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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.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Boettcher, Markus ; Bouvier, A. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Coppi, P. ; Cui, W. ; Decerprit, G. ; Dickherber, R. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, Manel ; Falcone, A. ; 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. ; Hawkins, K. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lee, K. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Palma, N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rose, H. J. ; Ruppel, J. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sentuerk, G. D. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Fortin, P. ; Horan, D.
We report on the discovery of high-energy (HE; E > 0.1 GeV) and very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the high-frequency-peaked BL Lac object RBS 0413. VERITAS, a ground-based gamma-ray observatory, detected VHE. rays from RBS 0413 with a statistical significance of 5.5 standard deviations (sigma) and a gamma-ray flux of (1.5 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.7(syst)) x 10(-8) photons m(-2) s(-1) (similar to 1% of the Crab Nebula flux) above 250 GeV. The observed spectrum can be described by a power law with a photon index of 3.18 +/- 0.68(stat) +/- 0.30(syst). Contemporaneous observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected HE gamma rays from RBS 0413 with a (stat)istical significance of more than 9 sigma, a power-law photon index of 1.57 +/- 0.12(stat-0.12sys')(+0.11) and a gamma-ray flux between 300 MeV and 300 GeV of (1.64 +/- 0.43(stat-0.22sys)(+ 0.31)) x 10(-5) photons m(-2) s(-1). We present the results from Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, including a spectral energy distribution modeling of the gamma-ray, quasi-simultaneous X-ray (Swift-XRT), ultraviolet (Swift-UVOT), and R-band optical (MDM) data. We find that, if conditions close to equipartition are required, both the combined synchrotron self-Compton/external-Compton and the lepto-hadronic models are preferred over a pure synchrotron self-Compton model.
Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Aune, T. ; Barnacka, Anna ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cardenzana, J. V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickinson, H. J. ; Dumm, J. ; Eisch, J. D. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Flinders, A. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Huetten, M. ; Hakansson, Nils ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Pelassa, V. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rousselle, J. ; Rulten, C. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
The TeV binary system LS I +61 degrees 303 is known for its regular, non-thermal emission pattern that traces the orbital period of the compact object in its 26.5 day orbit around its B0 Ve star companion. The system typically presents elevated TeV emission around apastron passage with flux levels between 5% and 15% of the steady flux from the Crab Nebula (> 300 GeV). In this article, VERITAS observations of LS I + 61 degrees. 303 taken in late 2014 are presented, during which bright TeV flares around apastron at flux levels peaking above 30% of the Crab Nebula flux were detected. This is the brightest such activity from this source ever seen in the TeV regime. The strong outbursts have rise and fall times of less than a day. The short timescale of the flares, in conjunction with the observation of 10 TeV photons from LS I + 61 degrees 303 during the flares, provides constraints on the properties of the accelerator in the source.
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.
Furniss, A. ; Noda, K. ; Boggs, S. ; Chiang, J. ; Christensen, F. ; Craig, W. ; Giommi, P. ; Hailey, C. ; Harisson, F. ; Madejski, G. ; Nalewajko, K. ; Perri, M. ; Stern, D. ; Urry, M. ; Verrecchia, F. ; Zhang, W. ; Ahnen, M. L. ; Ansoldi, S. ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Antoranz, P. ; Babic, A. ; Banerjee, B. ; Bangale, P. ; de Almeida, U. Barres ; Barrio, J. A. ; Becerra Gonzalez, J. ; Bednarek, W. ; Bernardini, E. ; Biasuzzi, B. ; Biland, A. ; Blanch Bigas, O. ; Bonnefoy, S. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Borracci, F. ; Bretz, T. ; Carmona, E. ; Carosi, A. ; Chatterjee, A. ; Clavero, R. ; Colin, P. ; Colombo, E. ; Contreras, J. L. ; Cortina, J. ; Covino, S. ; Da Vela, P. ; Dazzi, F. ; De Angelis, A. ; De Caneva, G. ; De Lotto, B. ; de Ona Wilhelmi, E. ; Delgado Mendez, C. ; Di Pierro, F. ; Prester, Dijana Dominis ; Dorner, D. ; Doro, M. ; Einecke, S. ; Eisenacher Glawion, D. ; Elsaesser, D. ; Fernandez-Barral, A. ; Fidalgo, D. ; Fonseca, M. V. ; Font, L. ; Frantzen, K. ; Fruck, C. ; Galindo, D. ; Garcia Lopez, R. J. ; Garczarczyk, M. ; Garrido Terrats, D. ; Gaug, M. ; Giammaria, P. ; Godinovic, N. ; Gonzalez Munoz, A. ; Guberman, D. ; Hanabata, Y. ; Hayashida, M. ; Herrera, J. ; Hose, J. ; Hrupec, D. ; Hughes, G. ; Idec, W. ; Kellermann, H. ; Kodani, K. ; Konno, Y. ; Kubo, H. ; Kushida, J. ; La Barbera, A. ; Lelas, D. ; Lewandowska, N. ; Lindfors, E. ; Lombardi, S. ; Longo, F. ; Lopez, M. ; Lopez-Coto, R. ; Lopez-Oramas, A. ; Lorenz, E. ; Majumdar, P. ; Makariev, M. ; Mallot, K. ; Maneva, G. ; Manganaro, M. ; Mannheim, K. ; Maraschi, L. ; Marcote, B. ; Mariotti, M. ; Martinez, M. ; Mazin, D. ; Menzel, U. ; Miranda, J. M. ; Mirzoyan, R. ; Moralejo, A. ; Nakajima, D. ; Neustroev, V. ; Niedzwiecki, A. ; Nievas Rosillo, M. ; Nilsson, K. ; Nishijima, K. ; Orito, R. ; Overkemping, A. ; Paiano, S. ; Palacio, J. ; Palatiello, M. ; Paneque, D. ; Paoletti, R. ; Paredes, J. M. ; Paredes-Fortuny, X. ; Persic, M. ; Poutanen, J. ; Moroni, P. G. Prada ; Prandini, E. ; Puljak, I. ; Reinthal, R. ; Rhode, W. ; Ribo, M. ; Rico, J. ; Garcia, J. Rodriguez ; Saito, T. ; Saito, K. ; Satalecka, K. ; Scapin, V. ; Schultz, C. ; Schweizer, T. ; Shore, S. N. ; Sillanpaa, A. ; Sitarek, J. ; Snidaric, I. ; Sobczynska, D. ; Stamerra, A. ; Steinbring, T. ; Strzys, M. ; Takalo, L. ; Takami, H. ; Tavecchio, F. ; Temnikov, P. ; Terzic, T. ; Tescaro, D. ; Teshima, M. ; Thaele, J. ; Torres, D. F. ; Toyama, T. ; Treves, A. ; Verguilov, V. ; Vovk, I. ; Will, M. ; Zanin, R. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Biteau, Jonathan ; Bugaev, V. ; Cardenzana, J. V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickinson, H. J. ; Dumm, J. ; Eisch, J. D. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Gerard, L. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hakansson, Nils ; Holder, J. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Park, N. ; Petry, D. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Ragan, K. ; Ratliff, G. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Vince, O. ; Fuhrmann, L. ; Angelakis, E. ; Karamanavis, V. ; Myserlis, I. ; Krichbaum, T. P. ; Zensus, J. A. ; Ungerechts, H. ; Sievers, A. ; Bachev, R. ; Boettcher, Markus ; Chen, W. P. ; Damljanovic, G. ; Eswaraiah, C. ; Guver, T. ; Hovatta, T. ; Hughes, Z. ; Ibryamov, S. I. ; Joner, M. D. ; Jordan, B. ; Jorstad, S. G. ; Joshi, M. ; Kataoka, J. ; Kurtanidze, O. M. ; Kurtanidze, S. O. ; Lahteenmaki, A. ; Latev, G. ; Lin, H. C. ; Larionov, V. M. ; Mokrushina, A. A. ; Morozova, D. A. ; Nikolashvili, M. G. ; Raiteri, C. M. ; Ramakrishnan, V. ; Readhead, A. C. R. ; Sadun, A. C. ; Sigua, L. A. ; Semkov, E. H. ; Strigachev, A. ; Tammi, J. ; Tornikoski, M. ; Troitskaya, Y. V. ; Troitsky, I. S. ; Villata, M.
We report on simultaneous broadband observations of the TeV-emitting blazar Markarian 501 between 2013 April 1 and August 10, including the first detailed characterization of the synchrotron peak with Swift and NuSTAR. During the campaign, the nearby BL Lac object was observed in both a quiescent and an elevated state. The broadband campaign includes observations with NuSTAR, MAGIC, VERITAS, the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Swift X-ray Telescope and UV Optical Telescope, various ground-based optical instruments, including the GASP-WEBT program, as well as radio observations by OVRO, Metsahovi, and the F-Gamma consortium. Some of the MAGIC observations were affected by a sand layer from the Saharan desert, and had to be corrected using event-by-event corrections derived with a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) facility. This is the first time that LIDAR information is used to produce a physics result with Cherenkov Telescope data taken during adverse atmospheric conditions, and hence sets a precedent for the current and future ground-based gamma-ray instruments. The NuSTAR instrument provides unprecedented sensitivity in hard X-rays, showing the source to display a spectral energy distribution (SED) between 3 and 79 keV consistent with a log-parabolic spectrum and hard X-ray variability on hour timescales. None (of the four extended NuSTAR observations) show evidence of the onset of inverse-Compton emission at hard X-ray energies. We apply a single-zone equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model to five simultaneous broadband SEDs. We find that the SSC model can reproduce the observed broadband states through a decrease in the magnetic field strength coinciding with an increase in the luminosity and hardness of the relativistic leptons responsible for the high-energy emission.
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.
Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Bourbeau, E. ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dwarkadas, Vikram V. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Griffin, S. ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, Nahee ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Slane, P. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Trepanier, S. ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, Ralph ; Bourbeau, E. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cardenzana, J. V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Hutten, M. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Trepanier, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wilcox, P. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
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.
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.
Abdo, A. A. ; Ackermann, Margit ; Ajello, M. ; Allafort, A. J. ; Baldini, L. ; Ballet, J. ; Barbiellini, G. ; Baring, M. G. ; Bastieri, D. ; Bechtol, K. C. ; Bellazzini, R. ; Berenji, B. ; Blandford, R. D. ; Bloom, E. D. ; Bonamente, E. ; Borgland, A. W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Brandt, T. J. ; Bregeon, Johan ; Brez, A. ; Brigida, M. ; Bruel, P. ; Buehler, R. ; Buson, S. ; Caliandro, G. A. ; Cameron, R. A. ; Cannon, A. ; Caraveo, P. A. ; Carrigan, Svenja ; Casandjian, J. M. ; Cavazzuti, E. ; Cecchi, C. ; Celik, O. ; Charles, E. ; Chekhtman, A. ; Cheung, C. C. ; Chiang, J. ; Ciprini, S. ; Claus, R. ; Cohen-Tanugi, J. ; Conrad, Jan ; Cutini, S. ; Dermer, C. D. ; de Palma, F. ; do Couto e