Pachmarhi Telescope Array

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Pachmarhi Array of Cerenkov Telescopes (PACT)
OrganizationTata Institute of Fundamental Research
Location Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India
Coordinates 22°28′00″N76°26′00″E / 22.46667°N 76.43333°E / 22.46667; 76.43333
Altitude1,075 m (3,527 ft)
Established1986
Website http://www.tifr.res.in/~hegro/
Telescopes
High Energy Gamma Ray ObservatoryGamma Ray Telescope Array
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Location of Pachmarhi Array of Cerenkov Telescopes (PACT)

The Pachmarhi Telescope Array or Pachmarhi Array of Cerenkov Telescopes (PACT) is an array of 24 telescopes for gamma-ray astronomy. It is located at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is operated by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Contents

Location

The Pachmarhi telescope array stands at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located at an altitude of 1,075 m (3,527 ft).

History

The array was established in 1986. [1]

Telescope

The Pachmarhi Array of Cerenkov Telescope is set in an area 80 meter by 100 meter in 5x5 matrix. Each telescope consists of 7 parabolic mirrors each with a diameter of 90 cm. Each telescope is independently steerable on its equatorial mount. It uses the wavefront sampling technique to detect TeV gamma rays. [2]

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References

  1. PACT power point presentation - HEGRO official presentation
  2. Bhat P. N. et. all, "Pachmarhi array of Cerenkov telescopes", Bulletin of Astronomical Society of India, BASI, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 455 - 457