TeV Gamma-Ray Astronomy with the VERITAS Experiment

by Prof. Henric Krawczynski (Washington University in St. Louis, Physics Department and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences)

Tuesday 19 May 2009, 17:15 → 18:15 Europe/Berlin

In 1989, the field of ground based gamma-ray astronomy was born when the Whipple 10 m Cherenkov telescope detected TeV gamma-rays from the Crab Nebula. Modern Cherenkov telescope arrays like H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS achieve a two orders of magnitude better sensitivity than the Whipple 10 m telescope in 1989. In this colloquium, an overview of recent results is given, emphasizing gamma-ray studies of galactic sources and of supermassive black holes, and the search for a dark matter annihilation signal. Subsequently, the science drivers and the ongoing R&D for the next-generation Cherenkov telescope experiments are discussed.