Geminga is a nearby (250 pc) middle-aged (spin-down time scale ~12,000 years) pulsar associated with a supernova remnant. Geminga has been a prime candidate for the origin of the unexpectedly high flux of cosmic-ray positrons above 10 GeV detected at Earth. Extended TeV gamma-ray emission from a 2-degree region around the Geminga pulsar was detected by the HAWC observatory, thus suggesting efficient, high-energy leptonic acceleration. Fermi-LAT observations show that the density of GeV leptons in the TeV nebula is lower than predicted by single zone and two zone diffusion models constrained with the HAWC measurements. However, the energy gap between Fermi-LAT and HAWC (~500 GeV to ~1 TeV) remains under-examined. The VERITAS gamma-ray observatory is sensitive in the energy range from 100 GeV to greater than 30 TeV, filling the gap between Fermi-LAT and HAWC. Therefore, VERITAS measurements potentially provide missing information. VERITAS has observed Geminga for 93 hours since 2009 including 28 hours in the 2018/2019 season. However, the standard VERITAS data analysis techniques have insufficient sensitivity to sources extended at the scale of the HAWC detection, due to difficulties with background estimation. We developed the Matched Runs Method (MRM) for VERITAS analysis of spatially extended sources. MRM has been demonstrated to be an effective technique by applying it to archival VERITAS data, and we are currently applying it to the Geminga observations. Here we present the summary of the MRM.
The Geminga gamma ray source was first detected by the SAS-2 gamma-ray satellite observatory and the COS-B x-ray satellite observatory, and has been identified as a radio-quiet pulsar associated with a 300,000 year old supernova remnant. Geminga is one of the brightest GeV sources as seen by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi gamma-ray satellite observatory. A ground based detection was accomplished by the Milagro extensive air shower array at energies greater than 20 TeV. During 2007 VERITAS performed observations to search for TeV gamma ray emission from the Geminga pulsar and the r…
Geminga was first detected as a gamma-ray point source by the SAS-2 gamma-ray satellite observatory and the COS-B X-ray satellite observatory. Subsequent observations have identified Geminga as a heavily obscured radio-quiet pulsar associated with a nearby (250 pc) late Sedov phase (300,000 year) supernova remnant. The Geminga pulsar is the second brightest source detected by the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi gamma-ray satellite (Fermi-LAT) and has been frequently advanced as a source of the anomalous excess of cosmic ray positrons reported by PAMELA, Fermi-LAT, and AMS-2. It is surrou…
In recent years, the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray telescope has detected a population of over 160 gamma-ray pulsars, which has enabled the detailed study of electromagnetic radiation from pulsars at energies above 100 MeV. Further, since the surprising detection of the Crab pulsar in very high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma rays by the MAGIC and VERITAS collaborations, there has been an ongoing effort in the astrophysics community to detect new pulsars in the VHE band. However, the Crab remains the only pulsar so far detected in VHE gamma rays, raising the question of whether or not the Crab is unique…
We present the results of 71.6 hours of observations of the Geminga pulsar (PSR J0633+1746) with the VERITAS very-high-energy gamma-ray telescope array. Data taken with VERITAS between November 2007 and February 2013 were phase-folded using a Geminga pulsar timing solution derived from data recorded by the XMM-\emph{Newton} and \emph{Fermi}-LAT space telescopes. No significant pulsed emission above 100 GeV is observed, and we report upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the integral flux above 135 GeV (spectral analysis threshold) of 4.0$\times10^{-13}$ s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ and 1.7$\times1…
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are widely considered the most likely source of cosmic rays below the knee ($10^{15}$ eV). Studies of GeV and TeV gamma-ray emission in the vicinity of SNRs, in combination with multi-wavelength observations, can trace and constrain the nature of the charged particle population believed to be accelerated within SNR shocks. They may also speak to the diffusion and propagation of these energetic particles and to the nature of the acceleration mechanisms involved. We report here on recent observations of SNRs with VERITAS, including the discoveries of VHE gamma-ray emiss…
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are widely considered the most likely source of cosmic rays below the knee ($10^{15}$ eV). Studies of GeV and TeV gamma-ray emission in the vicinity of SNRs, in combination with multi-wavelength observations, can trace and constrain the nature of the charged particle population believed to be accelerated within SNR shocks. They may also speak to the diffusion and propagation of these energetic particles and to the nature of the acceleration mechanisms involved. We report here on the discoveries and interpretation of VHE gamma-ray emission from G120.1+1.4 (Tycho's SNR)…
The study of shell-type supernova remnants is a key science focus for the VERITAS TeV telescope array. Supernova remnants (SNRs) are widely considered to be the strongest candidate for the source of cosmic rays below the knee around 10^15 eV. This presentation will highlight new VERITAS results including new measurements of the spectra of Cas A and IC 443 and observations of the "Forbidden Velocity Wing" FVW 190.2+1.1. These results and their implications for the nature of the cosmic rays - hadronic or electronic - accelerated in the remnants will be discussed.
The study of supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae was one of the Key Science Projects for the first two years of VERITAS observations. VERITAS is an array of four imaging Cherenkov telescopes located at the Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. Supernova remnants are widely considered to be the strongest candidate for the source of cosmic rays below the knee at around 10^15 eV. Pulsar wind nebulae are synchrotron nebulae powered by the spin-down of energetic young pulsars, and comprise one of the most populous very-high-energy gamma-ray source classes. This poster will summarize the r…
Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a rare class of stellar explosions with luminosities ~10-100 times greater than ordinary core-collapse supernovae. One popular model to explain the enhanced optical output of hydrogen-poor (Type I) SLSNe invokes energy injection from a rapidly spinning magnetar. A prediction in this case is that high-energy gamma rays, generated in the wind nebula of the magnetar, could escape through the expanding supernova ejecta at late times (months or more after optical peak). This paper presents a search for gamma-ray emission in the broad energy band from 100 MeV to …
The VERITAS imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array has been observing the northern TeV sky with four telescopes since summer 2007. Over 50 gamma-ray sources have been studied, including active and starburst galaxies, pulsars and their nebulae, supernova remnants and Galactic binary systems. We review here some of the most recent VERITAS results, and discuss the status and prospects for collaborative work with other gamma-ray instruments, and with multimessenger observatories.
The local sources, such as Geminga SNR, may play important role for the anomaly of proton, electron and anisotropy in the past works. In fact, there exists twelve SNRs around solar system within $1$ kpc. One question is that can other SNRs also possibly contribute the spectra of nuclei and electron and explain the special structure of anisotropy? In this work, under the spatial-dependent propagation, we systematically study the contribution of all local SNRs within 1 kpc around solar to the spectra of nuclei and electron, as well as the energy dependence of anisotropy. As a result, only Geming…
The study of $γ$-ray emission from galactic sources such as supernova remnants (SNR) may provide key insights into their potential role as accelerators of cosmic rays up to the knee ($\sim 10^{15}$ eV). The VERITAS Observatory is sensitive to galactic and extragalactic $γ$-ray sources in the 100 GeV to 30 TeV energy range. We report here on VERITAS observations of the vicinity of the cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays reported by Fermi, which lies between potential accelerators in the Cygnus OB2 association and the $γ$-Cygni SNR. A particular focus is placed on the source VER J2019 +407…
VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is one of the most sensitive currently operating arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, which detect very high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma rays. VERITAS is currently in its 11th year of full-array operations with four 12m-diameter telescopes. Many Galactic sources of VHE gamma rays have been detected by VERITAS, such as pulsar wind nebulae, binary systems, and supernova remnants, and the study of VHE emission from these objects has enabled a deeper understanding of the underlying physical processes responsible f…
CTA 1 (G119.5+10.2) is a composite supernova remnant (SNR) with a shell-type structure, visible in the radio band, surrounding a smaller pulsar wind nebula. Fermi detected a radio-quiet pulsar PSR J0007+7303 within the radio shell. 26.5 hours of VERITAS observation revealed extended TeV emission from CTA 1. The centroid of the TeV emission is located near the Fermi pulsar. The integral flux of the emission was ~4% of the Crab Nebula flux (>1TeV). We present an update on the source analysis with additional exposure and possible interpretations.
The middle-aged supernova remnant IC 443 is interacting with molecular gas in its surroundings. $Fermi$-LAT has established that its gamma-ray emission at low energies shows the "pion bump" that is characteristic of hadronic emission. TeV emission was previously established by MAGIC and VERITAS at a site of interaction between the shock front and a molecular cloud. VERITAS has continued to observe IC 443 and can now resolve the emission on few-arcmin scales. We will present results on the emission morphology and discuss possible sources of the emission, including the shell of the remnant and o…
We report the discovery of X-ray periodicity of ~265.3 ms from a deep XMM-Newton observation of the radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar, PSR J2021+4026, located at the edge of the supernova remnant G78.2+2.1 (gamma-Cygni).The detected frequency is consistent with the gamma-ray pulsation determined by the observation of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope at the same epoch. The X-ray pulse profile resembles the modulation of hot spot on the surface of the neutron star. The phase-averaged spectral analysis also suggests that the majority of the observed X-rays have a thermal origin. This is the third membe…
CTA 1 (G119.5+10.2) is a composite supernova remnant (SNR) with a shell-type structure in the radio band and a center filled morphology at X-ray energies. Fermi has detected a radio-quiet pulsar PSR J0007+7303 within the radio shell of CTA 1 in a blind search within its first months of operation. Located within an X-ray synchrotron pulsar wind nebula (PWN), the Fermi source is spatially coincident with the EGRET source 3EG J0010+7309. We present the the detection of the system in very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays by VERITAS, with a preliminary comparison to other TeV-detected PWNe.
