VERITAS

A brief timeline of the development of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy through the Whipple and VERITAS projects:

• 1963       Jelley and Porter suggest use of image shapes to select gamma rays.

• 1968       Whipple 10m telescope installed at Mt. Hopkins; first purpose-built large reflector

• 1973       Upper limits reported on many prominent sources

• 1976-82  Whipple/SAO gamma-ray program closed down

• 1977       Turver and Weekes suggest use of PMT camera to record images

• 1978       Upper limits on density of primordial black hole explosions reported

• 1982       Whipple Collaboration formed (Hawaii, Iowa State, SAO, U.C. Dublin, Durham)

• 1984       Imaging camera (37 pixel) installed on Whipple telescope

• 1985       "VERITAS concept" proposed in Space Station Workshop at LSU

• 1989       Detection of first galactic source by Whipple: the Crab Nebula

• 1992       Detection of first extragalactic source by Whipple: Markarian 421

• 1996       Internal proposal for VERITAS construction presented to SAO

• 1998       VERITAS approved by SAO

• 2000       VERITAS Collaboration formed (Chicago, Iowa State, Kansas State, Leeds, Purdue,  SAO,  U.C. Dublin, UCLA, Washington U.)

• 2002       VERITAS proposal presented to NSF and DOE

• 2003       Four telescope version of VERITAS approved by DOE, NSF and SAO.

• 2007       First Light with VERITAS; all design specifications met or exceeded

• 2009       Array reconfigured (by moving T1) to increase sensitivity

And here is a copy of the presentation by Trevor Weekes about the history of gamma-ray astronomy, given at the VERITAS First Light Ceremony in April 2007.