DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Newton STFC-NARIT: Capacity Building Towards TeV Energy Frontiers with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Project disclaimer

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Description

Gamma rays are the most energetic kind of radiation used by astronomers - around a million times more energetic than X-rays. We are protected by the Earth's atmosphere from this energetic radiation, but we are still able to see its effects on the ground. Each gamma-ray creates a cascade of sub-atomic particles in the atmosphere, which produces the light-speed equivalent of a sonic boom - a flash of blue light called Cherenkov radiation. This light is faint (about 1/10000th of the total starlight) and each flash lasts only a few billionths of a second, but with enough large telescopes, we can detect it and work out where this extraordinary radiation comes from (generally black holes and the remains of dead stars!). Astronomers and engineers from 31 countries are currently in the process of designing and building a new array of telescopes to detect gamma-rays; the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Two of the countries involved in this project are the UK and Thailand. While the UK has been in the project since it started, Thailand joined in 2015, and the aim of this project is to work together to enable the astronomers and engineers in Thailand to strengthen their contribution to CTA. This, in turn, will help the project as a whole progress and enable further scientific co-operation between the UK and Thai researchers involved, to the benefit of all parties. There are three strands to this project. The first is to combine the expertise in mirror technology at Durham University with the expertise at NARIT in Thailand, with the aim of NARIT's being able to provide a mirror facility for CTA that will oat, characterize, qualify and maintain CTA's mirrors - as there will be over 5000 of them, this is quite a challenge, which will be best met by combining our efforts. Secondly, while the Thai astronomers have a lot of experience in analyzing astronomical data, they do not have any experience in analyzing gamma-ray data. The team at Durham has the most experience of anyone in the UK in this aspect of the project, and they will help the Thai astronomers learn to analyze gamma-ray data so that they will be able to benefit scientifically from the data that CTA will bring us in a few years' time. Finally, we are planning to create material that will teach schoolchildren and the general public about CTA, particularly by translating current CTA outreach material into Thai.

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Thailand

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