TY  - JOUR
A1  - Abeysekara, A. U.
A1  - Benbow, Wystan
A1  - Bird, Ralph
A1  - Brill, A.
A1  - Brose, Robert
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Chromey, A. J.
A1  - Daniel, M. K.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, Amy
A1  - Gent, A.
A1  - Gillanders, Gerald H.
A1  - Hanna, David
A1  - Hassan, T.
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Kaaret, Philip
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, David
A1  - Krause, Maria
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - Maier, Gernot
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, Reshmi
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, Adam Nepomuk
A1  - Park, Nahee
A1  - Petrashyk, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Richards, Gregory T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Sadeh, I.
A1  - Santander, Marcos
A1  - Schlenstedt, S.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Sushch, Iurii
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wells, R. M.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, David A.
A1  - Williamson, T. J.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Acciari, V. A.
A1  - Ansoldi, S.
A1  - Antonelli, L. A.
A1  - Engels, A. Arbet
A1  - Baack, D.
A1  - Babic, A.
A1  - Banerjee, B.
A1  - de Almeida, U. Barres
A1  - Barrio, J. A.
A1  - Becerra Gonzalez, Josefa
A1  - Bednarek, Wlodek
A1  - Bernardini, Elisa
A1  - Berti, A.
A1  - Besenrieder, J.
A1  - Bhattacharyya, W.
A1  - Bigongiari, C.
A1  - Biland, A.
A1  - Blanch, O.
A1  - Bonnoli, G.
A1  - Busetto, G.
A1  - Carosi, R.
A1  - Ceribella, G.
A1  - Cikota, S.
A1  - Colak, S. M.
A1  - Colin, P.
A1  - Colombo, E.
A1  - Contreras, J. L.
A1  - Cortina, J.
A1  - Covino, S.
A1  - Da Vela, P.
A1  - Dazzi, F.
A1  - De Angelis, A.
A1  - De Lotto, B.
A1  - Delfino, M.
A1  - Delgado, J.
A1  - Di Pierro, F.
A1  - Do Souto Espinera, E.
A1  - Dominguez, A.
A1  - Prester, D. Dominis
A1  - Dorner, D.
A1  - Doro, M.
A1  - Einecke, S.
A1  - Elsaesser, D.
A1  - Ramazani, V. Fallah
A1  - Fattorini, A.
A1  - Fernandez-Barral, A.
A1  - Ferrara, G.
A1  - Fidalgo, D.
A1  - Foffano, L.
A1  - Fonseca, M. V.
A1  - Font, L.
A1  - Fruck, C.
A1  - Galindo, D.
A1  - Gallozzi, S.
A1  - Lopez, R. J. Garcia
A1  - Garczarczyk, M.
A1  - Gasparyan, S.
A1  - Gaug, Markus
A1  - Giammaria, P.
A1  - Godinovic, N.
A1  - Guberman, D.
A1  - Hadasch, D.
A1  - Hahn, A.
A1  - Herrera, J.
A1  - Hoang, J.
A1  - Hrupec, D.
A1  - Inoue, S.
A1  - Ishio, K.
A1  - Iwamura, Y.
A1  - Kubo, H.
A1  - Kushida, J.
A1  - Kuvezdic, D.
A1  - Lamastra, A.
A1  - Lelas, D.
A1  - Leone, Francesco
A1  - Lindfors, E.
A1  - Lombardi, S.
A1  - Longo, Francesco
A1  - Lopez, M.
A1  - Lopez-Oramas, A.
A1  - Machado de Oliveira Fraga, B.
A1  - Maggio, C.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - Makariev, M.
A1  - Mallamaci, M.
A1  - Maneva, G.
A1  - Manganaro, M.
A1  - Mannheim, K.
A1  - Maraschi, L.
A1  - Mariotti, M.
A1  - Martinez, M.
A1  - Masuda, S.
A1  - Mazin, D.
A1  - Minev, M.
A1  - Miranda, J. M.
A1  - Mirzoyan, R.
A1  - Molina, E.
A1  - Moralejo, A.
A1  - Moreno, V.
A1  - Moretti, E.
