The MAGIC I Telescope Profile
In the foreground we can see the profile of MAGIC I telescope (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes) with it´s gigantic structure in front a startrail background, where is also visible the Milky Way dragged, and clearly distinguishable the different colors of each star and the deep sky objects, as viewed in the violet paths in the center of the picture.
MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters and 236 m2 reflective surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II. MAGIC is not only huge, but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
The cosmos and its evolution are studied using all radiation, in particular electromagnetic waves. The observable spectrum extends from radio waves to infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rays and finally very high energy gamma rays (starting at energies of 10 GeV). Observations at visible wavelengths (.5 to 1 micrometer) have a history of centuries, gamma astronomy by satellites (keV to few GeV) and ground-based telescopes (above 300 GeV) are end-of-20th century newcomers. The MAGIC telescope can detect very high energy gamma rays in a range of energies where no other telescope in the world can operate, so it opens up a brand new window into the universe.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 13 images taken in 30/09/2013 at 23:27
Grantecan Lonely in the Universe
From lower left to the right side of the picture, we can see the silver dome open of Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), with a 10,4 meters primary mirror reflecting telescope. It is designed to incorporate the most up-to-date technology and it is one of the most advanced telescopes in the world, actually, the largest one until now in the optical-infrared system. At right edge, in the background, we can see the beautiful light coming from the central region of the “vertical” Milky Way, where the main stars of Sagittarius constellation are shining surrounded by a region rich in emission nebulae, like the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and the Trifid Nebula (M20), or even M23 and M24, – seen in the top right corner of the picture. Behind the GTC dome, the sky is smoothly shining as an orange airglow, normally from oxygen atoms at 150-300km high where the atmosphere is so sparse and collisions so infrequent that the atoms have time to radiate ‘forbidden’ light.
The image was taken in Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) situated on the edge of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, 2.400 m. above sea level, on the island of La Palma, Canarias, Spain. It is home to one of the most extensive fleets of telescopes to be found anywhere in the world, and where 15 telescopes from 19 nations use the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 22h25 AM
Double satellite flyby against FACT Telescope
In this colorful startrail captured facing to northwest region, we could see behind FACT Telescope silhouette, the trail of a double satellite flyby, possibly related to the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) satellite formation, each having two or three satellites in close proximity to one another. Normally these satellites are relatively dim to the unaided eye, but on occasion they brighten sufficiently to be easily seen in a dark sky, like occured in the sky of Roque de Los Muchahos observatory, in La Palma, Canary Island.
The image was taken in Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) situated on the edge of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, 2.400 m. above sea level, on the island of La Palma, Canarias, Spain. It is home to one of the most extensive fleets of telescopes to be found anywhere in the world, and where 15 telescopes from 19 nations use the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 23 images taken in 30/09/2013 at 22:44
MAGIC Telescope against the Milky Way
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/4; Exp. 1/80 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 22h43 AM
In the foreground we can see the MAGIC I telescope (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes) in front of the Milky Way, with many of colorful stars mirrored in its surface of 236 m2. MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters and 236 m2 reflective surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II. MAGIC is not only huge, but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
The cosmos and its evolution are studied using all radiation, in particular electromagnetic waves. The observable spectrum extends from radio waves to infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rays and finally very high energy gamma rays (starting at energies of 10 GeV). Observations at visible wavelengths (.5 to 1 micrometer) have a history of centuries, gamma astronomy by satellites (keV to few GeV) and ground-based telescopes (above 300 GeV) are end-of-20th century newcomers. The MAGIC telescope can detect very high energy gamma rays in a range of energies where no other telescope in the world can operate, so it opens up a brand new window into the universe.
Below is the MAGIC against a startrail background where is also visible the Milky Way dragged, and clearly distinguishable the different colors of each star.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 23 images taken in 30/09/2013 at 22:44
FACT Cherenkov Telescope in a Milky Way Backlight
Captured in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), situated on the edge of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, 2.400 m. above sea level, on the island of La Palma, Canary, Spain, the image shows in the foreground, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT), that is the first imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope using Geiger-mode avalanche photodiods (G-APDs) as photo sensors. The rather small, low-cost telescope will not only serve as a test bench for this technology in Cherenkov astronomy, but also monitor bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the TeV energy range. The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope is assembled in Roque de Los Muchachos on the MAGIC site, mounted in the focus of one of the former HEGRA telescopes (CT3). In the background, the beautiful light coming from the central region of Milky Way, where the main stars of Sagittarius constellation are shining behind the telescope structure and surrounded by a region rich in emission nebulae, like the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and the Trifid Nebula (M20), or even M23 and M24, Omega nebula (M17) and Eagle Nebula (M16) – seen in the right edge of the picture in violet color – working as an impressive backlight that even without the presence of any other source of light, allow us to show the imposing dark silhouette of the FACT Telescope, with some of these nebulae and stars, reflected in part of the 9.5 sqm mirror area. More info related: DWARF – Dedicated multiWavelength Agn Research Facility.
