CTA: Cherenkov Telescope Array

Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an international project with a goal to construct ground-based astronomical observatories, designed to detect high-energy gamma rays using atmospheric blue-flash (Cherenkov light) imaging techniques. Two observatories are planned, one in each hemisphere of the Earth. Each will include several dozens of synchronized large optical telescopes. The Cherenkov light flashes recorded by them will allow to gather information about gamma-ray energies ranging from 20 GeV to over 300 TeV.

The CTA Consortium includes researchers from 32 countries, including Poland. The Polish Consortium of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Project is formed by 13 scientific institutions contributing to the project, including NCBJ. The activities of the Polish Consortium are in the area designing and manufacturing prototypes of equipment intended for application in CTA, including the small Cherenkov telescope SST-1M and new technology mirrors for medium size telescopes (MST). Poland provides also large computing and data storage resources, and contributes into a number of other activities of CTA.

The research carried out by the NCBJ researchers in preparation for the CFT data is covered by the grant of the Polish National Science Center UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00583 led by the Jagiellonian University.