TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Alonso, M. Fernandez
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Hutten, M.
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Johnson, C. A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krause, M.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Pohl, M.
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rovero, A. C.
A1  - Sadeh, I.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Weisgarber, T.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Search for Magnetically Broadened Cascade Emission from Blazars with VERITAS
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We present a search for magnetically broadened gamma-ray emission around active galactic nuclei (AGNs), using VERITAS observations of seven hard-spectrum blazars. A cascade process occurs when multi-TeV gamma-rays from an AGN interact with extragalactic background light (EBL) photons to produce electron-positron pairs, which then interact with cosmic microwave background photons via inverse-Compton scattering to produce gamma-rays. Due to the deflection of the electron- positron pairs, a non-zero intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) would potentially produce detectable effects on the angular distribution of the cascade emission. In particular, an angular broadening compared to the unscattered emission could occur. Through non-detection of angularly broadened emission from 1ES 1218 vertical bar 304, the source with the largest predicted cascade fraction, we exclude a range of IGMF strengths around 10(-14) G at the 95% confidence level. The extent of the exclusion range varies with the assumptions made about the intrinsic spectrum of 1ES. 1218+304 and the EBL model used in the simulation of the cascade process. All of the sources are used to set limits on the flux due to extended emission.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: general
KW  - galaxies: active
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
KW  - magnetic fields
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/835/2/288
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 835
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Barnacka, Anna
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Berger, K.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Biteau, Jonathan
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cardenzana, J. V.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Chen, W.
A1  - Chen, Xiaoming
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickinson, H. J.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Eisch, J. D.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, Simone
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Griffiths, S. T.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hakansson, Nils
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Johnson, C. A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Meagher, K.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pohl, Manuela
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Rajotte, J.
A1  - Reyes, L. C.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tucci, J. V.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zajczyk, A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Very-high energy observations of the galactic center region by veritas IN 2010-2012
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - The Galactic center is an interesting region for high-energy (0.1-100 GeV) and very-high-energy (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray observations. Potential sources of GeV/TeV gamma-ray emission have been suggested, e.g., the accretion of matter onto the supermassive black hole, cosmic rays from a nearby supernova remnant (e.g., Sgr A East), particle acceleration in a plerion, or the annihilation of dark matter particles. The Galactic center has been detected by EGRET and by Fermi/LAT in the MeV/GeV energy band. At TeV energies, the Galactic center was detected with moderate significance by the CANGAROO and Whipple 10 m telescopes and with high significance by H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS. We present the results from three years of VERITAS observations conducted at large zenith angles resulting in a detection of the Galactic center on the level of 18 standard deviations at energies above similar to 2.5 TeV. The energy spectrum is derived and is found to be compatible with hadronic, leptonic, and hybrid emission models discussed in the literature. Future, more detailed measurements of the high-energy cutoff and better constraints on the high-energy flux variability will help to refine and/or disentangle the individual models.
KW  - astroparticle physics
KW  - black hole physics
KW  - Galaxy: center
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
KW  - methods: data analysis
KW  - radiation mechanisms: non-thermal
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/790/2/149
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 790
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aliu, E.
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Barnacka, Anna
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Berger, K.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Chen, X.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Eisch, J. D.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, S.
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Fortin, P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Griffiths, S. T.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hakansson, N.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Hughes, Z.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Johnson, C. A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Meagher, K.
A1  - Millis, J.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nelson, T.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pohl, M.
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Rajotte, J.
A1  - Reyes, L. C.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Sadun, A.
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Sheidaei, F.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weekes, T. C.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Boettcher, Markus
A1  - Fumagalli, M.