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are among the strongest candidates to explain the flux of cosmic rays below the knee around 10^15 eV. Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), synchrotron nebulae powered by the spin-down of energetic young pulsars, comprise one of the most populous VHE gamma-ray source classes. Gamma-ray studies in the GeV and TeV bands probe the nature (ions vs. electrons), production, and diffusion of high-energy particles in SNRs and PWNe. For sources that are visible across both the GeV and TeV bands, such as IC 443, the spatial and spectral distribution of gamma rays can be studied over an u…
The Galactic Center has long been a region of interest for high-energy and very-high-energy observations. Many potential sources of GeV/TeV gamma-ray emission have been suggested, e.g., the accretion of matter onto the black hole, cosmic rays from a nearby supernova remnant, or the annihilation of dark matter particles. The Galactic Center has been detected at MeV/GeV energies by EGRET and recently by Fermi/LAT. At GeV/TeV energies, the Galactic Center was detected by different ground-based Cherenkov telescopes such as CANGAROO, Whipple 10m, H.E.S.S., and MAGIC. We present the results from 15 …
Due to its extraordinarily high concentration of known relativistic particle accelerators such as pulsar wind nebula, supernova remnants, dense molecular cloud regions, and the supermassive black hole (Sgr A*); the center of the Milky Way galaxy has long been an ideal target for high energy (HE, 0.1-100 GeV) and very high energy ( VHE, 50 GeV-50 TeV) gamma-ray emission. Indeed, detections of Sgr A* and other nearby regions of gamma-ray emission have been reported by EGRET and Fermi-LAT in the HE band, as well as CANGAROO, Whipple, HESS, VERITAS, and MAGIC in the VHE band. Here we report on the…
VERITAS is a major ground-based detector of very high energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma rays and cosmic rays. VERITAS consists of an ar- ray of four 12m-diameter atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes that has been fully operational since September 2007. VERITAS has detected many as- trophysical sources of VHE gamma rays, including at least 17 VHE sources that are likely Galactic in origin. This paper describes some of the Galactic source highlights from VERITAS with an emphasis on those aspects that relate to the origin of cosmic rays. Specifically, topics include the VERITAS discovery of VHE emissio…
The Cygnus region is a very active region of our Galaxy with many sources of GeV and TeV gamma-ray emission, such as supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, and massive star clusters. A detailed study of the Cygnus region at these energies can give insight into the processes of particle acceleration in astrophysical sources. VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is an array of four 12 meter diameter imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in southern Arizona. From 2007 through 2012 VERITAS observed the Cygnus…
We report observation of the supernova remnant IC443 (G189.1+3.0) with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the energy band between 200MeV and 50GeV. IC443 is a shell-type supernova remnant with mixed morphology located off the outer Galactic plane where high-energy emission has been detected in the X-ray, GeV and TeV gamma-ray bands. Past observations suggest IC443 has been interacting with surrounding interstellar matter. Proximity between dense shocked molecular clouds and GeV-TeV gamma-ray emission regions detected by EGRET, MAGIC and VERITAS suggests an interp…
Geminga pulsar is surrounded by a multi-TeV $γ$-ray halo radiated by the high energy electrons and positrons accelerated by the central pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The angular profile of the $γ$-ray emission reported by HAWC indicates an anomalously slow diffusion for the cosmic-ray electrons and positrons in the halo region around Geminga. In the paper we study the possible mechanism for the origin of the slow diffusion. At first, we consider the self-generated Alfvén waves due to the streaming instability of the electrons and positrons released by Geminga. However, even considering a very opti…
The Cygnus region of the Galactic plane is a promising target for high-energy and very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray telescopes as it is home to many potential sources, such as supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, X-ray binaries and massive star clusters. The VHE gamma-ray observatory VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is an array of four 12 m diameter imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located at Mt. Hopkins, AZ, USA. Over the period of 2007 to 2012, VERITAS has carried out extensive observations in the direction of Cygnus. These observations were initia…
The H.E.S.S. extended Galactic plane survey revealed the presence of a new extended TeV gamma-ray source, HESSJ1503-582, with no obvious counterpart at other wavelengths. The source is, however, coincident with an HI structure with a velocity significantly different from that of galactic rotation - a so-called "Forbidden Velocity Wing". These structures have been suggested as the fast moving shells and filaments associated with the oldest supernova remnants in our galaxy. The detection of TeV gamma-ray emission from these structures might indicate that supernova remnants remain efficient parti…
