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Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Boettcher, Markus ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lee, K. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nelson, T. ; de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Fortin, P. ; Horan, D. ; Fumagalli, M. ; Kaplan, K. ; Prochaska, J. X.
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.
Acciari, V. A. ; Aliu, E. ; Araya, M. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Falcone, A. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Guenette, R. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Hui, C. M. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Imran, A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rose, H. J. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sentuerk, G. D. ; Smith, A. W. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Weng, S. ; Williams, D. A. ; Wood, M. ; Zitzer, B.
Giant X-ray outbursts, with luminosities of about 10(37) erg s(-1), are observed roughly every five years from the nearby Be/pulsar binary 1A 0535+262. In this article, we present observations of the source with VERITAS at very high energies (VHEs; E > 100 GeV) triggered by the X-ray outburst in 2009 December. The observations started shortly after the onset of the outburst and provided comprehensive coverage of the episode, as well as the 111 day binary orbit. No VHE emission is evident at any time. We also examined data from the contemporaneous observations of 1A 0535+262 with the Fermi/Large Area Telescope at high-energy photons (E > 0.1 GeV) and failed to detect the source at GeV energies. The X-ray continua measured with the Swift/X-Ray Telescope and the RXTE/PCA can be well described by the combination of blackbody and Comptonized emission from thermal electrons. Therefore, the gamma-ray and X-ray observations suggest the absence of a significant population of non-thermal particles in the system. This distinguishes 1A 0535+262 from those Be X-ray binaries (such as PSR B1259-63 and LS I +61 degrees 303) that have been detected at GeV-TeV energies. We discuss the implications of the results on theoretical models.
Abeysekara, A. U. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brill, A. ; Brose, Robert ; Buckley, J. H. ; Christiansen, Jessie L. ; Chromey, A. J. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, John P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, Amy ; Gillanders, Gerard H. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, David ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krause, Maria ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, Marcos ; Scott, S. S. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B. ; Kaur, A.
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.
Discovery of Very-high-energy Emission from RGB J2243+203 and Derivation of Its Redshift Upper Limit
(2017)
Abeysekara, A. U. ; Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tyler, J. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
Very-high-energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the blazar RGB J2243+203 was discovered with the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array, during the period between 2014 December 21 and 24. The VERITAS energy spectrum from this source can be fitted by a power law with a photon index of 4.6 +/- 0.5, and a flux normalization at 0.15 TeV of (6.3 +/- 1.1) x 10(-10) cm(-2) s(-1) TeV-1. The integrated Fermi-LAT flux from 1 to 100 GeV during the VERITAS detection is (4.1 +/- 0.8) x 10(-8) cm(-2) s(-1), which is an order of magnitude larger than the four-year-averaged flux in the same energy range reported in the 3FGL catalog, (4.0 +/- 0.1 x 10(-9) cm(-2) s(-1)). The detection with VERITAS triggered observations in the X-ray band with the Swift-XRT. However, due to scheduling constraints Swift-XRT observations were performed 67 hr after the VERITAS detection, rather than simultaneously with the VERITAS observations. The observed X-ray energy spectrum between 2 and 10 keV can be fitted with a power law with a spectral index of 2.7 +/- 0.2, and the integrated photon flux in the same energy band is (3.6 +/- 0.6) x 10(-13) cm(-2) s(-1). EBL-model-dependent upper limits of the blazar redshift have been derived. Depending on the EBL model used, the upper limit varies in the range from z < 0.9 to z < 1.1.
Abeysekara, A. U. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brill, A. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Calderon-Madera, D. ; Christiansen, J. L. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Fernandez-Alonso, M. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, Lucy ; Furniss, Amy ; Gent, A. ; Giuri, C. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, David ; Hassan, T. ; Hervet, Oliver ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krause, Maria ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, Gernot ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Nievas-Rosillo, M. ; Ong, R. A. ; Pfrang, Konstantin Johannes ; Pohl, Martin ; Prado, R. R. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Ribeiro, D. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rovero, A. C. ; Sadeh, Iftach ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Sushch, Iurii ; Svraka, T. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, Patrick ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, David Arnold ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B.
