Many authors have predicted very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) both during the prompt phase and during the multi-component afterglow. To date, however, there has been no definitive detection of such emission. Recently, the Swift Satellite made the exciting discovery that almost 50% of GRBs are accompanied by one or more X-ray flares, which are found to occur from several seconds to many hours after the prompt emission. The discovery of this phenomenon and the many predictions that VHE emission should accompany these flares increases the already strong motivation for making immediate follow-up VHE observations of GRBs. Observations of GRBs have high priority at VERITAS, preempting any observations that may be in progress. GRB alerts are received from the GCN via a socket connection. This is interfaced to the VERITAS Tracking Software to minimize the time between a notification arriving and the telescope being slewed to the GRB. We report here on GRB observations with VERITAS and with the Whipple Telescope from 2005 through 2007.
The first VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) telescope has been in operation at the basecamp of the Whipple Observatory since January 2005. Here we present initial observations of AGN made using this telescope. Although this is engineering data, significant detections of Markarian 421 and Markarian 501 have been achieved.
VERITAS is an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array designed to study astrophysi cal sources of very-high-energy gamma radiation. Located in southern Arizona, USA, the array consists of four 12m-diameter imaging Cherenkov telescopes. All four telescopes have been deployed at the basecamp of the Whipple Observatory and began full operation in early 2007. This paper describes the operational status of VERITAS, outlines the initial performance parameters of the instrument, and presents the latest results that have been obtained.
The VERITAS collaboration has observed the high-frequency-peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1218+304 using an array of several imaging Cherenkov telescopes located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Southern Arizona. A gamma-ray signal was detected with high significance for the observations taken during several months in the 2006-2007 observing season. Here we present the detection of 1ES 1218+304 in very-high-energy gamma rays.
VERITAS is a proposed major ground-based gamma-ray observatory to be built at the Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona, USA. It will consist of an array of seven 10m imaging Cherenkov telescopes designed to conduct gamma-ray observations in the energy range of 50 GeV - 50 TeV. A description of the baseline VERITAS design and optimization criteria are presented. We provide basic characteristics of the array performance for observations of point sources, such as angular resolution, energy threshold, energy resolution, and integral flux sensitivity. The limiting factors of the VERITAS performa…
VERITAS is a system of four imaging Cherenkov telescopes located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. We present here results of detailed Monte Carlo simulations of the array response to extensive air showers. Cherenkov image and shower parameter distributions are calculated and show good agreement with distributions obtained from observations of background cosmic rays and high-energy gamma-rays. Cosmic-ray and gamma-ray rates are accurately predicted by the simulations. The energy threshold of the 3-telescope system is about 150 GeV after gamma-hadron separation cuts;…
The Short GAmma Ray Front Air Cherenkov Experiment (SGARFACE) is operated at the Whipple Observatory utilizing the Whipple 10m gamma-ray telescope. SGARFACE is sensitive to gamma-ray bursts of more than 100MeV with durations from 100ns to 35us and provides a fluence sensitivity as low as 0.8 gamma-rays per m^2 above 200MeV (0.05 gamma-rays per m^2 above 2GeV) and allows to record the burst time structure.
We present the discovery of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from the high-frequency-peaked BL Lac object 1ES 0806+524 (z=0.138) and the intermediate-frequency-peaked BL Lac object W Comae (z=0.102) with VERITAS. VHE emission was discovered from these objects during the 2007/2008 observing campaign, with a strong outburst from W Comae detected in mid-March, lasting a few days. Quasi-simultaneous spectral energy distributions are presented, incorporating optical (AAVSO), and X-ray (Swift/RXTE) observations. We also present the energy spectrum of the distant BL Lac (z=0.182) 1ES 1218+30…
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) observations at very high energies (VHE, E > 100 GeV) can impose tight constraints on some GRB emission models. Many GRB afterglow models predict a VHE component similar to that seen in blazars and plerions, in which the GRB spectral energy distribution has a double-peaked shape extending into the VHE regime. VHE emission coincident with delayed X-ray flare emission has also been predicted. GRB follow-up observations have had high priority in the observing program at the Whipple 10m Gamma-ray Telescope and GRBs will continue to be high priority targets as the next generat…
In May 2002, the BL Lacertae object (BL Lac), 1ES1959+650, was detected in the Very High Energy (VHE) regime by the VERITAS collaboration using the Whipple $γ$-ray observatory. During the following two months, the VERITAS collaboration observed episodes of flaring; at times, the nightly average VHE signal was three times as bright as the Crab Nebula, the standard candle in VHE astronomy. 1ES1959+650 was also monitored in the optical and X-ray bands. The X-ray light curve showed periodic behavior and correlation with the VHE and the optical bands.
