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Picture 1: (Suggested picture for the press release)

Caption: Shortly after sunset the MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescope atop Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma is preparing for the nightly observations. With its 17-m diameter reflector, MAGIC is currently the largest gamma-ray telescope world-wide. It detects gamma rays through short light flashes that are produced when gamma rays cross the atmosphere (Cherenkov light).

Copyright: Robert Wagner, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich.

Available for download in different sizes: 640x427, 800x534, 1024x683, 1536x1024, 3504x2336.

Picture 2:

Caption: The two 17-m MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes located at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma. Cherenkov telescopes detect gamma rays through short light flashes that are produced when gamma rays cross the atmosphere (Cherenkov light). While the first MAGIC telescope is successfully taking data since 2004, a second telescope is under construction and will be inaugurated in September 2008.

Copyright: Robert Wagner, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich.

Available for download in different sizes: 280x352 450x566 800x1006 1280x1610 1536x1932

Sky Map:

Caption: Sky Map of 3C279 in Very-High Energy photons as seen by the MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) telescope. The active galactic nucleus, from which these photons originated, is a quasar distant more than five billion light years from the Earth. The detection of very-high energy gamma emission by a source at such a distance challenges current theories about the intergalactic medium, which appears more transparent than previously believed.

Copyright: The MAGIC Collaboration.

Available for download in different sizes: 400x359, 800x719, 960x863, 1301x1169
in German: 400x359, 800x719, 960x863, 1301x1169

Illustration:

Caption: The MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) telescope has detected very high energy photons from the active galactic nucleus of the galaxy 3C279, a quasar distant more than five billion light years from the Earth. The detection of very-high energy gamma emission by a source at such a distance challenges current theories about the intergalactic medium, which appears more transparent than previously believed.

Copyright: The MAGIC Collaboration.
Authors: Robert Wagner, Daniel Mazin

Available for download in different sizes: 400x277, 1024x709, 3313x2294, PDF
in German: 400x277, 1024x709, 3313x2294

Further pictures:

Moonlit MAGIC	MAGIC and startrails	The MAGIC telescope	Bird's eye view	MAGIC at dawn
Click on any image for a full resolution 3504x2336 pixel JPG file.

Copyright for the five pictures above: Robert Wagner, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich.