Gamma-ray telescope array to be located in Chile and Spain
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029047
Nature : The governing board for the planned €300 million ($327 million) Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) has selected sites in Chile and Spain over sites in Mexico and Namibia. The CTA will have about 100 dishes in Paranal, Chile, as part of the European Southern Observatory and another 20 in La Palma, Spain, at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. The array will be looking for the particle cascades created when extremely high energy gamma rays released by supernovae or accelerated by black holes hit particles in Earth’s atmosphere. The telescope is split between northern and southern hemispheres to provide nearly full-sky coverage. Final contracts for the site are expected to be approved within 6 months, and construction will begin in the middle of 2016.
