Deep Broadband Observations of the Distant Gamma-ray Blazar PKS 1424+240

S. Archambault; T. Aune; B. Behera; M. Beilicke; W. Benbow; K. Berger; R. Bird; J. Biteau; V. Bugaev; K. Byrum; J.V Cardenzana; M. Cerruti; X. Chen; L. Ciupik; M.P. Connolly; W. Cui; J. Dumm; M. Errando; A. Falcone; S. Federici; Q. Feng; J.P. Finley; H. Fleischhack; L. Fortson; A. Furniss; N. Galante; G. H. Gillanders; S. Griffin; S.T. Griffiths; J. Grube; G. Gyuk; D. Hanna; J. Holder; G. Hughes; T.B. Humensky; C.A. Johnson; P. Kaaret; M. Kertzman; Y. Khassen; D. Kieda; H. Krawczynski; F. Krennrich; S. Kumar; M.J. Lang; A.S Madhavan; G. Maier; A. Mccann; K. Meagher; P. Moriarty; R. Mukherjee; D. Nieto; A. O'Faoláin de Bhróithe; R.A. Ong; A.N. Otte; N. Park; M. Pohl; A. Popkow; H. Prokoph; J. Quinn; K. Ragan; J. Rajotte; L.C. Reyes; P.T. Reynolds; G.T. Richards; E. Roache; G. H. Sembroski; K. Shahinyan; D. Staszak; I. Telezhinsky; J.V. Tucci; J. Tyler; A. Varlotta; V. V. Vassiliev; S. Vincent; S.P. Wakely; A. Weinstein; R. Welsing; A. Wilhelm; D.A. Williams; M. Ackermann; M. Ajello; A. Albert; L. Baldini; D. Bastieri; R. Bellazzini; E. Bissaldi; J. Bregeon; R. Buehler; S. Buson; G.A. Caliandro; R.A. Cameron; P.A. Caraveo; E. Cavazzuti; E. Charles; J. Chiang; S. Ciprini; R. Claus; S. Cutini; F. d'Ammando; A. de Angelis; F. de Palma; C.D. Dermer; S.W. Digel; L. Di Venere; P.S. Drell; C. Favuzzi; A. Franckowiak; P. Fusco; F. Gargano; D. Gasparrini; N. Giglietto; F. Giordano; M. Giroletti; I.A. Grenier; S. Guiriec; T. Jogler; M. Kuss; S. Larsson; L. Latronico; F. Longo; F. Loparco; P. Lubrano; G.M. Madejski; M. Mayer; M.N. Mazziotta; P.F. Michelson; T. Mizuno; M.E. Monzani; A. Morselli; S. Murgia; E. Nuss; T. Ohsugi; J.F. Ormes; D. Paneque; J.S. Perkins; F. Piron; G. Pivato; S. Rainò; M. Razzano; A. Reimer; O. Reimer; S. Ritz; M. Schaal; C. Sgrò; E.J. Siskind; P. Spinelli; H. Takahashi; L. Tibaldo; M. Tinivella; E. Troja; G. Vianello; M. Werner; M. Wood

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/785/1/L16

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Deep Broadband Observations of the Distant Gamma-ray Blazar PKS 1424+240

Journal article

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Deep Broadband Observations of the Distant Gamma-ray Blazar PKS 1424+240

S. Archambault, T. Aune, B. Behera, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, K. Berger, R. Bird, J. Biteau, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, …

Astrophys.J.Lett, Vol.785

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/785/1/L16

Abstract

BL Lacertae objects: individual (PKS 1424+240)-cosmic background radiation

gamma rays: galaxies

photon: flux

photon: absorption

gamma ray: flux

detector: optical

X-ray: detector

cosmic radiation: interaction

spectral

blazar

VHE

VERITAS

pair production

statistics

background

redshift

opacity

We present deep VERITAS observations of the blazar PKS 1424+240, along with contemporaneous Fermi Large Area Telescope, Swift X-ray Telescope, and Swift UV Optical Telescope data between 2009 February 19 and 2013 June 8. This blazar resides at a redshift of z ≥ 0.6035, displaying a significantly attenuated gamma-ray flux above 100 GeV due to photon absorption via pair-production with the extragalactic background light. We present more than 100 hr of VERITAS observations over three years, a multiwavelength light curve, and the contemporaneous spectral energy distributions. The source shows a higher flux of (2.1 ± 0.3) × 10–7 photons m–2 s–1 above 120 GeV in 2009 and 2011 as compared to the flux measured in 2013, corresponding to (1.02 ± 0.08) × 10–7 photons m–2 s–1 above 120 GeV. The measured differential very high energy (VHE; E ≥ 100 GeV) spectral indices are Γ = 3.8 ± 0.3, 4.3 ± 0.6 and 4.5 ± 0.2 in 2009, 2011, and 2013, respectively. No significant spectral change across the observation epochs is detected. We find no evidence for variability at gamma-ray opacities of greater than τ = 2, where it is postulated that any variability would be small and occur on timescales longer than a year if hadronic cosmic-ray interactions with extragalactic photon fields provide a secondary VHE photon flux. The data cannot rule out such variability due to low statistics.

