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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Archer, A. A1 - Benbow, Wystan A1 - Bird, Ralph A1 - Brose, Robert A1 - Buchovecky, M. A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Chromey, A. J. A1 - Cui, Wei A1 - Falcone, A. A1 - Feng, Qi A1 - Finley, J. P. A1 - Fortson, Lucy A1 - Furniss, Amy A1 - Gent, A. A1 - Gueta, O. A1 - Hanna, David A1 - Hassan, T. A1 - Hervet, Olivier 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 - Krennrich, F. A1 - Kumar, S. A1 - Lang, M. J. A1 - Lin, T. T. Y. A1 - McCann, A. A1 - Moriarty, P. A1 - Mukherjee, Reshmi A1 - Ong, R. A. A1 - Otte, Adam Nepomuk A1 - Pandel, D. A1 - Park, N. 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 - Scott, S. S. A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Shahinyan, Karlen A1 - Sushch, Iurii A1 - Tyler, J. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Weinstein, A. A1 - Wells, R. M. A1 - Wilcox, P. A1 - Wilhelm, Alina A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Williamson, T. J. A1 - Zitzer, B. T1 - A Search for Pulsed Very High-energy Gamma-Rays from 13 Young Pulsars in Archival VERITAS Data JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - We conduct a search for periodic emission in the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray band (E > 100 GeV) from a total of 13 pulsars in an archival VERITAS data set with a total exposure of over 450 hr. The set of pulsars includes many of the brightest young gamma-ray pulsars visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The data analysis resulted in nondetections of pulsed VHE gamma-rays from each pulsar. Upper limits on a potential VHE gamma-ray flux are derived at the 95% confidence level above three energy thresholds using two methods. These are the first such searches for pulsed VHE emission from each of the pulsars, and the obtained limits constrain a possible flux component manifesting at VHEs as is seen for the Crab pulsar. KW - gamma rays: general KW - pulsars: general KW - stars: neutron Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab14f4 SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 876 IS - 2 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Archer, A. A1 - Benbow, W. A1 - Bird, R. A1 - Brose, Robert A1 - Buchovecky, M. A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Bugaev, V. A1 - Connolly, M. P. A1 - Cui, W. A1 - Daniel, M. K. A1 - Feng, Q. A1 - Finley, J. P. A1 - Fortson, L. A1 - Furniss, A. A1 - Gillanders, G. A1 - Huetten, M. A1 - Hanna, D. A1 - Hervet, O. A1 - Holder, J. A1 - Hughes, G. A1 - Humensky, T. B. A1 - Johnson, C. A. A1 - Kaaret, P. A1 - Kar, P. A1 - Kelley-Hoskins, N. A1 - Kertzman, M. A1 - Kieda, D. A1 - Krause, M. A1 - Krennrich, F. A1 - Kumar, S. A1 - Lang, M. J. A1 - Lin, T. T. Y. A1 - Maier, G. A1 - McArthur, S. A1 - Moriarty, P. A1 - Mukherjee, R. A1 - Ong, R. A. A1 - Otte, A. N. A1 - Petrashyk, A. A1 - Pohl, M. A1 - Pueschel, Elisa A1 - Quinn, J. A1 - Ragan, K. A1 - Reynolds, P. T. A1 - Richards, G. T. A1 - Roache, E. A1 - Rulten, C. A1 - Sadeh, I. A1 - Santander, M. A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Staszak, D. A1 - Sushch, I. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Wells, R. M. A1 - Wilcox, P. A1 - Wilhelm, Alina A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Williamson, T. J. A1 - Zitzer, B. T1 - Measurement of cosmic-ray electrons at TeV energies by VERITAS JF - Physical review : D, Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology N2 - Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs) at GeV-TeV energies are a unique probe of our local Galactic neighborhood. CREs lose energy rapidly via synchrotron radiation and inverse-Compton scattering processes while propagating within the Galaxy, and these losses limit their propagation distance. For electrons with TeV energies, the limit is on the order of a kiloparsec. Within that distance, there are only a few known astrophysical objects capable of accelerating electrons to such high energies. It is also possible that the CREs are the products of the annihilation or decay of heavy dark matter (DM) particles. VERITAS, an array of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes in southern Arizona, is primarily utilized for gamma-ray astronomy but also simultaneously collects CREs during all observations. We describe our methods of identifying CREs in VERITAS data and present an energy spectrum, extending from 300 GeV to 5 TeV, obtained from approximately 300 hours of observations. A single power-law fit is ruled out in VERITAS data. We find that the spectrum of CREs is consistent with a broken power law, with a break energy at 710 +/- 40(stat) +/- 140(syst) GeV. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.062004 SN - 2470-0010 SN - 2470-0029 VL - 98 IS - 6 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abeysekara, A. U. A1 - Archer, A. A1 - Benbow, Wystan A1 - Bird, Ralph A1 - Brose, Robert A1 - Buchovecky, M. A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Bugaev, V. A1 - Chromey, A. J. A1 - Connolly, M. P. A1 - Cui, Wei A1 - Daniel, M. K. A1 - Falcone, A. A1 - Feng, Qi A1 - Finley, John P. A1 - Fortson, L. A1 - Furniss, Amy 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 - Kertzman, M. A1 - Kieda, David A1 - Krause, M. 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 - 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 - Reynolds, P. T. A1 - Richards, Gregory T. A1 - Roache, E. A1 - Rulten, C. A1 - Sadeh, I. A1 - Santander, Marcos A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Shahinyan, Karlen A1 - Sushch, I. A1 - Tyler, J. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Weinstein, A. A1 - Wells, R. M. A1 - Wilcox, P. A1 - Wilhelm, Alina A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Williamson, T. J. A1 - Zitzer, B. A1 - Abdollahi, S. A1 - Ajello, Marco A1 - Baldini, Luca A1 - Barbiellini, G. A1 - Bastieri, Denis A1 - Bellazzini, Ronaldo A1 - Berenji, B. A1 - Bissaldi, Elisabetta A1 - Blandford, R. D. A1 - Bonino, R. A1 - Bottacini, E. A1 - Brandt, Terri J. A1 - Bruel, P. A1 - Buehler, R. A1 - Cameron, R. A. A1 - Caputo, R. A1 - Caraveo, P. A. A1 - Castro, D. A1 - Cavazzuti, E. A1 - Charles, Eric A1 - Chiaro, G. A1 - Ciprini, S. A1 - Cohen-Tanugi, Johann A1 - Costantin, D. A1 - Cutini, S. A1 - de Palma, F. A1 - Di Lalla, N. A1 - Di Mauro, M. A1 - Di Venere, L. A1 - Dominguez, A. A1 - Favuzzi, C. A1 - Fegan, S. J. A1 - Franckowiak, Anna A1 - Fukazawa, Yasushi A1 - Funk, Stefan A1 - Fusco, Piergiorgio A1 - Gargano, Fabio A1 - Gasparrini, Dario A1 - Giglietto, Nicola A1 - Giordano, F. A1 - Giroletti, Marcello A1 - Green, D. A1 - Grenier, I. A. A1 - Guillemot, L. A1 - Guiriec, Sylvain A1 - Hays, Elizabeth A1 - Hewitt, John W. A1 - Horan, D. A1 - Johannesson, G. A1 - Kensei, S. A1 - Kuss, M. A1 - Larsson, Stefan A1 - Latronico, L. A1 - Lemoine-Goumard, Marianne A1 - Li, J. A1 - Longo, Francesco A1 - Loparco, Francesco A1 - Lovellette, M. N. A1 - Lubrano, Pasquale A1 - Magill, Jeffrey D. A1 - Maldera, Simone A1 - Mazziotta, Mario Nicola A1 - McEnery, J. E. A1 - Michelson, P. F. A1 - Mitthumsiri, W. A1 - Mizuno, Tsunefumi A1 - Monzani, Maria Elena A1 - Morselli, Aldo A1 - Moskalenko, Igor V. A1 - Negro, M. A1 - Nuss, E. A1 - Ojha, R. A1 - Omodei, Nicola A1 - Orienti, M. A1 - Orlando, E. A1 - Palatiello, M. A1 - Paliya, Vaidehi S. A1 - Paneque, D. A1 - Perkins, Jeremy S. A1 - Persic, M. A1 - Pesce-Rollins, Melissa A1 - Petrosian, Vahe' A1 - Piron, F. A1 - Porter, Troy A. A1 - Principe, G. A1 - Raino, S. A1 - Rando, Riccardo A1 - Rani, B. A1 - Razzano, Massimilano A1 - Razzaque, Soebur A1 - Reimer, A. A1 - Reimer, Olaf A1 - Reposeur, T. A1 - Sgro, C. A1 - Siskind, E. J. A1 - Spandre, Gloria A1 - Spinelli, P. A1 - Suson, D. J. A1 - Tajima, Hiroyasu A1 - Thayer, J. B. A1 - Thompson, David J. A1 - Torres, Diego F. A1 - Tosti, Gino A1 - Troja, Eleonora A1 - Valverde, J. A1 - Vianello, Giacomo A1 - Vogel, M. A1 - Wood, K. A1 - Yassine, M. A1 - Alfaro, R. A1 - Alvarez, C. A1 - Alvarez, J. D. A1 - Arceo, R. A1 - Arteaga-Velazquez, J. C. A1 - Rojas, D. Avila A1 - Ayala Solares, H. A. A1 - Becerril, A. A1 - Belmont-Moreno, E. A1 - BenZvi, S. Y. A1 - Bernal, A. A1 - Braun, J. A1 - Brisbois, C. A1 - Caballero-Mora, K. S. A1 - Capistran, T. A1 - Carraminana, A. A1 - Casanova, Sabrina A1 - Castillo, M. A1 - Cotti, U. A1 - Cotzomi, J. A1 - Coutino de Leon, S. A1 - De Leon, C. A1 - De la Fuente, E. A1 - Dichiara, S. A1 - Dingus, B. L. A1 - DuVernois, M. A. A1 - Diaz-Velez, J. C. A1 - Engel, K. A1 - Enriquez-Rivera, O. A1 - Fiorino, D. W. A1 - Fleischhack, H. A1 - Fraija, N. A1 - Garcia-Gonzalez, J. A. A1 - Garfias, F. A1 - Gonzalez Munoz, A. A1 - Gonzalez, M. M. A1 - Goodman, J. A. A1 - Hampel-Arias, Z. A1 - Harding, J. P. A1 - Hernandez, S. A1 - Hernandez-Almada, A. A1 - Hona, B. A1 - Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F. A1 - Hui, C. M. A1 - Huntemeyer, P. A1 - Iriarte, A. A1 - Jardin-Blicq, A. A1 - Joshi, V. A1 - Kaufmann, S. A1 - Lara, A. A1 - Lauer, R. J. A1 - Lee, W. H. A1 - Lennarz, D. A1 - Leon Vargas, H. A1 - Linnemann, J. T. A1 - Longinotti, A. L. A1 - Luis-Raya, G. A1 - Luna-Garcia, R. A1 - Lopez-Coto, R. A1 - Malone, K. A1 - Marinelli, S. S. A1 - Martinez, O. A1 - Martinez-Castellanos, I. A1 - Martinez-Castro, J. A1 - Martinez-Huerta, H. A1 - Matthews, J. A. A1 - Miranda-Romagnoli, P. A1 - Moreno, E. A1 - Mostafa, M. A1 - Nayerhoda, A. A1 - Nellen, L. A1 - Newbold, M. A1 - Nisa, M. U. A1 - Noriega-Papaqui, R. A1 - Pelayo, R. A1 - Pretz, J. A1 - Perez-Perez, E. G. A1 - Ren, Z. A1 - Rho, C. D. A1 - Riviere, C. A1 - Rosa-Gonzalez, D. A1 - Rosenberg, M. A1 - Ruiz-Velasco, E. A1 - Salazar, H. A1 - Greus, F. Salesa A1 - Sandoval, A. A1 - Schneider, M. A1 - Arroyo, M. Seglar A1 - Sinnis, G. A1 - Smith, A. J. A1 - Springer, R. W. A1 - Surajbali, P. A1 - Taboada, Ignacio A1 - Tibolla, O. A1 - Tollefson, K. A1 - Torres, I. A1 - Ukwatta, Tilan N. A1 - Villasenor, L. A1 - Weisgarber, T. A1 - Westerhoff, Stefan A1 - Wisher, I. G. A1 - Wood, J. A1 - Yapici, Tolga A1 - Yodh, G. A1 - Zepeda, A. A1 - Zhou, H. T1 - VERITAS and Fermi-LAT Observations of TeV Gamma-Ray Sources Discovered by HAWC in the 2HWC Catalog JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) collaboration recently published their 2HWC catalog, listing 39 very high energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray sources based on 507 days of observation. Among these, 19 sources are not associated with previously known teraelectronvolt (TeV) gamma-ray sources. We have studied 14 of these sources without known counterparts with VERITAS and Fermi-LAT. VERITAS detected weak gamma-ray