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Arlen, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Arlen, T..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Detection of the Crab Nebula with the 9.7 m prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope

The Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) is a telescope concept proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. It employs a dual-mirror optical design to remove comatic aberrations over an 8° field of view, and a high-density silicon photomultiplier camera (with a pixel resolution of 4 arcmin) to record Cherenkov emission from cosmic ray and gamma-ray initiated particle cascades in the atmosphere. Additionally, the prototype SCT (pSCT), comprising a 9.7 m diameter primary mirror and a partially instrumented camera with 1536 pixels, has been constructed at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. The telescope was inaugurated in January 2019, with commissioning continuing throughout 2019. We describe the first campaign of observations with the pSCT, conducted in January and February of 2020, and demonstrate the detection of gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula with a statistical significance of 8.6σ.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Very high energy outburst of Markarian 501 in May 2009

We observed the very high energy (VHE; E> 100 GeV) blazar Markarian 501 between April 17 and May 5 (MJD 54 938–54 956), 2009, as part of an extensive multi-wavelength campaign from radio to VHE. Strong VHE γ-ray activity was detected on May 1st with Whipple and VERITAS, when the flux (E> 400 GeV) increased to 10 times the pre-flare baseline flux (3.9 × 10 -11 ph cm -2 s -1 ), reaching five times the flux of the Crab Nebula. Furthermore, this coincided with a decrease in the optical polarization and a rotation of the polarization angle by 15°. This VHE flare showed a fast flux variation with an increase of a factor ~4 in 25 min, and a falling time of ~50 min. We also present the observations of the quiescent state previous to the flare and of the high state after the flare, focusing on the flux and spectral variability from Whipple, VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE, and Swift combined with optical and radio data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Very High Energy Outburst of Markarian 501 in May 2009

The very high energy (VHE; E great than 100 GeV) blazar Markarian 501 was observed between April 17 and May 5 (MJD 5493854956), 2009, as part of an extensive multi-wavelength campaign from radio to VHE. Strong VHE -ray activity was detected on May 1st with Whipple and VERITAS, when the flux (E greater than 400 GeV) increased to 10 times the pre-flare baseline flux (3.9 x 10(exp -11 ph cm(exp -2 S(exp -1), reaching five times the flux of the Crab Nebula. This coincided with a decrease in the optical polarization and a rotation of the polarization angle by 15deg. This VHE flare showed a fast flux variation with an increase of a factor approximately 4 in 25 min, and a falling time of approximately 50 min. We present the observations of the quiescent state previous to the flare and of the high state after the flare, focusing on the flux and spectral variability from Whipple, VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE, and Swift combined with optical and radio data.

BL Lacertae objects: individual: Mrk 501 / gamma r↗
DOE OSTI2014

INVESTIGATING BROADBAND VARIABILITY OF THE TeV BLAZAR 1ES 1959+650

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.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Test of models of the cosmic infrared background with multiwavelength observations of the blazar 1ES 1218+30.4 in 2009

We present the results of a multi-wavelength campaign targeting the blazar 1ES 1218+30.4 with observations with the 1.3 m McGraw-Hill optical telescope, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, and the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). The RXTE and VERITAS observations were spread over a 13 day period and revealed clear evidence for flux variability, and a strong X-ray and γ-ray flare on 2009 February 26 (MJD 54888). The campaign delivered a well-sampled broadband energy spectrum with simultaneous RXTE and VERITAS very high energy (VHE, >100 GeV) observations, as well as contemporaneous optical and Fermi observations. The 1ES 1218+30.4 broadband energy spectrum—the first with simultaneous X-ray and VHE γ-ray energy spectra—is of particular interest as the source is located at a high cosmological redshift for a VHE source (z = 0.182), leading to strong absorption of VHE gamma rays by photons from the optical/infrared extragalactic background light (EBL) via γ{sub VHE} + γ{sub EBL} → e {sup +} e {sup –} pair-creation processes. We model the data with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission model and with the extragalactic absorption predicted by several recent EBL models. We find that the observations are consistent with the SSC scenario and all the EBL models considered in this work. We discuss observational and theoretical avenues to improve on the EBL constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A three-year multi-wavelength study of the very-high-energy γ-ray blazar 1ES 0229+200

The high-frequency-peaked BL Lacertae object 1ES 0229+200 is a relatively distant (z = 0.1396), hard-spectrum (Γ ∼ 2.5), very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) emitting γ-ray blazar. VHE measurements of this active galactic nucleus have been used to place constraints on the intensity of the extragalactic background light and the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF). A multi-wavelength study of this object centered around VHE observations by Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is presented. This study obtained, over a period of three years, an 11.7 standard deviation detection and an average integral flux F(E > 300 GeV) = (23.3 ± 2.8{sub stat} ± 5.8{sub sys}) × 10{sup –9} photons m{sup –2} s{sup –1}, or 1.7% of the Crab Nebula's flux (assuming the Crab Nebula spectrum measured by H.E.S.S). Supporting observations from Swift and RXTE are analyzed. The Swift observations are combined with previously published Fermi observations and the VHE measurements to produce an overall spectral energy distribution which is then modeled assuming one-zone synchrotron-self-Compton emission. The χ{sup 2} probability of the TeV flux being constant is 1.6%. This, when considered in combination with measured variability in the X-ray band, and the demonstrated variability of many TeV blazars, suggests that the use of blazars such as 1ES 0229+200 for IGMF studies may not be straightforward and challenges models that attribute hard TeV spectra to secondary γ-ray production along the line of sight.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Long term observations of B2 1215+30 with veritas

