Prospects for a Multi-TeV Gamma-ray Sky Survey with the LHAASO Water Cherenkov Detector Array
Abstract
The Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA) is a major component of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Array Observatory (LHAASO), a new generation cosmic-ray experiment with unprecedented sensitivity, currently under construction. The WCDA is aimed at the study of TeV γ-rays. In order to evaluate the prospects of searching for TeV γ-ray sources with the WCDA, we present in this paper a projection for the one-year sensitivity of the WCDA to TeV γ-ray sources from TeVCat (footnote: http://tevcat.uchicago.edu) using an all-sky approach. Out of 128 TeVCat sources observable to the WCDA up to a zenith angle of 45, we estimate that 42 would be detectable for one year of observations at a median energy of 1 TeV. Most of them are Galactic sources, and the extragalactic sources are Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN).