Built in 2002 in Namibia with contributions from fourteen countries, the H.E.S.S. array is at present the largest gamma ray observatory in the world.
It has led to the publication of the largest ever catalogue of gamma ray sources. Published on April 9th 2018, its results constitute a reference for gamma ray astronomy.
Its results will be used in the planning of the up-coming "Cherenkov Telescope Array" (CTA), an observational project spread over two sites, one in the northern and the other in the southern hemisphere. CTA will be even more sensitive than H.E.S.S. Its commissioning is foreseen at some point during the 2020s.
The Paris Observatory invites you to discover one of the prototypes of the telescope of this upcoming large international array – the CTA: the "Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope" (GCT).
Set up on its Meudon site, it has been in operation since November 2015.
Last update on 21 December 2021