The VERITAS Survey of the Cygnus Region of the Galactic Plane

TL;DR

This paper reports on the VERITAS survey of the Cygnus region, a prime area rich in gamma-ray sources, using over 140 hours of observations to detect very high energy gamma-ray emissions.

Contribution

It presents the first extensive VHE gamma-ray survey of the Cygnus region with detailed observational data and sensitivity analysis.

Findings

Survey covered 67-82° galactic longitude and -1 to 4° latitude.

Achieved sensitivity better than 4% of Crab Nebula flux.

Collected over 140 hours of observations.

Abstract

The Cygnus region of the Galactic plane contains many known supernova remnants, pulsars, X-ray and GeV gamma-ray emitters which make it a prime candidate for a Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray survey in the Northern Hemisphere. The VERITAS observatory, an array of four atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located at the base of Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona, USA, has carried out an extensive survey of the Cygnus region between 67 and 82 degrees in galactic longitude and between -1 and 4 degrees in galactic latitude. The survey, comprising more than 140 hours of observations, reaches an average VHE flux sensitivity of better than 4% of the Crab Nebula at energies above 200 GeV. Here we report on the preliminary results from this survey.