VAMOS: A pathfinder for the HAWC gamma-ray observatory

Authors

A. U. Abeysekara, Michigan State University
R. Alfaro, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
C. Alvarez, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas
J. D. Álvarez, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
F. Ángeles, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
R. Arceo, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas
J. C. Arteaga-Velázquez, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
A. Avila-Aroche, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
H. A. Ayala Solares, Michigan Technological University
C. Badillo, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
A. S. Barber, The University of Utah
B. M. Baughman, University of Maryland
N. Bautista-Elivar, Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca
J. Becerra Gonzalez, University of Maryland
E. Belmont, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
E. Benítez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
S. Y. Benzvi, University of Wisconsin-Madison
D. Berley, University of Maryland
A. Bernal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
M. Bonilla Rosales, Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica
J. Braun, University of Maryland
R. A. Caballero-Lopez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
K. S. Caballero-Mora, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados
I. Cabrera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
A. Carramiñana, Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica
L. Castañeda-Martínez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
M. Castillo, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
U. Cotti, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
J. Cotzomi, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
E. De La Fuente, Universidad de Guadalajara
C. De León, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
T. Deyoung, Pennsylvania State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Abstract

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. VAMOS1 was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100 m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B.

Publication Title

Astroparticle Physics

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