Understand
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory in central Mexico is currently the world's only synoptic survey instrument for gamma rays above 1 TeV.
- Because there is significant interest in covering the full TeV sky with a survey instrument, we have examined options for a Southern Hemisphere extension to HAWC.
- In addition to providing all-sky coverage of TeV sources, a southern site could complement existing surveys of the densest part of the Galactic Plane, provide continuous monitoring of Galactic and extragalactic transient sources in both Hemispheres, and simplify the analysis of spatially extended signals such as diffuse gamma rays and the TeV cosmic-ray anisotropy.
- To take advantage of the air-shower physics and lower the energy threshold of the experiment as much as possible, a high altitude site above 5000 m a.s.l (vs.