Silva, E. ; Drell, P. S. ; Dubois, R. ; Dumora, D. ; Favuzzi, C. ; Fegan, S. J. ; Ferrara, E. C. ; Focke, W. B. ; Fortin, P. ; Frailis, M. ; Fuhrmann, L. ; Fukazawa, Y. ; Funk, S. ; Fusco, P. ; Gargano, F. ; Gasparrini, D. ; Gehrels, N. ; Germani, S. ; Giglietto, N. ; Giordano, F. ; Giroletti, M. ; Glanzman, T. ; Godfrey, G. ; Grenier, I. A. ; Guillemot, L. ; Guiriec, S. ; Hayashida, M. ; Hays, E. ; Horan, D. ; Hughes, R. E. ; Johannesson, G. ; Johnson, A. S. ; Johnson, W. N. ; Kadler, M. ; Kamae, T. ; Katagiri, H. ; Kataoka, J. ; Knoedlseder, J. ; Kuss, M. ; Lande, J. ; Latronico, L. ; Lee, S. -H. ; Lemoine-Goumard, M. ; Longo, F. ; Loparco, F. ; Lott, B. ; Lovellette, M. N. ; Lubrano, P. ; Madejski, G. M. ; Makeev, A. ; Max-Moerbeck, W. ; Mazziotta, Mario Nicola ; McEnery, J. E. ; Mehault, J. ; Michelson, P. F. ; Mitthumsiri, W. ; Mizuno, T. ; Moiseev, A. A. ; Monte, C. ; Monzani, M. E. ; Morselli, A. ; Moskalenko, I. V. ; Murgia, S. ; Naumann-Godo, M. ; Nishino, S. ; Nolan, P. L. ; Norris, J. P. ; Nuss, E. ; Ohsugi, T. ; Okumura, A. ; Omodei, N. ; Orlando, E. ; Ormes, J. F. ; Paneque, D. ; Panetta, J. H. ; Parent, D. ; Pavlidou, V. ; Pearson, T. J. ; Pelassa, V. ; Pepe, M. ; Pesce-Rollins, M. ; Piron, F. ; Porter, T. A. ; Raino, S. ; Rando, R. ; Razzano, M. ; Readhead, A. ; Reimer, A. ; Reimer, O. ; Richards, J. L. ; Ripken, J. ; Ritz, S. ; Roth, M. ; Sadrozinski, H. F. -W. ; Sanchez, D. ; Sander, A. ; Scargle, J. D. ; Sgro, C. ; Siskind, E. J. ; Smith, P. D. ; Spandre, G. ; Spinelli, P. ; Stawarz, L. ; Stevenson, M. ; Strickman, M. S. ; Sokolovsky, K. V. ; Suson, D. J. ; Takahashi, H. ; Takahashi, T. ; Tanaka, T. ; Thayer, J. B. ; Thayer, J. G. ; Thompson, D. J. ; Tibaldo, L. ; Torres, F. ; Tosti, G. ; Tramacere, A. ; Uchiyama, Y. ; Usher, T. L. ; Vandenbroucke, J. ; Vasileiou, V. ; Vilchez, N. ; Vitale, V. ; Waite, A. P. ; Wang, P. ; Wehrle, A. E. ; Winer, B. L. ; Wood, K. S. ; Yang, Z. ; Ylinen, T. ; Zensus, J. A. ; Ziegler, M. ; Aleksic, J. ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Antoranz, P. ; Backes, Michael ; Barrio, J. A. ; Gonzalez, J. Becerra ; Bednarek, W. ; Berdyugin, A. ; Berger, K. ; Bernardini, E. ; Biland, A. ; Blanch Bigas, O. ; Bock, R. K. ; Boller, A. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Bordas, Pol ; Tridon, D. Borla ; Bosch-Ramon, Valentin ; Bose, D. ; Braun, I. ; Bretz, T. ; Camara, M. ; Carmona, E. ; Carosi, A. ; Colin, P. ; Colombo, E. ; Contreras, J. L. ; Cortina, J. ; Covino, S. ; Dazzi, F. ; de Angelis, A. ; del Pozo, E. De Cea ; De Lotto, B. ; De Maria, M. ; De Sabata, F. ; Mendez, C. Delgado ; Ortega, A. Diago ; Doert, M. ; Dominguez, A. ; Prester, Dijana Dominis ; Dorner, D. ; Doro, M. ; Elsaesser, D. ; Ferenc, D. ; Fonseca, M. V. ; Font, L. ; Lopen, R. J. Garcia ; Garczarczyk, M. ; Gaug, M. ; Giavitto, G. ; Godinovi, N. ; Hadasch, D. ; Herrero, A. ; Hildebrand, D. ; Hoehne-Moench, D. ; Hose, J. ; Hrupec, D. ; Jogler, T. ; Klepser, S. ; Kraehenbuehl, T. ; Kranich, D. ; Krause, J. ; La Barbera, A. ; Leonardo, E. ; Lindfors, E. ; Lombardi, S. ; Lopez, M. ; Lorenz, E. ; Majumdar, P. ; Makariev, E. ; Maneva, G. ; Mankuzhiyil, N. ; Mannheim, K. ; Maraschi, L. ; Mariotti, M. ; Martinez, M. ; Mazin, D. ; Meucci, M. ; Miranda, J. M. ; Mirzoyan, R. ; Miyamoto, H. ; Moldon, J. ; Moralejo, A. ; Nieto, D. ; Nilsson, K. ; Orito, R. ; Oya, I. ; Paoletti, R. ; Paredes, J. M. ; Partini, S. ; Pasanen, M. ; Pauss, F. ; Pegna, R. G. ; Perez-Torres, M. A. ; Persic, M. ; Peruzzo, J. ; Pochon, J. ; Moroni, P. G. Prada ; Prada, F. ; Prandini, E. ; Puchades, N. ; Puljak, I. ; Reichardt, T. ; Reinthal, R. ; Rhode, W. ; Ribo, M. ; Rico, J. ; Rissi, M. ; Ruegamer, S. ; Saggion, A. ; Saito, K. ; Saito, T. Y. ; Salvati, M. ; Sanchez-Conde, M. ; Satalecka, K. ; Scalzotto, V. ; Scapin, V. ; Schultz, C. ; Schweizer, T. ; Shayduk, M. ; Shore, S. N. ; Sierpowska-Bartosik, A. ; Sillanpaa, A. ; Sitarek, J. ; Sobczynska, D. ; Spanier, F. ; Spiro, S. ; Stamerra, A. ; Steinke, B. ; Storz, J. ; Strah, N. ; Struebig, J. C. ; Suric, T. ; Takalo, L. O. ; Tavecchio, F. ; Temnikov, P. ; Terzic, T. ; Tescaro, D. ; Teshima, M. ; Vankov, H. ; Wagner, R. M. ; Weitzel, Q. ; Zabalza, V. ; Zandanel, F. ; Zanin, R. ; Acciari, V. A. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Benbow, W. ; Boltuch, D. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Godambe, S. ; Grube, J. ; Guenette, R. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Huang, D. ; Hui, C. M. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Konopelko, A. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; McCutcheon, M. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Ong, R. ; Otte, N. ; Pandel, D. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, M. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rose, H. J. ; Rovero, A. C. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Senturk, G. D. ; Steele, D. ; Swordy, S. P. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Williams, D. A. ; Wood, M. ; Zitzer, B. ; Villata, M. ; Raiteri, C. M. ; Aller, H. D. ; Aller, M. F. ; Arkharov, A. A. ; Blinov, D. A. ; Calcidese, P. ; Chen, W. P. ; Efimova, N. V. ; Kimeridze, G. ; Konstantinova, T. S. ; Kopatskaya, E. N. ; Koptelova, E. ; Kurtanidze, O. M. ; Kurtanidze, S. O. ; Lahteenmaki, A. ; Larionov, V. M. ; Larionova, E. G. ; Larionova, L. V. ; Ligustri, R. ; Morozova, D. A. ; Nikolashvili, M. G. ; Sigua, L. A. ; Troitsky, I. S. ; Angelakis, E. ; Capalbi, M. ; Carraminana, A. ; Carrasco, L. ; Cassaro, P. ; de la Fuente, E. ; Gurwell, M. A. ; Kovalev, Y. Y. ; Kovalev, Yu. A. ; Krichbaum, T. P. ; Krimm, H. A. ; Leto, Paolo ; Lister, M. L. ; Maccaferri, G. ; Moody, J. W. ; Mori, Y. ; Nestoras, I. ; Orlati, A. ; Pagani, C. ; Pace, C. ; Pearson, R. ; Perri, M. ; Piner, B. G. ; Pushkarev, A. B. ; Ros, E. ; Sadun, A. C. ; Sakamoto, T. ; Tornikoski, M. ; Yatsu, Y. ; Zook, A.
