biglietteria@teatroduse.it)
|
||||
|
||||
[TEATRODUSE.IT](http://teatroduse.it/)
|
||||
|
||||
Orari di apertura: dal martedì al sabato dalle ore 15 alle 19 e da un’ora prima dell’inizio degli spettacoli
|
||||
|
||||
## Evento:
|
||||
|
||||
[Teatro Duse](https://www.teatrodusebologna.it/), Via Cartoleria 42, 40124 Bologna
|
||||
|
||||
Le porte aprono alle 19:00. L’ingresso è gratuito, ma sono necessarie prenotazioni per i posti a sedere.
|
||||
|
||||
Prenotazioni e ulteriori informazioni: [https://www.ctao-symposium.org/dm-dall-universo](https://www.ctao-symposium.org/dm-dall-universo)
|
||||
|
||||
Con il contributo di
|
||||
-29
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias and CTA Observatory Sign Agreement on Hosting CTA’s Northern Hemisphere Array"
|
||||
description: "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…"
|
||||
date: 2016-09-19
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/29478039984_d623c2a43e_o-768x512.jpg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Interview with CTAO ERIC Council Chair, Dr. Francisco Colomer"
|
||||
description: "On February 12, 2025, Dr. Francisco Colomer was elected as the first CTAO ERIC Council’s Chair, bringing with him a wealth of experience in both astronomy and the management of international scientific projects. Currently serving as…"
|
||||
date: 2025-02-20
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/FranciscoColomer_Feb2025-1600x836.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On February 12, 2025, Dr. Francisco Colomer was elected as the first [CTAO ERIC Council](https://www.ctao.org/organisation/governance/)’s Chair, bringing with him a wealth of experience in both astronomy and the management of international scientific projects.
|
||||
|
||||
Currently serving as Programs Director for the Spanish Deputy Directorate General for International Consortia, Organisms and Research Infrastructures, under the [Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU)](https://www.ciencia.gob.es/), Dr. Colomer has played a key role in shaping European research policy. In 2023, he coordinated the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the fields of Scientific Research, Innovation, and Space.
|
||||
|
||||
During 2018-2022, he served as Director of the [Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE ERIC)](https://www.jive.eu/), hosted by ASTRON in The Netherlands, where he obtained valuable experience in leading ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) organisations. Committed to the deployment of research infrastructures, his leadership extended to chairing the Executive Board of the ERIC Forum in 2021 and 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
With a strong interest in management, strategy, sustainability, and leadership, Dr. Colomer has been deeply involved in European Commission discussions on the definition of the European Research Area (ERA) and the European Pact for Research and Innovation. From 2021 to 2022, he represented scientific infrastructures in the ERA Stakeholders Forum, helping shape the future of research collaboration in Europe.
|
||||
|
||||
Beyond management, his scientific contributions in radio astronomy over three decades have resulted in more than 100 publications, significantly advancing our understanding of stellar structure, evolution, and mass loss mechanisms.
|
||||
|
||||
And passionate about science communication, Dr. Colomer actively participates in public outreach events and conferences. He also founded and served as the first president of the “Quart es Ciencia” Association, dedicated to bringing scientific knowledge to his hometown, Quart de Poblet in Valencia, Spain.
|
||||
|
||||
In this interview, Dr. Colomer delves into the importance of the [CTAO ERIC establishment](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/), the next steps for the [newly formed Council](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-eric-council-is-officially-established-and-elects-francisco-colomer-as-its-chair/), and provides his vision for the future of the Observatory.
|
||||
|
||||
## The CTAO became an ERIC on January 7, a fundamental milestone for the Observatory to ensure its expected 30 years of operations. What are the main changes brought by the new legal entity?
|
||||
|
||||
The establishment of the CTAO as an ERIC comes after many years of work of many enthusiastic people, who recognised the scientific value and opportunity of investing in this rising observatory. The ERIC label adds commitment and credibility to the project, also at the highest level by engaging the ministries and the European Commission, which is essential for its long-term success.
|
||||
|
||||
## Based on your experience, what are the biggest opportunities of operating as an ERIC?
|
||||
|
||||
There are now 30 operational ERICs in all fields of science, three in astronomy: JIVE, LOFAR, and now the CTAO. Being a legal entity under the ERIC regulation gives stability but also great flexibility, allowing us to define policies and procedures that are well suited to the Observatory’s mission.