The extragalactic background light (EBL), a diffuse photon field in the optical and infrared range, is a record of radiative processes over the universe?s history. Spectral measurements of blazars at very high energies (>100 GeV) enable the reconstruction of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL, as the blazar spectra are modified by redshift- and energy-dependent interactions of the gamma-ray photons with the EBL. The spectra of 14 VERITAS-detected blazars are included in a new measurement of the EBL SED that is independent of EBL SED models. The resulting SED covers an EBL wavelength range of 0.56?56 ?m, and is in good agreement with lower limits obtained by assuming that the EBL is entirely due to radiation from cataloged galaxies.
Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Gillanders, G. ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, M. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Staszak, D. ; Sushch, I. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B.
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.
Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Falcone, A. ; Alonso, M. Fernandez ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Griffin, S. ; Hutten, M. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rovero, A. C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
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.
Abeysekara, A. U. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brantseg, T. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, Wei ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, John P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, Amy ; Gillanders, Gerard H. ; Gunawardhana, Isuru ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, David ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, Adam Nepomuk ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Jorstad, Svetlana G. ; Marscher, Alan P. ; Lister, Matthew L. ; Kovalev, Yuri Y. ; Pushkarev, A. B. ; Savolainen, Tuomas ; Agudo, I. ; Molina, S. N. ; Gomez, J. L. ; Larionov, Valeri M. ; Borman, G. A. ; Mokrushina, A. A. ; Tornikoski, Merja ; Lahteenmaki, A. ; Chamani, W. ; Enestam, S. ; Kiehlmann, S. ; Hovatta, Talvikki ; Smith, P. S. ; Pontrelli, P.
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.
Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Hutten, M. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Wissel, S. A. ; Zitzer, B.
We present a new measurement of the energy spectrum of iron nuclei in cosmic rays from 20 TeV to 500 TeV; The measurement makes use of a template-based analysis method, which, for the first time, is applied to the energy reconstruction of iron-induced air showers recorded by the VERITAS array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The event selection makes use of the direct Cherenkov light which is emitted by charged particles before the first interaction, as well as other parameters related to the shape of the recorded air shower images. The measured spectrum is well described by a power law dF/dE = f(0) center dot (E/E-0)(-gamma) over the full energy range, with gamma = 2.82 +/- 0.30(stat)(-0.27)(+0.24)(syst) and f(0) = (4.82 +/- 0.98(stat)(-2.70)(+2.12)(syst)) x 10(-7) m(-2) s(-1) TeV-1 sr(-1) at E-0 = 50 TeV, with no indication of a cutoff or spectral break. The measured differential flux is compatible with previous results, with improved statistical uncertainty at the highest energies.
HESS J1943+213
(2018)
Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V ; Cui, Wei ; Danie, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, John P. ; Flinders, A. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, Amy ; Gillanders, Gerard H. ; Huttens, M. ; Hanna, David ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kieda, David ; Krause, Maria ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Nieto, Daniel ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, Nahee ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, Alexis ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynold, P. T. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, David A. ; Brisken, W. F. ; Pontrelli, P.
HESS J1943+213 is a very high energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray source in the direction of the Galactic plane. Studies exploring the classification of the source are converging toward its identification as an extreme synchrotron BL Lac object. Here we present 38 hr of VERITAS observations of HESS J1943+213 taken over 2 yr. The source is detected with a significance of similar to 20 standard deviations, showing a remarkably stable flux and spectrum in VHE gamma-rays. Multifrequency Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the source confirm the extended, jet-like structure previously found in the 1.6 GHz band with the European VLBI Network and detect this component in the 4.6 and 7.3 GHz bands. The radio spectral indices of the core and the jet and the level of polarization derived from the VLBA observations are in a range typical for blazars. Data from VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT, the FLWO 48 ' telescope, and archival infrared and hard X-ray observations are used to construct and model the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the source with a synchrotron self-Compton model. The well-measured gamma-ray peak of the SED with VERITAS and Fermi-LAT provides constraining upper limits on the source redshift. Possible contribution of secondary gamma-rays from ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray-initiated electromagnetic cascades to the gamma-ray emission is explored, finding that only a segment of the VHE spectrum can be accommodated with this process. A variability search is performed across X-ray and gamma-ray bands. No statistically significant flux or spectral variability is detected.