The excellent quality of the sky for astronomy in the Canaries is determined and protected by Law. As a result, the observatories of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) are an “astronomy reserve” which has been available to the international community since 1979. Technical image details: Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 22h43 AM
Image of a startrail sequence taken at the same time, with the Milky Way dragged in the background.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 23 images taken in 30/09/2013 at 22:44
FACT Cherenkov Telescope with a dragged Milky Way
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 23 images taken in 30/09/2013 at 22:44
Image of a startrail sequence taken at the same time of the image below, with the Milky Way dragged in the background.
Captured in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), situated on the edge of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, 2.400 m. above sea level, on the island of La Palma, Canary, Spain, the image shows in the foreground, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT), that is the first imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope using Geiger-mode avalanche photodiods (G-APDs) as photo sensors. The rather small, low-cost telescope will not only serve as a test bench for this technology in Cherenkov astronomy, but also monitor bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the TeV energy range. The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope is assembled in Roque de Los Muchachos on the MAGIC site, mounted in the focus of one of the former HEGRA telescopes (CT3). In the background, the beautiful light coming from the central region of Milky Way, where the main stars of Sagittarius constellation are shining behind the telescope structure and surrounded by a region rich in emission nebulae, like the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and the Trifid Nebula (M20), or even M23 and M24, Omega nebula (M17) and Eagle Nebula (M16) – seen in the right edge of the picture in violet color – working as an impressive backlight that even without the presence of any other source of light, allow us to show the imposing dark silhouette of the FACT Telescope, with some of these nebulae and stars, reflected in part of the 9.5 sqm mirror area. More info related: DWARF – Dedicated multiWavelength Agn Research Facility.
The excellent quality of the sky for astronomy in the Canaries is determined and protected by Law. As a result, the observatories of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) are an “astronomy reserve” which has been available to the international community since 1979. Technical image details: Canon 60D – ISO2500; 24mm at f/4; Exp. 1/80 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 22h43.
Colorful Twilight in Roque de Los Muchachos
In this colorful twilight view captured after the sunset from the top of El Roque de Los Muchachos, home to one of the most extensive fleets of telescopes to be found anywhere in the world, we can see a startrail with an amazing view of planet Venus (the brightest trail at left), reflected in the “ocean of clouds” below the land. On earth, the bright trail was left by the lights of a car that was moving inside the observatory area, where is visible from left to right, the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. TNG is a 3.6m alt-azimuth telescope with a Ritchey-Chretien optical configuration and a flat tertiary mirror feeding two opposite Nasmyth foci and represents the largest Italian optical/infrared telescope. On the right edge of the picture stands the Gran Telescope Canarias (GTC) with a 10,4 meters primary mirror reflecting telescope was designed to incorporate the most up-to-date technology and it is one of the most advanced telescopes in the world, actually, the largest one until now in the optical-infrared system
| Canon 50D – ISO1600; 13mm at f/5; Exp. 30 secs. Sum of 14 images taken in 30/09/2013 between 20:59 and 21:06.