We report on the gamma-ray activity of the blazar Mrk 501 during the first 480 days of Fermi operation. We find that the average Large Area Telescope (LAT) gamma-ray spectrum of Mrk 501 can be well described by a single power-law function with a photon index of 1.78 +/- 0.03. While we observe relatively mild flux variations with the Fermi-LAT (within less than a factor of two), we detect remarkable spectral variability where the hardest observed spectral index within the LAT energy range is 1.52 +/- 0.14, and the softest one is 2.51 +/- 0.20. These unexpected spectral changes do not correlate with the measured flux variations above 0.3 GeV. In this paper, we also present the first results from the 4.5 month long multifrequency campaign (2009 March 15-August 1) on Mrk 501, which included the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), Swift, RXTE, MAGIC, and VERITAS, the F-GAMMA, GASP-WEBT, and other collaborations and instruments which provided excellent temporal and energy coverage of the source throughout the entire campaign. The extensive radio to TeV data set from this campaign provides us with the most detailed spectral energy distribution yet collected for this source during its relatively low activity. The average spectral energy distribution of Mrk 501 is well described by the standard one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model. In the framework of this model, we find that the dominant emission region is characterized by a size less than or similar to 0.1 pc (comparable within a factor of few to the size of the partially resolved VLBA core at 15-43 GHz), and that the total jet power (similar or equal to 10(44) erg s(-1)) constitutes only a small fraction (similar to 10(-3)) of the Eddington luminosity. The energy distribution of the freshly accelerated radiating electrons required to fit the time-averaged data has a broken power-law form in the energy range 0.3 GeV-10 TeV, with spectral indices 2.2 and 2.7 below and above the break energy of 20 GeV. We argue that such a form is consistent with a scenario in which the bulk of the energy dissipation within the dominant emission zone of Mrk 501 is due to relativistic, proton-mediated shocks. We find that the ultrarelativistic electrons and mildly relativistic protons within the blazar zone, if comparable in number, are in approximate energy equipartition, with their energy dominating the jet magnetic field energy by about two orders of magnitude.
Introducing the CTA concept
(2013)
Acharya, B. S. ; Actis, M. ; Aghajani, T. ; Agnetta, G. ; Aguilar, J. ; Aharonian, Felix A. ; Ajello, M. ; Akhperjanian, A. G. ; Alcubierre, M. ; Aleksic, J. ; Alfaro, R. ; Aliu, E. ; Allafort, A. J. ; Allan, D. ; Allekotte, I. ; Amato, E. ; Anderson, J. ; Angüner, Ekrem Oǧuzhan ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Antoranz, P. ; Aravantinos, A. ; Arlen, T. ; Armstrong, T. ; Arnaldi, H. ; Arrabito, L. ; Asano, K. ; Ashton, T. ; Asorey, H. G. ; Awane, Y. ; Baba, H. ; Babic, A. ; Baby, N. ; Baehr, J. ; Bais, A. ; Baixeras, C. ; Bajtlik, S. ; Balbo, M. ; Balis, D. ; Balkowski, C. ; Bamba, A. ; Bandiera, R. ; Barber, A. ; Barbier, C. ; Barcelo, M. ; Barnacka, Anna ; Barnstedt, Jürgen ; Barres de Almeida, U. ; Barrio, J. A. ; Basili, A. ; Basso, S. ; Bastieri, D. ; Bauer, C. ; Baushev, Anton N. ; Becerra Gonzalez, J. ; Becherini, Yvonne ; Bechtol, K. C. ; Tjus, J. Becker ; Beckmann, Volker ; Bednarek, W. ; Behera, B. ; Belluso, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berdugo, J. ; Berger, K. ; Bernard, F. ; Bernardino, T. ; Bernlöhr, K. ; Bhat, N. ; Bhattacharyya, S. ; Bigongiari, C. ; Biland, A. ; Billotta, S. ; Bird, T. ; Birsin, E. ; Bissaldi, E. ; Biteau, Jonathan ; Bitossi, M. ; Blake, S. ; Blanch Bigas, O. ; Blasi, P. ; Bobkov, A. A. ; Boccone, V. ; Boettcher, Markus ; Bogacz, L. ; Bogart, J. ; Bogdan, M. ; Boisson, Catherine ; Boix Gargallo, J. ; Bolmont, J. ; Bonanno, G. ; Bonardi, A. ; Bonev, T. ; Bonifacio, P. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Bordas, Pol ; Borgland, A. W. ; Borkowski, Janett ; Bose, R. ; Botner, O. ; Bottani, A. ; Bouchet, L. ; Bourgeat, M. ; Boutonnet, C. ; Bouvier, A. ; Brau-Nogue, S. ; Braun, I. ; Bretz, T. ; Briggs, M. S. ; Bringmann, T. ; Brook, P. ; Brun, Pierre ; Brunetti, L. ; Buanes, T. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Buehler, R. ; Bugaev, V. ; Bulgarelli, A. ; Bulik, Tomasz ; Busetto, G. ; Buson, S. ; Byrum, K. ; Cailles, M. ; Cameron, R. A. ; Camprecios, J. ; Canestrari, R. ; Cantu, S. ; Capalbi, M. ; Caraveo, P. A. ; Carmona, E. ; Carosi, A. ; Carr, John ; Carton, P. H. ; Casanova, Sabrina ; Casiraghi, M. ; Catalano, O. ; Cavazzani, S. ; Cazaux, S. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chabanne, E. ; Chadwick, Paula M. ; Champion, C. ; Chen, Andrew ; Chiang, J. ; Chiappetti, L. ; Chikawa, M. ; Chitnis, V. R. ; Chollet, F. ; Chudoba, J. ; Cieslar, M. ; Cillis, A. N. ; Cohen-Tanugi, J. ; Colafrancesco, Sergio ; Colin, P. ; Calome, J. ; Colonges, S. ; Compin, M. ; Conconi, P. ; Conforti, V. ; Connaughton, V. ; Conrad, Jan ; Contreras, J. L. ; Coppi, P. ; Corona, P. ; Corti, D. ; Cortina, J. ; Cossio, L. ; Costantini, H. ; Cotter, G. ; Courty, B. ; Couturier, S. ; Covino, S. ; Crimi, G. ; Criswell, S. J. ; Croston, J. ; Cusumano, G. ; Dafonseca, M. ; Dale, O. ; Daniel, M. ; Darling, J. ; Davids, I. ; Dazzi, F. ; De Angelis, A. ; De Caprio, V. ; De Frondat, F. ; de Gouveia Dal Pino, E. M. ; de la Calle, I. ; De La Vega, G. A. ; Lopez, R. de los Reyes ; De Lotto, B. ; De Luca, A. ; de Mello Neto, J. R. 