First light at the HAWC high altitude TeV gamma ray detector in Mexico

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory -- currently under construction at 4100m altitude at Pico de Orizaba in Mexico -- is a high duty cycle, large field of view detector for gamma rays at TeV energies. The HAWC Observatory will locate and provide spectra for extended and point sources of TeV gamma rays, probe the cosmic ray anisotropy, search for gamma ray bursts, and set limits on extragalactic background light. Data taking at our smaller test array (VAMOS) is currently under way. I will present results of a first study of several months of VAMOS data, including a first skymap, performance tests, and a search for the shadow of the moon in cosmic rays.