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]]