VERITAS: Very energetic radiation imaging telescope array system

The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERI-TAS) is a wide energy range (50 GeV–50 TeV) atmospheric Cherenkov detector and will start operation in 2004. The design is driven by a major scientific interest in jets of active galactic nuclei, probing the intergalactic IR fields with TeV γ-ray beams, measuring the high energy spectrum of γ-ray bursts and galactic sources of cosmic rays. Also γ-rays signatures of quantum gravity, neutralinos and primordial black holes constitute the exotic scientific motivations to built a highly versatile detector that can be operated in various modes. The technical concept and design of the seven-telescope array system is described.