73 research outputs found
A connection between star formation activity and cosmic rays in the starburst galaxy M 82
Although Galactic cosmic rays (protons and nuclei) are widely believed to be
dominantly accelerated by the winds and supernovae of massive stars, definitive
evidence of this origin remains elusive nearly a century after their discovery
[1]. The active regions of starburst galaxies have exceptionally high rates of
star formation, and their large size, more than 50 times the diameter of
similar Galactic regions, uniquely enables reliable calorimetric measurements
of their potentially high cosmic-ray density [2]. The cosmic rays produced in
the formation, life, and death of their massive stars are expected to
eventually produce diffuse gamma-ray emission via their interactions with
interstellar gas and radiation. M 82, the prototype small starburst galaxy, is
predicted to be the brightest starburst galaxy in gamma rays [3, 4]. Here we
report the detection of >700 GeV gamma rays from M 82. From these data we
determine a cosmic-ray density of 250 eV cm-3 in the starburst core of M 82, or
about 500 times the average Galactic density. This result strongly supports
that cosmic-ray acceleration is tied to star formation activity, and that
supernovae and massive-star winds are the dominant accelerators.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures; published in Nature; Version is prior to
Nature's in-house style editing (differences are minimal
VERITAS Search for VHE Gamma-ray Emission from Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
Indirect dark matter searches with ground-based gamma-ray observatories
provide an alternative for identifying the particle nature of dark matter that
is complementary to that of direct search or accelerator production
experiments. We present the results of observations of the dwarf spheroidal
galaxies Draco, Ursa Minor, Bootes 1, and Willman 1 conducted by VERITAS. These
galaxies are nearby dark matter dominated objects located at a typical distance
of several tens of kiloparsecs for which there are good measurements of the
dark matter density profile from stellar velocity measurements. Since the
conventional astrophysical background of very high energy gamma rays from these
objects appears to be negligible, they are good targets to search for the
secondary gamma-ray photons produced by interacting or decaying dark matter
particles. No significant gamma-ray flux above 200 GeV was detected from these
four dwarf galaxies for a typical exposure of ~20 hours. The 95% confidence
upper limits on the integral gamma-ray flux are in the range 0.4-2.2x10^-12
photons cm^-2s^-1. We interpret this limiting flux in the context of pair
annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles and derive constraints on
the thermally averaged product of the total self-annihilation cross section and
the relative velocity of the WIMPs. The limits are obtained under conservative
assumptions regarding the dark matter distribution in dwarf galaxies and are
approximately three orders of magnitude above the generic theoretical
prediction for WIMPs in the minimal supersymmetric standard model framework.
However significant uncertainty exists in the dark matter distribution as well
as the neutralino cross sections which under favorable assumptions could
further lower the limits.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, updated to reflect version published in ApJ.
NOTE: M.D. Wood added as autho
Discovery of very high energy gamma rays from PKS 1424+240 and multiwavelength constraints on its redshift
We report the first detection of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission
above 140 GeV from PKS 1424+240, a BL Lac object with an unknown redshift. The
photon spectrum above 140 GeV measured by VERITAS is well described by a power
law with a photon index of 3.8 +- 0.5_stat +- 0.3_syst and a flux normalization
at 200 GeV of (5.1 +- 0.9_stat +- 0.5_syst) x 10^{-11} TeV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1, where
stat and syst denote the statistical and systematical uncertainty,
respectively. The VHE flux is steady over the observation period between MJD
54881 and 55003 (2009 February 19 to June 21). Flux variability is also not
observed in contemporaneous high energy observations with the Fermi Large Area
Telescope (LAT). Contemporaneous X-ray and optical data were also obtained from
the Swift XRT and MDM observatory, respectively. The broadband spectral energy
distribution (SED) is well described by a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton
(SSC) model favoring a redshift of less than 0.1. Using the photon index
measured with Fermi in combination with recent extragalactic background light
(EBL) absorption models it can be concluded from the VERITAS data that the
redshift of PKS 1424+240 is less than 0.66.Comment: accepted for publication, Ap
Study of the reaction e^{+}e^{-} -->J/psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-} via initial-state radiation at BaBar
We study the process with
initial-state-radiation events produced at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy
collider. The data were recorded with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass
energies 10.58 and 10.54 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 454
. We investigate the mass
distribution in the region from 3.5 to 5.5 . Below 3.7
