Galactic plane survey:

A survey is an efficient means of observing a large sample of sources and the only way to efficiently detect new types of objects. Because of its flux sensitivity and large field of view, one of the first priorities of VERITAS will be to conduct a sensitive survey in the 100GeV - 10TeV energy range. To maximize the scientific returns, the first task will be to survey the region near the Galactic plane. VERITAS can observe the plane over the longitude range $0^\circ < l < 245^\circ$ but the initial survey will concentrate on the denser regions. For an 80-night survey of the region $0^\circ < l < 85^\circ$, VERITAS will be sensitive to fluxes down to $\sim$0.02 Crab above 300GeV. This region encompasses 19 young, energetic pulsars, 12 unidentified EGRET sources, several X-ray binaries, and many SNRs. Thus, with this survey alone, VERITAS has the potential to significantly increase the catalog of VHE sources.