Evidence for new unidentified TeV gamma-ray sources from angularly-correlated hot-spots observed by independent TeV gamma-ray sky surveys

We have examined the directional cross-correlation of statistical `hot-spots' between a Northern Sky TeV Gamma Ray Survey by the Milagro Observatory and a similar survey by the Tibet Array. We find the directions of these hot-spots are angularly uncorrelated between the two surveys for large angular separations (Delta theta > 4 degrees), but there appears to be a statistically significant correlation between hot-spot directions for Delta theta < 1.5 degrees. Independent simulations indicate the chance probability for the occurrence of this correlation is approximately 10^-4, implying the existence of one or more previously unobserved TeV gamma-ray sources in these directions. The data sets are consistent with both point-like sources or diffuse sources with extent of 1 - 2 degrees.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letter

Site characteristic of Southern Utah sites for astronomical observatories

Journal ArticleThe University of Utah has recently begun construction of a new 0.8m optical/IR robotic telescope to be operated as a regional astronomy resource in the Intermountain West. The new Southern Utah Observatory (SUO) will require a high altitude (>3000 m) site with excellent atmospheric seeing, favorable weather conditions, and nearby infrastructure, including road, power, and high speed internet. We have explored six possible sites for the SUO telescope with favorable climate, night sky darkness and infrastructure. Since spring 2007, we have performed detailed measurements of atmospheric seeing at several of these sites, and have identified the preferred site for the SUO telescope at Frisco Peak, UT. Several large (1 sq. mile) areas of State Trust Land are nearby the new SUO telescope site. These large, flat areas may be excellent sites for large area, next generation Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) arrays such as AGIS or northern CTA

Search for γ rays above 1014 eV from Cygnus X-3 during the June and July 1989 radio outbursts

Journal ArticleWe have looked for γ-ray emission above 100 TeV from the binary x-ray source Cygnus X-3 during a period of intense radio emission in the summer of 1989. We find no evidence for excess air showers from the direction of the source and the muon content of air showers from this direction is the same as that of ordinary cosmic rays. The flux of γ rays from Cygnus X-3 with energies exceeding 2.1x10^14 eV is < 5.5x10^-13 cm-1 sec-1 (90% C.L.)

Science capabilities of the VERITAS array of 10m imaging atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray detectors

Journal ArticleThe Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is an array of seven 10m aperture telescopes used for gamma-ray astronomy in the 50 GeV to 50 TeV (1 TeV= 101 2 electron Volt) energy range. The gamma rays are detected by measuring the optical Cherenkov light emitted by the cascade of electromagnetic particles that is generated by interactions of the high energy gamma-ray with the Earth's Atmosphere. This paper describes the science goals of the VERITAS array, a description of the array, and expected performance of the instrument

Search for > 200 TeV photons from Cygnus X-3 in 1988 and 1989

Journal ArticleOver a period of 16 months from April 1988 to August 1989, we have monitored the flux of cosmic-ray showers with energies above 2X 101 4 eV. We used a two-level array of scintillators covering an area of 3 X 104 m2. Counters on the surface measure the size and direction of each shower while counters buried 3 m beneath the surface sample the muons

Stellar Intensity Interferometry: Imaging capabilities of air Cherenkov telescope arrays

Sub milli-arcsecond imaging in the visible band will provide a new perspective in stellar astrophysics. Even though stellar intensity interferometry was abandoned more than 40 years ago, it is capable of imaging and thus accomplishing more than the measurement of stellar diameters as was previously thought. Various phase retrieval techniques can be used to reconstruct actual images provided a sufficient coverage of the interferometric plane is available. Planned large arrays of Air Cherenkov telescopes will provide thousands of simultaneously available baselines ranging from a few tens of meters to over a kilometer, thus making imaging possible with unprecedented angular resolution. Here we investigate the imaging capabilities of arrays such as CTA or AGIS used as Stellar Intensity Interferometry receivers. The study makes use of simulated data as could realistically be obtained from these arrays. A Cauchy-Riemann based phase recovery allows the reconstruction of images which can be compared to the pristine image for which the data were simulated. This is first done for uniform disk stars with different radii and corresponding to various exposure times, and we find that the uncertainty in reconstructing radii is a few percent after a few hours of exposure time. Finally, more complex images are considered, showing that imaging at the sub-milli-arc-second scale is possible.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; presented at the SPIE conference "Optical and Infrared Interferometry II", San Diego, CA, USA (June 2010

Evidence for correlated changes in the spectrum and composition of cosmic rays at extremely high energies

Journal ArticleThe Utah Fly's Eye detector has revealed a change in the cosmic ray composition which is correlated with structure in the all-particle energy spectrum. The data can be fitted by a simple model of a steep power law spectrum of heavy nuclei which is overtaken at high energies by a flatter spectrum of protons. The transition occurs near 10^18.5 eV. Anisotropy is not detected, so the high-rigidity particles above the transition energy do not originate in the disk of the Galaxy. An outstanding event of 3x10^20 eV implies that the highest energy particles originate in the contemporary era of the Universe