Institut für Physik und Astronomie
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Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Gillanders, G. ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, M. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Staszak, D. ; Sushch, I. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B.
Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs) at GeV-TeV energies are a unique probe of our local Galactic neighborhood. CREs lose energy rapidly via synchrotron radiation and inverse-Compton scattering processes while propagating within the Galaxy, and these losses limit their propagation distance. For electrons with TeV energies, the limit is on the order of a kiloparsec. Within that distance, there are only a few known astrophysical objects capable of accelerating electrons to such high energies. It is also possible that the CREs are the products of the annihilation or decay of heavy dark matter (DM) particles. VERITAS, an array of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes in southern Arizona, is primarily utilized for gamma-ray astronomy but also simultaneously collects CREs during all observations. We describe our methods of identifying CREs in VERITAS data and present an energy spectrum, extending from 300 GeV to 5 TeV, obtained from approximately 300 hours of observations. A single power-law fit is ruled out in VERITAS data. We find that the spectrum of CREs is consistent with a broken power law, with a break energy at 710 +/- 40(stat) +/- 140(syst) GeV.
Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Hutten, M. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Wissel, S. A. ; Zitzer, B.
We present a new measurement of the energy spectrum of iron nuclei in cosmic rays from 20 TeV to 500 TeV; The measurement makes use of a template-based analysis method, which, for the first time, is applied to the energy reconstruction of iron-induced air showers recorded by the VERITAS array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The event selection makes use of the direct Cherenkov light which is emitted by charged particles before the first interaction, as well as other parameters related to the shape of the recorded air shower images. The measured spectrum is well described by a power law dF/dE = f(0) center dot (E/E-0)(-gamma) over the full energy range, with gamma = 2.82 +/- 0.30(stat)(-0.27)(+0.24)(syst) and f(0) = (4.82 +/- 0.98(stat)(-2.70)(+2.12)(syst)) x 10(-7) m(-2) s(-1) TeV-1 sr(-1) at E-0 = 50 TeV, with no indication of a cutoff or spectral break. The measured differential flux is compatible with previous results, with improved statistical uncertainty at the highest energies.
A Search for Pulsed Very High-energy Gamma-Rays from 13 Young Pulsars in Archival VERITAS Data
(2019)
Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Chromey, A. J. ; Cui, Wei ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, Lucy ; Furniss, Amy ; Gent, A. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, David ; Hassan, T. ; Hervet, Olivier ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, Adam Nepomuk ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Sadeh, I ; Santander, Marcos ; Scott, S. S. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Sushch, Iurii ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B.
We conduct a search for periodic emission in the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray band (E > 100 GeV) from a total of 13 pulsars in an archival VERITAS data set with a total exposure of over 450 hr. The set of pulsars includes many of the brightest young gamma-ray pulsars visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The data analysis resulted in nondetections of pulsed VHE gamma-rays from each pulsar. Upper limits on a potential VHE gamma-ray flux are derived at the 95% confidence level above three energy thresholds using two methods. These are the first such searches for pulsed VHE emission from each of the pulsars, and the obtained limits constrain a possible flux component manifesting at VHEs as is seen for the Crab pulsar.
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.
Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Brill, A. ; Brose, Robert ; Chromey, A. J. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Giuri, C. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, D. ; Halpern, J. P. ; Hassan, Tarek ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Joyce, Amy M. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Krause, M. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, Gernot ; Matthews, N. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Nievas-Rosillos, M. ; Ong, R. A. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, John ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, Iftach ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Sushch, Iurii ; Wakely, S. P. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, David A. ; Williamson, T. J.
The angular size of a star is a critical factor in determining its basic properties1. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters is difficult: at interstellar distances stars are generally too small to resolve by any individual imaging telescope. This fundamental limitation can be overcome by studying the diffraction pattern in the shadow cast when an asteroid occults a star2, but only when the photometric uncertainty is smaller than the noise added by atmospheric scintillation3. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes used for particle astrophysics observations have not generally been exploited for optical astronomy due to the modest optical quality of the mirror surface. However, their large mirror area makes them well suited for such high-time-resolution precision photometry measurements4. Here we report two occultations of stars observed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)5 Cherenkov telescopes with millisecond sampling, from which we are able to provide a direct measurement of the occulted stars’ angular diameter at the ≤0.1 mas scale. This is a resolution never achieved before with optical measurements and represents an order of magnitude improvement over the equivalent lunar occultation method6. We compare the resulting stellar radius with empirically derived estimates from temperature and brightness measurements, confirming the latter can be biased for stars with ambiguous stellar classifications.