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 8.9σ 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{sub stat} ± 0.3{sub syst} with an integral flux above 200 GeV of (8.0 ± 0.9{sub stat} ± 3.2{sub syst}) × 10{sup –12} cm{sup –2} s{sup –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.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Observation of Markarian 421 in TeV Gamma Rays Over a 14-Year Time Span

The variability of the blazar Markarian 421 in TeV gamma rays over a 14-year time period has been explored with theWhipple 10 m telescope. It is shown that the dynamic range of its flux variations is large and similar to that in X-rays. A correlation between the X-ray and TeV energy bands is observed during some bright flares and when the complete data sets are binned on long timescales. The main database consists of 878.4 hours of observation with theWhipple telescope, spread over 783 nights. The peak energy response of the telescope was 400 GeV with 20% uncertainty. This is the largest database of any TeV-emitting active galactic nucleus (AGN) and hence was used to explore the variability profile of Markarian 421. The time-averaged flux from Markarian 421 over this period was 0.446+/-0.008 Crab flux units. The flux exceeded 10 Crab flux units on three separate occasions. For the 2000-2001 season the average flux reached 1.86 Crab units, while in the 1996-1997 season the average flux was only 0.23 Crab units.

Observation↗
DOE OSTI2013

DISCOVERY OF A NEW TeV GAMMA-RAY SOURCE: VER J0521+211

We report the detection of a new TeV gamma-ray source, VER J0521+211, based on observations made with the VERITAS imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Array. These observations were motivated by the discovery of a cluster of >30 GeV photons in the first year of Fermi Large Area Telescope observations. VER J0521+211 is relatively bright at TeV energies, with a mean photon flux of (1.93 ± 0.13{sub stat} ± 0.78{sub sys}) × 10{sup –11} cm{sup –2} s{sup –1} above 0.2 TeV during the period of the VERITAS observations. The source is strongly variable on a daily timescale across all wavebands, from optical to TeV, with a peak flux corresponding to ∼0.3 times the steady Crab Nebula flux at TeV energies. Follow-up observations in the optical and X-ray bands classify the newly discovered TeV source as a BL Lac-type blazar with uncertain redshift, although recent measurements suggest z = 0.108. VER J0521+211 exhibits all the defining properties of blazars in radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

MULTIWAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING OF 1ES 1959+650 IN A LOW FLUX STATE

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 {approx}< 2 in the high energy (E > 1 MeV) 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.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

DISCOVERY OF TeV GAMMA-RAY EMISSION TOWARD SUPERNOVA REMNANT SNR G78.2+2.1

We report the discovery of an unidentified, extended source of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission, VER J2019+407, within the radio shell of the supernova remnant SNR G78.2+2.1, using 21.4 hr of data taken by the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory in 2009. These data confirm the preliminary indications of gamma-ray emission previously seen in a two-year (2007-2009) blind survey of the Cygnus region by VERITAS. VER J2019+407, which is detected at a post-trials significance of 7.5 standard deviations in the 2009 data, is localized to the northwestern rim of the remnant in a region of enhanced radio and X-ray emission. It has an intrinsic extent of 0.23 Degree-Sign .23 {+-} 0. Degree-Sign 03{sub stat-0 Degree-Sign .02sys}{sup +0 Degree-Sign .04} and its spectrum is well-characterized by a differential power law (dN/dE = N{sub 0} Multiplication-Sign (E/TeV){sup -{Gamma}}) with a photon index of {Gamma} = 2.37 {+-} 0.14{sub stat} {+-} 0.20{sub sys} and a flux normalization of N{sub 0} = 1.5 {+-} 0.2{sub stat} {+-} 0.4{sub sys} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12} photon TeV{sup -1} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. This yields an integral flux of 5.2 {+-} 0.8{sub stat} {+-} 1.4{sub sys} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12} photon cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} above 320 GeV, corresponding to 3.7% of the Crab Nebula flux. We consider the relationship of the TeV gamma-ray emission with the GeV gamma-ray emission seen from SNR G78.2+2.1 as well as that seen from a nearby cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays. Multiple scenarios are considered as possible origins for the TeV gamma-ray emission, including hadronic particle acceleration at the SNR shock.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

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

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. Degree-Sign 30 (0. Degree-Sign 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 {sub 0}(E/3 TeV){sup -{Gamma}}, with a differential spectral index of {Gamma} = 2.2 {+-} 0.2{sub stat} {+-} 0.3{sub sys}, and normalization N {sub 0} = (9.1 {+-} 1.3{sub stat} {+-} 1.7{sub sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -14} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} TeV{sup -1}. The integral flux, F {sub {gamma}} = 4.0 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -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.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

RAPID TeV GAMMA-RAY FLARING OF BL LACERTAE

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) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -6} photons m{sup -2} s{sup -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.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2012

Search for a Correlation Between Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays and Giant Radio Pulses in the Crab Pulsar

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(sub 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 approx. 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.

RADIO↗
DOE OSTI2012

VERITAS OBSERVATIONS OF SIX BRIGHT, HARD-SPECTRUM FERMI-LAT BLAZARS

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.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