On 2–3 December, the CTAO Central Organisation’s Telescope team visited the facilities of the Italian company Dal Ben, located in the Veneto region, to conduct the Test Readiness Review (TRR) for the electromechanical structure of the Small-Sized Telescope (SST). After the CTAO SST Collaboration completed the integration of the first SST telescope at the facility, … Continued
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 Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the funds will provide light detectors … Continued
From 22 to 29 July, the CTAO SST Collaboration conducted a successful test campaign on the new camera prototype design for the Small-Sized Telescope (SST). The camera prototype was shipped to Tenerife, Spain, and integrated into the ASTRI-2 telescope, a pathfinder for the SST, for testing under real observational conditions. With a quarter of its … Continued
On 3 July, the CTAO LST Collaboration successfully installed the camera support structure (CSS) on the LST-2, one of the three Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) currently under development on the CTAO-North site in La Palma, Spain. The CSS is a composite structure comprising a carbon-fibre arch made of six tubes and a camera frame that secures … Continued
On 2 July, a major contract, worth several million Euros, was signed between the CTAO’s hosting partner, ESO (European Southern Observatory), and a consortium of Chilean companies for the construction of roads and telescope foundations for the CTAO’s southern hemisphere array (CTAO-South), which is located near ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The contract, signed on … Continued
On 5 June, a delegation from the CTAO SST Collaboration and the CTAO Central Organisation’s Telescope team visited the facilities of the Italian company Dal Ben, located in the Veneto region, to inspect the progress of the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) electromechanical structures’ production. In a significant step forward, the SST structures have now officially entered … Continued
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. The camera installation represents the finalisation of the telescope’s construction and marks its transition to the commissioning phase. … Continued
On 15 May, the CTAO LST Collaboration successfully completed the installation of all 198 mirror facets on LST-3, one of the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) currently under construction at CTAO-North on La Palma, Spain. The mirror installation process, which began on 31 March, is a meticulous and collaborative effort involving multiple research institutions and companies. Each … Continued
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. 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.
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 ensure it meets all required specifications and functions for its proper operation. The completion was marked by the official release of … Continued