A1  - Munar-Adrover, Pere
A1  - Neustroev, V.
A1  - Niedzwiecki, Andrzej
A1  - Rosillo, Mireia Nievas
A1  - Nigro, C.
A1  - Nilsson, Kari
A1  - Ninci, D.
A1  - Nishijima, K.
A1  - Noda, K.
A1  - Nogues, L.
A1  - Noethe, M.
A1  - Paiano, Simona
A1  - Palacio, J.
A1  - Paneque, D.
A1  - Paoletti, R.
A1  - Paredes, J. M.
A1  - Pedaletti, G.
A1  - Penil, P.
A1  - Peresano, M.
A1  - Persic, M.
A1  - Moroni, P. G. Prada
A1  - Prandini, E.
A1  - Puljak, I.
A1  - Garcia, J. R.
A1  - Rhode, W.
A1  - Ribo, Marc
A1  - Rico, J.
A1  - Righi, C.
A1  - Rugliancich, A.
A1  - Saha, Lab
A1  - Sahakyan, Narek
A1  - Saito, T.
A1  - Satalecka, K.
A1  - Schweizer, T.
A1  - Sitarek, J.
A1  - Snidaric, I.
A1  - Sobczynska, D.
A1  - Somero, A.
A1  - Stamerra, A.
A1  - Strzys, M.
A1  - Suric, T.
A1  - Tavecchio, Fabrizio
A1  - Temnikov, P.
A1  - Terzic, T.
A1  - Teshima, M.
A1  - Torres-Alba, N.
A1  - Tsujimoto, S.
A1  - van Scherpenberg, J.
A1  - Vanzo, G.
A1  - Vazquez Acosta, M.
A1  - Vovk, I.
A1  - Will, M.
A1  - Zaric, D.
T1  - Periastron Observations of TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from a Binary System with a 50-year Period
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters
N2  - We report on observations of the pulsar/Be star binary system PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213 in the energy range between 100 GeV and 20 TeV with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array and Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope arrays. The binary orbit has a period of approximately 50 years, with the most recent periastron occurring on 2017 November 13. Our observations span from 18 months prior to periastron to one month after. A new point-like gamma-ray source is detected, coincident with the location of PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213. The gamma-ray light curve and spectrum are well characterized over the periastron passage. The flux is variable over at least an order of magnitude, peaking at periastron, thus providing a firm association of the TeV source with the pulsar/Be star system. Observations prior to periastron show a cutoff in the spectrum at an energy around 0.5 TeV. This result adds a new member to the small population of known TeV binaries, and it identifies only the second source of this class in which the nature and properties of the compact object are firmly established. We compare the gamma-ray results with the light curve measured with the X-ray Telescope on board the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and with the predictions of recent theoretical models of the system. We conclude that significant revision of the models is required to explain the details of the emission that we have observed, and we discuss the relationship between the binary system and the overlapping steady extended source, TeV J2032+4130.
KW  - gamma rays: general
KW  - pulsars: individual (PSR J2032+4127, VER J2032+414, MAGIC J2032+4127)
KW  - stars: individual (MT91 213)
KW  - X-rays: binaries
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aae70e
SN  - 2041-8205
SN  - 2041-8213
VL  - 867
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Abeysekara, A. U.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Aune, Taylor
A1  - Benbow, Wystan
A1  - Bird, Ralph
A1  - Brose, Robert
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Cui, Wei
A1  - Daniel, M. K.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Qi
A1  - Finley, John P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Flinders, A.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, Amy
A1  - Gotthelf, Eric V.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Hanna, David
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Huang, K.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Huetten, M.
A1  - Johnson, Caitlin A.
A1  - Kaaret, Philip
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kelley-Hoskins, N.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, David
A1  - Krause, Maria
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - Maier, Gernot
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, Reshmi
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, Adam Nepomuk
A1  - Pandel, Dirk
A1  - Park, Nahee
A1  - Petrashyk, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, Alexis
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, Gregory T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rousselle, J.
A1  - Rulten, C.
A1  - Sadeh, I.
