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Ahnen, M. L. ; Ansoldi, S. ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Arcaro, C. ; Babic, A. ; Banerjee, B. ; Bangale, P. ; Barres de Almeida, U. ; Barrio, J. A. ; Gonzalez, J. Becerra ; Bednarek, W. ; Bernardini, E. ; Berti, A. ; Bhattacharyya, W. ; Blanch, O. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Carosi, R. ; Carosi, A. ; Chatterjee, A. ; Colak, S. M. ; Colin, P. ; Colombo, E. ; Contreras, J. L. ; Cortina, J. ; Covino, S. ; Cumani, P. ; Da Vela, P. ; Dazzi, F. ; De Angelis, A. ; De Lotto, B. ; Delfino, M. ; Delgado, Jose Miguel Martins ; Di Pierro, F. ; Doert, M. ; Dominguez, A. ; Prester, D. Dominis ; Doro, M. ; Glawion, D. Eisenacher ; Engelkemeier, M. ; Ramazani, V. Fallah ; Fernandez-Barral, A. ; Fidalgo, D. ; Fonseca, M. V. ; Font, L. ; Fruck, C. ; Galindo, D. ; Lopez, R. J. Garcia ; Garczarczyk, M. ; Gaug, M. ; Giammaria, P. ; Godinovic, N. ; Gora, D. ; Guberman, D. ; Hadasch, D. ; Hahn, A. ; Hassan, T. ; Hayashida, M. ; Herrera, J. ; Hose, J. ; Hrupec, D. ; Ishio, K. ; Konno, Y. ; Kubo, H. ; Kushida, J. ; Kuvezdic, D. ; Lelas, D. ; Lindfors, E. ; Lombardi, S. ; Longo, F. ; Lopez, M. ; Maggio, C. ; Majumdar, P. ; Makariev, M. ; Maneva, G. ; Manganaro, M. ; Maraschi, L. ; Mariotti, M. ; Martinez, M. ; Mazin, D. ; Menzel, U. ; Minev, M. ; Miranda, J. M. ; Mirzoyan, R. ; Moralejo, A. ; Moreno, V. ; Moretti, E. ; Nagayoshi, T. ; Neustroev, V. ; Niedzwiecki, A. ; Nievas Rosillo, M. ; Nigro, C. ; Nilsson, K. ; Ninci, D. ; Nishijima, K. ; Noda, K. ; Nogues, L. ; Paiano, S. ; Palacio, J. ; Paneque, D. ; Paoletti, R. ; Paredes, J. M. ; Pedaletti, G. ; Peresano, M. ; Perri, L. ; Persic, M. ; Moroni, P. G. Prada ; Prandini, E. ; Puljak, I. ; Garcia, J. R. ; Reichardt, I. ; Ribo, M. ; Rico, J. ; Righi, C. ; Rugliancich, A. ; Saito, T. ; Satalecka, K. ; Schroeder, S. ; Schweizer, T. ; Shore, S. N. ; Sitarek, J. ; Snidaric, I. ; Sobczynska, D. ; Stamerra, A. ; Strzys, M. ; Suric, T. ; Takalo, L. ; Tavecchio, F. ; Temnikov, P. ; Terzic, T. ; Teshima, M. ; Torres-Alba, N. ; Treves, A. ; Tsujimoto, S. ; Vanzo, G. ; Vazquez Acosta, M. ; Vovk, I. ; Ward, J. E. ; Will, M. ; Zaric, D. ; Arbet-Engels, A. ; Baack, D. ; Balbo, M. ; Biland, A. ; Blank, M. ; Bretz, T. ; Bruegge, K. ; Bulinski, M. ; Buss, J. ; Dmytriiev, A. ; Dorner, D. ; Einecke, S. ; Elsaesser, D. ; Herbst, T. ; Hildebrand, D. ; Kortmann, L. ; Linhoff, L. ; Mahlke, M. ; Mannheim, K. ; Mueller, S. A. ; Neise, D. ; Neronov, A. ; Noethe, M. ; Oberkirch, J. ; Paravac, A. ; Rhode, W. ; Schleicher, B. ; Schulz, F. ; Sedlaczek, K. ; Shukla, A. ; Sliusar, V. ; Walter, R. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brose, Robert ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Christiansen, J. L. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Huetten, M. ; 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. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rovero, A. C. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Sushch, Iurii ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhel, A. ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B. ; Perri, M. ; Verrecchia, F. ; Leto, C. ; Villata, M. ; Raiteri, C. M. ; Jorstad, S. G. ; Larionov, V. M. ; Blinov, D. A. ; Grishina, T. S. ; Kopatskaya, E. N. ; Larionova, E. G. ; Nikiforova, A. A. ; Morozova, D. A. ; Troitskaya, Yu. V. ; Troitsky, I. S. ; Kurtanidze, O. M. ; Nikolashvili, M. G. ; Kurtanidze, S. O. ; Kimeridze, G. N. ; Chigladze, R. A. ; Strigachev, A. ; Sadun, A. C.
