H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System) is a system of five imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, searching the sky for sources of highly energetic gamma radiation.
The name honours Victor Hess, the Austrian physicist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936 for the discovery of cosmic rays in 1911. Today, more than a century after his discovery, the origin of this cosmic particle radiation is still in the focus of cutting edge research.
With the H.E.S.S. telescopes, scientists of the University of Namibia along with colleagues from twelve different countries try to trace the mysterious particles back to the most violent processes in the universe like pulsars, super nova remnants and active galaxies. They tackle this in other fundamental astrophysical questions by observing faint light flashes, induced by gamma rays impinging on the Earth's atmosphere. As for the faintness of these events, they use giant telescopes.
The first generation of H.E.S.S. telescopes, operating since 2002, have a diameter of 13 metres and by this already outnumber the largest optical mirror telescopes GRANTECAN (Gran Telescopio Canarias) and SALT (Southern African Large Telescope). Using four telescopes at a time H.E.S.S. is able to obtain a three-dimensional view on the faint flashes - unveiling additional information.
After being awarded highly renowned awards by the European Union and the American Astronomical Society, H.E.S.S. was named one of the ten most influential observatories worldwide (alongside the Hubble Space Telescope). In 2012 the fifth, central telescope, H.E.S.S. II, was inaugurated, which by itself is again a giant technological leap.
Besides state-of-the-art technology and a higher resolution camera, merely the sheer size of this telescope is impressive: Having a diameter of about 30 metres, it employs a mirroring area of the size of two tennis courts and is thus the largest telescope of its kind and the largest mirror telescope in the entire world, making Namibia a very extraordinary location on the astronomical world map.
As the H.E.S.S. telescopes are situated on the privately owned farm Göllschau in the Gamsberg area, they can only be visited via guided tours. For information on this and appointments please contact Mr Toni Hanke at [email protected]. For further information on H.E.S.S. visit www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS.
Dr. Michael Backes
The name honours Victor Hess, the Austrian physicist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936 for the discovery of cosmic rays in 1911. Today, more than a century after his discovery, the origin of this cosmic particle radiation is still in the focus of cutting edge research.
With the H.E.S.S. telescopes, scientists of the University of Namibia along with colleagues from twelve different countries try to trace the mysterious particles back to the most violent processes in the universe like pulsars, super nova remnants and active galaxies. They tackle this in other fundamental astrophysical questions by observing faint light flashes, induced by gamma rays impinging on the Earth's atmosphere. As for the faintness of these events, they use giant telescopes.
The first generation of H.E.S.S. telescopes, operating since 2002, have a diameter of 13 metres and by this already outnumber the largest optical mirror telescopes GRANTECAN (Gran Telescopio Canarias) and SALT (Southern African Large Telescope). Using four telescopes at a time H.E.S.S. is able to obtain a three-dimensional view on the faint flashes - unveiling additional information.
After being awarded highly renowned awards by the European Union and the American Astronomical Society, H.E.S.S. was named one of the ten most influential observatories worldwide (alongside the Hubble Space Telescope). In 2012 the fifth, central telescope, H.E.S.S. II, was inaugurated, which by itself is again a giant technological leap.
Besides state-of-the-art technology and a higher resolution camera, merely the sheer size of this telescope is impressive: Having a diameter of about 30 metres, it employs a mirroring area of the size of two tennis courts and is thus the largest telescope of its kind and the largest mirror telescope in the entire world, making Namibia a very extraordinary location on the astronomical world map.
As the H.E.S.S. telescopes are situated on the privately owned farm Göllschau in the Gamsberg area, they can only be visited via guided tours. For information on this and appointments please contact Mr Toni Hanke at [email protected]. For further information on H.E.S.S. visit www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS.
Dr. Michael Backes
