The Tunka-133 EAS Cherenkov array: status, first results and plans

The new EAS Cherenkov array Tunka-133 with about 1 km**2 geometric acceptance area is installed in the Tunka Valley (50 km from Lake Baikal). The array willpermit a detailed study of cosmic ray energy spectrum and mass composition in the energy range of 10**15 - 10**18 eV with uniform method. The array consistsof 19 clusters, each composed of 7 optical detectors with 20 cm PMTs. Since November 2008, the first 12 clusters are in operation, commissioning of the whole array is planned for September 2009 (At the time of submission of this paperto electronic arXiv(February 2010) the completed Tunka-133 array is already taking data). We describe the array construction and DAQ, preliminary results and plans for the future development: deployment of radio-antennas and muon detectors network.
4 pages, 6 figures, Proc. of 31th ICRC, July 7-15, 2009, Lodz, Poland