|
||||
|
||||
## How do you see the evolution of international collaboration under this new context?
|
||||
|
||||
With the ERIC, Europe has a great tool to attract the establishment of global research infrastructures. The CTAO ERIC is a good example since partners around the world support the construction and operation of this astronomical observatory with headquarters in Italy, data management centre in Germany, and telescope sites in Spain (Canary Islands) and Chile. There are, however, still some challenges to smoothly incorporate non-EU partners, which have been identified and are being addressed by the European Commission. Hopefully, soon, it will become a much easier process, not just for our benefit but for the European and international research communities.
|
||||
|
||||
## Following the creation of the CTAO ERIC, we now celebrate the establishment of its Council. Can you explain what this achievement means for the Observatory and, personally, for you to be Chair?
|
||||
|
||||
The Council of the CTAO ERIC is the body where the investors of the research infrastructure meet, and make the most important decisions on strategies but also operations. There are two delegates per ERIC member, but also representatives from strategic partners, observers, and third-party organisations. This ensures that all opinions are heard, and all interests are considered. Being the first chair is an honor but also a great responsibility — I aim to build trust, so consensus is achieved on the essential issues.
|
||||
|
||||
## What are the key first steps the CTAO ERIC Council will focus on in the coming months?
|
||||
|
||||
In the coming months, we expect to move all assets and activities from the CTAO gGmbH (former legal entity of the Observatory) to the CTAO ERIC, so the whole project runs under one umbrella. The team at the CTAO Central Organisation will also transition and continue to grow as the construction of some of the telescopes will advance at a rapid pace. While this is ongoing, we also need to start planning for operations and early science. There is a lot to do!
|
||||
|
||||
## The CTAO ERIC was initially formed with the commitment of 11 countries and one intergovernmental organisation, but there is an increasing international interest in the CTAO. Can we already anticipate participation of new countries at governmental level?
|
||||
|
||||
The support of the founding countries and ESO is a demonstration of the interest in the CTAO, which extends to other partners around the world. We are already in talks with additional countries so we are certain that our membership will continue to grow. There are many ways to engage in the project, to serve different communities and their circumstances, ensuring that we are as inclusive as possible.
|
||||
|
||||
## As the CTAO is now entering fully into the construction phase, what are the key priorities from a strategic perspective?
|
||||
|
||||
Our priority is to ensure the maximum quality in the construction of the telescopes and data centres, while respecting the timing and availability of resources in an always complex and quickly changing scenario. Not less important, to attract more partners and funding needed for the CTAO ERIC to be a sustainable organisation for many years to come.
|
||||
|
||||
## Looking toward the future, what long-term impact do you hope the CTAO will have on astrophysics and beyond?
|
||||
|
||||
We are building the most advanced and powerful instrument to study gamma rays in the Universe. I hope its discoveries will expand and change our understanding of the most energetic processes in astrophysics.
|
||||
|
||||
## Finally, what message would you share with the global technical and scientific communities that are eagerly awaiting to explore the extreme Universe with the CTAO?
|
||||
|
||||
Scientists are eager to receive data from the CTAO ERIC which will certainly bring new discoveries. We share this enthusiasm and will work hard to complete the construction of the facilities and reach early science as soon as possible. There are great challenges in this project, which we can only overcome with the involvement of the best technical and scientific experts, and the CTAO is fortunate to have such a strong professional community. Soon, the global scientific community will have an unprecedented tool to explore the extreme Universe, opening new frontiers of the Cosmos. We stand at the threshold of a new era in astrophysics.
|
||||
-15
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Italian Minister of University and Research Visits the CTAO-South Site in Chile"
|
||||
description: "On Thursday, 12 March, Anna Maria Bernini, the Italian Minister of University and Research, travelled to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Her visit included tours of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and…"
|
||||
date: 2026-03-13
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/BerniniVisit_CTAOSouth-e1773399554943-768x509.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On Thursday, 12 March, Anna Maria Bernini, the Italian Minister of University and Research, travelled to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Her visit included tours of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and [CTAO-South](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/array-sites/ctao-south/), the CTAO’s telescope array site in the southern hemisphere. She was accompanied by a small delegation that included Valeria Biagiotti, Ambassador of Italy to Chile, and Roberto Ragazzoni, President of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF).
