UK participation in the pre-production phase of CTA extension 2022
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The Universe is full of particles with energies so high that they are travelling at very close to the speed of light. They affect the Universe in many ways, influencing the life-cycles of stars and the evolution of galaxies. These particles are hard to trace, but can reveal their presence by producing gamma rays. Like their lower-energy cousins, X-rays, gamma rays do not penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and usually satellite-based telescopes are used to detect them. However, at very high energies (VHE) there are so few gamma rays that detecting them using spacecraft becomes impossible. Luckily, it is possible to observe them from the ground via the flashes of blue light, Cherenkov radiation, produced when they interact in the atmosphere. The glow from Cherenkov radiation in the atmosphere is 10,000 times fainter than starlight, so large mirrors are required to collect it, and because the flashes last only a few billionths of a second, ultra-fast cameras are needed to record them.
We know from current ground-based gamma-ray telescopes such as HESS that there is a wealth of phenomena to be studied. VHE gamma ray telescopes have detected the remains of supernova explosions, binary star systems, highly energetic jets produced by black holes in distant galaxies, star formation regions, and many other objects. These observations can help us to understand not only what is going on inside these objects, but also answer fundamental physics questions relating to the nature of Dark Matter and of space-time itself. However, we have reached the limit of what can be done with current instruments, and so about 1000 scientists from 29 countries around the world have come together to build a new instrument - the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
CTA will offer a dramatic increase in sensitivity over current instruments and extend the energy range of the gamma rays observed to both lower and higher values. It is predicted that the catalogue of known VHE emitting objects will expand from the 130 known now to over 1000, and we can expect many new discoveries in key areas of astrophysics and fundamental physics. To achieve the energy coverage of CTA, telescopes of three different sizes are needed: Small (~4 m diameter), Medium (12 m) and Large (23 m) Sized Telescopes (SSTs, MSTs and LSTs, respectively). CTA will have arrays in the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern array will consist of 4 LSTs and 25 MSTs. The southern array will add 3 or 4 LSTs about 20 MSTs an extensive array of about 50 SSTs, to investigate the highest energy phenomena, visible mainly in the southern sky. We expect construction of the first telescopes on the CTA southern site to start in 2023.
There are currently 12 UK universities and Laboratories involved in CTA. The UK groups are concentrating their efforts on the construction of the SSTs. We built and tested two prototype cameras, with different sensors. A design based on one of these has been selected as the camera of chioce for the SSTs. Here we ask for funding to complete tests of our new camera these and to ptrpare for the cinstruction, with international partners of enough cameras to equip all the SSTs on CTA's southern site. Finally, we want to develop data analysis techniques for CTA, to ensure that UK scientists are ready to analyse the data from CTA as soon as the first telescopes start operation.
We know from current ground-based gamma-ray telescopes such as HESS that there is a wealth of phenomena to be studied. VHE gamma ray telescopes have detected the remains of supernova explosions, binary star systems, highly energetic jets produced by black holes in distant galaxies, star formation regions, and many other objects. These observations can help us to understand not only what is going on inside these objects, but also answer fundamental physics questions relating to the nature of Dark Matter and of space-time itself. However, we have reached the limit of what can be done with current instruments, and so about 1000 scientists from 29 countries around the world have come together to build a new instrument - the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
CTA will offer a dramatic increase in sensitivity over current instruments and extend the energy range of the gamma rays observed to both lower and higher values. It is predicted that the catalogue of known VHE emitting objects will expand from the 130 known now to over 1000, and we can expect many new discoveries in key areas of astrophysics and fundamental physics. To achieve the energy coverage of CTA, telescopes of three different sizes are needed: Small (~4 m diameter), Medium (12 m) and Large (23 m) Sized Telescopes (SSTs, MSTs and LSTs, respectively). CTA will have arrays in the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern array will consist of 4 LSTs and 25 MSTs. The southern array will add 3 or 4 LSTs about 20 MSTs an extensive array of about 50 SSTs, to investigate the highest energy phenomena, visible mainly in the southern sky. We expect construction of the first telescopes on the CTA southern site to start in 2023.
There are currently 12 UK universities and Laboratories involved in CTA. The UK groups are concentrating their efforts on the construction of the SSTs. We built and tested two prototype cameras, with different sensors. A design based on one of these has been selected as the camera of chioce for the SSTs. Here we ask for funding to complete tests of our new camera these and to ptrpare for the cinstruction, with international partners of enough cameras to equip all the SSTs on CTA's southern site. Finally, we want to develop data analysis techniques for CTA, to ensure that UK scientists are ready to analyse the data from CTA as soon as the first telescopes start operation.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Timothy Greenshaw (Principal Investigator) |