High Altitude γ-ray Observatory at Hanle (HAGAR)

We have proposed to set up an experiment to detect celestial γ-rays of energy ≥ 20 GeV using the atmospheric Čerenkov Technique at Hanle, a high altitude location in the Himalayas. The limited lateral spread of the Čerenkov light pool, near 90% atmospheric transmission of Čerenkov light and low sky brightness makes this high altitude site an ideal place to set up a ground-based γray observatory. In this experiment, we plan to deploy 7 telescopes, similar to the ones used in PACT at Pachmarhi, in the form of a hexagonal mini-array and use the wave-front sampling technique for rejection of cosmic ray background. The chief advantage of this experiment is the low energy threshold which is comparable to that of MAGIC and also overlaps with the energy range of future satellite-based detectors like GLAST.