|
||||
|
||||
Minister Bernini, who was in Chile for the inauguration of the country’s new President, was welcomed by ESO Director General Xavier Barcons to explore the ELT facilities. The delegation then proceeded to the CTAO-South site, where they were greeted by the CTAO’s local team, who guided the visitors and detailed the rapid progress of the ongoing construction. The landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation since a [major contract was signed](https://www.ctao.org/news/telescope-construction-begins-on-ctaosouth-with-signing-of-major-contract/) in July 2025 between ESO (on behalf of the CTAO) and a consortium of Chilean companies for the construction of roads and telescope foundations. The foundation work is now well advanced, and the site is preparing to receive its first telescope structures in the coming months.
|
||||
|
||||
Italy is a founding member of the CTAO ERIC and the hosting partner of the CTAO Headquarters in Bologna, Italy. The Italian scientific community plays a key role in the Observatory’s development, particularly by leading the development of the [Small-Sized Telescopes](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/sst/) that will be deployed at the CTAO-South array.
|
||||
-31
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Italy Hosts International Celebration for the Launch of the CTAO ERIC Activities"
|
||||
description: "Today, in the Sala dei Giganti of the University of Padua, Italy, partners and collaborators of the CTAO gathered to celebrate the launch of activities of the CTAO ERIC. The ceremony, organised by the Italian National Institute for…"
|
||||
date: 2025-10-06
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Stuart-McMuldroch-Direttore-Generale-CTAO-e-Anna-Maria-Bernini-Ministro-dellUniverita-e-la-Ricerca-768x512.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Today, in the Sala dei Giganti of the University of Padua, Italy, partners and collaborators of the CTAO gathered to celebrate the launch of activities of the CTAO ERIC. The ceremony, organised by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), brought together representatives from the CTAO Founding Members, including the Italian Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, alongside authorities and the wider scientific community.
|
||||
|
||||
Earlier this year, the European Commission formally [established the CTAO as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)](https://www.ctao.org/news/the-ctao-becomes-an-eric/), marking the official start of its construction phase — a key milestone that has seen remarkable progress over the past few months. The transition to this final legal form was formally completed on 30 September with the [signing of the asset transfer agreement](https://www.ctao.org/news/ctao-finalises-asset-transfer-from-ggmbh-to-eric/) from the previous entity to the CTAO ERIC. Today’s event in Padua celebrates this achievement and the beginning of a new chapter for the Observatory on its path to becoming the world’s largest and most advanced gamma-ray observatory.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
-17
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Kick-Off of the Astrophysics Centre for Multimessenger studies in Europe (ACME)"
|
||||
description: "On September 16 and 17, the kick-off meeting for the Astrophysics Centre for Multimessenger studies in Europe (ACME) was held in Paris, France. ACME is a EU-funded project coordinated by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique…"
|
||||
date: 2024-10-03
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/ACME_photo_kick_off_2-e1727941597652-1600x946.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On September 16 and 17, the kick-off meeting for the Astrophysics Centre for Multimessenger studies in Europe (ACME) was held in Paris, France. [ACME is a EU-funded project](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101131928) coordinated by the [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique](https://www.cnrs.fr/fr) (CNRS) that aims to realize an ambitious coordinated European-wide optimization of the accessibility and cohesion between multiple leading astroparticle and astronomy research infrastructures, offering access to instruments, data and expertise focused on the new science of multi-messenger astrophysics.
|
||||
|
||||
> “The CTAO will participate in the project leading the development of the Center of Expertise on gamma-ray astronomy,” explains Roberta Zanin, CTAO Project Scientists and CTAO contact for the project. “The centre will coordinate different nodes distributed around Europe where gamma-ray astronomers will provide support to the whole astronomical community in terms of both data analysis and proposal preparation, as well as by offering specialized knowledge and resources for gamma-ray research within the broader context of multi-messenger astrophysics.”
|
||||
|
||||
With 40 world-class collaborating institutions from 14 countries, ACME objectives are to implement the [Astroparticle Physics European Consortium’s (APPEC)](https://www.appec.org/roadmap/) and the Planning and Advisory Network for European Astronomy’s ([ASTRONET](https://www.astronet-eu.org/?page_id=521)) roadmaps’ recommendations and act as a pathfinder to broaden and improve access to the respective research infrastructures services and data.
|
||||
|
||||
Read CNRS press release [here](https://www.in2p3.cnrs.fr/fr/cnrsinfo/lancement-dacme-un-projet-construit-par-et-pour-les-communautes-des-astroparticules-et-de).
|
||||
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "La Palma Consortium Meeting Wrap-up"
|
||||
description: "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."
|
||||
date: 2017-11-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Pano-grupo_web.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Written by: Jürgen Knödlseder, Chair, CTA Consortium Board*
|
||||
|
||||
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).
