Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias and CTA Observatory Sign Agreement on Hosting CTA's Northern Hemisphere Array

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.

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 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."

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.

Construction of a Large-Sized Telescope prototype is currently underway on the La Palma site and can be watched live here: http://webcam.lst1.iac.es/stream2view.htm.

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.

Signing Ceremony Photos:

Signing: 1.7 MB
Credit: CTA Collaboration

CTA Council Group Photo: 2.2 MB
Credit: CTA Collaboration

La Palma Site Photos:

La Palma Candidate Site: 2.2 MB
Credit: Daniel Lopez/IAC

La Palma Site at Night: 2.8 MB
Credit: Daniel Lopez/IAC

Panoramic View of La Palma Site: 22.6 MB
Credit: Daniel Lopez/IAC

More information:
Megan Grunewald, CTA Communications Officer
+49-6221-516471; info@cta-observatory.org
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. More than 1,000 scientists and engineers from 32 countries(i) and more than 200 research institutes participate in the CTA project. CTA will serve as an open observatory to a wide astrophysics community and provide a deep insight into the non-thermal, high-energy universe. The CTA observatory will detect high-energy radiation with unprecedented accuracy and approximately ten times the sensitivity of current instruments, providing novel insights into some of the most extreme and violent events in the universe. (Read more about CTA's expected performance.) CTA is included in the 2008 roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).

(i)Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Ukraine

Provided by Cherenkov Telsecope Observatory