VERITAS
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| Organization | Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System [1] |
| Location | Amado, Arizona, USA |
| Coordinates | 31°40′30.21″N 110°57′07.77″W / 31.6750583°N 110.9521583°W |
| Altitude | 1268 m (4159 ft) |
| Telescopes | Four 12m Cherenkov Telescopes |
VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is a major ground-based gamma-ray observatory with an array of four 12m optical reflectors for gamma-ray astronomy in the GeV - TeV energy range. The telescope design is based on the design of the existing 10m gamma-ray telescope of the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. It consists of an array of imaging telescopes deployed such that they permit the maximum versatility and give the highest sensitivity in the 50 GeV - 50 TeV band (with maximum sensitivity from 100 GeV to 10 TeV). This very-high-energy observatory, completed in 2007, effectively complements Fermi.
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[edit] VERITAS Information
- Design is based on the Whipple telescope
- 39 feet aperture
- 350 mirrors on each dish
- 499 pixel camera on each telescope
- Each telescope has 3.5 deg field of view
- 50 GeV to 50 TeV Energy Range
[edit] VERITAS Science
In October, 2011 the journal Science reported that the Crab Nebula pulsar is emitting gamma rays with energies exceeding 100 billion electron-volts (100 GeV), an observation made at VERITAS.[1]
- Black Holes at the Centres of Active Galaxies
- Pulsars
- Gamma-Ray Bursts
- Supernova Remnants
- Globular clusters
- Galaxies (Including our own Milky Way Galaxy.
[edit] The VERITAS Collaboration
The VERITAS Collaboration is composed of several member institutions and other collaborating members.
[edit] Member Institutions
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- Purdue University
- Iowa State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- University of Chicago
- University of Utah
- University of California, Los Angeles
- McGill University
- University College Dublin
- University of Leeds
[edit] Collaborators
- Adler Planetarium
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Barnard College
- dePauw University
- DESY
- Grinnell College
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of Iowa
- University of Massachusetts
- Cork Institute of Technology
- Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
- National University of Ireland Galway
[edit] Funding
VERITAS is supported by the United States Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council in Canada, Science Foundation Ireland and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in the U.K.
[edit] References
- ^ "Crab Pulsar Dazzles Astronomers with its Gamma-Ray Beams". HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS. Archived from the original on 2012-01-19. http://liveweb.archive.org/http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2011/pr201128.html. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