Aims. We aim to characterize the multiwavelength emission from Markarian 501 (Mrk 501), quantify the energy-dependent variability, study the potential multiband correlations, and describe the temporal evolution of the broadband emission within leptonic theoretical scenarios. Methods. We organized a multiwavelength campaign to take place between March and July of 2012. Excellent temporal coverage was obtained with more than 25 instruments, including the MAGIC, FACT and VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes, the instruments on board the Swift and Fermi spacecraft, and the telescopes operated by the GASP-WEBT collaboration. Results. Mrk 501 showed a very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray flux above 0.2 TeV of similar to 0.5 times the Crab Nebula flux (CU) for most of the campaign. The highest activity occurred on 2012 June 9, when the VHE flux was similar to 3 CU, and the peak of the high-energy spectral component was found to be at similar to 2 TeV. Both the X-ray and VHE gamma-ray spectral slopes were measured to be extremely hard, with spectral indices <2 during most of the observing campaign, regardless of the X-ray and VHE flux. This study reports the hardest Mrk 501 VHE spectra measured to date. The fractional variability was found to increase with energy, with the highest variability occurring at VHE. Using the complete data set, we found correlation between the X-ray and VHE bands; however, if the June 9 flare is excluded, the correlation disappears (significance <3 sigma) despite the existence of substantial variability in the X-ray and VHE bands throughout the campaign. Conclusions. The unprecedentedly hard X-ray and VHE spectra measured imply that their low- and high-energy components peaked above 5 keV and 0.5 TeV, respectively, during a large fraction of the observing campaign, and hence that Mrk 501 behaved like an extreme high-frequency-peaked blazar (EHBL) throughout the 2012 observing season. This suggests that being an EHBL may not be a permanent characteristic of a blazar, but rather a state which may change over time. The data set acquired shows that the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of Mrk 501, and its transient evolution, is very complex, requiring, within the framework of synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) models, various emission regions for a satisfactory description. Nevertheless the one-zone SSC scenario can successfully describe the segments of the SED where most energy is emitted, with a significant correlation between the electron energy density and the VHE gamma-ray activity, suggesting that most of the variability may be explained by the injection of high-energy electrons. The one-zone SSC scenario used reproduces the behavior seen between the measured X-ray and VHE gamma-ray fluxes, and predicts that the correlation becomes stronger with increasing energy of the X-rays.
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.
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. ; 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.
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.
A Search for Pulsed Very High-energy Gamma-Rays from 13 Young Pulsars in Archival VERITAS Data
(2019)
Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Chromey, A. J. ; Cui, Wei ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, Lucy ; Furniss, Amy ; Gent, A. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, David ; Hassan, T. ; Hervet, Olivier ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, Adam Nepomuk ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Sadeh, I ; Santander, Marcos ; Scott, S. S. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Sushch, Iurii ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B.
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.