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Raman LIDAR Pathfinder on CTA-North Site Achieves First Light"
|
||||
description: "On the evening of the 25 March, the Barcelona Raman LIDAR Pathfinder installed on the CTA-North site at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain) achieved first light."
|
||||
date: 2021-03-30
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/20210325_194553_small-768x346.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On the evening of the 25 March, the Barcelona Raman LIDAR Pathfinder installed on the CTA-North site at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma (Spain) achieved first light.
|
||||
|
||||
In spite of windy conditions, the LIDAR team, after a laborious laser alignment, was able to operate the instrument smoothly and, as scheduled, produce data. Built in Barcelona and installed at the CTA-North site inside the LST-1 construction area in mid-February 2021, the LIDAR will play a fundamental role in characterizing the atmospheric properties and calibrating the data acquired by the CTA telescopes. It will be tested for about a year, then returned back to Barcelona for updates and improvements based on the data collected. A final instrument based on the pathfinder will be installed at CTA-North. A similar instrument, built by the University of Montpellier, France, will be installed at the CTA-South site. Now that the team has achieved first light, regular data collection for commissioning of the instrument will follow.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
@@ -1,225 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "LST-1 Discovers the Most Distant AGN at Very High Energies"
|
||||
description: "On 15 December, the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) Collaboration announced through an Astronomer’s Telegram (ATel) the detection of the source OP 313 at very high energies with the LST-1."
|
||||
date: 2023-12-26
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
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 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.
|
||||
|
||||
The more distant the source, the more difficult it is to observe at very high energies due to the so-called Extragalactic Background Light or EBL. The EBL is the collective light emitted by all objects outside the Milky Way that expands across multiple wavelengths, from visible, infrared and ultraviolet. The EBL interacts with very high-energy gamma rays, attenuating their flux and, thus, making their observation challenging. The characteristics of the LST-1, with an optimized sensitivity for the CTAO’s low energy range, between 20 and 150 GeV, where gamma rays are less affected by the EBL, enabled the LST Collaboration to extend the study of this source to tens of GeV for the first time.
|
||||
|
||||
The LST Collaboration will continue to observe this source with the LST-1 to expand the dataset and, thus, obtain a more precise analysis that allows scientists to improve their understanding of the EBL, study the magnetic fields within this type of source or delve into fundamental intergalactic physics.
|
||||
|
||||
## About the LST
|
||||
|
||||
The Large-Sized Telescope (LST) is one of three types of telescope that will be built to cover CTAO’s full energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV). The approved Alpha Configuration of the CTAO includes four LSTs arranged at the centre of the northern hemisphere array. An enhancement plan of such layout includes also two LSTs in the southern array, which are funded. These telescopes are optimized to cover the low-energy sensitivity between 20 and 150 GeV. Each LST is a giant 23 metre diameter telescope with a mirror area of about 400 square metres and a fine pixelized camera made of 1855 light sensors capable of detecting individual photons with high efficiency. Although the LST stands 45 metres tall and weighs around 100 tonnes, it is extremely nimble, with the ability to reposition within 20 seconds to capture brief, low-energy gamma-ray signals. Both the fast repositioning speed and the low energy threshold provided by the LSTs are critical for CTAO’s 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. The prototype of the LST, the LST-1, is located at CTAO-North and is currently under commissioning. It is expected to become the first CTAO telescope once its commissioning is complete and it has been officially accepted.
