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DISCOVERY OF TeV GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM CTA 1 BY VERITAS (2013)

Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Dwarkadas, V. V. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Godambe, S. ; Gotthelf, E. V. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kargaltsev, O. ; Karlsson, N. ; 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, R. ; Nelson, T. ; de Bhroithe, A. O&rsquo ; Faolain, ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, M. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Roberts, M. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Slane, P. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, I. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.

We report the discovery of TeV gamma-ray emission coincident with the shell-type radio supernova remnant (SNR) CTA 1 using the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory. The source, VER J0006+729, was detected as a 6.5 standard deviation excess over background and shows an extended morphology, approximated by a two-dimensional Gaussian of semimajor (semiminor) axis 0.degrees 30 (0.degrees 24) and a centroid 5’ from the Fermi gamma-ray pulsar PSR J0007+7303 and its X-ray pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The photon spectrum is well described by a power-law dN/dE = N-0(E/3 TeV)(-Gamma), with a differential spectral index of Gamma = 2.2 +/- 0.2(stat) +/- 0.3(sys), and normalization N-0 = (9.1 +/- 1.3(stat) +/- 1.7(sys)) x 10(-14) cm(-2) s(-1) TeV-1. The integral flux, F-gamma = 4.0 x 10(-12) erg cm(-2) s(-1) above 1 TeV, corresponds to 0.2% of the pulsar spin-down power at 1.4 kpc. The energetics, colocation with the SNR, and the relatively small extent of the TeV emission strongly argue for the PWN origin of the TeV photons. We consider the origin of the TeV emission in CTA 1.

Rapid TeV Gamma-Ray flaring of bl lacertae (2013)

Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Maier, G. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nelson, T. ; de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, I. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Jorstad, S. G. ; MacDonald, N. R. ; Marscher, A. P. ; Smith, P. S. ; Walker, R. C. ; Hovatta, T. ; Richards, J. ; Max-Moerbeck, W. ; Readhead, A. ; Lister, M. L. ; Kovalev, Y. Y. ; Pushkarev, A. B. ; Gurwell, M. A. ; Lahteenmaki, A. ; Nieppola, E. ; Tornikoski, M. ; Jarvela, E.

We report on the detection of a very rapid TeV gamma-ray flare from BL Lacertae on 2011 June 28 with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). The flaring activity was observed during a 34.6 minute exposure, when the integral flux above 200 GeV reached (3.4 +/- 0.6) x 10(-6) photons m(-2) s(-1), roughly 125% of the Crab Nebula flux measured by VERITAS. The light curve indicates that the observations missed the rising phase of the flare but covered a significant portion of the decaying phase. The exponential decay time was determined to be 13 +/- 4 minutes, making it one of the most rapid gamma-ray flares seen from a TeV blazar. The gamma-ray spectrum of BL Lacertae during the flare was soft, with a photon index of 3.6 +/- 0.4, which is in agreement with the measurement made previously by MAGIC in a lower flaring state. Contemporaneous radio observations of the source with the Very Long Baseline Array revealed the emergence of a new, superluminal component from the core around the time of the TeV gamma-ray flare, accompanied by changes in the optical polarization angle. Changes in flux also appear to have occurred at optical, UV, and GeV gamma-ray wavelengths at the time of the flare, although they are difficult to quantify precisely due to sparse coverage. A strong flare was seen at radio wavelengths roughly four months later, which might be related to the gamma-ray flaring activities. We discuss the implications of these multiwavelength results.

Veritas observations of the nova in V407 CYGNI (2012)

Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Decerprit, G. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Dwarkadas, V. V. ; Errando, M. ; 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. ; 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. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nunez, P. D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, M. ; 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. ; Skole, C. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, I. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.

We report on very high energy (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray observations of V407 Cygni, a symbiotic binary that underwent a nova outburst producing 0.1-10 GeV gamma rays during 2010 March 10-26. Observations were made with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System during 2010 March 19-26 at relatively large zenith angles due to the position of V407 Cyg. An improved reconstruction technique for large zenith angle observations is presented and used to analyze the data. We do not detect V407 Cygni and place a differential upper limit on the flux at 1.6 TeV of 2.3 x 10(-12) erg cm(-2) s(-1) (at the 95% confidence level). When considered jointly with data from Fermi-LAT, this result places limits on the acceleration of very high energy particles in the nova.

