Towards the future Cherenkov telescope array CTA

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has witnessed a major breakthrough with the results of the current generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. In order to exploit the full physics potential of this field, the next generation instrument–the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA–aims for an improvement in sensitivity by an order of magnitude with respect to current experiments, an extension of the accessible energy regime from some tens of GeV into the 100 TeV range and improved angular and energy resolution. CTA will therefore need to consist of ∼50–100 telescopes. The development and application of cost effective technologies with significantly improved reliability and maintainability may be a major challenge. To optimize the design, the CTA consortium is performing a dedicated design study.