Particle Astrophysics

    General
    Description

    The members of the Particle Astrophysics Group of the IAC participate actively in three large international collaborations of high-energy astrophysics: AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer), the Cherenkov radiation telescopes MAGIC I and II and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO). We also participate in the ASTRI mini-array, the gamma-ray experiment Fermi-LAT and the gravitational wave follow-up optical telescopes GOTO.

    AMS-02 is a particle detector designed to operate in space, onboard the International Space Station. It was successfully installed on the station on May 2011, and will operate during its lifetime till at least 2030. It is aimed at carrying out a high precision and high statistics study of the spectrum and composition of primary cosmic rays within a wide range of energies, as well as to look for primordial antimatter and dark matter in an indirect way.

    The MAGIC Collaboration is integrated by 20 research institutes and university departments from Armenia, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and USA. The collaboration comprises two 17m diameter telescopes, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), designed to measure the Cherenkov radiation associated with atmospheric showers from very high-energy gamma rays.

    In the context of gamma ray observations at very high energies, the IAC also participates in the international consortium of the array of Cherenkov telescopes CTAO, with the objective to build two large observatories in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma was selected to host the CTA North observatory. The first telescope of 23 metres in diameter of the type "Large Size Telescope" of CTAO, know as LST1, was inaugurated in October 2018. This telescope was constructed by the "LST Collaboration" of CTAO, which consists of 300 scientists from 12 countries, where the IAC has a very relevant role. Currently the commissioning of the LST1 telescope is coming to and end and the scientific exploitation of the data is already given rise to new discoveries. The IAC is currently in the phase of constructing 3 more LST telescopes (LST2-LST4) in the ORM.

    The ASTRI project is being currently built at the Teide Observatory. Its final design consist of 9 small size Cherenkov telescopes. The first telescope, ASTRI-1, is nowadays in commissioning phase.

    Principal investigator
    Collaborators

    Related publications

    MAGIC TeV gamma-ray observations of Markarian 421 during multiwavelength campaigns in 2006 2010A&A...519A..32A
    MAGIC observation of the GRB 080430 afterglow 2010A&A...517A...5A
    MAGIC Gamma-ray Telescope Observation of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies: Implications for Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, and NGC 1275 2010ApJ...710..634A
    Magic Constraints on γ-ray Emission from Cygnus X-3 2010ApJ...721..843A
    Discovery of very High Energy γ-Rays from the Blazar S5 0716+714 2009ApJ...704L.129A
    Discovery of a Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Signal from the 3C 66A/B Region 2009ApJ...692L..29A
    Detection of Very High Energy γ-ray Emission from the Perseus Cluster Head-Tail Galaxy IC 310 by the MAGIC Telescopes 2010ApJ...723L.207A
    Correlated X-Ray and Very High Energy Emission in the Gamma-Ray Binary LS I +61 303 2009ApJ...706L..27A
    Performance of the MAGIC stereo system obtained with Crab Nebula data 2012APh....35..435A
    Detection of the γ-Ray Binary LS I +61°303 in a Low-flux State at Very High Energy γ-Rays with the MAGIC Telescopes in 2009 2012ApJ...746...80A
    The 2010 Very High Energy γ-Ray Flare and 10 Years of Multi-wavelength Observations of M 87 2012ApJ...746..151A
    Phase-resolved energy spectra of the Crab pulsar in the range of 50-400 GeV measured with the MAGIC telescopes 2012A&A...540A..69A
    PG 1553+113: Five Years of Observations with MAGIC 2012ApJ...748...46A
    Mrk 421 active state in 2008: the MAGIC view, simultaneous multi-wavelength observations and SSC model constrained 2012A&A...542A.100A
    Morphological and spectral properties of the W51 region measured with the MAGIC telescopes 2012A&A...541A..13A
    MAGIC observations of the giant radio galaxy M 87 in a low-emission state between 2005 and 2007 2012A&A...544A..96A
    High zenith angle observations of PKS 2155-304 with the MAGIC-I telescope 2012A&A...544A..75A
    Discovery of VHE γ-rays from the blazar 1ES 1215+303 with the MAGIC telescopes and simultaneous multi-wavelength observations 2012A&A...544A.142A
    Discovery of VHE γ-ray emission from the BL Lacertae object B3 2247+381 with the MAGIC telescopes 2012A&A...539A.118A
    Detection of VHE γ-Rays from HESS J0632+057 during the 2011 February X-Ray Outburst with the MAGIC Telescopes 2012ApJ...754L..10A
    Detection of very-high energy γ-ray emission from NGC 1275 by the MAGIC telescopes 2012A&A...539L...2A
    Constraining cosmic rays and magnetic fields in the Perseus galaxy cluster with TeV observations by the MAGIC telescopes 2012A&A...541A..99A

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    Related projects
    CTAO 3D simulation. Credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz (IAC)
    IACTEC Large Telescopes: Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory - CTAO
    The CTAO is an initiative which is planning the construction of a new generation of Cherenkov Telescopes to study the universe in very high energy gamma-rays. Gamma-rays carry information about the most violent and extreme events in the universe.
    Ramón
    García López