Related papers: Recent Results from the VERITAS Collaboration
Since the first TeV blazar Markarian (Mrk) 421 was detected in 1992, the number of established TeV gamma-ray emitting BL Lac objects has grown to 6, with redshifts ranging from 0.031 (Mrk 421) to 0.129 (H 1426+428). The intensive study of…
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…
We present long-term observations of several VHE (E > 100 GeV) blazars with VERITAS, together with contemporaneous Swift and RXTE X-ray data. The observed targets include Mrk 421, Mrk 501, 1ES 2344+514. Strong flux and spectral variability…
VERITAS is an array of four 12-m atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, designed to observe the very-high-energy (VHE; E $\geq$100 GeV) sky. Since 2007, it has detected more than 20 extra-galactic sources, the majority of which are…
Most of the ~50 blazars detected to date at TeV energies (E>0.1 TeV) are high-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs). Only a handful episodic TeV detections of low- and intermediate-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (LBL/IBLs, with synchrotron peak…
A very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray signal has been detected at the 5.4 sigma level from H1426+428, an x-ray selected BL Lacertae object at a redshift of 0.129. The object was monitored from 1995 - 1998 with the Whipple 10m imaging…
Recent results obtained with the HEGRA system of imaging Cherenkov telescopes on the TeV emission of the Blazars Mkn~421 ($z=0.030$), 1ES1959+650 ($z=0.047$), and H1426+428 ($z=0.129$) are reported. For Mkn~421, a close connection of the…
The blazar Mrk421 was observed independently, but contemporaneously, in 2005 at TeV energies by MAGIC, the Whipple 10m telescope, and by a single VERITAS telescope during the construction phase of operations. A comparison of the time…
VERITAS is an array of four 12-m imaging Cherenkov telescopes, sensitive to gamma rays in the energy range from 85 GeV to 30 TeV. VERITAS dedicates roughly 40% of its total observing time to blazars. We present recent highlights from the…
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…
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…
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 >30GeV…
The BL Lacertae object H1426+428 is the most distant, confirmed source of TeV gamma rays. At a redshift of 0.129, its detection at TeV energies has important implications for estimating the density of the extragalactic infra-red background…
High-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) dominate the extragalactic TeV sky, with more than 50 objects detected by the current generation of TeV observatories. Still, the properties of TeV-emitting HBLs as a population are poorly understood due…
The VERITAS array of 12-m atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes is used in an intensive observation program focused on the discovery of VHE (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray-emitting blazars. Since VERITAS began full-scale operation in 2007, more than…
The BL Lac object (blazar) Mrk 421 was observed during its outburst in April 2004 with the Whipple 10 m telescope for a total of about 24.5 hours. The measured gamma-ray rate varied substantially over the range from 4 to 10 gamma's/min and…
VERITAS, an array of imaging atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes, studies blazars in the energy range between ~100 GeV and ~30 TeV. With its excellent sensitivity at these energies, and ever-deepening source exposures, VERITAS is in a position…
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,…
The origin of the gamma-ray emission of the blazar Mrk 421 is still a matter of debate. We used 5.5 years of unbiased observing campaign data, obtained using the FACT telescope and the Fermi LAT detector at TeV and GeV energies, the longest…
B2 1215+30 is a BL Lac-type blazar that was first detected at TeV energies by the MAGIC atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, and subsequently confirmed by the VERITAS observatory with data collected between 2009 and 2012. In 2014 February 08,…