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- gamma rays: general (2)
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- BL Lacertae objects: individual (TXS 0506+056, VER J0509+057) (1)
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The angular size of a star is a critical factor in determining its basic properties1. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters is difficult: at interstellar distances stars are generally too small to resolve by any individual imaging telescope. This fundamental limitation can be overcome by studying the diffraction pattern in the shadow cast when an asteroid occults a star2, but only when the photometric uncertainty is smaller than the noise added by atmospheric scintillation3. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes used for particle astrophysics observations have not generally been exploited for optical astronomy due to the modest optical quality of the mirror surface. However, their large mirror area makes them well suited for such high-time-resolution precision photometry measurements4. Here we report two occultations of stars observed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)5 Cherenkov telescopes with millisecond sampling, from which we are able to provide a direct measurement of the occulted stars’ angular diameter at the ≤0.1 mas scale. This is a resolution never achieved before with optical measurements and represents an order of magnitude improvement over the equivalent lunar occultation method6. We compare the resulting stellar radius with empirically derived estimates from temperature and brightness measurements, confirming the latter can be biased for stars with ambiguous stellar classifications.
A Search for Pulsed Very High-energy Gamma-Rays from 13 Young Pulsars in Archival VERITAS Data
(2019)
We conduct a search for periodic emission in the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray band (E > 100 GeV) from a total of 13 pulsars in an archival VERITAS data set with a total exposure of over 450 hr. The set of pulsars includes many of the brightest young gamma-ray pulsars visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The data analysis resulted in nondetections of pulsed VHE gamma-rays from each pulsar. Upper limits on a potential VHE gamma-ray flux are derived at the 95% confidence level above three energy thresholds using two methods. These are the first such searches for pulsed VHE emission from each of the pulsars, and the obtained limits constrain a possible flux component manifesting at VHEs as is seen for the Crab pulsar.
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.
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.
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.