SWGO
The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is an astrophysics project in the southern hemisphere. The scientific potential of a wide field of view and very high-duty cycle ground-based gamma-ray detectors has been demonstrated by the current generation instruments HAWC and ARGO, and this potential will be extended in the Northern Hemisphere by LHAASO. No such instrument currently exists in the Southern Hemisphere, where there is significant potential for mapping large-scale emissions and providing access to the entire sky for transient and variable multi-wavelength and multi-messenger phenomena. Access to the Galactic Center, in conjunction with the major facility CTA-South, motivates the establishment of such a gamma-ray observatory in the south. Additionally, there is substantial potential for cosmic ray studies, including anisotropy. The shared concept for the future observatory is as follows: A gamma-ray observatory based on ground-level particle detection, with close to 100% duty cycle and order steradian field of view. Located in Atacama Astronomical Park, Chile. At an altitude of 4770 m. Covering an energy range from 100s of GeV to the PeV scale. Based primarily on water Cherenkov detector units. With a high fill-factor core detector with an area considerably larger than HAWC and significantly better sensitivity, and a low-density outer array.
Feb 1, 2025
HAWC
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) is an astrophysics project located in Mexico. HAWC is a facility designed to observe gamma rays and cosmic rays between 100 GeV and 100 TeV. TeV gamma rays are the highest energy photons ever observed — 1 TeV is 1 trillion electron volts (eV), about 1 trillion times more energetic than visible light! These photons are born in the most extreme environments in the known universe: supernova explosions, active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts. Cosmic rays are charged particles that achieve energies far beyond what we can create in man-made particle accelerators. (The highest energy cosmic ray ever observed was 300 million TeV.) The origin of such particles has been a mystery for over 100 years. Gamma rays are thought to be correlated with the acceleration sites of charged cosmic rays, so we observe them to help answer this and other cosmic questions. HAWC is located on the flanks of the Sierra Negra volcano near Puebla, Mexico, at an altitude of 4100 meters (13,500 feet). The detector has an instantaneous field of view covering 15% of the sky, and during each 24 hours, HAWC observes two-thirds of the sky. Using the HAWC Observatory, we are performing a high-sensitivity synoptic survey of the gamma rays from the Northern Hemisphere.
Feb 1, 2025