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S. ; Gougerot, M. ; Graciani, R. ; Grandi, P. ; Granena, F. ; Granot, J. ; Grasseau, G. ; Gredig, R. ; Green, A. ; Greenshaw, T. ; Gregoire, T. ; Grimm, O. ; Grube, J. ; Grudzinska, M. ; Gruev, V. ; Gruenewald, S. ; Grygorczuk, J. ; Guarino, V. ; Gunji, S. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hadasch, D. ; Hagiwara, R. ; Hahn, J. ; Hakansson, N. ; Hallgren, A. ; Hamer Heras, N. ; Hara, S. ; Hardcastle, M. J. ; Harris, J. ; Hassan, T. ; Hatanaka, K. ; Haubold, T. ; Haupt, A. ; Hayakawa, T. ; Hayashida, M. ; Heller, R. ; Henault, F. ; Henri, G. ; Hermann, G. ; Hermel, R. ; Herrero, A. ; Hidaka, N. ; Hinton, J. ; Hoffmann, D. ; Hofmann, W. ; Hofverberg, P. ; Holder, J. ; Horns, D. ; Horville, D. ; Houles, J. ; Hrabovsky, M. ; Hrupec, D. ; Huan, H. ; Huber, B. ; Huet, J. -M. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Huovelin, J. ; Ibarra, A. ; Illa, J. 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A. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Temnikov, P. ; Tenzer, C. ; Terada, Y. ; Terrier, R. ; Teshima, M. ; Testa, V. ; Tezier, D. ; Thuermann, D. ; Tibaldo, L. ; Tibolla, O. ; Tiengo, A. ; Tluczykont, M. ; Todero Peixoto, C. J. ; Tokanai, F. ; Tokarz, M. ; Toma, K. ; Torii, K. ; Tornikoski, M. ; Torres, D. F. ; Torres, M. ; Tosti, G. ; Totani, T. ; Toussenel, C. ; Tovmassian, G. ; Travnicek, P. ; Trifoglio, M. ; Troyano, I. ; Tsinganos, K. ; Ueno, H. ; Umehara, K. ; Upadhya, S. S. ; Usher, T. ; Uslenghi, M. ; Valdes-Galicia, J. F. ; Vallania, P. ; Vallejo, G. ; van Driel, W. ; van Eldik, C. ; Vandenbrouke, J. ; Vanderwalt, J. ; Vankov, H. ; Vasileiadis, G. ; Vassiliev, V. ; Veberic, D. ; Vegas, I. ; Vercellone, S. ; Vergani, S. ; Veyssiere, C. ; Vialle, J. P. ; Viana, A. ; Videla, M. ; Vincent, P. ; Vincent, S. ; Vink, J. ; Vlahakis, N. ; Vlahos, L. ; Vogler, P. ; Vollhardt, A. ; von Gunten, H. P. ; Vorobiov, S. ; Vuerli, C. ; Waegebaert, V. ; Wagner, R. ; Wagner, R. 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The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a new observatory for very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. CTA has ambitions science goals, for which it is necessary to achieve full-sky coverage, to improve the sensitivity by about an order of magnitude, to span about four decades of energy, from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV with enhanced angular and energy resolutions over existing VHE gamma-ray observatories. An international collaboration has formed with more than 1000 members from 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. In 2010 the CTA Consortium completed a Design Study and started a three-year Preparatory Phase which leads to production readiness of CTA in 2014. In this paper we introduce the science goals and the concept of CTA, and provide an overview of the project.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Barnacka, Anna ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Bird, R. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, X. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dumm, J. ; Eisch, J. D. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hakansson, N. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Hughes, Z. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nelson, T. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sadun, A. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Sheidaei, F. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Theiling, M. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Boettcher, Markus ; Fumagalli, M.
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.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Aune, T. ; Behera, B. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Bird, R. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cardenzana, J. V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dumm, J. ; Dwarkadas, Vikram V. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; McCann, A. J. ; Meagher, K. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Ratliff, G. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rousselle, J. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Sheidaei, F. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Wilhelm, Alina
We report on deep observations of the extended TeV gamma-ray source MGRO J1908+06 made with the VERITAS very high energy gamma-ray observatory. Previously, the TeV emission has been attributed to the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) of the Fermi-LAT pulsar PSR J1907+0602. We detect MGRO J1908+06 at a significance level of 14 standard deviations (14 sigma) and measure a photon index of 2.20 +/- 0.10(stat) +/- 0.20(sys). The TeV emission is extended, covering the region near PSR J1907+0602 and also extending toward SNR G40.5-0.5. When fitted with a two-dimensional Gaussian, the intrinsic extension has a standard deviation of sigma(src) = 0 degrees.44 +/- 0 degrees.02. In contrast to other TeV PWNe of similar age in which the TeV spectrum softens with distance from the pulsar, the TeV spectrum measured near the pulsar location is consistent with that measured at a position near the rim of G40.5-0.5, 0 degrees.33 away.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gerard, L. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; De Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Skole, C. ; Smith, A. W. ; Soares-Furtado, M. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Böttcher, Markus ; Fumagalli, M. ; Jadhav, J.
