Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO)
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is a planned next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. About 100 Cherenkov telescopes will be installed on two sites in the northern (island of La Palma, Spain) and the southern (Paranal, Chile) hemisphere. These telescope arrays will allow for an improvement in sensitivity of a factor of 10 when compared with current installations like H.E.S.S., MAGIC or VERITAS. CTA will also extend the energy range and will grant access to photon energies above 100 TeV.
At present, the HU CTAO group contributes to the design, control and calibration of the medium-size telescopes (MSTs). These telescopes will cover CTAO's core energy range (0.1 TeV - 10 TeV); it is planned to build 15 and 25 MSTs on La Palma and in Chile, respectively. In the period 2012-2020, the local CTAO group was strongly committed to using a 12m MST prototype, erected by DESY Zeuthen on the Adlershof Campus, as a test bed for construction, operation and calibration. Earlier CTAO work addressed a number of topics ranging from data acquisition and control for the CTAO arrays, via Monte Carlo studies (camera trigger and data rates), to physics studies (dark matter).
Research Topics
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Mirror Alignment and Pointing Calibration For MSTs
The precise localisation of gamma-ray sources requires a high-quality alignment of the MST optics and detailed knowledge of its pointing direction. The local CTAO group uses data recorded by CCD cameras at the 12m MST prototype and at the soon to be constructed pathfinder telescopes in Chile to study how these CCD cameras can help to align the tessellated mirrors and to determine the telescope pointing relative to known star positions. Data from these images are compared with simulations of the expected telescope behaviour to evaluate the performance of the telescopes.
(Dan Parsons)
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Development of Novel Data Analysis Techniques for CTAO
Very high energy gamma-ray telescopes such as the CTAO are reliant on on the use of event reconstruction algorithms to determine the direction and energy of primary gamma-rays which produce air showers in the Earth's atmospheres as well as determine whether observed events are gamma-rays or the much more numerous charged cosmic-rays. The HU Berlin group works on advanced event reconstruction using both machine learning and classical techniques.
(Dan Parsons)
Group members
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Prof. Dr. David Berge
- Peggy Schraub (secretary)
Staff scientists
- Dan Parsons
Postdoctoral research fellows
- Andres Delgado
Postdoctoral research fellows
Abhay Mehta
Jowita Borowska-Naguszewska