SEARCH FOR A CORRELATION BETWEEN VERY-HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA RAYS AND GIANT RADIO PULSES IN THE CRAB PULSAR (2012)

Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; LeBohec, S. ; Lee, K. ; Lyutikov, M. ; 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. ; Pohl, M. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schrödter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sentuerk, G. D. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, I. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wagner, R. G. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Kondratiev, V.

We present the results of a joint observational campaign between the Green Bank radio telescope and the VERITAS gamma-ray telescope, which searched for a correlation between the emission of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays (E-gamma > 150 GeV) and giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar at 8.9 GHz. A total of 15,366 GRPs were recorded during 11.6 hr of simultaneous observations, which were made across four nights in 2008 December and in 2009 November and December. We searched for an enhancement of the pulsed gamma-ray emission within time windows placed around the arrival time of the GRP events. In total, eight different time windows with durations ranging from 0.033 ms to 72 s were positioned at three different locations relative to the GRP to search for enhanced gamma-ray emission which lagged, led, or was concurrent with, the GRP event. Furthermore, we performed separate searches on main pulse GRPs and interpulse GRPs and on the most energetic GRPs in our data sample. No significant enhancement of pulsed VHE emission was found in any of the preformed searches. We set upper limits of 5-10 times the average VHE flux of the Crab pulsar on the flux simultaneous with interpulse GRPs on single-rotation-period timescales. On similar to 8 s timescales around interpulse GRPs, we set an upper limit of 2-3 times the average VHE flux. Within the framework of recent models for pulsed VHE emission from the Crab pulsar, the expected VHE-GRP emission correlations are below the derived limits.

Veritas observations of six bright, hard-spectrum fermi-lat blazars (2012)

Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Boettcher, M. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lee, K. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nelson, T. ; de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Fortin, P. ; Horan, D. ; Fumagalli, M. ; Kaplan, K. ; Prochaska, J. X.

We report on VERITAS very high energy (VHE; E >= 100 GeV) observations of six blazars selected from the Fermi Large Area Telescope First Source Catalog (1FGL). The gamma-ray emission from 1FGL sources was extrapolated up to the VHE band, taking gamma-ray absorption by the extragalactic background light into account. This allowed the selection of six bright, hard-spectrum blazars that were good candidate TeV emitters. Spectroscopic redshift measurements were attempted with the Keck Telescope for the targets without Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic data. No VHE emission is detected during the observations of the six sources described here. Corresponding TeV upper limits are presented, along with contemporaneous Fermi observations and non-concurrent Swift UVOT and X-Ray Telescope data. The blazar broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are assembled and modeled with a single-zone synchrotron self-Compton model. The SED built for each of the six blazars shows a synchrotron peak bordering between the intermediate-and high-spectrum-peak classifications, with four of the six resulting in particle-dominated emission regions.

The 2010 very high energy gamma-ray flare and 10 years ofmulti-wavelength oservations of M 87 (2012)

