Astroparticle Physics with the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory

VERITAS 伽马射线天文台的天体粒子物理学

• 批准号: 1068179
• 负责人: Jamie Holder
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-04-15 至 2015-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1068179&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Astroparticle; Physics; VERITAS; Gamma; Ray

The discoveries made by ground-based gamma-ray observatories over the past decade have revolutionized the field of high energy particle astrophysics. The catalog of sources emitting high energy (more than 100 GeV) gamma rays now consists of ~100 objects, and new sources, and source classes, continue to be found. Supernova remnants, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae, blazars, radio galaxies, starburst galaxies and stellar-mass binary systems have all been shown to emit very high energy gamma-radiation, along with numerous sources whose identification is still unclear. As well as probing sites of extreme particle acceleration in the Universe with unprecedented spectral, temporal and spatial resolution, gamma-ray observations may allow us to indirectly determine the nature of the dark matter that makes up a significant fraction of the universe.This award will provide operational support for the group's ongoing research using VERITAS, an array of four large imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes sited in Arizona. They will use gamma-ray observations to study sites of particle acceleration in the Universe, focusing on supernova remnants and gamma-ray binary systems, with both deep observations of known sources, and discovery observations of new candidates. They will search for 100 GeV gamma-ray emission from regions of excess astrophysical neutrinos (identified by IceCube), or ultra-high energy cosmic rays (identified with Auger). The Delaware group will continue its education and public outreach activities through mentoring of students at the high school and undergraduate level. Members of the group will also give public presentations to local amateur astronomers, and other interested groups, as well as supporting the overall VERITAS outreach program by providing website materials and conducting on-site tours.

地面伽玛射线观测站在过去十年中的发现彻底改变了高能粒子天体物理学领域。目前，高能（100 GeV以上）伽马射线源的目录中包含了约100个天体，新的源和源类不断被发现，超新星遗迹、超新星和脉冲星风星云、耀变体、射电星系、星暴星系和恒星质量的双星系统都被证明能发出非常高能量的伽马射线，沿着的还有许多源，但它们的身份仍不清楚。除了以前所未有的光谱、时间和空间分辨率探测宇宙中极端粒子加速的地点外，伽马射线观测还可能使我们间接确定构成宇宙重要组成部分的暗物质的性质。该奖项将为该小组正在进行的研究提供业务支持，该研究使用VERITAS，这是一个位于亚利桑那州的四个大型成像大气切伦科夫望远镜阵列。他们将使用伽马射线观测来研究宇宙中粒子加速的地点，重点是超新星遗迹和伽马射线双星系统，既有对已知来源的深入观测，也有对新候选者的发现观测。他们将寻找来自过量天体物理中微子（由IceCube确定）或超高能宇宙射线（由Auger确定）区域的100 GeV伽马射线发射。特拉华州小组将通过对高中和本科生的指导，继续开展教育和公共宣传活动。该小组的成员还将向当地的业余天文学家和其他感兴趣的团体进行公开演讲，并通过提供网站材料和进行现场图尔斯参观来支持VERITAS的整体外展计划。