The MAGIC Telescopes

Die beiden Magic-Teleskope auf der kanarischen Insel La Palma. Mit einem Durchmesser von jeweils 17 Metern beobachten die Teleskope ultrakurze bläuliche Blitze von Cherenkov-Strahlung. Diese Blitze wurden von hochenergetischer Gammastrahlung in der Erdatmosphäre erzeugt.

MAGIC Major Atmospheric Gamma-Ray Imaging Cherenkov is located on the grounds of the European Northern Observatory, atop Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary island of La Palma. Together, the two gamma ray telescopes comprise a single measuring system - the MAGIC experiment. The mirror diameter of each telescope is 17 metres, making this the world's largest reflector of its kind. MAGIC detects short blue Cherenkov light flashes that are produced when neutral gamma rays enter the Earth's atmosphere, triggering avalanches of secondary particles.

The facility was built by a large international collaboration of about 160 scientists from Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Finland, Bulgaria, Croatia and Japan. In operation since 2004, the MAGIC experiment's achievements include the discovery of the farthest sources of very high-energy gamma radiation, as well as the initial detection of pulsed gamma emissions from the pulsar in the Crab Nebula at energies higer than 25 GeV.

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