Observation of gamma-ray emission from the galaxy M87 above 250 GeV with VERITAS

Download

index.pdf

Date

2008-05-20

Author

Acciari, V. A.
Beilicke, M.
Blaylock, G.
Bradbury, S. M.
Buckley, J. H.
Bugaev, V.
Butt, Y.
Celik, O.
Cesarini, A.
Ciupik, L.
Cogan, P.
Colin, P.
Cui, W.
Daniel, M. K.
Duke, C.
Ergin, Tülün
Falcone, A. D.
Fegan, S. J.
Finley, J. P.
Finnegan, G.
Fortin, P.
Fortson, L. F.
Gibbs, K.
Gillanders, G. H.
Grube, J.
Guenette, R.
Gyuk, G.
Hanna, D.
Hays, E.
Holder, J.
Horan, D.
Hughes, S. B.
Hui, M. C.
Humensky, T. B.
Imran, A.
Kaaret, P.
Kertzman, M.
Kieda, D. B.
Kildea, J.
Konopelko, A.
Krawczynski, H.
Krennrich, F.
Lang, M. J.
LeBohec, S.
Lee, K.
Maier, G.
McCann, A.
McCutcheon, M.
Millis, J.
Moriarty, P.
Mukherjee, R.
Nagai, T.
Ong, R. A.
Pandel, D.
Perkins, J. S.
Pohl, M.
Quinn, J.
Ragan, K.
Reynolds, P. T.
Rose, H. J.
Schroedter, M.
Sembroski, G. H.
Smith, A. W.
Steele, D.
Swordy, S. P.
Syson, A.
Toner, J. A.
Valcarcel, L.
Vassiliev, V. V.
Wakely, S. P.
Ward, J. E.
Weekes, T. C.
Weinstein, A.
White, R. J.
Williams, D. A.
Wissel, S. A.
Wood, M. D.
Zitzer, B.

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

125
views

77
downloads

The multiwavelength observation of the nearby radio galaxy M87 provides a unique opportunity to study in detail processes occurring in active galactic nuclei from radio waves to TeV gamma-rays. Here we report the detection of gamma-ray emission above 250 GeV from M87 in spring 2007 with the VERITAS atmospheric Cerenkov telescope array and discuss its correlation with the X-ray emission. The gamma-ray emission is measured to be pointlike with an intrinsic source radius less than 4.5'. The differential energy spectrum is fitted well by a power-law function: d Phi/dE = (7.4 +/- 1.3(stat) +/- 1.5(sys))(E/TeV)((-2.31 +/- 0.17stat +/- 0.2sys)) 10(-9) m(-2) s(-1) TeV(-1). We show strong evidence for a year-scale correlation between the gamma-ray flux reported by TeV experiments and the X-ray emission measured by the ASM RXTE observatory, and discuss the possible short-timescale variability. These results imply that the gamma-ray emission from M87 is more likely associated with the core of the galaxy than with other bright X-ray features in the jet.

Subject Keywords

Space and Planetary Science, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Galaxies: evolution, Galaxies: formation, Galaxies: halos, Galaxies: kinematics and dynamics, Galaxies: spiral

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/38753

Journal

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1086/587458

Collections

Department of Physics, Article

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

OBSERVATIONS OF THE SHELL-TYPE SUPERNOVA REMNANT CASSIOPEIA A AT TeV ENERGIES WITH VERITAS Acciari, V. A.; et. al. (IOP Publishing, 2010-05-01) We report on observations of very high energy gamma rays from the shell-type supernova remnant (SNR) Cassiopeia A with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System stereoscopic array of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in Arizona. The total exposure time for these observations is 22 hr, accumulated between September and November of 2007. The gamma-ray source associated with the SNR Cassiopeia A was detected above 200 GeV with a statistical significance of 8.3 sigma. The estimated...
Observations of the unidentified TeV gamma-ray source TeV J2032+4130 with the Whipple Observatory 10 m telescope Konopelko, A.; et. al. (IOP Publishing, 2007-04-01) We report on observations of the sky region around the unidentified TeV gamma-ray source (TeV J2032+ 4130) carried out with the Whipple Observatory 10 m atmospheric Cerenkov telescope for a total of 65.5 hr between 2003 and 2005. The standard two-dimensional analysis developed by the Whipple collaboration for a stand-alone telescope reveals an excess in the field of view at a pretrial significance level of 6.1 sigma. The measured position of this excess is alpha = 20(h)32(m)27(s), delta = 41 degrees 39'17" ...
DETECTION OF EXTENDED VHE GAMMA RAY EMISSION FROM G106.3+2.7 WITH VERITAS Acciari, V. A.; et. al. (IOP Publishing, 2009-09-20) We report the detection of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from supernova remnant (SNR) G106.3+2.7. Observations performed in 2008 with the VERITAS atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope resolve extended emission overlapping the elongated radio SNR. The 7.3 sigma (pre-trials) detection has a full angular extent of roughly 0 degrees.6 by 0 degrees.4. Most notably, the centroid of the VHE emission is centered near the peak of the coincident (CO)-C-12 (J = 1-0) emission, 0 degrees.4 away from the ...
OBSERVATION OF EXTENDED VERY HIGH ENERGY EMISSION FROM THE SUPERNOVA REMNANT IC 443 WITH VERITAS Acciari, V. A.; et. al. (IOP Publishing, 2009-06-20) We present evidence that the very high energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission coincident with the supernova remnant IC 443 is extended. IC 443 contains one of the best studied sites of supernova remnant/molecular cloud interaction and the pulsar wind nebula CXOU J061705.3+222127, both of which are important targets for VHE observations. VERITAS observed IC 443 for 37.9 hr during 2007 and detected emission above 300 GeV with an excess of 247 events, resulting in a significance of 8.3 standard deviation...
SEARCHING FOR OVERIONIZED PLASMA IN THE GAMMA-RAY-EMITTING SUPERNOVA REMNANT G349.7+0.2 Ergin, Tülün; Saha, L.; Majumdar, P.; GÖK, FATMA; ERCAN, ENİSE NİHAL (IOP Publishing, 2015-05-10) G349.7+0.2 is a supernova remnant (SNR) expanding in a dense medium of molecular clouds and interacting with clumps of molecular material emitting gamma-rays. We analyzed the gamma-ray data of the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and detected G349.7+0.2 in the energy range of 0.2-300 GeV with a significance of similar to 13 sigma, showing no extended morphology. Modeling of the gamma-ray spectrum revealed that the GeV gamma-ray emission dominantly originates from the decay o...

Citation Formats

V. A. Acciari et al., “Observation of gamma-ray emission from the galaxy M87 above 250 GeV with VERITAS,” ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, pp. 397–403, 2008, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/38753.