Abstract
The high altitude water Cherenkov observatory (HAWC) is an instrument for the detection of high energy cosmic gamma-rays. Its predecessor Milagro has successfully proven that the water Cherenkov technology for gamma-ray astronomy is a useful technique. HAWC is currently under construction at Sierra Negra in Mexico at an altitude of 4100 m and will include several improvements compared to Milagro. Two complementary DAQ systems of the HAWC detector allow for the observation of a large fraction of the sky with a very high duty cycle and independent of environmental conditions. HAWC will observe the gamma-ray sky from about 100 GeV up to 100 TeV. Also the cosmic ray flux anisotropy on different angular length scales is object of HAWC science. Because of HAWC's large effective area and field of view, we describe its prospects to observe gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) as an example for transient sources.
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