A deep survey of the Galactic plane at very high energies

The Cygnus region of the Galactic plane contains many known supernova remnants, pulsars, X-Ray sources and GeV emitters which makes it a prime candidate for a Very High Energy (VHE) survey study in the Northern Hemisphere. VERITAS, an array of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located in southern Arizona, USA, is the most sensitive very high energy gamma-ray telescope in operation today. Between April 2007 and Fall 2009, VERITAS carried out an extensive survey of the Cygnus region between 67 and 82 degrees in Galactic longitude and between -1 and 4 degrees in Galactic latitude. The survey, comprising more than 140 hours of observations, reached an average VHE flux sensitivity of better than 5% of the Crab Nebula flux at energies above 200 GeV, making it the most sensitive VHE gamma-ray survey ever done in the northern Hemisphere. The survey data set revealed two highly probable gamma-ray sources in the region. A detailed description of the observational strategy and analysis methodology of the survey are given and a discussion of the scientific implications resulting from the survey is provided.