Very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy: A 23-year success story in high-energy astroparticle physics

Very-high energy (VHE) gamma quanta contribute only a minuscule fraction - below one per million - to the flux of cosmic rays. Nevertheless, being neutral particles they are currently the best "messengers" of processes from the relativistic/ultra-relativistic Universe because they can be extrapolated back to their origin. The window of VHE gamma rays was opened only in 1989 by the Whipple collaboration, reporting the observation of TeV gamma rays from the Crab nebula. After a slow start, this new field of research is now rapidly expanding with the discovery of more than 150 VHE gamma-ray emitting sources. Progress is intimately related with the steady improvement of detectors and rapidly increasing computing power. We give an overview of the early attempts before and around 1989 and the progress after the pioneering work of the Whipple collaboration. The main focus of this article is on the development of experimental techniques for Earth-bound gamma-ray detectors; consequently, more emphasis is given to those experiments that made an initial breakthrough rather than to the successors which often had and have a similar (sometimes even higher) scientific output as the pioneering experiments. The considered energy threshold is about 30 GeV. At lower energies, observations can presently only be performed with balloon or satellite-borne detectors. Irrespective of the stormy experimental progress, the success story could not have been called a success story without a broad scientific output. Therefore we conclude this article with a summary of the scientific rationales and main results achieved over the last two decades.Comment: 45 pages, 38 figures, review prepared for EPJ-H special issue "Cosmic rays, gamma rays and neutrinos: A survey of 100 years of research

A lower bound on intergalactic magnetic fields from time variability of 1ES 0229+200 from MAGIC and Fermi/LAT observations

V. A. Acciari et al.[Context] Extended and delayed emission around distant TeV sources induced by the effects of propagation of γ ray s through the intergalactic medium can be used for the measurement of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF).[Aims] We search for delayed GeV emission from the hard-spectrum TeV γ-ray emitting blazar 1ES 0229+200, with the goal of detecting or constraining the IGMF-dependent secondary flux generated during the propagation of TeV γ rays through the intergalactic medium.[Methods] We analysed the most recent MAGIC observations over a 5 year time span, and complemented them with historic data of the H.E.S.S. and VERITAS telescopes, along with a 12-year-long exposure of the Fermi/LAT telescope. We used them to trace source evolution in the GeV–TeV band over a decade and a half. We used Monte Carlo simulations to predict the delayed secondary γ-ray flux, modulated by the source variability, as revealed by TeV-band observations. We then compared these predictions for various assumed IGMF strengths to all available measurements of the γ-ray flux evolution.[Results] We find that the source flux in the energy range above 200 GeV experiences variations around its average on the 14-year time span of observations. No evidence for the flux variability is found in the 1 − 100 GeV energy range accessible to Fermi/LAT. The non-detection of variability due to delayed emission from electromagnetic cascade developing in the intergalactic medium imposes a lower bound of B > 1.8 × 10−17 G for the long-correlation-length IGMF and B > 10−14 G for an IGMF of cosmological origin. Though weaker than the one previously derived from the analysis of Fermi/LAT data, this bound is more robust, being based on a conservative intrinsic source spectrum estimate and accounting for the details of source variability in the TeV energy band. We discuss implications of this bound for cosmological magnetic fields that might explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe.The financial support of the German BMBF, MPG and HGF; the Italian INFN and INAF; the Swiss National Fund SNF; the ERDF under the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) (PID2019-104114RB-C31, PID2019-104114RB-C32, PID2019-104114RB-C33, PID2019-105510GB-C31,PID2019-107847RB-C41, PID2019-107847RB-C42, PID2019-107847RB-C44, PID2019-107988GB-C22); the Indian Department of Atomic Energy; the Japanese ICRR, the University of Tokyo, JSPS, and MEXT; the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, National RI Roadmap Project DO1-400/18.12.2020 and the Academy of Finland grant nr. 320045 is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Spanish Centro de Excelencia “Severo Ochoa” (SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2017-0709, CEX2019-000920-S), the Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu” (CEX2019-000918-M, MDM-2015-0509-18-2) and by the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya; by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project uniri-prirod-18-48; by the DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB823/C4 and SFB876/C3; the Polish National Research Centre grant UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00382; and by the Brazilian MCTIC, CNPq and FAPERJ.With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2019-000920-S).With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2019-000918-M).Peer reviewe