the signal dominates, and above 4
there is a significant peak due to the Y(4260). A fit to
the data in the range 3.74 -- 5.50 yields a mass value
(stat) (syst) and a width value (stat)(syst) for this state. We do not
confirm the report from the Belle collaboration of a broad structure at 4.01
. In addition, we investigate the system
which results from Y(4260) decay
Highlight Talk: Recent Results from VERITAS
VERITAS is a state-of-the-art ground-based gamma-ray observatory that operates in the very high-energy (VHE) region of 100 GeV to 50 TeV. The observatory consists of an array of four 12m-diameter imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located in southern Arizona, USA. The four-telescope array has been fully operational since September 2007, and over the last two years, VERITAS has been operating with high efficiency and with excellent performance. This talk summarizes the recent results from VERITAS, including the discovery of eight new VHE gamma-ray sources
Discovery of very high energy gamma-ray emission from the SNR G54.1+0.3
We report the discovery of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from the direction of the SNR G54.1+ 0.3 using the VERITAS ground-based gamma-ray observatory. The TeV signal has an overall significance of 6.8s and appears pointlike given the resolution of the instrument. The integral flux above 1 TeV is 2.5% of the Crab Nebula flux and significant emission is measured between 250 GeV and 4 TeV, well described by a power-law energy spectrum dN/dE similar to E-Gamma with a photon index Gamma = 2.39 +/- 0.23(stat) +/- 0.30sys. We find no evidence of time variability among observations spanning almost two years. Based on the location, the morphology, the measured spectrum, the lack of variability, and a comparison with similar systems previously detected in the TeV band, the most likely counterpart of this new VHE gamma-ray source is the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in the SNR G54.1+0.3. The measured X-ray to VHE gamma-ray luminosity ratio is the lowest among all the nebulae supposedly driven by young rotation-powered pulsars, which could indicate a particle-dominated PWN
Discovery of VHE -ray emission from the SNR G54.1+0.3
We report the discovery of very high energy gamma-ray emission from the
direction of the SNR G54.1+0.3 using the VERITAS ground-based gamma-ray
observatory. The TeV signal has an overall significance of 6.8 and
appears point-like given the 5 resolution of the instrument. The
integral flux above 1 TeV is 2.5% of the Crab Nebula flux and significant
emission is measured between 250 GeV and 4 TeV, well described by a power-law
energy spectrum dN/dE E with a photon index . We find no evidence of time variability among
observations spanning almost two years. Based on the location, the morphology,
the measured spectrum, the lack of variability and a comparison with similar
systems previously detected in the TeV band, the most likely counterpart of
this new VHE gamma-ray source is the PWN in the SNR G54.1+0.3. The measured
X-ray to VHE gamma-ray luminosity ratio is the lowest among all the nebulae
supposedly driven by young rotation-powered pulsars, which could indicate a
particle-dominated PWN.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure, Latex, emulateapj style, accepted by the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
VERITAS Observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by \u3cem\u3eSwift\u3c/em\u3e
We present the results of 16 Swift-triggered Gamma-ray burst (GRB) follow-up observations taken with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) telescope array from 2007 January to 2009 June. The median energy threshold and response time of these observations were 260 GeV and 320 s, respectively. Observations had an average duration of 90 minutes. Each burst is analyzed independently in two modes: over the whole duration of the observations and again over a shorter timescale determined by the maximum VERITAS sensitivity to a burst with a tâ1.5 time profile. This temporal model is characteristic of GRB afterglows with high-energy, long-lived emission that have been detected by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi satellite. No significant very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission was detected and upper limits above the VERITAS threshold energy are calculated. The VERITAS upper limits are corrected for gamma-ray extinction by the extragalactic background light and interpreted in the context of the keV emission detected by Swift. For some bursts the VHE emission must have less power than the keV emission, placing constraints on inverse Compton models of VHE emission
VERITAS: Status and Highlights
The VERITAS telescope array has been operating smoothly since 2007, and has
detected gamma-ray emission above 100 GeV from 40 astrophysical sources. These
include blazars, pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants, gamma-ray binary
systems, a starburst galaxy, a radio galaxy, the Crab pulsar, and gamma-ray
sources whose origin remains unidentified. In 2009, the array was reconfigured,
greatly improving the sensitivity. We summarize the current status of the
observatory, describe some of the scientific highlights since 2009, and outline
plans for the future.Comment: Presented at the 32nd ICRC, Beijing, 201
- âŠ