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Commissioning of the MACE gamma-ray telescope at Hanle, Ladakh, India


Affiliations
1 Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
2 Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
3 Formerly at Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
4 Raja Ramanna Fellow at Astrophysical Sciences Division, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
5 Deceased, India
6 Department of High Energy Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400 005, India, India
7 Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
8 Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
9 Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
10 Computer Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
11 Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
12 Formerly at Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
13 Formerly at Reactor Control Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
14 Formerly at Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
 

The MACE telescope has recently been commissioned at Hanle, Ladakh, India. It had its first light in April 2021 with a successful detection of very high energy gamma-ray photons from the standard candle Crab Nebula. Equipped with a large light collector of 21 m diameter and situated at an altitude of ~4.3 km amsl, the MACE telescope is expected to explore the mysteries of the non-thermal Universe in the energy range above 20 GeV with very high sensitivity. It can also play an important role in carrying out multi-messenger astronomy in India.

Keywords

Gamma-ray astronomy, high energy radiative processes, non-thermal Universe, telescope.
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  • Commissioning of the MACE gamma-ray telescope at Hanle, Ladakh, India

Abstract Views: 318  |  PDF Views: 126

Authors

K. K. Yadav
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
N. Chouhan
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
R. Thubstan
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Norlha
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
J. Hariharan
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
C. Borwankar
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
P. Chandra
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
V. K. Dhar
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
N. Mankuzhyil
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Godambe
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. Sharma
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
K. Venugopal
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
K. K. Singh
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
N. Bhatt
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Bhattacharyya
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
K. Chanchalani
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. P. Das
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
B. Ghosal
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Godiyal
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. Khurana
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. V. Kotwal
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. K. Koul
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
N. Kumar
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
C. P. Kushwaha
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
K. Nand
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. Pathania
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Sahayanathan
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
D. Sarkar
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. Tolamati
Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
R. Koul
Formerly at Astrophysical Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
R. C. Rannot
Raja Ramanna Fellow at Astrophysical Sciences Division, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. K. Tickoo
Deceased, India
V. R. Chitnis
Department of High Energy Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400 005, India, India
A. Behere
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Padmini
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. Manna
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Joy
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
P. M. Nair
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
K. P. Jha
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Moitra
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Neema
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Srivastava
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. Punna
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Mohanan
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. S. Sikder
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. Jain
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Banerjee
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
Krati
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
J. Deshpande
Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
V. Sanadhya
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
G. Andrew
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. B. Patil
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
V. K. Goyal
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
N. Gupta
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
H. Balakrishna
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. Agrawal
Control and Instrumentation Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. P. Srivastava
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
K. N. Karn
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
P. I. Hadgali
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. Bhatt
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
V. K. Mishra
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
P. K. Biswas
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
R. K Gupta
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. Kumar
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. G. Thul
Center for Design and Manufacture, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
R. Kalmady
Computer Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
D. D. Sonvane
Computer Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
V. Kumar
Computer Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
U. K. Gaur
Computer Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
J. Chattopadhyay
Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
S. K. Gupta
Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
A. R. Kiran
Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
Y. Parulekar
Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
M. K. Agrawal
Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
R. M. Parmar
Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
G. R. Reddy
Formerly at Reactor Safety Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
Y. S. Mayya
Formerly at Reactor Control Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India
C. K. Pithawa
Formerly at Electronics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India, India

Abstract


The MACE telescope has recently been commissioned at Hanle, Ladakh, India. It had its first light in April 2021 with a successful detection of very high energy gamma-ray photons from the standard candle Crab Nebula. Equipped with a large light collector of 21 m diameter and situated at an altitude of ~4.3 km amsl, the MACE telescope is expected to explore the mysteries of the non-thermal Universe in the energy range above 20 GeV with very high sensitivity. It can also play an important role in carrying out multi-messenger astronomy in India.

Keywords


Gamma-ray astronomy, high energy radiative processes, non-thermal Universe, telescope.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv123%2Fi12%2F1428-1435