Characterizing the aerosol atmosphere above the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos by analysing seven years of data taken with an GaAsP HPD-readout, absolutely calibrated elastic LIDAR

We present a new elastic LIDAR concept, based on a bi-axially mounted Nd:YAG laser and a telescope with HPD readout, combined with fast FADC signal digitization and offline pulse analysis. The LIDAR return signals have been extensively quality checked and absolutely calibrated. We analyse seven years of quasi-continuous LIDAR data taken during those nights when the MAGIC telescopes were operating. Characterization of the nocturnal ground layer yields zenith and azimuth angle dependent aerosol extinction scaleheights for clear nights. We derive aerosol transmission statistics for light emitted from various altitudes throughout the year and separated by seasons. We find further seasonal dependencies of cloud base and top altitudes, but none for the LIDAR ratios of clouds. Finally, the night sky background light is characterized using the LIDAR photon backgrounds.The financial support of the Spanish grant PID2019-107847RB-C42, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN)/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, the German Federal Ministry of Education and ResearchBMBF and the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), and by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project uniri-prirod-18-48 is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Joint Observation of the Galactic Center with MAGIC and CTA-LST-1

MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs), designed to detect very-high-energy gamma rays, and is operating in stereoscopic mode since 2009 at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos in La Palma, Spain. In 2018, the prototype IACT of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST-1) for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, a next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, was inaugurated at the same site, at a distance of approximately 100 meters from the MAGIC telescopes. Using joint observations between MAGIC and LST-1, we developed a dedicated analysis pipeline and established the threefold telescope system via software, achieving the highest sensitivity in the northern hemisphere. Based on this enhanced performance, MAGIC and LST-1 have been jointly and regularly observing the Galactic Center, a region of paramount importance and complexity for IACTs. In particular, the gamma-ray emission from the dynamical center of the Milky Way is under debate. Although previous measurements suggested that a supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* plays a primary role, its radiation mechanism remains unclear, mainly due to limited angular resolution and sensitivity. The enhanced sensitivity in our novel approach is thus expected to provide new insights into the question. We here present the current status of the data analysis for the Galactic Center joint MAGIC and LST-1 observations

MAGIC and H.E.S.S. detect VHE gamma rays from the blazar OT081 for the first time: a deep multiwavelength study

https://pos.sissa.it/395/815/pdfPublished versio

A lower bound on intergalactic magnetic fields from time variability of 1ES 0229+200 from MAGIC and Fermi /LAT observations

Context. Extended and delayed emission around distant TeV sources induced by the effects of propagation of ? ray s through the intergalactic medium can be used for the measurement of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF). Aims. We search for delayed GeV emission from the hard-spectrum TeV ?-ray emitting blazar 1ES 0229+200, with the goal of detecting or constraining the IGMF-dependent secondary flux generated during the propagation of TeV ? rays through the intergalactic medium. Methods. We analysed the most recent MAGIC observations over a 5 year time span, and complemented them with historic data of the H.E.S.S. and VERITAS telescopes, along with a 12-year-long exposure of the Fermi/LAT telescope. We used them to trace source evolution in the GeV TeV band over a decade and a half. We used Monte Carlo simulations to predict the delayed secondary ?-ray flux, modulated by the source variability, as revealed by TeV-band observations. We then compared these predictions for various assumed IGMF strengths to all available measurements of the ?-ray flux evolution. Results. We find that the source flux in the energy range above 200 GeV experiences variations around its average on the 14-year time span of observations. No evidence for the flux variability is found in the 1100 GeV energy range accessible to Fermi/LAT. The non-detection of variability due to delayed emission from electromagnetic cascade developing in the intergalactic medium imposes a lower bound of B > 1.8 - 1017 G for the long-correlation-length IGMF and B > 1014 G for an IGMF of cosmological origin. Though weaker than the one previously derived from the analysis of Fermi/LAT data, this bound is more robust, being based on a conservative intrinsic source spectrum estimate and accounting for the details of source variability in the TeV energy band. We discuss implications of this bound for cosmological magnetic fields that might explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe.ISSN:0004-6361ISSN:1432-074

