@article{AbeysekaraArcherAuneetal.2018, author = {Abeysekara, A. U. and Archer, A. and Aune, Taylor and Benbow, Wystan and Bird, Ralph and Brose, Robert and Buchovecky, M. and Bugaev, V. and Cui, Wei and Daniel, M. K. and Falcone, A. and Feng, Qi and Finley, John P. and Fleischhack, H. and Flinders, A. and Fortson, L. and Furniss, Amy and Gotthelf, Eric V. and Grube, J. and Hanna, David and Hervet, O. and Holder, J. and Huang, K. and Hughes, G. and Humensky, T. B. and Huetten, M. and Johnson, Caitlin A. and Kaaret, Philip and Kar, P. and Kelley-Hoskins, N. and Kertzman, M. and Kieda, David and Krause, Maria and Kumar, S. and Lang, M. J. and Lin, T. T. Y. and Maier, Gernot and McArthur, S. and Moriarty, P. and Mukherjee, Reshmi and Ong, R. A. and Otte, Adam Nepomuk and Pandel, Dirk and Park, Nahee and Petrashyk, A. and Pohl, Martin and Popkow, Alexis and Pueschel, Elisa and Quinn, J. and Ragan, K. and Reynolds, P. T. and Richards, Gregory T. and Roache, E. and Rousselle, J. and Rulten, C. and Sadeh, I. and Santander, M. and Sembroski, G. H. and Shahinyan, Karlen and Tyler, J. and Vassiliev, V. V. and Wakely, S. P. and Ward, J. E. and Weinstein, A. and Wells, R. M. and Wilcox, P. and Wilhelm, Alina and Williams, David A. and Zitzer, B.}, title = {A Very High Energy gamma-Ray Survey toward the Cygnus Region of the Galaxy}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {861}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aac4a2}, pages = {33}, year = {2018}, abstract = {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.}, language = {en} } @article{AbeysekaraBenbowBirdetal.2018, author = {Abeysekara, A. U. and Benbow, Wystan and Bird, Ralph and Brantseg, T. and Brose, Robert and Buchovecky, M. and Buckley, J. H. and Bugaev, V. and Connolly, M. P. and Cui, Wei and Daniel, M. K. and Falcone, A. and Feng, Qi and Finley, John P. and Fortson, L. and Furniss, Amy and Gillanders, Gerard H. and Gunawardhana, Isuru and Huetten, M. and Hanna, David and Hervet, O. and Holder, J. and Hughes, G. and Humensky, T. B. and Johnson, Caitlin A. and Kaaret, Philip and Kar, P. and Kertzman, M. and Krennrich, F. and Lang, M. J. and Lin, T. T. Y. and McArthur, S. and Moriarty, P. and Mukherjee, Reshmi and Ong, R. A. and Otte, Adam Nepomuk and Park, N. and Petrashyk, A. and Pohl, Martin and Pueschel, Elisa and Quinn, J. and Ragan, K. and Reynolds, P. T. and Richards, Gregory T. and Roache, E. and Rulten, C. and Sadeh, I. and Santander, M. and Sembroski, G. H. and Shahinyan, Karlen and Wakely, S. P. and Weinstein, A. and Wells, R. M. and Wilcox, P. and Williams, D. A. and Zitzer, B. and Jorstad, Svetlana G. and Marscher, Alan P. and Lister, Matthew L. and Kovalev, Yuri Y. and Pushkarev, A. B. and Savolainen, Tuomas and Agudo, I. and Molina, S. N. and Gomez, J. L. and Larionov, Valeri M. and Borman, G. A. and Mokrushina, A. A. and Tornikoski, Merja and Lahteenmaki, A. and Chamani, W. and Enestam, S. and Kiehlmann, S. and Hovatta, Talvikki and Smith, P. S. and Pontrelli, P.}, title = {Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar BL Lacertae}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {856}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, organization = {VERITAS Collaboration}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aab35c}, pages = {14}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Combined with measurements made by very-long-baseline interferometry, the observations of fast TeV gamma-ray flares probe the structure and emission mechanism of blazar jets. However, only a handful of such flares have been detected to date, and only within the last few years have these flares been observed from lower-frequency-peaked BL. Lac objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars. We report on a fast TeV gamma-ray flare from the blazar BL. Lacertae observed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). with a rise time of similar to 2.3 hr and a decay time of similar to 36 min. The peak flux above 200 GeV is (4.2 +/- 0.6) x 10(-6) photon m(-2) s(-1) measured with a 4-minute-binned light curve, corresponding to similar to 180\% of the flux that is observed from the Crab Nebula above the same energy threshold. Variability contemporaneous with the TeV gamma-ray flare was observed in GeV gamma-ray, X-ray, and optical flux, as well as in optical and radio polarization. Additionally, a possible moving emission feature with superluminal apparent velocity was identified in Very Long Baseline Array observations at 43 GHz, potentially passing the radio core of the jet around the time of the gamma-ray flare. We discuss the constraints on the size, Lorentz factor, and location of the emitting region of the flare, and the interpretations with several theoretical models that invoke relativistic plasma passing stationary shocks.