CTAO LST sub-Array Inauguration

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Description

The inaugural ceremony of the LST sub-Array will take place at the CTAO-North site at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on La Palma, Canary Islands, on Thursday, October 15, 2026.

This event marks a significant milestone in establishing the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and celebrates the completion of the LST sub-array, which includes four 23-meter telescopes built through an international effort involving more than 500 scientists and engineers from over ten countries. These 23-meter-diameter telescopes play a key role in the observatory’s scientific mission, enabling groundbreaking observations of the Deep, Dark, and Extreme Universe in high-energy gamma rays.

The inauguration will bring together representatives from the CTAO Central Organization, the CTAO Consortium, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), participating universities and research institutions, as well as the funding agencies and industry partners who have made this achievement possible, along with well-respected scientists. The ceremony will also provide an opportunity to recognize the exceptional dedication of the teams who have worked for more than a decade to bring the LST Project to completion.

    • 14:00 → 18:00
      Arrival / Registration 4h
    • 18:00 → 20:00
      Welcome Reception 2h
    • 08:30 → 08:31
      Press Bus 1: Departure from H10 Taburiente Playa
    • 08:45 → 09:00
      Departure Busses from H10 Taburiente Playa
    • 10:15 → 11:15
      Arrival ORM & Coffee Break 1h
    • 11:15 → 11:45
      Walk to Inauguration Ceremony Site - LST3
    • 11:45 → 13:00
      Inauguration Ceremony 1h 15m
    • 13:00 → 13:30
      LST3 in motion
    • 13:30 → 14:00
      LST telescopes Guided Tours
    • 14:00 → 15:30
      Buffet Lunch at ORM 1h 30m
    • 15:00 → 16:00
      Press briefing
    • 15:30 → 16:30
      Departure to sea level
    • 09:00 → 09:10
      Opening Address - Scientific Landscape around CTAO-LSTs
      Convener: Masahiro Teshima (Max-Planck-Institut fur Physik & Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo)
    • 09:10 → 09:35
      Astronomy in La Palma
      Convener: Ramón J. García López (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias and Departamento de Astrofisica, Universidad de La Laguna)
    • 09:35 → 10:00
      Construction and Early Science of the LST Array
      Convener: Daniel Mazin (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo)
    • 10:00 → 10:25
      Science with CTAO
      Convener: Dr Roberta Zanin (CTAO)
    • 10:25 → 10:45
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 10:45 → 11:10
      KAGRA Gravitational Wave Project in the 2030's and Mult Messenger Astronomy
      Convener: Takaaki Kajita (ICRR, Univeristy of Tokyo)
    • 11:10 → 11:35
      X-Ray Polarimetry and the IXPE mission
      Convener: Enrico Costa
    • 11:35 → 12:00
      PeVatron Search with LHASSO
      Convener: Zhen Cao
    • 12:00 → 14:00
      Lunch Break 2h
    • 14:00 → 14:25
      High Energy Neutrino Astronomy
      Convener: Antoine Kouchner
    • 14:25 → 14:50
      Bridging the GeV and TeV skies with Fermi-LAT
      Convener: Marianne Lemoine-Goumard (LP2IB, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS-IN2P3, UMR 5797)
    • 14:50 → 15:15
      Multi-Messenger and Time Domain Astronomy
      Convener: David Paneque (Max-Planck-Institut fur Physik)
    • 15:15 → 15:40
      Coffee Break/ Round Table Discussion 25m
    • 15:40 → 16:05
      Dark Matter Study with CTAO and Underground
      Convener: Emmanuel Moulin (Irfu, CEA Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay)
    • 16:05 → 16:30
      Dark Matter Study with Collidars
      Convener: Marumi Kado
    • 16:30 → 16:40
      Closing Remarks
    • 20:00 → 22:00
      Gala Dinner