We report on VERITAS observations of the BL Lac object B2 1215+30 between 2008 and 2012. During this period, the source was detected at very high energies (VHEs; E > 100 GeV) by VERITAS with a significance of 8.9s and showed clear variability on timescales larger than months. In 2011, the source was found to be in a relatively bright state and a power-law fit to the differential photon spectrum yields a spectral index of 3.6 +/- 0.4(stat) +/- 0.3(syst) with an integral flux above 200 GeV of (8.0 +/- 0.9(stat) +/- 3.2(syst)) x 10(-12) cm(-2) s(-1). No short term variability could be detected during the bright state in 2011. Multi-wavelength data were obtained contemporaneously with the VERITAS observations in 2011 and cover optical (Super-LOTIS, MDM, Swift/UVOT), X-ray (Swift/XRT), and gamma-ray (Fermi-LAT) frequencies. These were used to construct the spectral energy distribution (SED) of B2 1215+30. A one-zone leptonic model is used to model the blazar emission and the results are compared to those of MAGIC from early 2011 and other VERITAS-detected blazars. The SED can be reproduced well with model parameters typical for VHE-detected BL Lac objects.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Aune, T. ; Behera, B. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Bird, R. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, X. ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rousselle, J. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sheidaei, F. ; Skole, C. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Stroh, M. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Theiling, M. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zajczyk, A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Abramowski, Attila ; Aharonian, Felix A. ; Benkhali, Faical Ait ; Akhperjanian, A. G. ; Angüner, Ekrem Oǧuzhan ; Anton, Gisela ; Balenderan, Shangkari ; Balzer, Arnim ; Barnacka, Anna ; Becherini, Yvonne ; Tjus, J. Becker ; Bernlöhr, K. ; Birsin, E. ; Bissaldi, E. ; Biteau, Jonathan ; Boettcher, Markus ; Boisson, Catherine ; Bolmont, J. ; Bordas, Pol ; Brucker, J. ; Brun, Francois ; Brun, Pierre ; Bulik, Tomasz ; Carrigan, Svenja ; Casanova, Sabrina ; Cerruti, M. ; Chadwick, Paula M. ; Chalme-Calvet, R. ; Chaves, Ryan C. G. ; Cheesebrough, A. ; Chretien, M. ; Colafrancesco, Sergio ; Cologna, Gabriele ; Conrad, Jan ; Couturier, C. ; Dalton, M. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Davids, I. D. ; Degrange, B. ; Deil, C. ; deWilt, P. ; Dickinson, H. J. ; Djannati-Ataï, A. ; Domainko, W. ; Dubus, G. ; Dutson, K. ; Dyks, J. ; Dyrda, M. ; Edwards, T. ; Egberts, Kathrin ; Eger, P. ; Espigat, P. ; Farnier, C. ; Fegan, S. ; Feinstein, F. ; Fernandes, M. V. ; Fernandez, D. ; Fiasson, A. ; Fontaine, G. ; Foerster, A. ; Fuessling, M. ; Gajdus, M. ; Gallant, Y. A. ; Garrigoux, T. ; Giavitto, G. ; Giebels, B. ; Glicenstein, J. F. ; Grondin, M. -H. ; Grudzinska, M. ; Haeffner, S. ; Hahn, J. ; Harris, J. ; Heinzelmann, G. ; Henri, G. ; Hermann, G. ; Hervet, O. ; Hillert, A. ; Hinton, James Anthony ; Hofmann, W. ; Hofverberg, P. ; Holler, M. ; Horns, D. ; Jacholkowska, A. ; Jahn, C. ; Jamrozy, M. ; Janiak, M. ; Jankowsky, F. ; Jung, I. ; Kastendieck, M. A. ; Katarzynski, K. ; Katz, U. ; Kaufmann, S. ; Khelifi, B. ; Kieffer, M. ; Klepser, S. ; Klochkov, D. ; Kluzniak, W. ; Kneiske, T. ; Kolitzus, D. ; Komin, Nu. ; Kosack, K. ; Krakau, S. ; Krayzel, F. ; Krueger, P. P. ; Laffon, H. ; Lamanna, G. ; Lefaucheur, J. ; Lemiere, A. ; Lemoine-Goumard, M. ; Lenain, J. -P. ; Lennarz, D. ; Lohse, T. ; Lopatin, A. ; Lu, C. -C. ; Marandon, V. ; Marcowith, Alexandre ; Marx, R. ; Maurin, G. ; Maxted, N. ; Mayer, M. ; McComb, T. J. L. ; Mehault, J. ; Menzler, U. ; Meyer, M. ; Moderski, R. ; Mohamed, M. ; Moulin, Emmanuel ; Murach, T. ; Naumann, C. L. ; de Naurois, M. ; Niemiec, J. ; Nolan, S. J. ; Oakes, L. ; Ohm, S. ; Wilhelmi, E. de Ona ; Opitz, B. ; Ostrowski, M. ; Oya, I. ; Panter, M. ; Parsons, R. D. ; Arribas, M. Paz ; Pekeur, N. W. ; Pelletier, G. ; Perez, J. ; Petrucci, P. -O. ; Peyaud, B. ; Pita, S. ; Poon, H. ; Puehlhofer, G. ; Punch, M. ; Quirrenbach, A. ; Raab, S. ; Raue, M. ; Reimer, A. ; Reimer, O. ; Renaud, M. ; de los Reyes, R. ; Rieger, F. ; Rob, L. ; Romoli, C. ; Rosier-Lees, S. ; Rowell, G. ; Rudak, B. ; Rulten, C. B. ; Sahakian, V. ; Sanchez, David M. ; Santangelo, A. ; Schlickeiser, R. ; Schuessler, F. ; Schulz, A. ; Schwanke, U. ; Schwarzburg, S. ; Schwemmer, S. ; Sol, H. ; Spengler, G. ; Spies, F. ; Stawarz, L. ; Steenkamp, R. ; Stegmann, Christian ; Stinzing, F. ; Stycz, K. ; Sushch, Iurii ; Szostek, A. ; Tavernet, J. -P. ; Tavernier, T. ; Taylor, A. M. ; Terrier, R. ; Tluczykont, M. ; Trichard, C. ; Valerius, K. ; van Eldik, C. ; Vasileiadis, G. ; Venter, C. ; Viana, A. ; Vincent, P. ; Voelk, H. J. ; Volpe, F. ; Vorster, M. ; Wagner, S. J. ; Wagner, P. ; Ward, M. ; Weidinger, M. ; Weitzel, Q. ; White, R. ; Wierzcholska, A. ; Willmann, P. ; Woernlein, A. ; Wouters, D. ; Zacharias, M. ; Zajczyk, A. ; Zdziarski, A. A. ; Zech, Alraune ; Zechlin, H. -S.