We give an overview of the current status and scientific goals of VERITAS, a proposed hexagonal array of seven 10 m aperture imaging Cherenkov telescopes. The selected site is Montosa Canyon (1390 m a.s.l.) at the Whipple Observatory, Arizona. Each telescope, of 12 m focal length, will initially be equipped with a 499 element photomultiplier camera covering a 3.5 degree field of view. A central station will initiate the readout of 500 MHz FADCs upon receipt of multiple telescope triggers. The minimum detectable flux sensitivity will be 0.5% of the Crab Nebula flux at 200 GeV. Detailed simulati…
We present observations of the dwarf galaxies Draco and Ursa Minor, the local group galaxies M32 and M33, and the globular cluster M15 conducted with the Whipple 10m gamma-ray telescope to search for the gamma-ray signature of self-annihilating weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) which may constitute astrophysical dark matter (DM). We review the motivations for selecting these sources based on their unique astrophysical environments and report the results of the data analysis which produced upper limits on excess rate of gamma rays for each source. We consider models for the DM distri…
We present the status and motivation of the Short GAmma Ray Front Air Cherenkov Experiment (SGARFACE) which will be operated parallel to standard Very High Energy gamma-ray observations using the Whipple 10m telescope. SGARFACE is sensitive to 100MeV-10GeV gamma-ray bursts with durations ranging from 100ns to 100us providing a fluence sensitivity as low as few $\rm 1E-9 erg/cm^2. Preliminary data taking started in November 2002.
The development of the atmospheric Cherenkov imaging technique has led to significant advances in gamma-ray detection sensitivity in the energy range from 200 GeV to 50 TeV. The Whipple Observatory 10m reflector has detected the first galactic and extragalactic sources in the Northern Hemisphere; the Crab Nebula has been established as the standard candle for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. The highly variable Active Galactic Nuclei, Markarian 421 and Markarian 501, have proved to be particularly interesting. A new generation of telescopes with improved sensitivity has the promise of interes…
Based on BACODINE network notification the Whipple Observatory gamma-ray telescope has been used to search for the delayed TeV counterpart to BATSE-detected gamma-ray bursts. In the fast slew mode, any point in the sky can be reached within two minutes of the burst notification. The search strategy, necessary because of the uncertainty in burst position and limited FOV of the camera, is described.
Some gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectra exhibit high energy tails with the highest photon energy detected at 18 GeV. The spectral slope of the high-energy tails is sufficiently flat in nu F_nu to consider the possibility of their detection at still higher energies. We calculate how many bursts can reasonably be expected above a given energy threshold for a cosmological distribution of bursts satisfying the observed apparent brightness distribution. The crucial point is that the gamma-ray absorption by pair production in the intergalactic diffuse radiation field eliminates bursts from beyond the gam…
Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) are among the potential extragalactic sources of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays. We discuss the prospects of detecting VHE gamma-rays with current ground-based Cherenkov instruments during the afterglow phase. Using the fireball model, we calculate the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission from forward-shock electrons. The modeled results are compared with the observational afterglow data taken with and/or the sensitivity level of ground-based VHE instruments (e.g. STACEE, H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS, and Whipple). We find that modeled SSC emission from bright and nea…
Relativistic bulk motion with large Lorentz factors has recently been inferred for gamma-ray bursts regardless of whether they are of galactic or cosmological origin. This conclusion results from calculations of internal pair production transparency in bursts that usually assume an infinite power-law source spectrum for simplicity, an approximation that is quite adequate for some bursts detected by EGRET. However, for a given bulk Lorentz factor \teqΓ, photons above the EGRET range can potentially interact with sub-MeV photons in such calculations. Hence it is essential to accurately address t…
