The Brazilian Center for Physics Research (CBPF) has submitted a statement of interest in hosting the international operations center of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a project which, when completed, shall be the largest high-energy and particle astrophysics observatory in the world, scheduled to operate for 30 years.

The CTA consists of about 100 gamma-ray observation telescopes to be installed in Chile, at the Andes Mountain Range, and also in the Canary Islands. The complex shall have several repositories and processing centers distributed in a grid in the United States, Japan, Italy, Australia and Brazil, passing through the CBPF hub. The institution is currently already taking part in the construction of the optomechanical interface of the large-sized telescopes of the network, through its High-Energy Physics Experimental Laboratory (LAFEX) and the Technical Activities Coordination (CAT). They both use the network infraestructure provided by the Brazilian National Research and Educational Network (RNP).

Chile, specifically the Andes, has characteristics that favor astronomical observation, due to the altitude and dry climate. The country currently houses the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and shall host the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), under construction, which shall move terabytes of data.

Instead of using optical and infrared instruments, like the aforementioned observatories, the CTA represents the consolidation of a new branch of astrophysics, the observation of cosmic gamma rays. The gamma-ray astrophysics has its origins in particle physics and complements the researches of centers such as CERN, the European organization for nuclear research, which operates the largest particle accelerator in the world, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

In this case, the CTA will investigate the elementary particle physics beyond what can be done at a laboratory, by studying the so-called cosmic rays. “In the sky, there are several sources of gamma rays. The CTA shall contribute to the research on high-energy phenomena, such as star bursts, black holes and gas collisions; cosmology, on the evolution process of the universe; and studies on the elementary particles of the matter, at a level that CERN cannot reach, with better chances to detect dark matter”, says LAFEX’s professor Ulisses Barres.

In the professor’s opinion, hosting an experiment of such size will place our country in a strategic position, with the potential to attract scientists from the world over, in addition to expanding Brazil’s role as a scientific articulator in Latin America.

The projects for the official candidacy must be delivered to the Steering Committee of the CTA Consortium by October, and the choice of the observatory’s operational center shall be made by late November, 2015.

The CTA is also opening invitations to bid on the construction of the infrastructure of the observatory in Chile, which may be answered by companies from any of the 30 member-countries of the CTA consortium, including Brazil.

Learn more at the experiment’s website: www.cta-observatory.org.