New VERITAS telescope array may help find 'dark matter'
ARGONNE, Ill. (April 30, 2007) — Scientists in the Northern Hemisphere have
opened a new window on the universe allowing them to explore and understand
the cosmos at a much higher level of precision than was previously available.
Think of it as acquiring a new pair of glasses that allow you to see more clearly.
These new “glasses” are VERITAS, (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope
Array System), a major new ground-based gamma-ray observatory, designed
to provide an in-depth examination of the universe.
VERITAS is an array of four large optical reflectors that detects high-energy
gamma rays by observing the light from secondary showers of particles that
these gamma rays generate in the atmosphere. The U.S. Department of Energy's
Argonne National Laboratory is a collaborator on the program and will provide
input to the analysis of the data that the array produces over the next several
years.
“It is expected that this instrument will allow for the detection of an increased
number of gamma ray sources, possibly even the indirect detection of the mysterious
dark matter in the universe,” said Karen Byrum, Argonne physicist.
The telescopes are located at a temporary site in the Coronado National Forest
in Mt. Hopkins, Ariz., where they will be operated for two years in an engineering
mode while a permanent site is acquired. During these two years, a number of
key science projects will be undertaken, as well as collaborative observations
with the National Aeronautic
and Space Administration's next generation gamma-ray
space telescope, GLAST, scheduled for launch later this year.
The sensitive instrumentation of VERITAS has an energy threshold for gamma
rays of about 100 GeV and can readily identify sources with an intensity of
about 1 photon per minute with an observation lasting an hour. This makes it
the most sensitive instrument in the northern hemisphere at these energies.
As a collaborator, Argonne participates in the Dark Matter Key Science Project,
the Gamma Ray Burst Key Science Project, the Blazar Key Science Project and
will assist in research and development for VERITAS upgrades and for the next
generation observatory, which is already being planned.
“Through involvement in the VERITAS collaboration, we are examining other
ways to look at high energy physics and bringing to the forefront other topics
connected to it,” explained Hendrik (Harry) J. M. Weerts, director of Argonne's High
Energy Physics Division. “The universe with gamma ray bursts, supernovae,
and active galactic nuclei, possess nature's most powerful accelerators.”
With involvement in the project since its implementation in 1996, David Schramm
Postdoctoral Fellow Deirdre Horan serves as Argonne's lead researcher in the
collaboration. She hopes to address fundamental physics through the use of
this instrumentation, perform more precise observations of black hole systems,
and better understand how the universe was formed.
VERITAS is a multi-national collaboration of groups from the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada.
U.S. funding for the project is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy,
the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian
Institution.
Argonne National Laboratory brings
the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and
creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology.
The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic
and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne
researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities,
and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific
problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for
a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed
by UChicago
Argonne, LLC for
the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
For more information, please
contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov)
at Argonne.
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