|
||||
|
||||
## About the LST Collaboration
|
||||
|
||||
The LST Collaboration is made up of over 400 scientists and engineers from 67 different institutions across twelve countries. The telescope operations and maintenance as well as the data-taking, analysis, and technical and scientific publications are only made possible with the collaborative effort of the entire LST Collaboration members from the following list of institutes:
|
||||
|
||||
## Brazil
|
||||
|
||||
Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
|
||||
|
||||
## Bulgaria
|
||||
|
||||
Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
|
||||
|
||||
## Croatia
|
||||
|
||||
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Physics
|
||||
|
||||
University of Rijeka, Department of Physics
|
||||
|
||||
University of Split, FESB
|
||||
|
||||
## Czech Republic
|
||||
|
||||
Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
|
||||
|
||||
Charles University, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics
|
||||
|
||||
FZU – Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
|
||||
|
||||
Palacky University Olomouc, Faculty of Science
|
||||
|
||||
## France
|
||||
|
||||
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM
|
||||
|
||||
LAPP, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS-IN2P3
|
||||
|
||||
## Germany
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University
|
||||
|
||||
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Plasma-Astroteilchenphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
|
||||
|
||||
Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Universität Würzburg
|
||||
|
||||
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik
|
||||
|
||||
Universität Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik
|
||||
|
||||
## India (dormant)
|
||||
|
||||
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
|
||||
|
||||
## Italy
|
||||
|
||||
Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica ‘E. Segrè’ Università degli Studi di Palermo
|
||||
|
||||
INAF
|
||||
|
||||
INFN and Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente (DSFTA)
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche – Università degli Studi dell’Aquila and Gran Sasso Science Institute
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Bari and Politecnico di Bari
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Bari and Università di Bari
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Catania
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Napoli
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Padova and Università degli Studi di Padova
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Pisa
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Roma La Sapienza
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Trieste and Università degli Studi di Trieste
|
||||
|
||||
INFN Sezione di Trieste and Università degli Studi di Udine
|
||||
|
||||
University of Torino and INFN Sezione di Torino
|
||||
|
||||
## Japan
|
||||
|
||||
Chiba University
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Earth and Space Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Physical Sciences, Aoyama Gakuin University
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Physics, Konan University
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Physics, Tokai University
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Physics, Yamagata University
|
||||
|
||||
Division of Physics and Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
|
||||
|
||||
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University
|
||||
|
||||
Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University
|
||||
|
||||
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University
|
||||
|
||||
Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo
|
||||
|
||||
Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University
|
||||
|
||||
Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University
|
||||
|
||||
Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo
|
||||
|
||||
Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University
|
||||
|
||||
Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization)
|
||||
|
||||
Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute (KMI) for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University
|
||||
|
||||
Physics Program, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University
|
||||
|
||||
RIKEN, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
|
||||
|
||||
School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University
|
||||
|
||||
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University
|
||||
|
||||
## Poland
|
||||
|
||||
Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of Lodz
|
||||
|
||||
## Spain
|
||||
|
||||
CIEMAT
|
||||
|
||||
Departament de Física Quàntica i Astrofísica, Institut de Ciències del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, IEEC-UB
|
||||
|
||||
EMFTEL department and IPARCOS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
|
||||
|
||||
Escuela Politécnica Superior de Jaén, Universidad de Jaén
|
||||
|
||||
Grupo de Electronica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
|
||||
|
||||
Institut de Fisica d’Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
|
||||
|
||||
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC), and Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), and Institució Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avançats (ICREA)
|
||||
|
||||
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC
|
||||
|
||||
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna
|
||||
|
||||
Port d’Informació Científica
|
||||
|
||||
University of Alcalá UAH
|
||||
|
||||
## Switzerland
|
||||
|
||||
Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva
|
||||
|
||||
Laboratory for High Energy Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale
|
||||
|
||||
University of Geneva – Département de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire
|
||||
|
||||
## 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 will use three types of telescopes: the Large-Sized Telescopes (LST), the Medium-Sized Telescopes (MST) and the Small-Sized Telescopes (SST). More than 60 telescopes will be distributed between 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 of the CTAO 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 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 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
|
||||
|
||||
Prof. Masahiro Teshima
|
||||
|
||||
LST Principle Investigator (PI)
|
||||
|
||||
[mteshima@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp](mailto:mteshima@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
|
||||
|
||||
(English, Japanese)
|
||||
|
||||
LST Outreach Team
|
||||
|
||||
[lst-outreach@cta-observatory.org](mailto:lst-outreach@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
(English)
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO Chief Communication Officer
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
+39-051-6357-270
|
||||
|
||||
(English, Spanish and Italian)
|
||||
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "LST-1 Inauguration: 10 October 2018, La Palma"
|
||||
description: "On Wednesday, 10 October 2018, more than 200 guests from around the world will gather on the northern array site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to celebrate the inauguration of the first prototype Large-Sized Telescope (LST). The…"
|
||||
date: 2018-10-05
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/Dani07_small-768x432.jpeg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
> [LST-1 Construction Video](https://youtu.be/hIqmYf63m6Q)
|
||||
|
||||
> [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
|
||||
|
||||
**La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain –** On Wednesday, 10 October 2018, more than 200 guests from around the world gathered on the northern array site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to celebrate the inauguration of the prototype [Large-Sized Telescope](https://www.ctao.org/emission-to-discovery/telescopes/lst/) (LST). The telescope, named LST-1, is intended to become the first of four LSTs on the CTA-North site, 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) located in the municipality of [Villa de Garafia](http://www.garafia.es/) on the island of La Palma. The plan for the site also includes 15 Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs).
