By Anahit Sargsyan
YEREVAN.- The largest ever built Cherenkov telescope has 875 hexagonal mirror facets each of them having a stamp with “Armenia” inscription on it.
The largest H.E.S.S. II telescope with an area of 600 square meters started operation in Namibia in September 2012. Together with other four 12-meter telescopes already in operation since 2004, the observatory will continue studying cosmic sources. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) observatory is operated by the collaboration of scientists from 12 different countries, including Yerevan Physics Institute.
Official inauguration of the first H.E.S.S. II telescope was held on September 28, 2012. The mirror facets for a telescope as tall as 20-storey building were produced by Galaktika CJSC (Garni) which is a part of physics and astrophysics department at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
The company has been cooperating with Germany-based Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics since 2002, Galaktika CJSC Director Ara Mirzoyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. Armenia won the tender and was selected as a producer of mirrors for the world’s largest H.E.S.S II telescope.