The Cherenkov Telescope Array Project: Current Status and Science Goals

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next-generation instrument in the very-high energy gamma ray astronomy domain. It will consist of tens of Cherenkov telescopes deployed in 2 arrays at La Palma (Spain) and Paranal (ESO, Chile) respectively. Currently under construction, CTA will start operations around 2023 for a duration of about 30 years. During operations CTA is expected to produce about 2 PB of raw data per year plus 5-20 PB of Monte Carlo data. The global data volume to be managed by the CTA archive, including all versions and copies, is of the order of 100 PB with a smooth growing profile. The associated processing needs are also very high, of the order of hundreds of millions of CPU HS06 hours per year. In order to optimize the instrument design and study its performances, during the preparatory phase (2010-2017) and the current construction phase, the CTA consortium has run massive Monte Carlo productions on the EGI grid infrastructure. In order to handle these productions and the future data processing, we have developed a production system based on the DIRAC framework. The current system is the result of several years of hardware infrastructure upgrades, software development and integration of different services like CVMFS and FTS. In this paper we present the current status of the CTA production system and its exploitation during the latest large-scale Monte Carlo campaigns.

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The Cherenkov Telescope Array Science Goals and Current Status

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/201920901038 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 209 ◽

pp. 01038 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

The CTA Consortium ◽

Rene A. Ong

Keyword(s):

Gamma Ray ◽

Extreme Environments ◽

Current Status ◽

Beyond The Standard Model ◽

Telescope Array ◽

Cherenkov Telescope ◽

Cosmic Particle ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Telescope Arrays ◽

Magnitude Improvement

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the major ground-based gamma-ray observatory planned for the next decade and beyond. Consisting of two large atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays (one in the southern hemisphere and one in the northern hemisphere), CTA will have superior angular resolution, a much wider energy range, and approximately an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity, as compared to existing instruments. The CTA science programme will be rich and diverse, covering cosmic particle acceleration, the astrophysics of extreme environments, and physics frontiers beyond the Standard Model. This paper outlines the science goals for CTA and covers the current status of the project.

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FRAM telescopes and their measurements of aerosol content at the Pierre Auger Observatory and at future sites of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/201919702008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 197 ◽

pp. 02008 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Petr Janeček ◽

Jan Ebr ◽

Jakub Juryšek ◽

Michael Prouza ◽

Jiří Blažek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temporal Resolution ◽

Ccd Camera ◽

Pierre Auger Observatory ◽

Current Status ◽

Large Format ◽

Telescope Array ◽

Atmospheric Monitoring ◽

Cherenkov Telescope ◽

Continuous Use ◽

Telephoto Lens

A FRAM (F/(Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric Monitor) telescope is a system of a robotic mount, a large-format CCD camera and a fast telephoto lens that can be used for atmospheric monitoring at any site when information about the atmospheric transparency is required with high spatial or temporal resolution and where continuous use of laser-based methods for this purpose would interfere with other observations. The original FRAM has been operated at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina for more than a decade, while three more FRAMs are foreseen to be used by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The CTA FRAMs are being deployed ahead of time to characterize the properties of the sites prior to the operation of the CTA telescopes; one FRAM has been running on the planned future CTA site in Chile for a year while two others are expected to become operational before the end of 2018. We report on the hardware and current status of operation and/or deployment of all the FRAM instruments in question as well as on some of the preliminary results of integral aerosol measurements by the FRAMs in Argentina and Chile.

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Current Status of the Namibian bid to host the Cherenkov Telescope Array

10.22323/1.241.0001 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Backes

Keyword(s):

Current Status ◽

Telescope Array ◽

Cherenkov Telescope

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Progress in Multi-Wavelength and Multi-Messenger Observations of Blazars and Theoretical Challenges

Galaxies ◽

10.3390/galaxies7010020 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 20 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Markus Böttcher

Keyword(s):

Gamma Ray ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Current Status ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

Telescope Array ◽

Space Telescope ◽

X Ray ◽

Cherenkov Telescope ◽

Recent Advances ◽

Multi Wavelength

This review provides an overview of recent advances in multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observations of blazars, the current status of theoretical models for blazar emission, and prospects for future facilities. The discussion of observational results will focus on advances made possible through the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and ground-based gamma-ray observatories (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS), as well as the recent first evidence for a blazar being a source of IceCube neutrinos. The main focus of this review will be the discussion of our current theoretical understanding of blazar multi-wavelength and multi-messenger emission, in the spectral, time, and polarization domains. Future progress will be expected in particular through the development of the first X-ray polarimeter, IXPE, and the installation of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), both expected to become operational in the early to mid 2020s.

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The Crab nebula variability at short time-scales with the Cherenkov telescope array

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/staa3599 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 501 (1) ◽

pp. 337-346

Author(s):

E Mestre ◽

E de Oña Wilhelmi ◽

D Khangulyan ◽

R Zanin ◽

F Acero ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gamma Ray ◽

Crab Nebula ◽

Spectral Energy Distribution ◽

Spectral Energy ◽

Telescope Array ◽

Cherenkov Telescopes ◽

Cherenkov Telescope ◽

Emission Models ◽

Short Time ◽

The Crab Nebula

ABSTRACT Since 2009, several rapid and bright flares have been observed at high energies (>100 MeV) from the direction of the Crab nebula. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this phenomenon, but the origin is still unclear. The detection of counterparts at higher energies with the next generation of Cherenkov telescopes will be determinant to constrain the underlying emission mechanisms. We aim at studying the capability of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to explore the physics behind the flares, by performing simulations of the Crab nebula spectral energy distribution, both in flaring and steady state, for different parameters related to the physical conditions in the nebula. In particular, we explore the data recorded by Fermi during two particular flares that occurred in 2011 and 2013. The expected GeV and TeV gamma-ray emission is derived using different radiation models. The resulting emission is convoluted with the CTA response and tested for detection, obtaining an exclusion region for the space of parameters that rule the different flare emission models. Our simulations show different scenarios that may be favourable for achieving the detection of the flares in Crab with CTA, in different regimes of energy. In particular, we find that observations with low sub-100 GeV energy threshold telescopes could provide the most model-constraining results.

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