La Palma inaugurates four telescopes to catch brief cosmic outbursts
Four large Cherenkov telescopes were inaugurated on Spain’s La Palma island on October 15. Designed to turn quickly toward alerts from other observatories, they will work together to locate high-energy cosmic events. The instruments complete the northern site’s large-telescope subgroup, while Gran Telescopio Canarias will examine the same targets at other wavelengths.
Science··Morning
Four large instruments join the northern observatory
Four large Cherenkov telescopes were inaugurated on October 15 at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, an island in Spain’s Canary Islands. They complete the large-telescope subgroup at the northern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, an international gamma-ray astronomy project. A scientific consortium bringing together participants from 11 countries marked the inauguration. The instruments will form part of the observatory’s future northern network.[1], [2]
The first of the four instruments opened in 2018 and subsequently underwent commissioning and scientific tests. Three additional telescopes now complete that subgroup. Large-Sized Telescopes, abbreviated LSTs, are one of the three instrument types intended for the wider observatory. Their role is to detect the lower-energy gamma rays within the network’s range.[2]
An outburst alert sends the telescopes toward its source
Valentín Martínez, director of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, described telescopes built to respond rapidly when another observatory detects a brief cosmic outburst. The instruments stand without the protective domes surrounding conventional telescopes at the same site. Their ability to turn quickly is intended to help follow events whose duration leaves little time to begin observing.[1], [2]
Gamma rays interacting with Earth’s atmosphere generate very faint Cherenkov light. The large mirrors collect that light to recover information about the originating astronomical event. Each telescope can work separately, while coordinated observations with all four are intended to help determine where the high-energy event occurred and measure its energy.[1], [2]
Other telescopes will follow the same targets
Gran Telescopio Canarias, another telescope at Roque de los Muchachos, will examine the same objects at other wavelengths after the gamma-ray instruments locate them. Medium-sized telescopes planned for La Palma will later join the northern network. Martínez put the investment for each large telescope at 25–30 million euros. The European Southern Observatory is involved in construction of the observatory’s other site in Chile.[1], [2]
Nobel-winning physicist Takaaki Kajita attended the inauguration alongside the international delegations. Martínez thanked local institutions and Canary Islands society for their support of the project. The completed group includes the original telescope and the three instruments added after its commissioning period.[2]
