TeV and Multi-wavelength Observations of Mrk 421 in 2006-2008
Abstract
We report on TeV gamma-ray observations of the blazar Mrk 421 (redshift of 0.031) with the VERITAS observatory and the Whipple 10m Cherenkov telescope. The excellent sensitivity of VERITAS allowed us to sample the TeV gamma-ray fluxes and energy spectra with unprecedented accuracy where Mrk 421 was detected in each of the pointings. A total of 47.3 hrs of VERITAS and 96 hrs of Whipple 10m data were acquired between January 2006 and June 2008. We present the results of a study of the TeV gamma-ray energy spectra as a function of time, and for different flux levels. On May 2nd and 3rd, 2008, bright TeV gamma-ray flares were detected with fluxes reaching the level of 10 Crab. The TeV gamma-ray data were complemented with radio, optical, and X-ray observations, with flux variability found in all bands except for the radio waveband. The combination of the RXTE and Swift X-ray data reveal spectral hardening with increasing flux levels, often correlated with an increase of the source activity in TeV gamma-rays. Contemporaneous spectral energy distributions were generated for 18 nights, each of which are reasonably described by a one-zone SSC model.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1106.1210,
title = {TeV and Multi-wavelength Observations of Mrk 421 in 2006-2008},
author = {V. A. Acciari and E. Aliu and T. Arlen and T. Aune and M. Beilicke and W. Benbow and D. Boltuch and S. M. Bradbury and J. H. Buckley and V. Bugaev and K. Byrum and A. Cannon and A. Cesarini and L. Ciupik and W. Cui and R. Dickherber and C. Duke and A. Falcone and J. P. Finley and G. Finnegan and L. Fortson and A. Furniss and N. Galante and D. Gall and G. H. Gillanders and S. Godambe and J. Grube and R. Guenette and G. Gyuk and D. Hanna and J. Holder and C. M. Hui and T. B. Humensky and A. Imran and P. Kaaret and N. Karlsson and M. Kertzman and D. Kieda and A. Konopelko and H. Krawczynski and F. Krennrich and M. J. Lang and G. Maier and S. McArthur and M. McCutcheon and P. Moriarty and R. A. Ong and A. N. Otte and M. Ouellette and D. Pandel and J. S. Perkins and A. Pichel and M. Pohl and J. Quinn and K. Ragan and L. C. Reyes and P. T. Reynolds and E. Roache and H. J. Rose and A. C. Rovero and M. Schroedter and G. H. Sembroski and G. Demet Senturk and D. Steele and S. P. Swordy and M. Theiling and S. Thibadeau and A. Varlotta and V. V. Vassiliev and S. Vincent and R. G. Wagner and S. P. Wakely and J. E. Ward and T. C. Weekes and A. Weinstein and T. Weisgarber and D. A. Williams and S. Wissel and M. Wood and B. Zitzer and A. Garson and K. Lee and A. C. Sadun and M. Carini and D. Barnaby and K. Cook and J. Maune and A. Pease and S. Smith and R. Walters and A. Berdyugin and E. Lindfors and K. Nilsson and M. Pasanen and J. Sainio and A. Sillanpaa and L. O. Takalo and C. Villforth and T. Montaruli and M. Baker and A. Lahteenmaki and M. Tornikoski and T. Hovatta and E. Nieppola and H. D. Aller and M. F. Aller},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1106.1210},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
30 pages, 12 figures, accepted by ApJ