MAGIC Upper Limits for two Milagro-detected, Bright Fermi Sources in the Region of SNR G65.1+0.6

We report on the observation of the region around supernova remnant G65.1+0.6 with the stand-alone MAGIC-I telescope. This region hosts the two bright GeV gamma-ray sources 1FGL J1954.3+2836 and 1FGL J1958.6+2845. They are identified as GeV pulsars and both have a possible counterpart detected at about 35 TeV by the Milagro observatory. MAGIC collected 25.5 hours of good quality data, and found no significant emission in the range around 1 TeV. We therefore report differential flux upper limits, assuming the emission to be point-like (<0.1 deg) or within a radius of 0.3 deg. In the point-like scenario, the flux limits around 1 TeV are at the level of 3 % and 2 % of the Crab Nebula flux, for the two sources respectively. This implies that the Milagro emission is either extended over a much larger area than our point spread function, or it must be peaked at energies beyond 1 TeV, resulting in a photon index harder than 2.2 in the TeV band.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Simultaneous multi-frequency observation of the unknown redshift blazar PG 1553+113 in March-April 2008

The blazar PG 1553+113 is a well known TeV gamma-ray emitter. In this paper, we determine its spectral energy distribution using simultaneous multi-frequency data in order to study its emission processes. An extensive campaign was carried out between March and April 2008, where optical, X-ray, high-energy (HE) gamma-ray, and very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray data were obtained with the KVA, Abastumani, REM, RossiXTE/ASM, AGILE and MAGIC telescopes, respectively. This is the first simultaneous broad-band (i.e., HE+VHE) gamma-ray observation, though AGILE did not detect the source. We combine data to derive source's spectral energy distribution and interpret its double peaked shape within the framework of a synchrotron self compton modelComment: 5 pages, 2 figures, publishe

A search for Very High Energy gamma-ray emission from Scorpius X-1 with the MAGIC telescopes

The acceleration of particles up to GeV or higher energies in microquasars has been the subject of considerable theoretical and observational efforts in the past few years. Sco X-1 is a microquasar from which evidence of highly energetic particles in the jet has been found when it is in the so-called Horizontal Branch (HB), a state when the radio and hard X-ray fluxes are higher and a powerful relativistic jet is present. Here we present the first very high energy gamma-ray observations of Sco X-1 obtained with the MAGIC telescopes. An analysis of the whole dataset does not yield a significant signal, with 95% CL flux upper limits above 300 GeV at the level of 2.4x10^{-12} ph/cm^2/s. Simultaneous RXTE observations were conducted to search for TeV emission during particular X-ray states of the source. A selection of the gamma-ray data obtained during the HB based on the X-ray colors did not yield a signal either, with an upper limit of 3.4x10^{-12} ph/cm^2/s. These upper limits place a constraint on the maximum TeV luminosity to non-thermal X-ray luminosity of L_{VHE}/L_{ntX}<0.02, that can be related to a maximum TeV luminosity to jet power ratio of L_{VHE}/L_{j}<10^{-3}. Our upper limits indicate that the underlying high-energy emission physics in Sco X-1 must be inherently different from that of the hitherto detected gamma-ray binaries.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables. Version as published in ApJ

PG 1553+113: five years of observations with MAGIC

We present the results of five years (2005-2009) of MAGIC observations of the BL Lac object PG 1553+113 at very high energies (VHEs, E > 100 GeV). Power law fits of the individual years are compatible with a steady mean photon index \Gamma = 4.27 $\pm$ 0.14. In the last three years of data, the flux level above 150 GeV shows a clear variability (probability of constant flux < 0.001%). The flux variations are modest, lying in the range from 4% to 11% of the Crab Nebula flux. Simultaneous optical data also show only modest variability that seems to be correlated with VHE gamma ray variability. We also performed a temporal analysis of (all available) simultaneous Fermi/LAT data of PG 1553+113 above 1 GeV, which reveals hints of variability in the 2008-2009 sample. Finally, we present a combination of the mean spectrum measured at very high energies with archival data available for other wavelengths. The mean spectral energy distribution can be modeled with a one-zone Synchrotron Self Compton (SSC) model, which gives the main physical parameters governing the VHE emission in the blazar jet.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The 2010 very high energy gamma-ray flare & 10 years of multi-wavelength observations of M 87

Abridged: The giant radio galaxy M 87 with its proximity, famous jet, and very massive black hole provides a unique opportunity to investigate the origin of very high energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission generated in relativistic outflows and the surroundings of super-massive black holes. M 87 has been established as a VHE gamma-ray emitter since 2006. The VHE gamma-ray emission displays strong variability on timescales as short as a day. In this paper, results from a joint VHE monitoring campaign on M 87 by the MAGIC and VERITAS instruments in 2010 are reported. During the campaign, a flare at VHE was detected triggering further observations at VHE (H.E.S.S.), X-rays (Chandra), and radio (43 GHz VLBA). The excellent sampling of the VHE gamma-ray light curve enables one to derive a precise temporal characterization of the flare: the single, isolated flare is well described by a two-sided exponential function with significantly different flux rise and decay times. While the overall variability pattern of the 2010 flare appears somewhat different from that of previous VHE flares in 2005 and 2008, they share very similar timescales (~day), peak fluxes (Phi(>0.35 TeV) ~= (1-3) x 10^-11 ph cm^-2 s^-1), and VHE spectra. 43 GHz VLBA radio observations of the inner jet regions indicate no enhanced flux in 2010 in contrast to observations in 2008, where an increase of the radio flux of the innermost core regions coincided with a VHE flare. On the other hand, Chandra X-ray observations taken ~3 days after the peak of the VHE gamma-ray emission reveal an enhanced flux from the core. The long-term (2001-2010) multi-wavelength light curve of M 87, spanning from radio to VHE and including data from HST, LT, VLA and EVN, is used to further investigate the origin of the VHE gamma-ray emission. No unique, common MWL signature of the three VHE flares has been identified.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; Corresponding authors: M. Raue, L. Stawarz, D. Mazin, P. Colin, C. M. Hui, M. Beilicke; Fig. 1 lightcurve data available online: http://www.desy.de/~mraue/m87