T1  - Investigating broadband variability of the TeV blazar 1ES 1959+650
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We summarize broadband observations of the TeV-emitting blazar 1ES 1959+650, including optical R-band observations by the robotic telescopes Super-LOTIS and iTelescope, UV observations by Swift Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope, X-ray observations by the Swift X-ray Telescope, high-energy gamma-ray observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope, and very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations by VERITAS above 315 GeV, all taken between 2012 April 17 and 2012 June 1 (MJD 56034 and 56079). The contemporaneous variability of the broadband spectral energy distribution is explored in the context of a simple synchrotron self Compton (SSC) model. In the SSC emission scenario, we find that the parameters required to represent the high state are significantly different than those in the low state. Motivated by possible evidence of gas in the vicinity of the blazar, we also investigate a reflected emission model to describe the observed variability pattern. This model assumes that the non-thermal emission from the jet is reflected by a nearby cloud of gas, allowing the reflected emission to re-enter the blob and produce an elevated gamma-ray state with no simultaneous elevated synchrotron flux. The model applied here, although not required to explain the observed variability pattern, represents one possible scenario which can describe the observations. As applied to an elevated VHE state of 66% of the Crab Nebula flux, observed on a single night during the observation period, the reflected emission scenario does not support a purely leptonic non-thermal emission mechanism. The reflected emission model does, however, predict a reflected photon field with sufficient energy to enable elevated gamma-ray emission via pion production with protons of energies between 10 and 100 TeV.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (1ES 1959+650)
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/797/2/89
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 797
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Boettcher, Markus
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickherber, R.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, Simone
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gall, D.
A1  - Garson, A. III.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gusbar, C.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Lamerato, A.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Li, K.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Millis, J.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Orr, M.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Roustazadeh, P.
A1  - Saxon, D. B.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Senturk, G. D.
A1  - Skole, C.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tesic, G.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Test of models of the cosmic infrared background with multiwavelength  observations of the blazar 1ES 1218+30.4 IN 2009
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We present the results of a multi-wavelength campaign targeting the blazar 1ES 1218+30.4 with observations with the 1.3 m McGraw-Hill optical telescope, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, and the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). The RXTE and VERITAS observations were spread over a 13 day period and revealed clear evidence for flux variability, and a strong X-ray and gamma-ray flare on 2009 February 26 (MJD 54888). The campaign delivered a well-sampled broadband energy spectrum with simultaneous RXTE and VERITAS very high energy (VHE, > 100 GeV) observations, as well as contemporaneous optical and Fermi observations. The 1ES 1218+30.4 broadband energy spectrum-the first with simultaneous X-ray and VHE gamma-ray energy spectra-is of particular interest as the source is located at a high cosmological redshift for a VHE source (z = 0.182), leading to strong absorption of VHE gamma rays by photons from the optical/infrared extragalactic background light (EBL) via gamma VHE +gamma EBL -> e(+) e(-)pair-creation processes. We model the data with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission model and with the extragalactic absorption predicted by several recent EBL models. We find that the observations are consistent with the SSC scenario and all the EBL models considered in this work. We discuss observational and theoretical avenues to improve on the EBL constraints.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: general
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (1ES1218+30.4)
KW  - cosmic background radiation
KW  - diffuse radiation
KW  - galaxies: jets
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/788/2/158
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 788
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aliu, E.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Bradbury, S. M.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cannon, A.
A1  - Cesarini, A.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickherber, R.
A1  - Duke, C.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Finnegan, G.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gall, D.
A1  - Godambe, S.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Guenette, R.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Huan, H.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Hui, C. M.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Imran, A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Karlsson, N.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - LeBohec, S.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nunez, P. D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Orr, M.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pichel, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reyes, L. C.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rose, H. J.
A1  - Ruppel, J.
A1  - Saxon, D. B.
A1  - Schroedter, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Sentuerk, G. D.
A1  - Skole, C.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Tesic, G.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Thibadeau, S.
A1  - Tsurusaki, K.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Vivier, M.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Ward, J. E.
A1  - Weekes, T. C.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Weisgarber, T.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Veritas observations of day-scale flaring of M 87 in 2010 April
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - 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.
KW  - galaxies: individual (M 87, VER J1230+123)
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/746/2/141
SN  - 0004-637X
VL  - 746
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Biteau, Jonathan
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Chen, Xuhui
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Eisch, J. D.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Fortin, P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Huetten, M.
A1  - Hakansson, Nils
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
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  - Maier, G.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Meagher, K.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nguyen, T.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pichel, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rovero, A. C.
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tucci, J. V.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weiner, O. M.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Fumagalli, M.
A1  - Prochaska, J. X.
T1  - UPPER LIMITS FROM FIVE YEARS OF BLAZAR OBSERVATIONS WITH THE VERITAS CHERENKOV TELESCOPES
JF  - The astronomical journal
N2  - Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of similar to 570 hr. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi-LAT catalog that are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have spectroscopic distance estimates. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample, we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data set, which shows a 4s excess.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: general
KW  - galaxies: active
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
KW  - radiation mechanisms: non-thermal
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-6256/151/6/142
SN  - 0004-6256
SN  - 1538-3881
VL  - 151
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Abeysekara, A. U.
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, Wystan
A1  - Bird, Ralph
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Chen, X.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickinson, H. J.
A1  - Eisch, J. D.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Hutten, M.
A1  - Hakansson, N.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Johnson, C. A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krause, M.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Meagher, K.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nguyen, T.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Pelassa, V.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rulten, C.
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tucci, J. V.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weiner, O. M.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Fegan, S.
A1  - Giebels, B.
A1  - Horan, D.
A1  - Berdyugin, A.
A1  - Kuan, J.
A1  - Lindfors, E.
A1  - Nilsson, K.
A1  - Oksanen, A.
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Reinthal, R.
A1  - Takalo, L.
A1  - Zefi, F.
T1  - A Luminous and Isolated Gamma-Ray Flare from the Blazar B2 1215+30
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - B2 1215+30 is a BL-Lac-type blazar that was first detected at TeV energies by the MAGIC atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and subsequently confirmed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observatory with data collected between 2009 and 2012. In 2014 February 08, VERITAS detected a large-amplitude flare from B2. 1215+30 during routine monitoring observations of the blazar 1ES. 1218+304, located in the same field of view. The TeV flux reached 2.4 times the Crab Nebula flux with a variability timescale of <3.6 hr. Multiwavelength observations with Fermi-LAT, Swift, and the Tuorla Observatory revealed a correlated high GeV flux state and no significant optical counterpart to the flare, with a spectral energy distribution where the gamma-ray luminosity exceeds the synchrotron luminosity. When interpreted in the framework of a onezone leptonic model, the observed emission implies a high degree of beaming, with Doppler factor delta > 10, and an electron population with spectral index p < 2.3.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (B2 1215+30, VER J1217+301)
KW  - galaxies: active
KW  - galaxies: jets
KW  - galaxies: nuclei
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/836/2/205
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 836
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Behera, B.
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cesarini, A.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, Simone
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gall, D.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Millis, J.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reyes, L. C.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Saxon, D. B.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weekes, T. C.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Boettcher, Markus
A1  - Fegan, S. J.
A1  - Fortin, P.
A1  - Halpern, J. P.
A1  - Kovalev, Y. Y.
A1  - Lister, M. L.
A1  - Liu, J.
A1  - Pushkarev, A. B.
A1  - Smith, P. S.
T1  - Discovery of a new tev Gamma-Ray source - VER J0521+211
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We report the detection of a new TeV gamma-ray source, VER J0521+211, based on observations made with the VERITAS imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Array. These observations were motivated by the discovery of a cluster of >30 GeV photons in the first year of Fermi Large Area Telescope observations. VER J0521+211 is relatively bright at TeV energies, with a mean photon flux of (1.93 +/- 0.13(stat) +/- 0.78(sys)) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) above 0.2 TeV during the period of the VERITAS observations. The source is strongly variable on a daily timescale across all wavebands, from optical to TeV, with a peak flux corresponding to similar to 0.3 times the steady Crab Nebula flux at TeV energies. Follow-up observations in the optical and X-ray bands classify the newly discovered TeV source as a BL Lac-type blazar with uncertain redshift, although recent measurements suggest z = 0.108. VER J0521+211 exhibits all the defining properties of blazars in radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (VER J0521+211)
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/69
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 776
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aliu, E.
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Boettcher, Markus
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Cannon, A.
A1  - Cesarini, A.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickherber, R.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, Stefania
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Finnegan, G.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gall, D.
A1  - Godambe, S.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Huan, H.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Hui, C. M.
A1  - Imran, A.
A1  - Jameil, O.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Karlsson, N.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kerr, J.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lee, K.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nelson, T.
A1  - de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Orr, M.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pichel, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Ruppel, J.
A1  - Saxon, D. B.
A1  - Schroedter, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Sentuerk, G. D.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Stroh, M.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tesic, G.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Thibadeau, S.
A1  - Tsurusaki, K.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Vivier, M.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Ward, J. E.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Multiwavelength observations of the AGN 1ES 0414+009 with veritas, FERMI-LAT, SWIFT-XRT, AND MDM
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We present observations of the BL Lac object 1ES 0414+009 in the >200 GeV gamma-ray band by the VERITAS array of Cherenkov telescopes. 1ES 0414+009 was observed by VERITAS between 2008 January and 2011 February, resulting in 56.2 hr of good quality pointed observations. These observations resulted in a detection of 822 events from the source corresponding to a statistical significance of 6.4 standard deviations (6.4 sigma) above the background. The source flux, showing no evidence for variability, is measured as (5.2 +/- 1.1(stat) +/- 2.6(sys)) x 10(-12) photons cm(-2) s(-1) above 200 GeV, equivalent to approximately 2% of the Crab Nebula flux above this energy. The differential photon spectrum from 230 GeV to 850 GeV is well fit by a power law with a photon index of Gamma = 3.4 +/- 0.5(stat) +/- 0.3(sys) and a flux normalization of (1.6 +/- 0.3(stat) +/- 0.8(sys)) x 10(-11) photons cm(-2) s(-1) at 300 GeV. We also present multiwavelength results taken in the optical (MDM), x-ray (Swift-XRT), and GeV (Fermi-LAT) bands and use these results to construct a broadband spectral energy distribution (SED). Modeling of this SED indicates that homogenous one-zone leptonic scenarios are not adequate to describe emission from the system, with a lepto-hadronic model providing a better fit to the data.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (1ES 0414+009, ERJ0416+011)
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/755/2/118
SN  - 0004-637X
VL  - 755
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aliu, E.
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Boettcher, Markus
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Cesarini, A.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickherber, R.
A1  - Duke, C.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, Simone
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Finnegan, G.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gall, D.
A1  - Godambe, S.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Huan, H.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Karlsson, N.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lee, K.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nelson, T.
A1  - de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Orr, M.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pichel, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reyes, L. C.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Saxon, D. B.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tesic, G.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Thibadeau, S.
A1  - Tsurusaki, K.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Vivier, M.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weekes, T. C.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Fortin, P.
A1  - Horan, D.
A1  - Fumagalli, M.
A1  - Kaplan, K.
A1  - Prochaska, J. X.
T1  - Veritas observations of six bright, hard-spectrum fermi-lat blazars
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We report on VERITAS very high energy (VHE; E >= 100 GeV) observations of six blazars selected from the Fermi Large Area Telescope First Source Catalog (1FGL). The gamma-ray emission from 1FGL sources was extrapolated up to the VHE band, taking gamma-ray absorption by the extragalactic background light into account. This allowed the selection of six bright, hard-spectrum blazars that were good candidate TeV emitters. Spectroscopic redshift measurements were attempted with the Keck Telescope for the targets without Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic data. No VHE emission is detected during the observations of the six sources described here. Corresponding TeV upper limits are presented, along with contemporaneous Fermi observations and non-concurrent Swift UVOT and X-Ray Telescope data. The blazar broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are assembled and modeled with a single-zone synchrotron self-Compton model. The SED built for each of the six blazars shows a synchrotron peak bordering between the intermediate-and high-spectrum-peak classifications, with four of the six resulting in particle-dominated emission regions.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: general
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/759/2/102
SN  - 0004-637X
VL  - 759
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  -