}, language = {en} } @article{AbeysekaraArcherBenbowetal.2018, author = {Abeysekara, A. U. and Archer, A. and Benbow, Wystan and Bird, Ralph and Brose, Robert and Buchovecky, M. and Bugaev, V. and Connolly, M. P. and Cui, Wei and Errando, Manel and Falcone, A. and Feng, Qi and Finley, John P. and Flinders, A. and Fortson, L. and Furniss, Amy and Gillanders, Gerard H. and Huetten, M. and Hanna, David and Hervet, O. and Holder, J. and Hughes, G. and Humensky, T. B. and Johnson, Caitlin A. and Kaaret, Philip and Kar, P. and Kelley-Hoskins, N. and Kertzman, M. and Kieda, David and Krause, Maria and Krennrich, F. and Lang, M. J. and Lin, T. T. Y. and Maier, Gernot and McArthur, S. and Moriarty, P. and Mukherjee, Reshmi and Ong, R. A. and Park, N. and Perkins, Jeremy S. and Petrashyk, A. and Pohl, Martin and Popkow, Alexis and Pueschel, Elisa and Quinn, J. and Ragan, K. and Reynolds, P. T. and Richards, Gregory T. and Roache, E. and Rulten, C. and Sadeh, I. and Santander, M. and Sembroski, G. H. and Shahinyan, Karlen and Tyler, J. and Wakely, S. P. and Weiner, O. M. and Weinstein, A. and Wells, R. M. and Wilcox, P. and Wilhelm, Alina and Williams, David A. and Zitzer, B. and Vurm, Indrek and Beloborodov, Andrei}, title = {A Strong Limit on the Very-high-energy Emission from GRB 150323A}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {857}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, organization = {VERITAS Collaboration}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aab371}, pages = {6}, year = {2018}, abstract = {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.}, language = {en} } @article{AbeysekaraArchambaultArcheretal.2016, author = {Abeysekara, A. U. and Archambault, S. and Archer, A. and Benbow, W. and Bird, R. and Buchovecky, M. and Buckley, J. H. and Byrum, K. and Cardenzana, J. V. and Cerruti, M. and Chen, Xuhui and Christiansen, J. L. and Ciupik, L. and Cui, W. and Dickinson, H. J. and Eisch, J. D. and Errando, M. and Falcone, A. and Fegan, D. J. and Feng, Q. and Finley, J. P. and Fleischhack, H. and Fortin, P. and Fortson, L. and Furniss, A. and Gillanders, G. H. and Griffin, S. and Grube, J. and Gyuk, G. and Huetten, M. and Hakansson, Nils and Hanna, D. and Holder, J. and Humensky, T. B. and Johnson, C. A. and Kaaret, P. and Kar, P. and Kelley-Hoskins, N. and Kertzman, M. and Kieda, D. and Krause, M. and Krennrich, F. and Kumar, S. and Lang, M. J. and Lin, T. T. Y. and Maier, G. and McArthur, S. and McCann, A. and Meagher, K. and Moriarty, P. and Mukherjee, R. and Nieto, D. and Ong, R. A. and Otte, A. N. and Park, N. and Perkins, J. S. and Petrashyk, A. and Pohl, Martin and Popkow, A. and Pueschel, Elisa and Quinn, J. and Ragan, K. and Ratliff, G. and Reynolds, P. T. and Richards, G. T. and Roache, E. and Santander, M. and Sembroski, G. H. and Shahinyan, K. and Staszak, D. and Telezhinsky, Igor O. and Tucci, J. V. and Tyler, J. and Vincent, S. and Wakely, S. P. and Weiner, O. M. and Weinstein, A. and Williams, D. A. and Zitzer, B.}, title = {A SEARCH FOR BRIEF OPTICAL FLASHES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SETI TARGET KIC 8462852}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters}, volume = {818}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {2041-8205}, doi = {10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L33}, pages = {6}, year = {2016}, abstract = {The F-type star KIC. 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyze nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC. 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately 1 photon m(-2), is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general.}, language = {en} }