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La Palma Observatory: The MAGIC Gamma-ray telescope

by

Alex Tudorica/Novapix

Reference

o-lpa04-00003

Date

2010-04-11

MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescope) is a Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescope situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. It detects particle showers released by cosmic gamma-rays, using the Cherenkov radiation. With a diameter of 17 meters for the reflecting surface, it is the largest in the world.
A second MAGIC telescope (MAGIC 2) at a distance of 85 m from the first one has started taking data in July 2009.