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, Karlen
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Ward, J. E.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wells, R. M.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, David A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - A Very High Energy gamma-Ray Survey toward the Cygnus Region of the Galaxy
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We present results from deep observations toward the Cygnus region using 300 hr of very high energy (VHE)gamma-ray data taken with the VERITAS Cerenkov telescope array and over 7 yr of high-energy.-ray data taken with the Fermi satellite at an energy above 1 GeV. As the brightest region of diffuse gamma-ray emission in the northern sky, the Cygnus region provides a promising area to probe the origins of cosmic rays. We report the identification of a potential Fermi-LAT counterpart to VER J2031+415 (TeV J2032+4130) and resolve the extended VHE source VER J2019+368 into two source candidates (VER J2018+367* and VER J2020+368*) and characterize their energy spectra. The Fermi-LAT morphology of 3FGL J2021.0+4031e (the Gamma Cygni supernova remnant) was examined, and a region of enhanced emission coincident with VER J2019+407 was identified and jointly fit with the VERITAS data. By modeling 3FGL J2015.6+3709 as two sources, one located at the location of the pulsar wind nebula CTB 87 and one at the quasar QSO J2015+371, a continuous spectrum from 1 GeV to 10 TeV was extracted for VER J2016+371 (CTB 87). An additional 71 locations coincident with Fermi-LAT sources and other potential objects of interest were tested for VHE gamma-ray emission, with no emission detected and upper limits on the differential flux placed at an average of 2.3% of the Crab Nebula flux. We interpret these observations in a multiwavelength context and present the most detailed gamma-ray view of the region to date.
KW  - acceleration of particles
KW  - cosmic rays
KW  - gamma rays: general
KW  - ISM: supernova remnants
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aac4a2
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 861
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, Wystan
A1  - Bird, Ralph
A1  - Brose, Robert
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Bugaev, V
A1  - Cui, Wei
A1  - Danie, M. K.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Qi
A1  - Finley, John P.
A1  - Flinders, A.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, Amy
A1  - Gillanders, Gerard H.
A1  - Huttens, M.
A1  - Hanna, David
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Johnson, Caitlin A.
A1  - Kaaret, Philip
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kelley-Hoskins, N.
A1  - Kieda, David
A1  - Krause, Maria
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, Reshmi
A1  - Nieto, Daniel
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, Nahee
A1  - Petrashyk, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, Alexis
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynold, P. T.
A1  - Richards, Gregory T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rulten, C.
A1  - Sadeh, I
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, Karlen
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weiner, O. M.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wells, R. M.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, David A.
A1  - Brisken, W. F.
A1  - Pontrelli, P.
T1  - HESS J1943+213
BT  - An extreme blazar shining through the galactic plane
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - HESS J1943+213 is a very high energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray source in the direction of the Galactic plane. Studies exploring the classification of the source are converging toward its identification as an extreme synchrotron BL Lac object. Here we present 38 hr of VERITAS observations of HESS J1943+213 taken over 2 yr. The source is detected with a significance of similar to 20 standard deviations, showing a remarkably stable flux and spectrum in VHE gamma-rays. Multifrequency Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the source confirm the extended, jet-like structure previously found in the 1.6 GHz band with the European VLBI Network and detect this component in the 4.6 and 7.3 GHz bands. The radio spectral indices of the core and the jet and the level of polarization derived from the VLBA observations are in a range typical for blazars. Data from VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT, the FLWO 48 ' telescope, and archival infrared and hard X-ray observations are used to construct and model the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the source with a synchrotron self-Compton model. The well-measured gamma-ray peak of the SED with VERITAS and Fermi-LAT provides constraining upper limits on the source redshift. Possible contribution of secondary gamma-rays from ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray-initiated electromagnetic cascades to the gamma-ray emission is explored, finding that only a segment of the VHE spectrum can be accommodated with this process. A variability search is performed across X-ray and gamma-ray bands. No statistically significant flux or spectral variability is detected.
KW  - astroparticle physics
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (HESS J1943+213, VER J1943+213)
KW  - galaxies: active
KW  - galaxies: jets
KW  - galaxies: nuclei
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aacbd0
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 862
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Abeysekara, A. U.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, Wystan
A1  - Bird, Ralph
A1  - Brose, Robert
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, Wei
A1  - Errando, Manel
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Qi
A1  - Finley, John P.
