Seminar

First Preliminary Results and Science Potential of the HAWC Observatory

By
Dra. Petra H. Huentemeyer (MTU, Michigan Tech University, USA)
Date
Place
Seminari del Departament d'Astronomia i Meteorologia, 7floor
seminar ICCUB
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) TeV Gamma-Ray Observatory located at a site about two hours' drive east of Puebla, Mexico, on the Sierra Negra plateau (4100 m a.s.l.) will be inaugurated in March 2015. The array of 250 water Cherenkov detectors can observe large portions of the sky simultaneously and, with an energy range of 100 GeV to 100 TeV, is currently one of the most sensitive instruments capable of probing particle acceleration near PeV energies. HAWC has started science operation in Summer 2013 and preliminary sky maps have been produced from 260 days of data taken with a partial array. Multiple > 5 σ (pre-trials) hotspots are visible along the galactic plane and some appear to coincide with known TeV sources from the H.E.S.S. catalogue, SNRs and molecular cloud associations, and pulsars wind nebulae (PWNe). The data have also been searched for high-energy emission from GRBs detected at lower energies. In addition, an anisotropy consisting of three statistically significant localized enhancements in the cosmic ray flux has been observed. I will discuss the latest cosmic and gamma-ray maps of HAWC and the scientific potential of the instrument especially in the context of multi-wavelengths studies.
NOTES

Contact with Dra. Aliu if you want a meeting with Dra. Huentemeyer on 8 January afternoon or on friday 9 January.