Meeting Information

A New Look at the TeV Sky with the HAWC Gamma Ray Observatory

February 15, 2017
The American Center for Physics
College Park, MD

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Speaker: Jordan A. Goodman, University of Maryland, Department of Physics

Topic: A New Look at the TeV Sky with the HAWC Gamma Ray Observatory

Time and Location: 1:00 p.m., with Q&A to follow; in a 1st floor conference room at the American Center for Physics (www.acp.org), 1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD - off River Rd., between Kenilworth Ave. and Paint Branch Parkway.

Abstract: The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray Observatory in the high mountains of Mexico was completed in March of 2015 and is now giving us a new view of the TeV sky. HAWC consists of 300 giant water tanks instrumented with electronics to detect air showers hitting the ground. HAWC is located in the high mountains of Mexico and is 15 times more sensitive than the previous generation of wide-field EAS gamma-ray detectors. Unlike other high energy observatories (IACTS) which must observe at night, HAWC operates 24hrs/day with over a 95% on-time and observes the entire overhead sky. This talk will describe the experiment and its construction and present results from the first HAWC catalog including our study of the galactic plane showing more than a dozen new sources. In addition, results of our monitoring of transients will be presented.

Biography: Jordan Goodman is a Distinguished University Professor, the former Chair of Physics Department and the current Chair of the University Senate at the University of Maryland. His area of research, Particle Astrophysics, studies cosmic radiation to better understand the properties of elementary particles and the processes in space that produce these particles. This field blends elements of high energy physics and astrophysics. Currently he is Spokesman and Principal Investigator of the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory, located 4,100m above sea level on the slopes of Mexico’s Volcán Sierra Negra. HAWC is the most sensitive wide-field TeV gamma-ray observatory.

Dr. Goodman is a fellow of the American Physical Society and of American Association for the Advancement of Science. Among other awards he was a recipient of the 2015 Breakthrough Prize, and the University of Maryland President’s Medal.