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Title: Deep Broadband Observations of the Distant Gamma-ray Blazar PKS 1424+240
Creators - without role: S. Archambault - McGill University
T. Aune - University of California, Los Angeles
B. Behera
M. Beilicke - Washington University in St. Louis
W. Benbow - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
K. Berger - University of Delaware
R. Bird - University College Dublin
J. Biteau - University of California, Santa Cruz
V. Bugaev - Washington University in St. Louis
K. Byrum - Argonne National Laboratory
J.V Cardenzana - Iowa State University
M. Cerruti - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
X. Chen - University of Potsdam
L. Ciupik - Adler Planetarium
M.P. Connolly - Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway
W. Cui - Purdue University West Lafayette
J. Dumm - University of Minnesota
M. Errando - Barnard College
A. Falcone - Pennsylvania State University
S. Federici - University of Potsdam
Q. Feng - Purdue University West Lafayette
J.P. Finley - Purdue University West Lafayette
H. Fleischhack
L. Fortson - University of Minnesota
A. Furniss - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
N. Galante - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
G. H. Gillanders - Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway
S. Griffin - McGill University
S.T. Griffiths - University of Iowa
J. Grube - Adler Planetarium
G. Gyuk - Adler Planetarium
D. Hanna - McGill University
J. Holder - University of Delaware
G. Hughes
T.B. Humensky - Columbia University
C.A. Johnson - University of California, Santa Cruz
P. Kaaret - University of Iowa
M. Kertzman - DePauw University
Y. Khassen - University College Dublin
D. Kieda - University of Utah
H. Krawczynski - Washington University in St. Louis
F. Krennrich - Iowa State University
S. Kumar - University of Delaware
M.J. Lang - Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway
A.S Madhavan - Iowa State University
G. Maier
A. Mccann - University of Chicago
K. Meagher - Georgia Institute of Technology
P. Moriarty - Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
R. Mukherjee - Barnard College
D. Nieto - Columbia University
A. O'Faoláin de Bhróithe
R.A. Ong - University of California, Los Angeles
A.N. Otte - Georgia Institute of Technology
N. Park - University of Chicago
M. Pohl - University of Potsdam
A. Popkow - University of California, Los Angeles
H. Prokoph
J. Quinn - University College Dublin
K. Ragan - McGill University
J. Rajotte - McGill University
L.C. Reyes - California Polytechnic State University
P.T. Reynolds - Munster Technological University
G.T. Richards - Georgia Institute of Technology
E. Roache - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
G. H. Sembroski - Purdue University West Lafayette
K. Shahinyan - University of Minnesota
D. Staszak - McGill University
I. Telezhinsky - University of Potsdam
J.V. Tucci - Purdue University West Lafayette
J. Tyler - McGill University
A. Varlotta - Purdue University West Lafayette
V. V. Vassiliev - University of California, Los Angeles
S. Vincent
S.P. Wakely - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
A. Weinstein - Iowa State University
R. Welsing
A. Wilhelm - University of Potsdam
D.A. Williams - University of California, Santa Cruz
M. Ackermann - Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
M. Ajello - University of California, Berkeley
A. Albert - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
L. Baldini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
D. Bastieri - INFN Sezione di Padova
R. Bellazzini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. Bissaldi - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
J. Bregeon - Université de Montpellier, Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier - LUPM
R. Buehler - Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
S. Buson - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova
G.A. Caliandro - Consorzio Interuniversitario Fisica Spaziale
R.A. Cameron - Stanford University
P.A. Caraveo - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
E. Cavazzuti - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
E. Charles - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. Chiang - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
S. Ciprini - Astronomical Observatory of Rome
R. Claus - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
S. Cutini - Astronomical Observatory of Rome
F. d'Ammando
A. de Angelis - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
F. de Palma - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
C.D. Dermer - United States Naval Research Laboratory
S.W. Digel - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
L. Di Venere - Polytechnic University of Bari
P.S. Drell - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
C. Favuzzi - Polytechnic University of Bari
A. Franckowiak - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
P. Fusco - Polytechnic University of Bari
F. Gargano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
D. Gasparrini - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
N. Giglietto - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
F. Giordano - Polytechnic University of Bari
M. Giroletti - Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
I.A. Grenier - CEA Paris-Saclay
S. Guiriec - Goddard Space Flight Center
T. Jogler - Stanford University
M. Kuss - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
S. Larsson - Stockholm University
L. Latronico - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino
F. Longo - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
F. Loparco - Polytechnic University of Bari
P. Lubrano - University of Perugia
G.M. Madejski - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Mayer - Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
M.N. Mazziotta - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
P.F. Michelson - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Mizuno - Hiroshima University
M.E. Monzani - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. Morselli - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
S. Murgia - University of California, Irvine
E. Nuss - Université de Montpellier, Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier - LUPM
T. Ohsugi - Hiroshima University
J.F. Ormes - University of Denver
D. Paneque - Max Planck Institute for Physics
J.S. Perkins - Goddard Space Flight Center
F. Piron - Université de Montpellier, Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier - LUPM
G. Pivato - University of Padua
S. Rainò - Polytechnic University of Bari
M. Razzano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
A. Reimer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
O. Reimer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
S. Ritz - University of California, Santa Cruz
M. Schaal - National Academy of Sciences
C. Sgrò - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E.J. Siskind - Real Time Tomography
P. Spinelli - Polytechnic University of Bari
H. Takahashi - Hiroshima University
L. Tibaldo - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Tinivella - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. Troja - University of Maryland, College Park
G. Vianello - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Werner - Universität Innsbruck
M. Wood - Stanford University
Publication Details: Astrophys.J.Lett, Vol.785
Identifiers: 9941728009311
Academic Unit: Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier - LUPM
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: hal-02024305