The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)

An overview of the current status and scientific goals of VERITAS, a proposed hexagonal array of seven 10 m aperture imaging Cherenkov telescopes, is provided. The selected site is close to Mt. Hopkins, the site of the Whipple Observatory, in Arizona. Each telescope, of 12 m focal length, will be equipped with a 499 element photomultiplier camera covering a 3.5 degree field of view. A central station will initiate the readout of 500 MHz FADCs upon receipt of multiple telescope triggers. The minimum detectable flux sensitivity will be 0.5% of the Crab Nebula flux at 200 GeV. VERITAS will operate primarily as a γ-ray observatory in the 50 GeV to 50 TeV range for the study of active galaxies, supernova remnants, pulsars and gamma-ray bursts.