Abramowski, Attila ; Acero, F. ; Aharonian, Felix ; Akhperjanian, A. G. ; Anton, Gisela ; Balzer, A. ; Barnacka, A. ; de Almeida, U. Barres ; Becherini, Y. ; Becker, J. ; Behera, B. ; Bernloehr, K. ; Birsin, E. ; Biteau, J. ; Bochow, A. ; Boisson, C. ; Bolmont, J. ; Bordas, P. ; Brucker, J. ; Brun, F. ; Brun, P. ; Bulik, T. ; Buesching, I. ; Carrigan, S. ; Casanova, S. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chadwick, P. M. ; Charbonnier, A. ; Chaves, R. C. G. ; Cheesebrough, A. ; Clapson, A. C. ; Coignet, G. ; Cologna, G. ; Conrad, J. ; Dalton, M. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Davids, I. D. ; Degrange, B. ; Deil, C. ; Dickinson, H. J. ; Djannati-Ataï, A. ; Domainko, W. ; Drury, L. O'C. ; Dubus, G. ; Dutson, K. ; Dyks, J. ; Dyrda, M. ; Egberts, K. ; Eger, P. ; Espigat, P. ; Fallon, L. ; Farnier, C. ; Fegan, S. ; Feinstein, F. ; Fernandes, M. V. ; Fiasson, A. ; Fontaine, G. ; Foerster, A. ; Fuessling, M. ; Gallant, Y. A. ; Gast, H. ; Gerard, L. ; Gerbig, D. ; Giebels, B. ; Glicenstein, J. F. ; Glueck, B. ; Goret, P. ; Goering, D. ; Haeffner, S. ; Hague, J. D. ; Hampf, D. ; Hauser, M. ; Heinz, S. ; Heinzelmann, G. ; Henri, G. ; Hermann, G. ; Hinton, J. A. ; Hoffmann, A. ; Hofmann, W. ; Hofverberg, P. ; Holler, M. ; Horns, D. ; Jacholkowska, A. ; de Jager, O. C. ; Jahn, C. ; Jamrozy, M. ; Jung, I. ; Kastendieck, M. A. ; Katarzynski, K. ; Katz, U. ; Kaufmann, S. ; Keogh, D. ; Khangulyan, D. ; Khelifi, B. ; Klochkov, D. ; Kluzniak, W. ; Kneiske, T. ; Komin, Nu. ; Kosack, K. ; Kossakowski, R. ; Laffon, H. ; Lamanna, G. ; Lennarz, D. ; Lohse, T. ; Lopatin, A. ; Lu, C. -C. ; Marandon, V. ; Marcowith, A. ; Masbou, J. ; Maurin, D. ; Maxted, N. ; Mayer, M. ; McComb, T. J. L. ; Medina, M. C. ; Mehault, J. ; Moderski, R. ; Moulin, E. ; Naumann, C. L. ; Naumann-Godo, M. ; de Naurois, M. ; Nedbal, D. ; Nekrassov, D. ; Nguyen, N. ; Nicholas, B. ; Niemiec, J. ; Nolan, S. J. ; Ohm, S. ; Wilhelmi, E. de Ona ; Opitz, B. ; Ostrowski, M. ; Oya, I. ; Panter, M. ; Arribas, M. Paz ; Pedaletti, G. ; Pelletier, G. ; Petrucci, P. -O. ; Pita, S. ; Puehlhofer, G. ; Punch, M. ; Quirrenbach, A. ; Raue, M. ; Rayner, S. M. ; Reimer, A. ; Reimer, O. ; Renaud, M. ; de los Reyes, R. ; Rieger, F. ; Ripken, J. ; Rob, L. ; Rosier-Lees, S. ; Rowell, G. ; Rudak, B. ; Rulten, C. B. ; Ruppel, J. ; Sahakian, V. ; Sanchez, D. A. ; Santangelo, A. ; Schlickeiser, R. ; Schoeck, F. M. ; Schulz, A. ; Schwanke, U. ; Schwarzburg, S. ; Schwemmer, S. ; Sheidaei, F. ; Skilton, J. L. ; Sol, H. ; Spengler, G. ; Stawarz, L. ; Steenkamp, R. ; Stegmann, C. ; Stinzing, F. ; Stycz, K. ; Sushch, I. ; Szostek, A. ; Tavernet, J. -P. ; Terrier, R. ; Tluczykont, M. ; Valerius, K. ; van Eldik, C. ; Vasileiadis, G. ; Venter, C. ; Vialle, J. P. ; Viana, A. ; Vincent, P. ; Voelk, H. J. ; Volpe, F. ; Vorobiov, S. ; Vorster, M. ; Wagner, S. J. ; Ward, M. ; White, R. ; Wierzcholska, A. ; Zacharias, M. ; Zajczyk, A. ; Zdziarski, A. A. ; Zech, A. ; Zechlin, H. -S. ; Aleksic, J. ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Antoranz, P. ; Backes, M. ; Barrio, J. A. ; Bastieri, D. ; Becerra Gonzalez, J. ; Bednarek, W. ; Berdyugin, A. ; Berger, K. ; Bernardini, E. ; Biland, A. ; Blanch, O. ; Bock, R. K. ; Boller, A. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Tridon, D. Borla ; Braun, I. ; Bretz, T. ; Canellas, A. ; Carmona, E. ; Carosi, A. ; Colin, P. ; Colombo, E. ; Contreras, J. L. ; Cortina, J. ; Cossio, L. ; Covino, S. ; Dazzi, F. ; De Angelis, A. ; De Cea del Pozo, E. ; De Lotto, B. ; Delgado Mendez, C. ; Diago Ortega, A. ; Doert, M. ; Dominguez, A. ; Prester, Dijana Dominis ; Dorner, D. ; Doro, M. ; Elsaesser, D. ; Ferenc, D. ; Fonseca, M. V. ; Font, L. ; Fruck, C. ; Garcia Lopez, R. J. ; Garczarczyk, M. ; Garrido, D. ; Giavitto, G. ; Godinovic, N. ; Hadasch, D. ; Haefner, D. ; Herrero, A. ; Hildebrand, D. ; Hoehne-Moench, D. ; Hose, J. ; Hrupec, D. ; Huber, B. ; Jogler, T. ; Klepser, S. ; Kraehenbuehl, T. ; Krause, J. ; La Barbera, A. ; Lelas, D. ; Leonardo, E. ; Lindfors, E. ; Lombardi, S. ; Lopez, M. ; Lorenz, E. ; Makariev, M. ; 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. ; Munar, P. ; Nieto, D. ; Nilsson, K. ; Orito, R. ; Oya, I. ; Paneque, D. ; Paoletti, R. ; Pardo, S. ; Paredes, J. M. ; Partini, S. ; Pasanen, M. ; Pauss, F. ; Perez-Torres, M. A. ; Persic, M. ; Peruzzo, L. ; Pilia, M. ; Pochon, J. ; Prada, F. ; Moroni, P. G. Prada ; Prandini, E. ; Puljak, I. ; Reichardt, I. ; Reinthal, R. ; Rhode, W. ; Ribo, M. ; Rico, J. ; Ruegamer, S. ; Saggion, A. ; Saito, K. ; Saito, T. Y. ; Salvati, M. ; Satalecka, K. ; Scalzotto, V. ; Scapin, V. ; Schultz, C. ; Schweizer, T. ; Shayduk, M. ; Shore, S. N. ; Sillanpaa, A. ; Sitarek, J. ; Sobczynska, D. ; Spanier, F. ; Spiro, S. ; Stamerra, A. ; Steinke, B. ; Storz, J. ; Strah, N. ; Suric, T. ; Takalo, L. ; Takami, H. ; Tavecchio, F. ; Temnikov, P. ; Terzic, T. ; Tescaro, D. ; Teshima, M. ; Thom, M. ; Tibolla, O. ; Torres, D. F. ; Treves, A. ; Vankov, H. ; Vogler, P. ; Wagner, R. M. ; Weitzel, Q. ; Zabalza, V. ; Zandanel, F. ; Zanin, R. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Hui, C. M. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; LeBohec, S. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nunez, P. D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rose, H. J. ; Ruppel, J. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sentuerk, G. D. ; Telezhinsky, I. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; de Almeida, U. Barres ; Cara, M. ; Casadio, C. ; Cheung, C. C. ; McConville, W. ; Davies, F. ; Doi, A. ; Giovannini, G. ; Giroletti, M. ; Hada, K. ; Hardee, P. ; Harris, D. E. ; Junor, W. ; Kino, M. ; Lee, N. P. ; Ly, C. ; Madrid, J. ; Massaro, F. ; Mundell, C. G. ; Nagai, H. ; Perlman, E. S. ; Steele, I. A. ; Walker, R. C. ; Wood, D. L.

