MACE – A Pioneering Gamma-Ray Telescope on India's Highest Plateau

MACE – A Pioneering Gamma-Ray Telescope on India's Highest Plateau

  

Domestically-developed by India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment (MACE) is "Asia's largest and the world's highest gamma-ray telescope. This groundbreaking achievement places India at the forefront of global astrophysics. By capturing high-energy cosmic phenomena, MACE opens new frontiers in our understanding of the universe."

Although the Earth’s atmosphere prevents gamma rays from reaching the surface, their interactions with the atmosphere create ultra-high energy particles. These particles travel faster than the speed of light in air and as a result they emit a flash of eerie blue Cherenkov radiation—similar to a sonic boom created by an aircraft exceeding the speed of sound. 

Gamma rays have the smallest wavelengths and the most energy of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum. They are produced by the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe, such as neutron stars and pulsars, supernova explosions, and regions around black holes. On Earth, gamma waves are generated by nuclear explosions, lightning, and the less dramatic activity of radioactive decay.

As a part of the Platinum Jubilee year of DAE, Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary, DAE & Chairman, AEC, inaugurated the MACE Observatory on October 4, 2024, at Hanle, Ladakh.

Learn more about MACE: https://dae.gov.in/dae-inaugurates-mace-asias-largest-and-worlds-highest-imaging-cherenkov-observatory-at-hanle-ladakh/

Video Credit: India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)

Duration: 7 minutes

Release Date: Oct. 20, 2024

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