Insights into the high-energy γ-ray emission of Markarian 501 from extensive multifrequency observations in the Fermi era

We report on the γ-ray activity of the blazar Mrk 501 during the first 480 days of Fermi operation. We find that the average Large Area Telescope (LAT) γ-ray spectrum of Mrk 501 can be well described by a single power-law function with a photon index of 1.78 ± 0.03. While we observe relatively mild flux variations with the Fermi-LAT (within less than a factor of two), we detect remarkable spectral variability where the hardest observed spectral index within the LAT energy range is 1.52 ± 0.14, and the softest one is 2.51 ± 0.20. These unexpected spectral changes do not correlate with the measured flux variations above 0.3 GeV. In this paper, we also present the first results from the 4.5 month long multifrequency campaign (2009 March 15-August 1) on Mrk 501, which included the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), Swift, RXTE, MAGIC, and VERITAS, the F-GAMMA, GASP-WEBT, and other collaborations and instruments which provided excellent temporal and energy coverage of the source throughout the entire campaign. The extensive radio to TeV data set from this campaign provides us with the most detailed spectral energy distribution yet collected for this source during its relatively low activity. The average spectral energy distribution of Mrk 501 is well described by the standard one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model. In the framework of this model, we find that the dominant emission region is characterized by a size ≲0.1 pc (comparable within a factor of few to the size of the partially resolved VLBA core at 15-43 GHz), and that the total jet power (≃1044 erg s-1) constitutes only a small fraction (∼10-3) of the Eddington luminosity. The energy distribution of the freshly accelerated radiating electrons required to fit the time-averaged data has a broken power-law form in the energy range 0.3 GeV-10 TeV, with spectral indices 2.2 and 2.7 below and above the break energy of 20 GeV. We argue that such a form is consistent with a scenario in which the bulk of the energy dissipation within the dominant emission zone of Mrk 501 is due to relativistic, proton-mediated shocks. We find that the ultrarelativistic electrons and mildly relativistic protons within the blazar zone, if comparable in number, are in approximate energy equipartition, with their energy dominating the jet magnetic field energy by about two orders of magnitude. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society

MAGIC observation of the GRB 080430 afterglow

Context. Gamma-ray bursts are cosmological sources emitting radiation from the gamma-rays to the radio band. Substantial observational efforts have been devoted to the study of gamma-ray bursts during the prompt phase, i.e. the initial burst of high-energy radiation, and during the long-lasting afterglows. In spite of many successes in interpreting these phenomena, there are still several open key questions about the fundamental emission processes, their energetics and the environment. Aims. Independently of specific gamma-ray burst theoretical recipes, spectra in the GeV/TeV range are predicted to be remarkably simple, being satisfactorily modeled with power-laws, and therefore offer a very valuable tool to probe the extragalactic background light distribution. Furthermore, the simple detection of a component at very-high energies, i.e. at similar to 100GeV, would solve the ambiguity about the importance of various possible emission processes, which provide barely distinguishable scenarios at lower energies. Methods. We used the results of the MAGIC telescope observation of the moderate resdhift (z similar to 0.76) GRB 080430 at energies above about 80 GeV, to evaluate the perspective for late-afterglow observations with ground based GeV/TeV telescopes. Results. We obtained an upper limit of F(95% CL) = 5.5 x 10(-11) erg cm(-2) s(-1) for the very-high energy emission of GRB 080430, which cannot set further constraints on the theoretical scenarios proposed for this object also due to the difficulties in modeling the low-energy afterglow. Nonetheless, our observations show that Cherenkov telescopes have already reached the required sensitivity to detect the GeV/TeV emission of GRBs at moderate redshift (z less than or similar to 0.8), provided the observations are carried out at early times, close to the onset of their afterglow phase

Spectral energy distribution of markarian 501: Quiescent state versus extreme outburst

The very high energy (VHE; E \u3e 100 GeV) blazar Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) has a well-studied history of extreme spectral variability and is an excellent laboratory for studying the physical processes within the jets of active galactic nuclei. However, there are few detailed multiwavelength studies of Mrk 501 during its quiescent state, due to its low luminosity. A short-term multiwavelength study of Mrk 501 was coordinated in 2009 March, focusing around a multi-day observation with the Suzaku X-ray satellite and including gamma-ray data from VERITAS, MAGIC, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope with the goal of providing a well-sampled multiwavelength baseline measurement of Mrk 501 in the quiescent state. The results of these quiescent-state observations are compared to the historically extreme outburst of 1997 April 16, with the goal of examining variability of the spectral energy distribution (SED) between the two states. The derived broadband SED shows the characteristic double-peaked profile. We find that the X-ray peak shifts by over two orders of magnitude in photon energy between the two flux states while the VHE peak varies little. The limited shift in the VHE peak can be explained by the transition to the Klein-Nishina (KN) regime. Synchrotron self-Compton models are matched to the data and the implied KN effects are explored