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.
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.
Ahnen, M. L. ; Ansoldi, S. ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Antoranz, P. ; Babic, A. ; Banerjee, B. ; Bangale, P. ; de Almeida, U. Barres ; Barrio, J. A. ; Gonzalez, J. Becerra ; Bednarek, W. ; Bernardini, E. ; Berti, A. ; Biasuzzi, B. ; Biland, A. ; Blanch, O. ; Bonnefoy, S. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Borracci, F. ; Bretz, T. ; Buson, S. ; Carosi, A. ; Chatterjee, A. ; Clavero, R. ; Colin, P. ; Colombo, E. ; Contreras, J. L. ; Cortina, J. ; Covino, S. ; Da Vela, P. ; Dazzi, F. ; De Angelis, A. ; De Lotto, B. ; Wilhelmi, E. de Ona ; Di Pierro, F. ; Doert, M. ; Dominguez, A. ; Prester, D. Dominis ; Dorner, D. ; Doro, M. ; Einecke, S. ; Glawion, D. Eisenacher ; Elsaesser, D. ; Engelkemeier, M. ; Ramazani, V. Fallah ; Fernandez-Barral, A. ; Fidalgo, D. ; Fonseca, M. V. ; Font, L. ; Frantzen, K. ; Fruck, C. ; Galindo, D. ; Lopez, R. J. Garcia ; Garczarczyk, M. ; Terrats, D. Garrido ; Gaug, M. ; Giammaria, P. ; Godinovic, N. ; Gonzalez Munoz, A. ; Gora, D. ; Guberman, D. ; Hadasch, D. ; Hahn, A. ; Hanabata, Y. ; Hayashida, M. ; Herrera, J. ; Hose, J. ; Hrupec, D. ; Hughes, G. ; Idec, W. ; Kodani, K. ; Konno, Y. ; Kubo, H. ; Kushida, J. ; La Barbera, A. ; Lelas, D. ; Lindfors, E. ; Lombardi, S. ; Longo, F. ; Lopez, M. ; Lopez-Coto, R. ; Majumdar, P. ; Makariev, M. ; Mallot, K. ; Maneva, G. ; Manganaro, M. ; Mannheim, K. ; Maraschi, L. ; Marcote, B. ; Mariotti, M. ; Martinez, M. ; Mazin, D. ; Menzel, U. ; Miranda, J. M. ; Mirzoyan, R. ; Moralejo, A. ; Moretti, E. ; Nakajima, D. ; Neustroev, V. ; Niedzwiecki, A. ; Rosillo, M. Nievas ; Nilsson, K. ; Nishijima, K. ; Noda, K. ; Nogues, L. ; Overkemping, A. ; Paiano, S. ; Palacio, J. ; Palatiello, M. ; Paneque, D. ; Paoletti, R. ; Paredes, J. M. ; Paredes-Fortuny, X. ; Pedaletti, G. ; Peresano, M. ; Perri, L. ; Persic, M. ; Poutanen, J. ; Moroni, P. G. Prada ; Prandini, E. ; Puljak, I. ; Reichardt, I. ; Rhode, W. ; Ribo, M. ; Rico, J. ; Rodriguez Garcia, J. ; Saito, T. ; Satalecka, K. ; Schroder, S. ; Schultz, C. ; Schweizer, T. ; Shore, S. N. ; Sillanpaa, A. ; Sitarek, J. ; Snidaric, I. ; Sobczynska, D. ; Stamerra, A. ; Steinbring, T. ; Strzys, M. ; Suric, T. ; Takalo, L. ; Tavecchio, F. ; Temnikov, P. ; Terzic, T. ; Tescaro, D. ; Teshima, M. ; Thaele, J. ; Torres, D. F. ; Toyama, T. ; Treves, A. ; Vanzo, G. ; Verguilov, V. ; Vovk, I. ; Ward, J. E. ; Will, M. ; Wu, M. H. ; Zanin, R. ; Abeysekara, A. U. ; Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickinson, H. J. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Flinders, A. ; Fortson, L. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; 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. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Razzaque, S. ; Villata, M. ; Raiteri, C. M. ; Aller, H. D. ; Aller, M. F. ; Larionov, V. M. ; Arkharov, A. A. ; Blinov, D. A. ; Efimova, N. V. ; Grishina, T. S. ; Hagen-Thorn, V. A. ; Kopatskaya, E. N. ; Larionova, L. V. ; Larionova, E. G. ; Morozova, D. A. ; Troitsky, I. S. ; Ligustri, R. ; Calcidese, P. ; Berdyugin, A. ; Kurtanidze, O. M. ; Nikolashvili, M. G. ; Kimeridze, G. N. ; Sigua, L. A. ; Kurtanidze, S. O. ; Chigladze, R. A. ; Chen, W. P. ; Koptelova, E. ; Sakamoto, T. ; Sadun, A. C. ; Moody, J. W. ; Pace, C. ; Pearson, R. ; Yatsu, Y. ; Mori, Y. ; Carraminyana, A. ; Carrasco, L. ; de la Fuente, E. ; Norris, J. P. ; Smith, P. S. ; Wehrle, A. ; Gurwell, M. A. ; Zook, A. ; Pagani, C. ; Perri, M. ; Capalbi, M. ; Cesarini, A. ; Krimm, H. A. ; Kovalev, Y. Y. ; Kovalev, Yu. A. ; Ros, E. ; Pushkarev, A. B. ; Lister, M. L. ; Sokolovsky, K. V. ; Kadler, M. ; Piner, G. ; Lahteenmaki, A. ; Tornikoski, M. ; Angelakis, E. ; Krichbaum, T. P. ; Nestoras, I. ; Fuhrmann, L. ; Zensus, J. A. ; Cassaro, P. ; Orlati, A. ; Maccaferri, G. ; Leto, P. ; Giroletti, M. ; Richards, J. L. ; Max-Moerbeck, W. ; Readhead, A. C. S.
