Victor Paereli
Namibian landscape reflected in the mirror of the High-Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in the Khomas Highland mountains in Namibia
H.E.S.S. is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, built by an global scientific consortium near the Gamsberg Pass in Namibia. As gadgets go, this is physically the biggest and the most technologically advanced in Namibia (there aren't any others, really, but this one is seriously awesome). The reason it was built there is that that there is nothing there to pollute the view of the night sky. No humans or concentrated human activity, no animals and not much vegetation to speak of. This is "nowhere" at it's best. Getting to H.E.S.S. from Windhoek is a drive (about 100km, of which a good part on gravel), but very worth it. The scientists working there ask for an advance booking, but will be happy to provide a tour. This photo was taken on an Open Day hosted by H.E.S.S. The telecope mirror is seen pointing at the sky, which never happens during daylight on regular duty days, as the Sun's reflection will easily destroy the sensitive camera.
"H.E.S.S. is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes that investigates cosmic gamma rays in the energy range from 10s of GeV to 10s of TeV. The name H.E.S.S. stands for High Energy Stereoscopic System, and is also intended to pay homage to Victor Hess , who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936 for his discovery of cosmic radiation. The instrument allows scientists to explore gamma-ray sources with intensities at a level of a few thousandths of the flux of the Crab nebula (the brightest steady source of gamma rays in the sky). H.E.S.S. is located in Namibia, near the Gamsberg mountain, an area well known for its excellent optical quality. The first of the four telescopes of Phase I of the H.E.S.S. project went into operation in Summer 2002; all four were operational in December 2003, and were officially inaugurated on September 28, 2004. A much larger fifth telescope - H.E.S.S. II - is operational since July 2012, extending the energy coverage towards lower energies and further improving sensitivity.
The H.E.S.S. observatory is operated by the collaboration of more than 170 scientists, from 32 scientific institutions and 12 different countries: Namibia and South Africa, Germany, France, the UK, Ireland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Armenia, and Australia. To date, the H.E.S.S. Collaboration has published over 100 articles in high-impact scientific journals, including the top-ranked ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’ journals.
H.E.S.S. was awarded in 2006 the Descartes Prize of the European Commission - the highest recognition for collaborative research - and in 2010 the prestigious Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society. In a survey in 2006, H.E.S.S. was ranked the 10th most influential observatory worldwide, joining the ranks with the Hubble Space Telescope or the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory ESO in Chile."
In other words, pretty awesome.
(Source: H.E.S.S. website www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/about/)
(Source: H.E.S.S. website www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/about/)
Namibian landscape reflected in the mirror of the High-Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in the Khomas Highland mountains in Namibia
H.E.S.S. is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, built by an global scientific consortium near the Gamsberg Pass in Namibia. As gadgets go, this is physically the biggest and the most technologically advanced in Namibia (there aren't any others, really, but this one is seriously awesome). The reason it was built there is that that there is nothing there to pollute the view of the night sky. No humans or concentrated human activity, no animals and not much vegetation to speak of. This is "nowhere" at it's best. Getting to H.E.S.S. from Windhoek is a drive (about 100km, of which a good part on gravel), but very worth it. The scientists working there ask for an advance booking, but will be happy to provide a tour. This photo was taken on an Open Day hosted by H.E.S.S. The telecope mirror is seen pointing at the sky, which never happens during daylight on regular duty days, as the Sun's reflection will easily destroy the sensitive camera.
"H.E.S.S. is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes that investigates cosmic gamma rays in the energy range from 10s of GeV to 10s of TeV. The name H.E.S.S. stands for High Energy Stereoscopic System, and is also intended to pay homage to Victor Hess , who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936 for his discovery of cosmic radiation. The instrument allows scientists to explore gamma-ray sources with intensities at a level of a few thousandths of the flux of the Crab nebula (the brightest steady source of gamma rays in the sky). H.E.S.S. is located in Namibia, near the Gamsberg mountain, an area well known for its excellent optical quality. The first of the four telescopes of Phase I of the H.E.S.S. project went into operation in Summer 2002; all four were operational in December 2003, and were officially inaugurated on September 28, 2004. A much larger fifth telescope - H.E.S.S. II - is operational since July 2012, extending the energy coverage towards lower energies and further improving sensitivity.
The H.E.S.S. observatory is operated by the collaboration of more than 170 scientists, from 32 scientific institutions and 12 different countries: Namibia and South Africa, Germany, France, the UK, Ireland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Armenia, and Australia. To date, the H.E.S.S. Collaboration has published over 100 articles in high-impact scientific journals, including the top-ranked ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’ journals.
H.E.S.S. was awarded in 2006 the Descartes Prize of the European Commission - the highest recognition for collaborative research - and in 2010 the prestigious Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society. In a survey in 2006, H.E.S.S. was ranked the 10th most influential observatory worldwide, joining the ranks with the Hubble Space Telescope or the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory ESO in Chile."
In other words, pretty awesome.
(Source: H.E.S.S. website www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/about/)
(Source: H.E.S.S. website www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/about/)