SWGO: A next generation ground-based wide-field gamma-ray observatory in the southern hemisphere

The Southern Wide field-of-view Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is a planned next generation very high energy gamma-ray detector to be built in the southern hemisphere. Building on the demonstrated capabilities of HAWC and ARGO, which will be further extended by LHASSO, SWGO will be the world’s most sensitive gamma-ray surface detector and the first wide-field TeV scale instrument to operate in the southern hemisphere. With its wide field and high duty cycle (~100%), SWGO will be an excellent complement to CTA. In this contribution, I will present an overview of the science case for this next-generation observatory and introduce the instrument designs under consideration by the SWGO collaboration.