MAGIC (telescope) 761119 223794721 2008-07-05T21:06:47Z Para 578997 /* External links */ redundant map link removed {{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} {{Infobox Telescope | bgcolour = | name = MAGIC 1 | image = [[Image:The MAGIC Telescope.jpg|250px]] | caption = The MAGIC Telescope | organization = MAGIC collaboration | location = [[La Palma]], [[Canary Islands]] | coords = | altitude = 2200 m | weather = | wavelength = [[Gamma ray]]s | built = [[2004]] | website = http://wwwmagic.mppmu.mpg.de/ | style = [[Reflecting telescope|Reflector]] | diameter = 17m | area = 240 m² | focal_length = f/D 1.03 | mounting = metal structure }} {{Otheruses4|the telescope|other uses|Magic}} '''MAGIC''' ('''Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescope''') is a [[Gamma-ray]] telescope situated at the [[Roque de los Muchachos Observatory]] on [[La Palma]], one of the [[Canary Islands]], at about 2200 m above sea level. It detects particle showers released by cosmic gamma-rays, using the [[Cherenkov radiation]], i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters for the reflecting surface, it is the largest in the world. A second MAGIC telescope (MAGIC 2) is close to completion at a distance of 85 m from the first one; it will be inaugurated on September 19, 2008. MAGIC is sensitive to cosmic [[gamma ray]]s with energies between 50 [[GeV]] and 30 [[TeV]] due to its large mirror; other ground-based gamma-ray telescopes typically observe gamma energies above 2-300 GeV. Satellite-based detectors detect gamma-rays in the energy range from keV up to several GeV). ==Aims== The goals of the telescope are to detect and study primarily photons coming from: * Accretion of [[black holes]] in [[Active Galactic Nuclei]] * [[Supernova remnant]]s * Some unidentified [[EGRET]] Sources * [[Gamma ray burst]]s * Annihilation of [[Dark matter]] == Technical specifications == The telescope has the following specifications: * A collecting area 236 m² consisting of 50 cm x 50 cm [[Aluminium]] individual reflectors * A lightweight [[carbon fibre]] frame * A detector consisting of 396 separate hexagonal photomultiplier detectors in the center (diameter: 2.54 cm) surrounded by 180 larger photomultiplier detectors (diameter: 3.81 cm). * Data are transferred in analogue form by [[fibre optic]] cables * Signal digitization is done via an ADC (analog-digital converter) of frequency 2 GHz * The weight of the whole telescope is 40,000 kg * The reaction time to move to any section of the sky is up to 40 seconds ==Collaborating Institutions== [[Image:The MAGIC Telescope at night.jpg|thumb|right|300px|During [[fog]]gy nights, the [[laser]] reference beams of MAGIC's active control can be seen]] Physicists from over twenty institutions in Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Poland, Bulgaria and Armenia collaborate in using MAGIC; the largest groups are at * Institut de Física d'Altes Energies ([[IFAE]]) * Universitat Complutense [[Madrid]],[[Spain]] * Max-Planck-Institute for Physics, [[Munich]], [[Germany]] * Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, Universita di Padova [[Padova]], [[Italy]] * [[Tuorla Observatory]] [[Piikkiö]], [[Finland]] * Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, Universita di Siena [[Siena]], [[Italy]] * Dipatimento di Fisica and INFN, Universita di Udine, [[Italy]] * Universitaet Wuerzburg, [[Wuerzburg]], [[Germany]] * Institut for Particle Physics, [[ETH Zurich]], [[Zürich]], [[Switzerland]] == References == * C.Baixeras et al. (MAGIC Collaboration), Commissioning and first tests of the MAGIC telescope, Nucl.Inst.Meth. A518, 188 (2004) * J. Albert et al. (MAGIC Collaboration), Variable Very High Energy Gamma-ray Emission from the Microquasar LSI +61 303, Science 312, 1771 (2006) * A. De Angelis and L. Peruzzo, Das Gammastrahlen-Teleskop MAGIC, Sterne und Weltraum, August 2007 (in German); also in Le Scienze, April 2007 (in Italian) ==External links== *[http://wwwmagic.mppmu.mpg.de/ MAGIC Telescope webpage giving full details, introductory text, and results] *[http://www.magic.iac.es/ MAGIC webpage at La Palma] {{coor title dms|28|45|43|N|17|53|24|W|region:ES-CN_type:landmark}} [[Category:Gamma-ray telescopes]] [[de:MAGIC-Teleskop]] [[es:Telescopio MAGIC]] [[id:MAGIC]] [[it:MAGIC]]