emission in the 1 TeV-30 TeV band in the region of DA 495, a pulsar wind nebula coinciding with 2HWC J1953+294, confirming the discovery of the source by HAWC. We did not find any counterpart for the selected 14 new HAWC sources from our analysis of Fermi-LAT data for energies higher than 10 GeV. During the search, we detected gigaelectronvolt (GeV) gamma-ray emission coincident with a known TeV pulsar wind nebula, SNR G54.1+0.3 (VER J1930+188), and a 2HWC source, 2HWC J1930+188. The fluxes for isolated, steady sources in the 2HWC catalog are generally in good agreement with those measured by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. However, the VERITAS fluxes for SNR G54.1+0.3, DA 495, and TeV J2032+4130 are lower than those measured by HAWC, and several new HAWC sources are not detected by VERITAS. This is likely due to a change in spectral shape, source extension, or the influence of diffuse emission in the source region. KW - gamma rays: general Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aade4e SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 866 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 - Brill, A. A1 - Brose, Robert A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Christiansen, Jessie L. A1 - Chromey, A. J. A1 - Daniel, M. K. A1 - Falcone, A. A1 - Feng, Qi A1 - Finley, John P. A1 - Fortson, L. A1 - Furniss, Amy A1 - Gillanders, Gerard H. A1 - Gueta, O. 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 - Moriarty, P. A1 - Mukherjee, Reshmi A1 - Ong, R. A. A1 - Otte, A. N. A1 - Park, N. A1 - Petrashyk, A. A1 - Pohl, Martin 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, Marcos A1 - Scott, S. S. A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Shahinyan, Karlen A1 - Tyler, J. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Weinstein, A. A1 - Wells, R. M. A1 - Wilcox, P. A1 - Wilhelm, Alina A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Williamson, T. J. A1 - Zitzer, B. A1 - Kaur, A. T1 - VERITAS Observations of the BL Lac Object TXS 0506+056 JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters N2 - On 2017 September 22, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory reported the detection of the high-energy neutrino event IC 170922A, of potential astrophysical origin. It was soon determined that the neutrino direction was consistent with the location of the gamma-ray blazar TXS 0506+056. (3FGL J0509.4+ 0541), which was in an elevated gamma-ray emission state as measured by the Fermi satellite. Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observations of the neutrino/blazar region started on 2017 September 23 in response to the neutrino alert and continued through 2018 February 6. While no significant very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) emission was observed from the blazar by VERITAS in the two-week period immediately following the IceCube alert, TXS 0506+ 056 was detected by VERITAS with a significance of 5.8 standard deviations (sigma) in the full 35 hr data set. The average photon flux of the source during this period was (8.9 +/- 1.6). x. 10(-12) cm(-2) s(-1), or 1.6% of the Crab Nebula flux, above an energy threshold of 110 GeV, with a soft spectral index of 4.8. +/-. 1.3. KW - astroparticle physics KW - BL Lacertae objects: individual (TXS 0506+056, VER J0509+057) KW - gamma rays: galaxies KW - quasars: general KW - neutrinos Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aad053 SN - 2041-8205 SN - 2041-8213 VL - 861 IS - 2 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER -