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  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, Ralph
A1  - Bourbeau, E.
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Cardenzana, J. V.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Daniel, M. K.
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  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Hutten, M.
A1  - Johnson, C. A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krause, M.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Lin, T. T. Y.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
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  - Sadeh, I.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Trepanier, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wilcox, P.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Gamma-ray observations under bright moonlight with VERITAS
JF  - Astroparticle physics
N2  - Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) are equipped with sensitive photomultiplier tube (PMT) cameras. Exposure to high levels of background illumination degrades the efficiency of and potentially destroys these photo-detectors over time, so IACTs cannot be operated in the same configuration in the presence of bright moonlight as under dark skies. Since September 2012, observations have been carried out with the VERITAS IACTs under bright moonlight (defined as about three times the night-sky-background (NSB) of a dark extragalactic field, typically occurring when Moon illumination > 35%) in two observing modes, firstly by reducing the voltage applied to the PMTs and, secondly, with the addition of ultra-violet (UV) bandpass filters to the cameras. This has allowed observations at up to about 30 times previous NSB levels (around 80% Moon illumination), resulting in 30% more observing time between the two modes over the course of a year. These additional observations have already allowed for the detection of a flare from the 1ES 1727 + 502 and for an observing program targeting a measurement of the cosmic-ray positron fraction. We provide details of these new observing modes and their performance relative to the standard VERITAS observations. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KW  - Instrumentation
KW  - Moonlight
KW  - Observing methods
KW  - VERITAS
KW  - IACT
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2017.03.001
SN  - 0927-6505
SN  - 1873-2852
VL  - 91
SP  - 34
EP  - 43
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cardenzana, J. V.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Chen, Xuhui
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Eisch, J. D.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Flinders, A.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hakansson, Nils
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Huetten, M.
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  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Meagher, K.
A1  - Millis, J.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Pelassa, V.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Ratliff, G.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rousselle, J.
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  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weiner, O. M.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
A1  - Yusef-Zadeh, F.
T1  - TEV GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF THE GALACTIC CENTER RIDGE BY VERITAS
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - The Galactic Center ridge has been observed extensively in the past by both GeV and TeV gamma-ray instruments revealing a wealth of structure, including a diffuse component and the point sources G0.9+0.1 (a composite supernova remnant) and Sgr A* (believed to be associated with the supermassive black hole located at the center of our Galaxy). Previous very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations with the H.E.S.S.. experiment have also detected an extended TeV gamma-ray component along the Galactic plane in the >300 GeV gamma-ray regime. Here we report on observations of the Galactic Center ridge from 2010 to 2014 by the VERITAS telescope array in the >2 TeV energy range. From these observations we (1) provide improved measurements of the differential energy spectrum for Sgr A* in the >2 TeV gamma-ray regime, (2) provide a detection in the >2 TeV gamma-ray emission from the composite SNR G0.9+0.1 and an improved determination of its multi-TeV gamma-ray energy spectrum, and. (3) report on the detection of VER J1746-289, a localized enhancement of >2 TeV gamma-ray emission along the Galactic plane.
KW  - Galaxy: center
KW  - gamma rays: general
KW  - supernovae: individual (G0.9+0.1)
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/821/2/129
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 821
SP  - 162
EP  - 167
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  -