Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) is a system of two 17 m diameter Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) located at 2200 m a.s.l. on the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands. The telescopes observe very-high-energy gamma rays (from 30 GeV to 100 TeV) from galactic and extragalactic sources. Operated by an international collaboration of more than 200 astrophysicists from 42 institutions across 12 countries.
The first telescope, MAGIC-I, started scientific observations in 2004. MAGIC-II was completed in 2009, enabling stereoscopic mode operation. The telescopes are separated by 85 m and typically record events triggering bot, although are also operated in single-mode in certain situations (e.g., muon calibration runs). The use of the two telescopes provided a significant increase of the sensitivity due to stronger background rejection. The energy and angular resolutions have been improved, mainly due to the higher precision of the three-dimensional reconstruction of the air shower impact point and its incoming direction.
As the MAGIC telescopes have reached their design performance, new avenues beyond predicted physics have been opened. The areas of interest which MAGIC is devoted to investigate include AGNs, pulsars, SNRs, GRB, Quantum Gravity, Cold Dark Matter, Cosmology, Diffuse background. Lately, the multi-messenger observations have also become very relevant, and the MAGIC program includes GW and neutrino follow-ups.
Main technical characteristics
- PMT camera with 3.5 degrees field of view
- Integral sensitivity of 0.7% of Crab in 50 hours above 220 GeV
- Angular resolution at the level of 0.05 degrees and 16% energy resolution
- Able to move to any point of the visible sky in less than 25s