VERITAS Homepage

Neil A. Porter, R.I.P.

Click here for obituary

NEW! Job Opportunity at SAO

Physisict, Grade 11 level (Post-doc) position available

There is a job opening for a physicist at the Grade 11 level at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Amado, Arizona. The Physicist participates in an experimental research program using a ground-based atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of VERITAS for studies in very high-energy gamma ray astronomy. Duties include, but are not limited to: participating in observatory program of measurements of various candidate gamma-ray sources; participating in the installation, testing and use of the VERITAS telescopes for gamma-ray astronomy; designing, building and testing components for use in future telescopes and detectors; and, preparing findings for publication in scientific journals and presentation at technical meetings and colloquia. For more information, click here.

Multiwavelength Information

Whipple 10m: YES, MWL Information Available

Campaign Ongoing, 2005-2006: The Whipple 10m telescope will be monitoring a short list of AGN including 1ES2344, 1ES1959, Markarian 421, H1426 and Markarian 501 from Sep. 2005 - Jun. 2006. Click here for the latest information (Last update: 060427).

Information for Mountain Users

VERITAS Operating Hours: Click here

VERITAS Telescope 1 near the administrative complex of FLWO.

Click here for more photos of Telescope 1.

VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is a new 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 new telescope design will be based on the design of the existing 10m gamma-ray telescope of the Whipple Observatory. It will consist of an array of imaging telescopes which will be deployed such that they will permit the maximum versatility and will give the highest sensitivity in the 50 GeV - 50 TeV band (with maximum sensitivity from 100 GeV to 10 TeV). In this band critical measurements of SNRs and AGNs will be made. This VHE observatory will effectively complement GLAST well into the next millennium.

Announcements

11 November 2005, VERITAS Environmental Assessment

Click here to view the VERITAS Environmental Assessment.

20 September 2005: AGN Monitoring with the Whipple 10m Telescope 2005-2006 Begins!

The Whipple 10m Telescope will begin its AGN monitoring program on 050925 UT. Click here for timetable and more information.

26 July 2005: AGN Monitoring with the Whipple 10m Telescope 2005-2006

The Whipple 10m Telescope will be used to monitor the VHE emission from a small selection of AGN during the 2005-2006 observing season. Click here for more information.

26 July 2005: Job Opportunity for an IT Specialist at the Whipple Observatory

The Whipple Observatory has an immediate opening for an experienced individual to provide Linux-PC system management, system software development and technical hardware and software expertise in support of the VERITAS project. Click here for more information.

1 February 2005: First Light on VERITAS Telescope

The recently completed VERITAS Telescope-1 saw first light on February 1, 2005 with the detection of a signal from the Crab Nebula. The telescope, with its full complement of 350 mirror facets and a 499 pixel camera, has met all technical specifications. A two-dimensional image of the Crab is shown below along with some typical images and animations of gamma-ray and cosmic-ray air showers; the time slices are 2 ns apart. Telescope-1 will be operated at its temporary site at the Whipple Observatory Basecamp until February, 2006 when it will be moved to Horseshoe Canyon on Kitt Peak to join the other three VERITAS telescopes.

Click on the image below to see a larger version.


Two-dimensional image of the Crab	Gamma-ray image	Muon image

Click on the image below to see animations of the showers.


Cosmic ray	Gamma-ray	Muon

Previous Announcements

For the most recent VERITAS article, "VERITAS: the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (T. C. Weekes et al. 2002)" click here.

Abstract

The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) represents an important step forward in the study of extreme astrophysical processes in the universe. It combines the power of the atmospheric Cherenkov imaging technique using a large optical reflector with the power of stereoscopic observatories using arrays of separated telescopes looking at the same shower. The four identical telescopes in VERITAS, each of aperture 12 m, will be deployed in a filled hexagonal pattern of side 80 m; each telescope will have a camera consisting of 499 pixels with a field of view of 3.5 deg VERITAS will substantially increase the catalog of very high energy (E > 100GeV) gamma-ray sources and greatly improve measurements of established sources.

The VERITAS prototype Telescope

The VERITAS collaboration, which pioneered the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique for the detection of very high energy (VHE) gamma rays, is based at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Southern Arizona, in the United States. It comprises the following Institutions:

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, U. S. A.

Purdue University, U. S. A.

Iowa State University, U. S. A.

Washington University at St. Louis, U. S. A.

University of Chicago, U. S. A.

University of Utah, U. S. A.

University of California, Los Angeles, U. S. A.

McGill University, Montreal, Canada

National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

University of Leeds, England