Towards new analysis of Gamma-Ray sources at HImalayan Gamma-Ray Observatory (HIGRO) in northern India

Abstract

The High Altitude GAmma-Ray (HAGAR) array is a wavefront sampling array of 7 telescopes, set-up at Hanle, at 4270 m a.s.l., in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas (North India). It constitutes the first phase of the HImalayan Gamma-Ray Observatory (HIGRO) project. HAGAR is the first array of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes established at a so high altitude, and was designed to reach a relatively low threshold (currently around 200 GeV) with quite a low mirror area (31 m/sup2/). Data are acquired using the On-source/Off-source tracking mode, and by comparing these sky regions the strength of the gamma-ray signal is estimated. Regular source observations are running since Sept. 2008 and preliminary results on Crab nebula were reported by 2009. Improvements of our analysis method are still going on, like estimation of arrival direction and estimation of night sky background. New softwares are under development for analysis of ash ADC modules, which provide more information from the incoming Cherenkov light wavefront. We report and discuss our new estimation of the systematics through dark region studies, and present new perspectives in the analysis of gamma-ray sources in this paper.