The HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory: Sensitivity to Steady and Transient Sources of Gamma Rays

HAWC Collaboration, A. U. Abeysekara, R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J. D. Álvarez, R. Arceo, J. C. Arteaga-Velázquez, H. A. Ayala Solares, A. S. Barber, B. M. Baughman, N. Bautista-Elivar, E. Belmont, S. Y. BenZvi, D. Berley, M. Bonilla Rosales, J. Braun, R. A. Caballero-Lopez, K. S. Caballero-Mora, A. Carramiñana, M. Castillo, U. Cotti, J. Cotzomi, E. de la Fuente, C. De León, T. DeYoung, R. Diaz Hernandez, J. C. Díaz-Vélez, B. L. Dingus, M. A. DuVernois, R. W. Ellsworth, A. Fernandez, D. W. Fiorino, N. Fraija, A. Galindo, F. Garfias, L. X. González, M. M. González, J. A. Goodman, V. Grabski, M. Gussert, Z. Hampel-Arias, C. M. Hui, P. Hüntemeyer, A. Imran, A. Iriarte, P. Karn, D. Kieda, G. J. Kunde, A. Lara, R. J. Lauer, W. H. Lee, D. Lennarz, H. León Vargas, E. C. Linares, J. T. Linnemann, M. Longo, R. Luna-GarcIa, A. Marinelli, H. Martinez, O. Martinez, J. Martínez-Castro, J. A. J. Matthews, P. Miranda-Romagnoli, E. Moreno, M. Mostafá, J. Nava, L. Nellen, M. Newbold, R. Noriega-Papaqui, T. Oceguera-Becerra, B. Patricelli, R. Pelayo, E. G. Pérez-Pérez, J. Pretz, C. Rivière, D. Rosa-González, H. Salazar, F. Salesa, F. E. Sanchez, A. Sandoval, E. Santos, M. Schneider, S. Silich, G. Sinnis, A. J. Smith, K. Sparks, R. W. Springer, I. Taboada, P. A. Toale, K. Tollefson, I. Torres, T. N. Ukwatta, L. Villaseñor, T. Weisgarber, S. Westerhoff, I. G. Wisher, J. Wood, G. B. Yodh, P. W. Younk, D. Zaborov, A. Zepeda, H. Zhou

Published 2013-09-30Version 1

The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory is designed to record air showers produced by cosmic rays and gamma rays between 100 GeV and 100 TeV. Because of its large field of view and high livetime, HAWC is well-suited to measure gamma rays from extended sources, diffuse emission, and transient sources. We describe the sensitivity of HAWC to emission from the extended Cygnus region as well as other types of galactic diffuse emission; searches for flares from gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei; and the first measurement of the Crab Nebula with HAWC-30.