|
||||
|
||||
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 final step, the camera installation, was completed on 25 September 2018.
|
||||
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
In addition to the LST, two other classes of telescope are required to cover CTA’s full energy range from 20 gigaelectronvolt (GeV) to 300 teraelectronvolt (TeV): Medium-Sized Telescopes and Small-Sized Telescopes. Because gamma rays with low energies produce a small amount of Cherenkov light, telescopes with large mirrors are required to capture the images. Four LSTs will be arranged at the centre of both the northern and the southern hemisphere arrays of the Observatory to cover the low-energy sensitivity of CTA between 20 and 150 GeV.
|
||||
|
||||
The LST has a 23-metre diameter parabolic reflective surface, which is supported by a tubular structure made of reinforced carbon fibre and steel tubes. A reflective surface of 400 m2 collects and focuses the Cherenkov light into the camera, where photomultiplier tubes convert the light in electrical signals that can be processed by dedicated electronics. Although the LST-1 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.
|
||||
|
||||
The LSTs will expand the science reach to cosmological distances and fainter sources with soft energy spectra. Both the 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. The prototype is foreseen to become the first LST telescope of CTA, and, in fact, the first telescope on a CTA site, to be operated by the CTA Observatory (CTAO). As any other technical delivery in the large, multinational CTA project, the LST-1 will need to undergo a critical design review to verify that the design complies with CTA science goals, operational needs, safety standards, etc. before it is formally accepted by CTAO.
|
||||
|
||||
Go to the LST-1 Inauguration webpage (https://www.cta-observatory.org/lst-1_inauguration) on the CTA website for more information in other languages and links to supporting materials, images and video.
|
||||
|
||||
## Notes for Editors:
|
||||
|
||||
CTA (www.cta-observatory.org) is a global initiative to build the world’s largest and most sensitive high-energy gamma-ray observatory with about 120 telescopes split between two sites: one in the northern hemisphere at the Roque de los Muchachos astronomical observatory in the municipality of Villa de Garafia on the island of La Palma, Spain, and the other in the southern hemisphere near the existing European Southern Observatory site at Paranal, Chile. More than 1,400 scientists and engineers from 31 countries are engaged in the scientific and technical development of CTA. The planning for the construction of the Observatory is managed by the CTAO gGmbH, which is governed by Shareholders and Associate Members from a growing number of countries.
|
||||
|
||||
CTA will be the foremost global observatory for very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy over the next decade and beyond and will be the first ground-based gamma-ray astronomy observatory open to the world-wide astronomical and particle physics communities. The scientific potential of CTA is extremely broad: from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. 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. CTA’s latest science case (published in 2017), Science with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, is available via the CTA website [library](https://www.ctao.org/for-scientists/library/).
|
||||
|
||||
CTA was recently promoted to a landmark on the 2018 roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). This project is receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programs under agreement No 676134. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme ([FP7/2007-2013] [FP7/2007-2011]) under Grant Agreement 262053.