The giant radio galaxy M 87 with its proximity (16 Mpc), famous jet, and very massive black hole ((3-6) x 10(9) M-circle dot) provides a unique opportunity to investigate the origin of very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission generated in relativistic outflows and the surroundings of supermassive black holes. M 87 has been established as a VHE gamma-ray emitter since 2006. The VHE gamma-ray emission displays strong variability on timescales as short as a day. In this paper, results from a joint VHE monitoring campaign on M 87 by the MAGIC and VERITAS instruments in 2010 are reported. During the campaign, a flare at VHE was detected triggering further observations at VHE (H.E.S.S.), X-rays (Chandra), and radio (43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array, VLBA). The excellent sampling of the VHE gamma-ray light curve enables one to derive a precise temporal characterization of the flare: the single, isolated flare is well described by a two-sided exponential function with significantly different flux rise and decay times of tau(rise)(d) = (1.69 +/- 0.30) days and tau(decay)(d) = (0.611 +/- 0.080) days, respectively. While the overall variability pattern of the 2010 flare appears somewhat different from that of previous VHE flares in 2005 and 2008, they share very similar timescales (similar to day), peak fluxes (Phi(>0.35 TeV) similar or equal to (1-3) x 10(-11) photons cm(-2) s(-1)), and VHE spectra. VLBA radio observations of 43 GHz of the inner jet regions indicate no enhanced flux in 2010 in contrast to observations in 2008, where an increase of the radio flux of the innermost core regions coincided with a VHE flare. On the other hand, Chandra X-ray observations taken similar to 3 days after the peak of the VHE gamma-ray emission reveal an enhanced flux from the core (flux increased by factor similar to 2; variability timescale <2 days). The long-term (2001-2010) multi-wavelength (MWL) light curve of M 87, spanning from radio to VHE and including data from Hubble Space Telescope, Liverpool Telescope, Very Large Array, and European VLBI Network, is used to further investigate the origin of the VHE gamma-ray emission. No unique, common MWL signature of the three VHE flares has been identified. In the outer kiloparsec jet region, in particular in HST-1, no enhanced MWL activity was detected in 2008 and 2010, disfavoring it as the origin of the VHE flares during these years. Shortly after two of the three flares (2008 and 2010), the X-ray core was observed to be at a higher flux level than its characteristic range (determined from more than 60 monitoring observations: 2002-2009). In 2005, the strong flux dominance of HST-1 could have suppressed the detection of such a feature. Published models for VHE gamma-ray emission from M 87 are reviewed in the light of the new data.

