The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory In México: The Primary Detector
Abstract
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a second-generation continuously operated, wide field-of-view, TeV gamma-ray observatory. The HAWC observatory and its analysis techniques build on experience of the Milagro experiment in using ground-based water Cherenkov detectors for gamma-ray astronomy. HAWC is located on the Sierra Negra volcano in México at an elevation of 4100 meters above sea level. The completed HAWC observatory principal detector (HAWC) consists of 300 closely spaced water Cherenkov detectors, each equipped with four photomultiplier tubes to provide timing and charge information to reconstruct the extensive air shower energy and arrival direction. The HAWC observatory has been optimized to observe transient and steady emission from sources of gamma rays within an energy range from several hundred GeV to several hundred TeV. However, most of the air showers detected are initiated by cosmic rays, allowing studies of cosmic rays also to be performed. This paper describes the characteristics of the HAWC main array and its hardware.
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The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2023.168253
Department(s)
Physics
Keywords and Phrases
Astrophysics; High energy physics — experiment; Nuclear experiment; Physics — instrumentation and detectors; Water Cherenkov Detectors
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0168-9002
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jul 2023
Comments
National Science Foundation, Grant PRODEP-SEP UDG-CA-499