We calculate the very high energy (sub-GeV to TeV) inverse Compton emission of GRB afterglows. We argue that this emission provides a powerful test of the currently accepted afterglow model. We focus on two processes: synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission within the afterglow blast wave, and external inverse Compton (EIC) emission which occurs when flare photons (produced by an internal process) pass through the blast wave. We show that if our current interpretations of the Swift XRT data are correct, there should be a canonical high energy afterglow emission light curve. Our predictions can…
We present near-infrared and optical observations of the afterglow to the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 991216 obtained with the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.2-m telescope and the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope. The observations range from 15 hours to 3.8 days after the burst. The temporal behavior of the data is well described by a single power-law decay with index -1.36 +/-0.04, independent of wavelength. The optical spectral energy distribution, corrected for significant Galactic reddening of E(B-V)=0.626, is well fitted by a single power-law with index -0.58 +/- 0.08. Combining the IR/optical…
Recent observations of the TeV gamma-ray spectra of the two closest active galactic nuclei (AGNs), Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) and Markarian 421 (Mrk 421), by the Whipple and HEGRA collaborations have stimulated efforts to estimate or limit the spectral energy density (SED) of extragalactic background light (EBL) which causes attenuation of TeV photons via pair-production when they travel cosmological distances. In spite of the lack of any distinct cutoff-like feature in the spectra of Mrk 501 and Mrk 421 (in the interval 0.26-10 TeV) which could clearly indicate the presence of such a photon abso…
The gamma-ray burst (GRB) 010222 is the brightest GRB detected to date by the BeppoSAX satellite. Prompt identification of the associated optical transient (OT) allowed for spectroscopy with the Tillinghast 1.5m telescope at F. L. Whipple Observatory while the source was still relatively bright (R ~ 18.6 mag), within five hours of the burst. The OT shows a blue continuum with many superimposed absorption features corresponding to metal lines at z = 1.477, 1.157, and possibly also at 0.928. The redshift of GRB 010222 is therefore unambiguously placed at z >= 1.477. The high number of Mg II abso…
The observation of the time delay between the soft emission and the high-energy radiation from cosmological gamma ray bursts can be used as an important observational test of multi-dimensional physical theories. The main source of the time delay is the variation of the electromagnetic coupling, due to dimensional reduction, which induces an energy dependence of the speed of light. For photons with energies around 1 TeV, the time delay could range from a few seconds in the case of Kaluza-Klein models to a few days for models with large extra-dimensions. Based on these results we suggest that th…
We present the analysis and results of recent high-energy gamma-ray observations of the high energy-peaked BL Lac (HBL) object 1ES 1218+304 with the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE). 1ES 1218+304 is an X-ray bright HBL at a redshift z=0.182. It has been predicted to be a gamma-ray emitter above 100 GeV, detectable by ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. Recently this source has been detected by MAGIC and VERITAS, confirming these predictions. STACEE's sensitivity to astrophysical sources at energies above 100 GeV allows it to explore high energy sources such as X-ray …
We report on R_c and K band observations of the optical counterpart to GRB 970508 with the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) 1.2m telescope. Eleven R_c-band observations were obtained on 1997 May 12, and three on May14. The counterpart clearly faded between the two nights. On May 12 there was no evidence for variability (<9%) on 10-70 minute time scales based on 11 R_c-band observations. On May 19 a one hour observation set a limit on the K magnitude of K>18.2. Comparison of these data points with those obtained by other authors shows that the decay of the optical counterpart can be wel…
We consider the emission within the fireball model framework of very high energy, ~1 GeV to >1 TeV photons, on a minute time scale, during the onset of fireball deceleration due to interaction with surrounding medium. Our time dependent numerical model includes exact treatment of electron synchrotron emission, inverse-Compton scattering, pair production, and evolution of electromagnetic cascades (initiated by pair production or photo-production of pions). We find that (i) The 1 GeV--10 GeV flux is not sensitive to model parameters and is ~10^{-7} erg cm^-2 s^-1 for z=1 bursts, well within the …
