Related papers: Highlights from the VERITAS Blazar Program
Very-high-energy (VHE; $>$ 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the blazar RGB J2243+203 was discovered with the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array, during the period between 21 and 24 December 2014. The VERITAS energy spectrum from this source…
During May 2013, a gamma-ray flare from the BL Lac object 1ES 1727+502 (z=0.055) has been detected with the VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes. This detection represents the first evidence of very-high-energy (E>100 GeV) variability from this…
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,…
VERITAS began full-scale operations in 2007 and it remains one of the world's most sensitive very-high-energy (VHE; E >100 GeV) gamma-ray observatories. More than 8,300 hours (~50%) of its good-weather data were targeted on active galactic…
The 499 pixel photomultiplier cameras of the VERITAS gamma ray telescopes are instrumented with 500MHz sampling Flash ADCs. This paper describes a preliminary investigation of the best methods by which to exploit this information so as to…
The VERITAS VHE gamma-ray observatory recently completed a major upgrade of its camera and pattern triggering systems. Bias curve testing of the upgraded VERITAS Observatory under dark sky conditions indicates a 50% increase in photon…
The Very High Energy Radiation Telescope Array (VERITAS) is a system of four imaging Cherenkov telescopes currently under construction at Kitt Peak, Arizona, USA. The first telescope has been in operation at the Mt. Hopkins basecamp since…
Most of the ~50 blazars detected to date at TeV energies (E>0.1 TeV) are high-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs). Only a handful episodic TeV detections of low- and intermediate-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (LBL/IBLs, with synchrotron peak…
The HAWC observatory recently published their second source catalog with 39 very high energy gamma-ray sources based on 507 days of exposure time. Among these, there were 16 sources that are more than one degree away from any known TeV…
Ground-based $\gamma$-ray observatories, such as the VERITAS array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, provide insight into very-high-energy (VHE, $\mathrm{E}>100\,\mathrm{GeV}$) astrophysical transient events. Examples include the…
VERITAS is a proposed major ground-based gamma-ray observatory to be built at the Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona, USA. It will consist of an array of seven 10m imaging Cherenkov telescopes designed to conduct gamma-ray observations…
Over seventy blazars identified as sources of TeV gamma ray emission have been detected, including approximately sixty BL Lac objects and seven flat spectrum radio quasars. The distribution in space of these objects can be described by a…
Gamma-ray blazars are among the most extreme astrophysical sources, harboring phenomena far more energetic than those attainable by terrestrial accelerators. These galaxies are understood to be active galactic nuclei that are powered by…
VERITAS is a system of four imaging Cherenkov telescopes located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. We present here results of detailed Monte Carlo simulations of the array response to extensive air showers.…
VERITAS is the high-sensitivity instrument of latest generation. It is often used for the short AGN monitoring exposures evenly distributed over entire observational season of a source of interest. Each of these exposures is long enough to…
The VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array has been fully operational since Fall 2007 and has fulfilled or outperformed its design specifications. We are preparing an upgrade program with the goal to lower the energy threshold and improve the…
The VERITAS collaboration has approved long-term observations on several distant, hard-spectrum blazars. We present first results from VERITAS long-term observations of 1ES1218+304, 1ES0229+200, and 1ES0414+009. Gamma-ray observations of…
The presence of moonlight is usually a limiting factor for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes due to the high sensitivity of the camera photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). In their standard configuration, the extra noise limits the…
A decade after the discovery of TeV gamma-rays from the blazar Mrk 421 (Punch et al. 1992), the list of TeV blazars has increased to five BL Lac objects: Mrk 421 (Punch et al. 1992; Petry et al. 1996; Piron et al. 2001), Mrk 501 (Quinn et…
Very high energy gamma-ray observations offer indirect methods for studying the highest energy cosmic rays in our Universe. The origin of cosmic rays at energies greater than $10^{18}$ eV remains a mystery, and many questions in particle…