2 research outputs found
Extreme blazars under the eyes of MAGIC
Extreme high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (EHBLs) are the most energetic persistent sources in the universe. This contribution reports on long-term observing campaigns of tens of EHBLs that have been organized by the MAGIC collaboration to enlarge their population at VHE and understand the origin of their extreme properties. EHBLs are characterized by a spectral energy distribution (SED) featuring a synchrotron peak energy above 1 keV. Several EHBLs display a hard spectral index at very high energies (VHE; E > 100 GeV), suggesting a gamma-ray SED component peaking significantly above 1 TeV. Such extreme properties are challenging current standard emission and acceleration mechanisms. Recent studies have also unveiled intriguing disparities in the temporal characteristics of EHBLs. Some sources seem to display a persistent EHBL behaviour, while others belong to the EHBL family only temporarily. Here, we present recent results of the first hard-TeV EHBL catalog. The MAGIC observations are accompanied by an extensive multiwavelength coverage to obtain an optimal determination of the SED. This allow us to investigate leptonic and hadronic scenarios for the emission. We also present the recent detection of the EHBL RX J0812.0+0237 in the VHE band by MAGIC. Finally, we discuss a broad multiwavelength campaign on the BL Lac type object 1ES 2344+514, which showed intermittent EHBL characteristics in August 2016
Studying the long-term spectral and temporal evolution of 1ES1959+650
The high-frequency peaked BL Lac type object (HBL) 1ES 1959+650 is one of the brightest blazars in the very-high-energy (VHE, E & 100 GeV) gamma-ray sky. HBLs have been proposed as possible neutrino emitters implying the presence of hadrons in the emission mechanisms. In 2002, AMANDA reported neutrino candidates from this source simultaneously observed with a gamma-ray flaring activity without an X-ray emission enhancement, interpreted as an orphan flare. Standard one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission models cannot explain this behavior. The MAGIC telescopes have been observing 1ES 1959+650 since 2004. An extreme outburst triggered by multiwavelength observations reaching 300% of the Crab nebula flux level above 300 GeV was detected in 2016. Leptonic and hadronic models are equally successful in describing the observed emission. To study the long-term behavior and the characteristics in different emission states of 1ES 1959+650, we have densely monitored it since 2017 for more than 300 hours. Together with the FACT monitoring (more than 2000 hours since 2012), this is the most intense monitoring for any blazar after Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 in the VHE range. The monitoring shows a decline of the VHE flux with occasional flaring episodes reaching in 2019 a low-state emission corresponding to 10% of the Crab nebula. We present the long-term monitoring study results using multiwavelength data from MAGIC, FACT, Fermi-LAT, Swift, OVRO and Tuorla. Lastly, we discuss the differences in the broadband spectral energy distributions between the flaring states from 2016 and the low state in 2019