The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog

• Published in: arXiv.org 2017-02
• Main Authors: Abeysekara, A U, Albert, A, Alfaro, R, Alvarez, C, Álvarez, J D, Arceo, R, Arteaga-Velázquez, J C, Ayala Solares, H A, Barber, A S, Bautista-Elivar, N, Becerril, A, BenZvi, S Y, Berley, D, Bernal, A, Braun, J, Brisbois, C, Caballero-Mora, K S, Capistrán, T, Carramiñana, A, Casanova, S, Cotti, U, Cotzomi, J, S Coutiño de León, De León, C, R Diaz Hernandez, Dingus, B L, DuVernois, M A, Díaz-Vélez, J C, Ellsworth, R W, Engel, K, Fiorino, D W, Fraija, N, Garfias, F, Gerhardt, M, A González Muñoz, González, M M, Goodman, J A, Hampel-Arias, Z, Harding, J P, Hernandez, S, Hernandez-Almada, A, Hinton, J, Hui, C M, Hüntemeyer, P, Iriarte, A, Jardin-Blicq, A, Joshi, V, Kaufmann, S, Kieda, D, Lara, A, Lee, W H, Lennarz, D, H León Vargas, Linnemann, J T, Longinotti, A L, Raya, G Luis, Luna-García, R, López-Coto, R, Malone, K, Marinelli, S S, Martinez, O, Martinez-Castellanos, I, Martínez-Castro, J, Martínez-Huerta, H, Matthews, J A, Miranda-Romagnoli, P, Moreno, E, Mostafá, M, Nellen, L, Newbold, M, Nisa, M U, Pelayo, R, Pretz, J, Ren, Z, Rho, C D, Rivière, C, Rosenberg, M, Ruiz-Velasco, E, Salazar, H, F Salesa Greus, Sandoval, A, Schneider, M, Schoorlemmer, H, Sinnis, G, Smith, A J, Surajbali, P, Tibolla, O, Tollefson, K, Torres, I, Ukwatta, T N, Vianello, G, Villaseñor, L, Weisgarber, T, Westerhoff, S, Wisher, I G, Wood, J, Yapici, T, Younk, P W, Zepeda, A, Zhou, H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blazars; Crab nebula; Field of view; Gamma ray sources; Gamma rays; High altitude; Nebulae; Observatories; Position measurement; Pulsars; Sky surveys (astronomy); Stellar winds; Supernova remnants; Variation
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1702.02992

We present the first catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources realized with the recently completed High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC). It is the most sensitive wide field-of-view TeV telescope currently in operation, with a 1-year survey sensitivity of ~5-10% of the flux of the Crab Nebula. With an instantaneous field of view >1.5 sr and >90% duty cycle, it continuously surveys and monitors the sky for gamma ray energies between hundreds GeV and tens of TeV. HAWC is located in Mexico at a latitude of 19 degree North and was completed in March 2015. Here, we present the 2HWC catalog, which is the result of the first source search realized with the complete HAWC detector. Realized with 507 days of data and represents the most sensitive TeV survey to date for such a large fraction of the sky. A total of 39 sources were detected, with an expected contamination of 0.5 due to background fluctuation. Out of these sources, 16 are more than one degree away from any previously reported TeV source. The source list, including the position measurement, spectrum measurement, and uncertainties, is reported. Seven of the detected sources may be associated with pulsar wind nebulae, two with supernova remnants, two with blazars, and the remaining 23 have no firm identification yet.