VERY-HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS

Remarkable progress has been made in very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray astrophysics in the last decade. The VHE source catalog has increased tenfold in under a decade, with active galaxies being the most commonly detected source type.   These sources, harboring some of the most extreme particle populations known to exist in the Universe, can be studied through observation of ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes.  The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is one these unique astronomical instruments and is now operating in its most sensitive configuration, after the recent completion of a two part upgrade. A summary of the imaging technique used in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy, the VERITAS instrument and upgrade, as well as highlights from the VERITAS extragalactic observation program will be presented.

Speaker: Dr. Amy Furniss