MAGIC very large zenith angle observations of the Crab Nebula up to 100 TeV

Aims. We measure the Crab Nebula γ-ray spectral energy distribution in the ~100 TeV energy domain and test the validity of existing leptonic emission models at these high energies. Methods. We used the novel very large zenith angle observations with the MAGIC telescope system to increase the collection area above 10 TeV. We also developed an auxiliary procedure of monitoring atmospheric transmission in order to assure proper calibration of the accumulated data. This employs recording optical images of the stellar field next to the source position, which provides a better than 10% accuracy for the transmission measurements. Results. We demonstrate that MAGIC very large zenith angle observations yield a collection area larger than a square kilometer. In only ~ 56 h of observations, we detect the γ-ray emission from the Crab Nebula up to 100 TeV, thus providing the highest energy measurement of this source to date with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. Comparing accumulated and archival MAGIC and Fermi/LAT data with some of the existing emission models, we find that none of them provides an accurate description of the 1 GeV to 100 TeV γ-ray signal.ISSN:0004-6361ISSN:1432-074

Measurement of the extragalactic background light using MAGIC and Fermi-LAT gamma-ray observations of blazars up to z=1

We present a measurement of the extragalactic background light (EBL) based on a joint likelihood analysis of 32 gamma-ray spectra for 12 blazars in the redshift range z = 0.03–0.944, obtained by the MAGIC telescopes and Fermi-LAT. The EBL is the part of the diffuse extragalactic radiation spanning the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared bands. Major contributors to the EBL are the light emitted by stars through the history of the Universe, and the fraction of it that was absorbed by dust in galaxies and re-emitted at longer wavelengths. The EBL can be studied indirectly through its effect on very high energy photons that are emitted by cosmic sources and absorbed via γγ interactions during their propagation across cosmological distances. We obtain estimates of the EBL density in good agreement with state-of-the-art models of the EBL production and evolution. The 1σ upper bounds, including systematic uncertainties, are between 13 per cent and 23 per cent above the nominal EBL density in the models. No anomaly in the expected transparency of the Universe to gamma-rays is observed in any range of optical depth. We also perform a wavelength-resolved EBL determination, which results in a hint of an excess of EBL in the 0.18–0.62 μm range relative to the studied models, yet compatible with them within systematics.ISSN:0035-8711ISSN:1365-296

Monitoring of the radio galaxy M 87 during a low -emission state from m 2012 to 2015 with MAGIC

ISSN:0035-8711ISSN:1365-296

Deep observations of the globular cluster M15 with the MAGIC telescopes

A population of globular clusters (GCs) has been recently established by the Fermi-LAT telescope as a new class of GeV γ-ray sources. Leptons accelerated to TeV energies, in the inner magnetospheres of MSPs or in their wind regions, should produce γ-rays through the inverse Compton scattering in the dense radiation field from the huge population of stars. We have conducted deep observations of the GC M15 with the MAGIC telescopes and used 165 h in order to search for γ-ray emission. A strong upper limit on the TeV γ-ray flux <3.2×10−¹³cm−²s−¹ above 300 GeV (<0.26 per cent of the Crab nebula flux) has been obtained. We interpret this limit as a constraint on the efficiency of the acceleration of leptons in the magnetospheres of the MSPs. We constrain the injection rate of relativistic leptons, ηₑ, from the MSPs magnetospheres and their surrounding. We conclude that ηₑ must be lower than expected from the modelling of high-energy processes in MSP inner magnetospheres. For leptons accelerated with the power-law spectrum in the MSP wind regions, ηₑ is constrained to be much lower than derived for the wind regions around classical pulsars. These constraints are valid for the expected range of magnetic field strengths within the GC and for the range of likely energies of leptons injected from the inner magnetospheres, provided that the leptons are not removed from the GC very efficiently due to advection process. We discuss consequences of these constraints for the models of radiation processes around millisecond pulsars.ISSN:0035-8711ISSN:1365-296