@article{AliuArlenAuneetal.2012, author = {Aliu, E. and Arlen, T. and Aune, T. and Beilicke, M. and Benbow, W. and Bouvier, A. and Bradbury, S. M. and Buckley, J. H. and Bugaev, V. and Byrum, K. and Cannon, A. and Cesarini, A. and Ciupik, L. and Collins-Hughes, E. and Connolly, M. P. and Cui, W. and Dickherber, R. and Duke, C. and Errando, M. and Falcone, A. and Finley, J. P. and Finnegan, G. and Fortson, L. and Furniss, A. and Galante, N. and Gall, D. and Godambe, S. and Griffin, S. and Grube, J. and Guenette, R. and Gyuk, G. and Hanna, D. and Holder, J. and Huan, H. and Hughes, G. and Hui, C. M. and Humensky, T. B. and Imran, A. and Kaaret, P. and Karlsson, N. and Kertzman, M. and Kieda, D. and Krawczynski, H. and Krennrich, F. and Lang, M. J. and LeBohec, S. and Madhavan, A. S. and Maier, G. and Majumdar, P. and McArthur, S. and McCann, A. and Moriarty, P. and Mukherjee, R. and Nunez, P. D. and Ong, R. A. and Orr, M. and Otte, A. N. and Park, N. and Perkins, J. S. and Pichel, A. and Pohl, Martin and Prokoph, H. and Quinn, J. and Ragan, K. and Reyes, L. C. and Reynolds, P. T. and Roache, E. and Rose, H. J. and Ruppel, J. and Saxon, D. B. and Schroedter, M. and Sembroski, G. H. and Sentuerk, G. D. and Skole, C. and Staszak, D. and Tesic, G. and Theiling, M. and Thibadeau, S. and Tsurusaki, K. and Tyler, J. and Varlotta, A. and Vassiliev, V. V. and Vincent, S. and Vivier, M. and Wakely, S. P. and Ward, J. E. and Weekes, T. C. and Weinstein, A. and Weisgarber, T. and Williams, D. A. and Zitzer, B.}, title = {Veritas observations of day-scale flaring of M 87 in 2010 April}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {746}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/746/2/141}, pages = {7}, year = {2012}, abstract = {VERITAS has been monitoring the very-high-energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray activity of the radio galaxy M87 since 2007. During 2008, flaring activity on a timescale of a few days was observed with a peak flux of (0.70 +/- 0.16) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) at energies above 350 GeV. In 2010 April, VERITAS detected a flare from M 87 with peak flux of (2.71 +/- 0.68) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) for E > 350 GeV. The source was observed for six consecutive nights during the flare, resulting in a total of 21 hr of good-quality data. The most rapid flux variation occurred on the trailing edge of the flare with an exponential flux decay time of 0.90(-0.15)(+0.22) days. The shortest detected exponential rise time is three times as long, at 2.87(+1.65)(-0.99) days. The quality of the data sample is such that spectral analysis can be performed for three periods: rising flux, peak flux, and falling flux. The spectra obtained are consistent with power-law forms. The spectral index at the peak of the flare is equal to 2.19 +/- 0.07. There is some indication that the spectrum is softer in the falling phase of the flare than the peak phase, with a confidence level corresponding to 3.6 standard deviations. We discuss the implications of these results for the acceleration and cooling rates of VHE electrons in M 87 and the constraints they provide on the physical size of the emitting region.}, language = {en} }