Ground-Based Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Abstract

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has become an active astrophysical discipline with four confirmed sources of TeV gamma rays, two plerionic supernova remnants (SNRs) and two BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). An additional nine objects (one plerion, three shell-type SNRs, one X-ray binary, and four BL Lacs) have been detected but have not been confirmed by independent detections. None of the galactic sources require the presence of hadronic cosmic rays, so definitive evidence of their origin remains elusive. Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 are weak EGRET sources but they exhibit extremely variable TeV emission with spectra that extend beyond 10 TeV. They also exhibit correlations with lower energy photons during multi-wavelength campaigns, providing tests of emission models. Next generation telescopes like VERITAS hold the promise of moving this field dramatically forward.