WoU-MMA: Operation of the HAWC Gamma Ray Observatory

WoU-MMA：HAWC 伽马射线天文台的运行

• 批准号: 2310104
• 负责人: Jordan Goodman
• 金额: $ 149.97万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2310104&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: WoU; MMA; Operation; HAWC; Gamma

The observation of astrophysical very high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays provides a window to probe the physical processes of some of the most extreme environments in the Universe. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, located in the Sierra Negra of Mexico, is one of the world’s most sensitive continuously operating wide field-of-view VHE gamma-ray telescopes. HAWC observations explore the origin of cosmic rays, study the acceleration of particles in extreme physical environments, and search for new TeV-emitting gamma-ray astrophyical sources. This award to the University of Maryland College Park supports the continued operation of HAWC, including maintenance of the US data archive and providing public data access to the observatory’s sky maps and real-time astrophysical transient alerts. The award also supports HAWC’s public outreach programs, broadly aimed to provide access to HAWC and astrophysical gamma-ray science to all age groups, from elementary school students through senior citizens, and supports activities and resources within the Hispanic-American community, including bilingual videos and websites. The HAWC Observatory in the high mountains of Mexico consists of 300 large water-Cherenkov detectors (WCDs) surrounded by an outrigger array of 350 smaller WCDs that extend the energy reach. The Observatory’s wide field-of-view provides over 95% on-time simultaneous monitoring of two-thirds of the sky each day. This delivers a continuous deep survey of the TeV-sky that provides sensitivity to discovery observations of extremely high-energy sources such as galactic PeVatrons, TeV Halos, and micro-quasars. HAWC provides crucial input to a global multi-messenger program that searches for transient phenomena like active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts, favored sources of gravitational waves, detected by LIGO/VIRGO, and IceCube Neutrino Observatory-detected high-energy neutrinos.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

天体物理极高能（VHE）伽马射线的观测为探测宇宙中一些最极端环境的物理过程提供了一个窗口，位于墨西哥内格拉山脉的高海拔水切伦科夫（HAWC）天文台。是世界上最灵敏的连续运行宽视场 VHE 伽马射线望远镜之一，HAWC 观测探索宇宙射线的起源，研究极端物理环境中的粒子加速，并进行搜索。该奖项授予马里兰大学学院公园分校的新的 TeV 发射伽马射线天体源，以支持 HAWC 的持续运行，包括维护美国数据档案并提供对天文台天空图和实时天体物理瞬变的公共数据访问。该奖项还支持 HAWC 的公共推广计划，该计划的主要目标是为从小学生到老年人的所有年龄段提供了解 HAWC 和天体物理伽马射线科学的机会，并支持该计划内的活动和资源。西班牙裔美国人社区，包括双语视频和网站。位于墨西哥高山的 HAWC 天文台由 300 个大型水切伦科夫探测器 (WCD) 组成，周围环绕着 350 个小型 WCD 的支腿阵列，可扩展天文台的广阔视野。 -of-view 每天对三分之二的天空进行超过 95% 的实时同步监测，从而对 TeV-sky 进行连续的深度调查，从而提高发现的灵敏度。对星系 PeVatrons、TeV Halos 和微类星体等极高能量源的观测为全球多信使计划提供了重要的输入，该计划寻找活动星系核和伽马射线爆发等受青睐的引力源等瞬态现象。 LIGO/VIRGO 探测到的波，以及 IceCube 中微子观测站探测到的高能中微子。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。