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.
On 1 June 2020, scientists from the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Consortium announced at the 236th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) that they have detected gamma rays from the Crab Nebula using a prototype telescope proposed for CTA, the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT), proving the viability of the novel telescope design for use in gamma-ray astrophysics.
In its first attempt to detect a gamma-ray source, the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) successfully detected its first gamma-ray signal on 23 November 2019 when it pointed to the Crab Nebula.
CTA is a large science infrastructure with many individual units and a high degree of complexity. There are many good reasons to design and implement the simplest and most harmonized system possible. One prominent area concerns the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) where harmonization is of very high importance due to the large number of units to be built, operated and maintained.
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.
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.
On the night of 14-15 December 2018, the Large-Sized Telescope (LST) prototype recorded its first Cherenkov light on the northern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), located at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ (IAC’s) Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), on the Canary island of La Palma
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 telescope, named LST-1, is intended to become the first of four LSTs on the CTA-North site. This page will host all the materials and details from the event so please check back as we continue to build the page.
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 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 (ORM) located in the municipality of Villa de Garafia on the island of La Palma.
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 CSS – the parabolic arc holding the camera on the mirror dish – the LST is taking its final, spectacular form.