Abstract
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will provide a new ground based gamma ray observatory with sensivity ten times better than existing gamma ray experiments. CTA will also have a much wider energy range and improved angular resolution. The presentation will describe the telescope array which is reaching the final stages of design and prototyping. An vital first decision for CTA will be the choice of the sites and the status of this will be given together with the general schedule expected. The science program will be presented with some focus on the plans for indirect searches for dark matter.
Highlights
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is global effort, with > 1000 participating scientists and engineers from 28 countries, to deliver an observatory for photon astronomy at the highest energies (∼20 GeV to ∼300 TeV)
CTA will dramatically improve on all aspects of performance with respect to the highly successful current generation of Cherenkov telescope arrays
CTA will survey the sky ∼200 times faster than any current instrument in the energy range above 100 GeV, have the best energy flux sensitivity and angular resolution of any instrument operating above the X-ray band and will outperform the Fermi space telescope by 4–5 orders of magnitude in sensitivity for sub-minute-timescale transient phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts
Summary
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is global effort, with > 1000 participating scientists and engineers from 28 countries, to deliver an observatory for photon astronomy at the highest energies (∼20 GeV to ∼300 TeV). CTA will dramatically improve on all aspects of performance with respect to the highly successful current generation of Cherenkov telescope arrays The breadth and depth of the CTA science case has made it a key project in the field of particle astrophysics. CTA will be the first particle astrophysics instrument to be operated as an open observatory, serving a wide scientific community. The CTA Observatory will be located at two sites, one in the southern and one in the northern hemisphere, at each site combining Cherenkov telescopes of different sizes and designs to cost-effectively cover the very wide energy band. Science performance has been demonstrated through a number of detailed case studies
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