It's a Long Way... from Private Ground-based Gamma-ray Data to Public Release: Open-data, Open-source Tools, First Real TeV Data Release from H.E.S.S.

摘要

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy is a relatively new window on the cosmos. The existing ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) like e.g. H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS, have been operating independently for the past decade, using proprietary data formats and codes. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next IACT instrument, will probe the non-thermal universe above 20 GeV up to a few 100 TeV with an unmatched sensitivity and angular resolution compared to the current IACT experiments. CTA will be the first ground-based gamma-ray telescope array operated as an open observatory with public observer access. This implies fundamentally different requirements for the data formats and software tools. Open community access is a novelty in this domain, putting a challenge on the implementation of services that make very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy as accessible as any other waveband.