|
||||
|
||||
## LST Project Team Contacts:
|
||||
|
||||
Prof. Dr. Masahiro Teshima, LST Work Package Leader
|
||||
|
||||
Max Planck Institute for Physics, ICRR (University of Tokyo)
|
||||
|
||||
+49-89-32354301; mteshima@mpp.mpg.de
|
||||
|
||||
Barbara Wankerl, MPP Press Officer
|
||||
|
||||
+49-151-40028770 (mobile), +49 89 32354-292 (Institute);
|
||||
|
||||
barbara.wankerl@mpp.mpg.de
|
||||
|
||||
## General CTA Contacts:
|
||||
|
||||
Prof. Federico Ferrini, CTAO gGmbH Managing Director
|
||||
|
||||
+39-348-8966787; federico.ferrini@cta-observatory.org
|
||||
|
||||
Prof. Werner Hofmann, CTA Spokesperson
|
||||
|
||||
+49-6221-516330; werner.hofmann@mpi-hd.mpg.de
|
||||
|
||||
Wolfgang Wild, CTA Project Manager
|
||||
|
||||
+ +39 (051) 6357-220; wolfgang.wild@cta-observatory.org
|
||||
|
||||
Megan Grunewald, CTA Communications Officer
|
||||
|
||||
+49-6221-516471; mgrunewald@cta-observatory.org
|
||||
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "LST Prototype Camera Installation Signals End of Construction"
|
||||
description: "On 25 September 2018, the team constructing the 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…"
|
||||
date: 2018-09-28
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/IMG_9927_small-768x500.jpeg
|
||||
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!
|
||||
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "LST Prototype Nears Completion with Camera Support Structure Installation"
|
||||
description: "During 21 and 22 June, the LST1 prototype, which is under construction at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, hit another structural milestone when its camera support structure (CSS) was installed. With the addition of the…"
|
||||
date: 2018-06-25
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/c3eacc00-086e-463f-8118-bdfa77a110b0-768x432.jpg
|
||||
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/).
|
||||
-71
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "LST Collaboration Paper Provides New Clues About Gamma-Ray Burst Jets"
|
||||
description: "La Palma, Spain — The international CTAO LST Collaboration 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…"
|
||||
date: 2025-07-23
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/GRB_ESOimage-1600x914.jpg
|
||||
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.
|
||||
|
||||
Despite standing 45 meters tall and weighing 100 tonnes, each LST can reposition to any point in the sky within 20 seconds. Both this rapid repositioning and the low-energy threshold of the LSTs are critical for the CTAO’s studies of galactic transients, high-redshift active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts.
|
||||
|
||||
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/). 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/): 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/) 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.
|
||||
|
||||
Prof. Masahiro Teshima
|
||||
|
||||
LST Principal Investigator (PI)
|
||||
|
||||
[mteshima@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp](mailto:mteshima@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
|
||||
|
||||
(English, Japanese)
|
||||
|
||||
LST Outreach Team
|
||||
|
||||
[lst-outreach@cta-observatory.org](mailto:lst-outreach@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
(English, Italian, Spanish, and Croatian)
|
||||
|
||||
Dr. Alba Fernández-Barral
|
||||
|
||||
CTAO Chief Communications Officer
|
||||
|
||||
[alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org](mailto:alba.fernandezbarral@cta-observatory.org)
|
||||
|
||||
+39-051-6357-270 (English, Spanish and Italian)
|
||||
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The LST Collaboration Publishes its first Scientific Paper with Data from the LST-1"
|
||||
description: "On March 6, the LST Collaboration published its first scientific paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A), focused on a multi-wavelength study of the unidentified ultra-high-energy gamma-ray source known as LHAASO J2108+5157, and using data…"
|
||||
date: 2023-03-16
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/LST1_annoucement_featuredimage-01-1600x621.png
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
[“Multiwavelength study of the galactic PeVatron candidate LHAASO J2108+5157” on A&A Journal.](https://www.aanda.org/component/article?access=doi&doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202245086)
|
||||
|
||||
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.”
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
*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.
|
||||
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The LST Collaboration Publishes the LST-1 Performance Paper"
|
||||
description: "On 14 July 2023, the performance paper of the LST-1 was accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ)."
|
||||
date: 2023-07-26
|
||||
category: news
|
||||
author: CTAO
|
||||
cover: /uploads/48629242378_5cb352496e_o-768x512.jpg
|
||||
draft: false
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On 14 July, the performance paper of the LST-1, the prototype of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) currently under commissioning at CTAO-North on La Palma (Spain), was accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ). The study, carried out by the LST Collaboration, describes the telescope’s capabilities, including key parameters such as its sensitivity and its angular and energy resolution, and validates the simulations required for data analysis. This paper is fundamental to the upcoming science publications as it sets a performance baseline for the instrument and ensures its reliability.
|
||||
|
||||
> “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.
|
||||
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user