Related papers: TeV blazars as seen by the CAT telescope
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) continuously detects TeV photons and particles within its large field-of-view, accumulating every day a deeper exposure of two thirds of the sky. We analyzed 1523~days of HAWC…
The TeV extragalactic sky is dominated by blazars, radio-loud active galactic nuclei with a relativistic jet pointing towards the Earth. Blazars show variability that can be quite exceptional both in terms of flux (orders of magnitude of…
It is notoriously difficult to organize simultaneous observations from space and from the ground. This is particularly so at GeV-TeV energies where the space observations from all sky telescopes and the ground-based observations (mostly…
During remarkable flaring activity in 1997 Markarian 501 was the brightest source in the sky at TeV energies, outshining the Crab Nebula by a factor of up to 10. Periods of flaring activity each lasting a few days were observed…
The radiation mechanism of very high energy $\gamma$-ray emission from blazars and crucial parameters like magnetic field, and size of the emitting region are not well understood yet. To understand the above mentioned properties of blazars,…
Markarian 421 was the first extragalactic source to be detected with high statistical certainty at TeV energies. The Whipple Observatory gamma-ray telescope has been used to observe the Active Galactic Nucleus, Markarian 421 in 1996 and…
Very high energy gamma-ray emission from the BL Lac object Markarian 421 has been detected over three observing seasons on 59 nights between April 1992 and June 1994 with the Whipple 10-meter imaging Cherenkov telescope. During its initial…
Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has become an active astrophysical discipline with four confirmed sources of TeV gamma rays, two plerionic supernova remnants (SNRs) and two BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). An additional nine objects (one plerion,…
The development of the atmospheric Cherenkov imaging technique has led to significant advances in gamma-ray detection sensitivity in the energy range from 200 GeV to 50 TeV. The Whipple Observatory 10m reflector has detected the first…
The most powerful persistent accelerators in the Universe are jetted active galaxies. Blazars, galaxies whose jets are directed towards Earth, dominate the extragalactic gamma-ray sky. Still, most of the highest-energy particle accelerators…
A review of very high energy gamma-ray astronomy is presented. Particular attention is paid to the atmospheric Cherenkov imaging technique whose employment has resulted in detections of both galactic and extra-galactic objects at energies…
Recent observations of blazars at high energy (HE, 0.1-100 GeV) and very high energy (VHE, >0.1 TeV) have provided important constraints on the intensity and spectrum of the diffuse Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), shedding light on…
The blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) is one of the brightest sources in the extragalactic X-ray/TeV sky. It is also one of the fastest varying TeV $\gamma$-ray sources, showing flaring activity on time scales as short as tens of minutes. To…
Blazars, a class of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) characterized by a close orientation of their relativistic outflows (jets) towards the line of sight, are a well established extragalactic TeV $\gamma$-ray emitters. Since 2006, three nearby…
The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) experiment, a ground-based gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope array located in Namibia, has now detected many extragalactic objects, which redshifts range from z=0.00183 up to z=0.2, possibly more.…
VERITAS, the Very Energetic Radiation Telescope Imaging Array System, is an array of four imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in southern Arizona. It is sensitive to gamma rays at energies above 100 GeV. Here, we discuss the results of…
Data taken with the HEGRA (High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy) air shower array on La Palma is used to search for an excess of TeV $\gamma$-rays from nearby AGN. We report on the detection of two blazars (Mrk 421 and Mrk 501) with the two…
Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) is one the brightest and closest (z=0.031) blazars known (de Vaucouleurs et al 1991). It is also one of the fastest varying TeV $\gamma$-ray sources, with a flaring activity on time scales as short as tens of…
With the advent of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in late 1980's, ground-based observation of TeV gamma-rays came into reality after struggling trials by pioneers for twenty years, and the number of gamma-ray sources detected at…
Milagro is a water Cherenkov extensive air shower array that continuously monitors the entire overhead sky in the TeV energy band. The results from an analysis of $\sim$3 years of data (December 2000 through November 2003) are presented.…