Solar Two Gamma-Ray Observatory

Abstract

The field of high energy gamma-ray astronomy grew tremendously in the last decade due to the launch of the EGRET detector on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory in 1991 and the proliferation of ground-based air Čherenkov telescopes (ACTs) such as the Whipple 10 meter reflector. Interestingly, the ground-based telescopes only see 4–5 of the over 170 objects detected by EGRET. A simple extrapolation of the EGRET objects' energy spectra up to the energies which the ACTs are sensitive suggests that many of them should have been detected. The key to resolving this lack of detections is to observe these sources in the previously unobserved 20–250 GeV energy range. The Solar Two Observatory collaboration is developing a secondary optics system on the central tower of the world's largest solar energy pilot plant, Solar Two, to observe gamma-ray sources in this energy range. The progress in building the secondary optics system to be used to image ∼64 heliostats at Solar Two located in Barstow, California, is presented. We hope to design and build this detector over the next 2 years.