Veritas observations of day-scale flaring of M 87 in 2010 April (2012)

Aliu, E. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Duke, C. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Guenette, R. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Hughes, G. ; Hui, C. M. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Imran, A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; LeBohec, S. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nunez, P. D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pichel, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rose, H. J. ; Ruppel, J. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sentuerk, G. D. ; Skole, C. ; Staszak, D. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.

VERITAS has been monitoring the very-high-energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray activity of the radio galaxy M87 since 2007. During 2008, flaring activity on a timescale of a few days was observed with a peak flux of (0.70 +/- 0.16) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) at energies above 350 GeV. In 2010 April, VERITAS detected a flare from M 87 with peak flux of (2.71 +/- 0.68) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) for E > 350 GeV. The source was observed for six consecutive nights during the flare, resulting in a total of 21 hr of good-quality data. The most rapid flux variation occurred on the trailing edge of the flare with an exponential flux decay time of 0.90(-0.15)(+0.22) days. The shortest detected exponential rise time is three times as long, at 2.87(+1.65)(-0.99) days. The quality of the data sample is such that spectral analysis can be performed for three periods: rising flux, peak flux, and falling flux. The spectra obtained are consistent with power-law forms. The spectral index at the peak of the flare is equal to 2.19 +/- 0.07. There is some indication that the spectrum is softer in the falling phase of the flare than the peak phase, with a confidence level corresponding to 3.6 standard deviations. We discuss the implications of these results for the acceleration and cooling rates of VHE electrons in M 87 and the constraints they provide on the physical size of the emitting region.

Gamma-ray observations of the Be/Pulsar binary 1A 0535+262 during a Giant X-Ray outburst (2011)

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.

Disovery of high-energy and very high energy gamma-ray emission from the blazar RBS 0413 (2012)

Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Boettcher, M. ; 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, I. ; 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.

Veritas observations of gamma-ray bursts detected by swift (2011)

Acciari, V. A. ; Aliu, E. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bradbury, S. M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Christiansen, J. L. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Duke, C. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Guenette, R. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Hui, C. M. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Jackson, D. J. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Newbold, M. D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, Martin Karl Wilhelm ; 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. ; Swordy, S. P. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Weisgarber, T. ; Williams, D. A. ; Wood, M.

We present the results of 16 Swift-triggered Gamma-ray burst (GRB) follow-up observations taken with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) telescope array from 2007 January to 2009 June. The median energy threshold and response time of these observations were 260 GeV and 320 s, respectively. Observations had an average duration of 90 minutes. Each burst is analyzed independently in two modes: over the whole duration of the observations and again over a shorter timescale determined by the maximum VERITAS sensitivity to a burst with a t(-1.5) time profile. This temporal model is characteristic of GRB afterglows with high-energy, long-lived emission that have been detected by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi satellite. No significant very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission was detected and upper limits above the VERITAS threshold energy are calculated. The VERITAS upper limits are corrected for gamma-ray extinction by the extragalactic background light and interpreted in the context of the keV emission detected by Swift. For some bursts the VHE emission must have less power than the keV emission, placing constraints on inverse Compton models of VHE emission.

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