Aims. We present an extensive study of the BL Lac object Mrk 501 based on a data set collected during the multi-instrument campaign spanning from 2009 March 15 to 2009 August 1, which includes, among other instruments, MAGIC, VERITAS, Whipple 10 m, and Fermi-LAT to cover the gamma-ray range from 0.1 GeV to 20 TeV; RXTE and Swift to cover wavelengths from UV to hard X-rays; and GASP-WEBT, which provides coverage of radio and optical wavelengths. Optical polarization measurements were provided for a fraction of the campaign by the Steward and St. Petersburg observatories. We evaluate the variability of the source and interband correlations, the gamma-ray flaring activity occurring in May 2009, and interpret the results within two synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scenarios. Methods. The multiband variability observed during the full campaign is addressed in terms of the fractional variability, and the possible correlations are studied by calculating the discrete correlation function for each pair of energy bands where the significance was evaluated with dedicated Monte Carlo simulations. The space of SSC model parameters is probed following a dedicated grid-scan strategy, allowing for a wide range of models to be tested and offering a study of the degeneracy of model-to-data agreement in the individual model parameters, hence providing a less biased interpretation than the "single-curve SSC model adjustment" typically reported in the literature. Results. We find an increase in the fractional variability with energy, while no significant interband correlations of flux changes are found on the basis of the acquired data set. The SSC model grid-scan shows that the flaring activity around May 22 cannot be modeled adequately with a one-zone SSC scenario (using an electron energy distribution with two breaks), while it can be suitably described within a two (independent) zone SSC scenario. Here, one zone is responsible for the quiescent emission from the averaged 4.5-month observing period, while the other one, which is spatially separated from the first, dominates the flaring emission occurring at X-rays and very-high-energy (> 100 GeV, VHE) gamma-rays. The flaring activity from May 1, which coincides with a rotation of the electric vector polarization angle (EVPA), cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by either a one-zone or a two-independent-zone SSC model, yet this is partially affected by the lack of strictly simultaneous observations and the presence of large flux changes on sub-hour timescales (detected at VHE gamma rays). Conclusions. The higher variability in the VHE emission and lack of correlation with the X-ray emission indicate that, at least during the 4.5-month observing campaign in 2009, the highest energy (and most variable) electrons that are responsible for the VHE gamma rays do not make a dominant contribution to the similar to 1 keV emission. Alternatively, there could be a very variable component contributing to the VHE gamma-ray emission in addition to that coming from the SSC scenario. The studies with our dedicated SSC grid-scan show that there is some degeneracy in both the one-zone and the two-zone SSC scenarios probed, with several combinations of model parameters yielding a similar model-to-data agreement, and some parameters better constrained than others. The observed gamma-ray flaring activity, with the EVPA rotation coincident with the first gamma-ray flare, resembles those reported previously for low frequency peaked blazars, hence suggesting that there are many similarities in the flaring mechanisms of blazars with different jet properties.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Behera, B. ; Berger, K. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Bouvier, A. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dumm, J. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Ratliff, G. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sheidaei, F. ; Skole, C. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Zajczyk, A. ; Zitzer, B.
We present the results of a multiwavelength observational campaign on the TeV binary system LS I +61 degrees 303 with the VERITAS telescope array (>200 GeV), Fermi-LAT (0.3-300 GeV), and Swift/XRT (2-10 keV). The data were taken from 2011 December through 2012 January and show a strong detection in all three wavebands. During this period VERITAS obtained 24.9 hr of quality selected livetime data in which LS I +61 degrees 303 was detected at a statistical significance of 11.9 sigma. These TeV observations show evidence for nightly variability in the TeV regime at a post-trial significance of 3.6 sigma. The combination of the simultaneously obtained TeV and X-ray fluxes do not demonstrate any evidence for a correlation between emission in the two bands. For the first time since the launch of the Fermi satellite in 2008, this TeV detection allows the construction of a detailed MeV-TeV spectral energy distribution from LS I +61 degrees 303. This spectrum shows a distinct cutoff in emission near 4 GeV, with emission seen by the VERITAS observations following a simple power-law above 200 GeV. This feature in the spectrum of LS I +61 degrees 303, obtained from overlapping observations with Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, may indicate that there are two distinct populations of accelerated particles producing the GeV and TeV emission.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Boettcher, Markus ; Bouvier, A. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; 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. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; 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 ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Skole, C. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Theiling, M. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
We report on the VERITAS observations of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1959+650 in the period 2007-2011. This source is detected at TeV energies by VERITAS at 16.4 standard deviation (sigma) significance in 7.6 hr of observation in a low flux state. A multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) is constructed from contemporaneous data from VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE PCA, and Swift UVOT. Swift XRT data is not included in the SED due to a lack of simultaneous observations with VERITAS. In contrast to the orphan gamma-ray flare exhibited by this source in 2002, the X-ray flux of the source is found to vary by an order of magnitude, while other energy regimes exhibit less variable emission. A quasi-equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton model with an additional external radiation field is used to describe three SEDs corresponding to the lowest, highest, and average X-ray states. The variation in the X-ray spectrum is modeled by changing the electron injection spectral index, with minor adjustments of the kinetic luminosity in electrons. This scenario produces small-scale flux variability of the order of less than or similar to 2 in the high energy (E > 1MeV) and very high energy (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray regimes, which is corroborated by the Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and Whipple 10 m telescope light curves.