A1  - Flinders, A.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, Amy
A1  - Gillanders, Gerard H.
A1  - Huetten, M.
A1  - Hanna, David
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Johnson, Caitlin A.
A1  - Kaaret, Philip
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kelley-Hoskins, N.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, David
A1  - Krause, Maria
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - Maier, Gernot
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, Reshmi
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, Jeremy S.
A1  - Petrashyk, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, Alexis
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, Gregory T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rulten, C.
A1  - Sadeh, I.
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, Karlen
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weiner, O. M.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wells, R. M.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, David A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Vurm, Indrek
A1  - Beloborodov, Andrei
T1  - A Strong Limit on the Very-high-energy Emission from GRB 150323A
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - On 2015 March 23, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) responded to a Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) detection of a gamma-ray burst, with observations beginning 270 s after the onset of BAT emission, and only 135 s after the main BAT emission peak. No statistically significant signal is detected above 140 GeV. The VERITAS upper limit on the fluence in a 40-minute integration corresponds to about 1% of the prompt fluence. Our limit is particularly significant because the very-high-energy (VHE) observation started only similar to 2 minutes after the prompt emission peaked, and Fermi-Large Area Telescope observations of numerous other bursts have revealed that the high-energy emission is typically delayed relative to the prompt radiation and lasts significantly longer. Also, the proximity of GRB 150323A (z = 0.593) limits the attenuation by the extragalactic background light to similar to 50% at 100-200 GeV. We conclude that GRB 150323A had an intrinsically very weak high-energy afterglow, or that the GeV spectrum had a turnover below similar to 100 GeV. If the GRB exploded into the stellar wind of a massive progenitor, the VHE non-detection constrains the wind density parameter to be A greater than or similar to 3 x 10(11) g . cm(-1), consistent with a standard Wolf-Rayet progenitor. Alternatively, the VHE emission from the blast wave would be weak in a very tenuous medium such as the interstellar medium, which therefore cannot be ruled out as the environment of GRB 150323A.
KW  - gamma rays: general
KW  - gamma-ray burst: general
KW  - gamma-ray burst: individual (GRB 150323A)
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aab371
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 857
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Brill, A.
A1  - Brose, Robert
A1  - Chromey, A. J.
A1  - Daniel, M. K.
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Giuri, C.
A1  - Gueta, O.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Halpern, J. P.
A1  - Hassan, Tarek
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Joyce, Amy M.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kelley-Hoskins, N.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krause, M.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - Maier, Gernot
A1  - Matthews, N.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Nievas-Rosillos, M.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Petrashyk, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, John
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rulten, C.
A1  - Sadeh, Iftach
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Sushch, Iurii
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Wells, R. M.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, David A.
A1  - Williamson, T. J.
T1  - Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters by the VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes
JF  - Nature astronomy
N2  - The angular size of a star is a critical factor in determining its basic properties1. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters is difficult: at interstellar distances stars are generally too small to resolve by any individual imaging telescope. This fundamental limitation can be overcome by studying the diffraction pattern in the shadow cast when an asteroid occults a star2, but only when the photometric uncertainty is smaller than the noise added by atmospheric scintillation3. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes used for particle astrophysics observations have not generally been exploited for optical astronomy due to the modest optical quality of the mirror surface. However, their large mirror area makes them well suited for such high-time-resolution precision photometry measurements4. Here we report two occultations of stars observed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)5 Cherenkov telescopes with millisecond sampling, from which we are able to provide a direct measurement of the occulted stars’ angular diameter at the ≤0.1 mas scale. This is a resolution never achieved before with optical measurements and represents an order of magnitude improvement over the equivalent lunar occultation method6. We compare the resulting stellar radius with empirically derived estimates from temperature and brightness measurements, confirming the latter can be biased for stars with ambiguous stellar classifications.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0741-z
SN  - 2397-3366
VL  - 3
IS  - 6
SP  - 511
EP  - 516
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  -