Organization: | The CTA Consortium |
---|---|
Start operation: | 2020-2025 (site depending) |
Location: | CTA-North at ORM, La Palma, Spain; CTA-South at Paranal, Chile |
Instrumentation: | Reflector telescopes: LST, MST and SST |
Wavelength: | 30 GeV - 300 TeV |
Website: | CTA Observatory |
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an initiative to build the next generation ground-based instrument for very-high-energy (VHE) gamma ray astronomy, with a much better sensitivity and higher resolution than the current ones. The design foresees to build two arrays of IACTs (Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes), each consisting of tens of telescopes of different mirror sizes that will detect the Cherenkov radiation generated by gamma rays that penetrate the Earth atmosphere.
IACTs and Cherenkov radiation [+]
Physics with CTA [+]
The ICCUB researchers and engineers have been involved in CTA since the very beginning. The researchers have actively participated in the definition of the CTA scientific objectives through the Key Science Projects. The engineers have designed and produced several ASICs for the pre-amplification and amplification of the signals and for the level 0 trigger system of the Large and Medium Size telescopes of CTA. In addition the ICCUB has introduced and supported the DIRAC software framework in CTA, which has been essential for the use of GRID infrastructures in the data simulation process. Finally, the ICCUB group has also helped the spanish community to push for the candidacy of La Palma as the host site of CTA-North.