Physics and Astronomy Calendar

With the third generation ground-based gamma-ray telescopes delivering over a hundred new TeV emitting objects and with the new Fermi satellite providing greatly improved sensitivity in the GeV energy regime, gamma ray astronomy is entering a golden age. I will review the basics of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy and the Air Cherenkov Telescope method of detection and then describe my work on VERITAS - an array of four gamma ray telescopes located at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona. I will describe some of the recent results from the first two years of the VERITAS observing program, paying attention to the observations of several new active galactic nuclei and the discovery of the starburst galaxy M82 in TeV gamma rays. I will then summarize investigations using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Fermi to look for potential new VHE gamma-ray targets.