Observatories, Earth Shadow and Belt of Venus
In this picture captured few minutes after the sunset from Roque de Los Muchachos, in La Palma Canary Island, we can see the Earth shadow, a dark blue band that rises upwards from the horizon. The band is the shadow of the Earth on the atmosphere. Immediately above, where the evening air is still lit, glows a pink band called the anti-twilight arch, or “Belt of Venus”. On Earth, stands part of a huge complex with 15 telescopes, some of the largest telescopes in the world. From left to right, the grey dome open is the shelter for the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) a modern 2.6-m optical/IR telescope, next, the small white house is the home for Automatic Transit Circle (ATC), an old meridian circle built by Grubb-Parsons in 1950 but completely refurbished and automatized in the 70’s of the past century by the Copenhagen University Observatory (CUO). It main task is to observe evenly bodies at their transit across the meridian. At his right, the big white dome belongs to the great William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the largest optical telescope of its kind in Europe, with a primary mirror of 4.2 meters in diameter, is one of the most scientifically productive telescopes in the world. Next, the small shape in the background near the first white tower is from Liverpool Telescope, a 2 meter diameter optical astronomical telescope, constructed especially for robotic use. The telescope is especially to study variable astronomical phenomena. Now, the first white Tower is from Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) an innovative optical telescope with a primary mirror of 45 cm diameter, for high-resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere. Next far, the silver small dome is from Mercator Telescope, a 1.2 m quasi-robotic telescope which scientific niche is focussed on monitoring variable celestial phenomena with a large range in typical time-scales (pulsating stars, gravitational lenses, Gamma Ray Bursts, active Galactic Nuclei), immediately adjacent to the next tower (just in the picture) we can see the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), the largest solar telescope in Europe and number one in the world when it comes to high spatial resolution. The last white domes belongs to Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) with a 2.54-meter primary mirror and the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) with a parabolic primary mirror of 1.0 m diameter.
| Canon 60Da – ISO400; 24mm at f/4; Exp. 1/80 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 20h10 AM
Telescopes above the clouds in La Palma
A panoramic view from the top of El Roque de Los Muchachos, in La Palma Canary island, where stands a huge complex with 15 telescopes, some of the largest telescopes in the world – many of them visible in the background – from 19 nations, that are using the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos. The main telescopes visible in the image, are, from left to right: Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), The MAGIC I and IItelescopes (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes) as seen below in the center of the image, Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) with the silver dome, and William Herschel Telescope (WHT) the biggest white dome in the picture.
| Panoramica – Canon 50D – ISO500 18mm at f/5.6; Exp. 1/8000 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 15h45 AM
Daylight Panoramic view from Roque de Los Muchachos Telescopes
A panoramic view with the mountain of Roque de Los Muchachos, in La Palma Canary island, where stands a huge complex with 15 telescopes, some of the largest telescopes in the world – many of them visible in the background – from 19 nations, that are using the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos. From Right to Left we can see the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), The MAGIC I and II telescopes (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes), Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) , William Herschel Telescope (WHT), Mercator Telescope, Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) and Isaac Newton Telescope (INT).
| Panoramica – Canon 50D – ISO500 18mm at f/5.6; Exp. 1/8000 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 15h45 AM
Sirius Isaac Newton and Mercator Telescopes
Sirius shining in the Canis Major constellation seen above (from left to right) the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) with a 2.54-meter primary mirror with a focal ratio of f/2.94. Presently, the INT is used for wide-field imaging. At the right side of INT, stands the Mercator Telescope, with a 1.2 m quasi-robotic telescope which scientific niche is focused on monitoring variable celestial phenomena, with a large range in typical time-scales (pulsating stars, gravitational lenses, Gamma Ray Bursts, active Galactic Nuclei). Below Sirius, and above the dome of Isaac Newton Telescope, is visible the M41 star cluster.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 05h32 AM
Sirius and William Herschel
Sirius shining in the Canis Major constellation seen above the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the largest optical telescope of its kind in Europe, with a primary mirror of diameter 4.2 meters. Its versatile and state-of-the-art instrumentation together with the superb sky quality of the Roque de Los Muchachos, the Observatory have made the WHT one of the most scientifically productive telescopes in the world.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 05h32 AM
Zodiacal Light, Milky Way and William Herschel Telescope
In this mosaic of 25 images, we can see the rocky silhouette between Los Andenes and Roque de Los Muchachos, where is the home to one of the most extensive fleets of telescopes to be found anywhere in the world, and where 15 telescopes from 19 nations are using the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos. The William Herschel Telescope (WHT) is one of them, with a primary mirror of diameter 4.2 meters, the telescope can be seen below right in the picture, with is dome opened, seems to pointing to the triangle formed in the middle of the picture by the smooth band of Zodiacal light (at left) which is crossing the Milky Way smooth region (at right), below the Orion constellation. These smooth bands are also important to let us find objects, like M44 above the rocks, and following the zodical light we find the planet Jupiter, the brightest star in the image. In the middle of Milky Way band, we can find the Rosette nebula. The Moon is shining in Cancer constellation, behind the rocks and below right to the star cluster M44 (NGC2632), so creating a blueish glow – more strong and evident – in the left half part of the picture.
| Mosaico – Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 05h50 AM Mosiac of 25 images.
