First gamma-ray sky map released by HAWC observatory
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029751
New Scientist : Yesterday at the American Physical Society meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, researchers from the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC) revealed their first map of the universe’s gamma-ray signals. HAWC, which is located on a mountain in central Mexico, consists of 300 tanks, each filled with 200 000 L of purified water. They are used to detect the cascade of particles created when high-energy photons strike the atmosphere. As the particles pass through the tanks, they emit visible Cherenkov radiation , which the researchers use to calculate the particles’ source. In the first year of data collection, HAWC identified 40 distinct gamma-ray sources, 10 of which had not previously been detected. The researchers are now trying to determine if those sources can be matched with known emitters at other wavelengths.
