Gamma rays are of specific interest for the study of deep space: They are produced during high-energy cosmic procedures, such as the explosion of enormous stars or in jets from active galaxies. When gamma rays strike the Earth’s atmosphere, they produce flashes of blue light that last only small split seconds; although these are unnoticeable to the human eye, they can be identified by special sensing units.
It is precisely for this function that a total of 64 mirror telescopes will be constructed over the next 5 years in Chile’s Atacama Desert and on the Canary Island of La Palma. Together, they will form the Cherenkov Telescope Variety Observatory, or CTAO for brief. It will be the world’s biggest and most effective observatory for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy– 10 times more delicate than previous detectors.
German Consortium Plays a Secret Function in CTAO
A German consortium will play a key function in driving the construction and commissioning of the CTAO telescopes. To this end, the BMFTR is supplying over 4 million euros over the next 3 years as part of the “Exploration of deep space and Matter” program. The consortium consists of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Humboldt University Berlin, TU Dortmund University, and the universities of Bochum, Potsdam, Tübingen, and Würzburg. Likewise involved are limit Planck Institutes for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg and for Physics in Garching near Munich, along with the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Zeuthen, which is part of the Helmholtz Association. “The job partners play an important role in many elements of CTAO: They check elements, establish software application for detection and information analysis, and support the commissioning of the first telescopes,” discusses consortium representative Prof. Dr. Stefan Funk of the Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics.
Researchers from Würzburg, Bochum, and Dortmund Put Telescopes into Operation
The CTAO’s telescopes have a mirror diameter of 23 meters. In addition to commissioning the telescopes, scientists from Bochum, Dortmund, and Würzburg will also develop and install a system to keep track of the vibrational behavior of these telescopes in order to spot prospective damage to the chassis or the supporting structure at an early phase. Scientists at the Ruhr Development Laboratory will also help establish the software application for the observatory.
Dr. Dominik Elsässer, speaker at the Department of Physics at TU Dortmund University and head of the Dortmund subproject, discusses: “The CTAO’s telescopes will offer us with a distinct insight into the procedures occurring, for instance, in the area of huge black holes at the centers of active galaxies.”
“Thanks to financing from the BMFTR, we can make the best possible use of the know-how of scientists in the Ruhr area, for instance in the advancement of ingenious software options. From a clinical perspective, we are especially interested in the chances emerging from the simultaneous operation of the CTAO with telescopes for other wavelength ranges and for neutrinos, as well as the theoretical modeling of the processes in gamma-ray sources,” said Prof. Dr. Julia Tjus, subproject leader at Ruhr University Bochum. Also associated with the Bochum subproject are the groups led by Prof. Dr. Anna Franckowiak and Dr. Elisa Püschel.
The researchers at the Ruhr Development Laboratory will receive a total of 910,000 euros over the next 3 years as part of the BMFTR’s collaborative research program, giving them the opportunity to considerably form the field of multi-messenger astronomy.
Close cooperation in the Ruhr area
The groups at Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund University work carefully together as part of the Ruhr Innovation Laboratory and the DFG Collaborative Proving Ground 1491, dealing with a broad series of concerns in astrophysics, astroparticle physics, particle physics, and plasma astrophysics.
As soon as completed, the CTAO will play a leading function in exploring the universe using numerous details providers. Researchers from the Ruhr University Alliance– particularly Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen– are likewise involved in other major worldwide astrophysics tasks: the IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole, the planned Einstein Telescope gravitational-wave detector, and projects leading up to the future SKAO radio observatory.
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