Diffuse gamma rays are tracers of cosmic rays, providing information on their origin, interaction and diffusion through a galaxy. M 31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way (d = 780 kpc) and is very well studied at all wavelengths. Thus it is a prime target for the study of diffuse gamma-ray emission. The very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray observatory VERITAS has conducted 54 hours of observations of M 31 and an upper limit on the VHE flux is presented along with an updated \Fermis (0.1 < E < 300 GeV) analysis. These observations will be compared with …
In this paper, we report a detailed investigation of the multiwavelength properties of a newly detected gamma-ray pulsar, PSR J2021+4026, in both observational and theoretical aspects. We firstly identify an X-ray source in the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue, 2XMM J202131.0+402645, located within the 95% confidence circle of PSR J2021+4026. With an archival Chandra observation, this identification provides an X-ray position with arcsecond accuracy which is helpful in facilitating further investigations. Searching for the pulsed radio emission at the position of 2XMM J202131.0+402645…
We present very high energy (VHE) imaging of MGRO J2019+37 obtained with the VERITAS observatory. The bright extended ($\sim2^{\circ}$) unidentified Milagro source is located towards the rich star formation region Cygnus-X. MGRO J2019+37 is resolved into two VERITAS sources. The faint point-like source VER J2016+371 overlaps CTB 87, a filled-center remnant (SNR) with no evidence of a supernova remnant shell at the present time. Its spectrum is well fit in the $0.65 - 10$ TeV energy range by a power-law model with photon index $2.3\pm0.4$. VER J2019+368 is a bright extended ($\sim1^{\circ}$) so…
The Galactic Center Ridge has been observed extensively in the past by both GeV and TeV instruments revealing a wealth of structure, including both a diffuse component, the point sources G0.9+0.1 (a composite supernova remnant) and SgrA* (believed to be associated with the super massive black hole located at the center of our galaxy). Previous observations (> 300 GeV) with the H.E.S.S. array have also detected an extended TeV component along the Galactic plane due to either diffuse emission or a host of unresolved point sources. Here we report on the VERITAS observations of the Galactic Center…
The H.E.S.S. Galactic plane scan has revealed a large population of Galactic very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) emitters. The majority of the galactic sources are extended and can typically be associated with pulsar wind nebulae (35%) and supernova remnants (21%), while some of the sources remain unidentified (31%). A much smaller fraction of point-like sources (5 in total, corresponding to 4%) are identified as gamma-ray binaries. Active galactic nuclei located behind the Galactic plane are also a potential source class. An active galaxy could be identified in the VHE regime by a point-like …
Supernova Remnants (SNRs) are broadly accepted as the main accelerators of Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) with energies up to the knee region. Recent measurements of pion bumps in IC 443 and W 44 by Fermi-LAT show indirect evidence of the acceleration of hadronic particles in SNRs. But, whether SNRs are the powerhouses for GCR acceleration all the way up to the knee region still remains an unsolved question. Tycho is a promising target for this study because it has been widely studied in multi-wavelength observations from IR to TeV and it is a young type Ia SNR located in a relatively clean envir…
The VERITAS gamma ray observatory (Amado, AZ, veritas.sao.arizona.edu) uses the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT) to study sources of Very High Energy (VHE: E > 100 GeV) gamma rays. Key science results from the first three years of observation include the discovery of the first VHE emitting starburst galaxy, detection of new Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), SuperNova Remnants (SNR), gamma ray binaries as well as strong limits on the emission of VHE gamma rays from dark matter annihilation in dwarf galaxies. In April 2010, VERITAS received funding to upgrade the photomultiplier tube c…
We present a catalog of results of gamma-ray observations made by VERITAS, published from 2008 to 2020. VERITAS is a ground based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope observatory located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in southern Arizona, sensitive to gamma-ray photons with energies in the range of ~100 GeV - 30 TeV. Its observation targets include galactic sources such as binary star systems, pulsar wind nebulae, and supernova remnants, extragalactic sources like active galactic nuclei, star forming galaxies, and gamma-ray bursts, and some unidentified objects. The catalog…
The vast majority of pulsars detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) display exponentially cutoff spectra with cutoffs falling in a narrow band around a few GeV. Early spectral modelling predicted spectral cutoffs at energies of up to 100 GeV, assuming curvature radiation. It was therefore not expected that pulsars would be visible in the very-high energy (VHE) regime (>100 GeV). The VERITAS announcement of the detection of pulsed emission from the Crab pulsar at energies up to 400 GeV (and now up to 1.5 TeV as detected by MAGIC) therefore raised important questions about our understa…
Supernova remnants (SNRs) have long been considered the leading candidates for the accelerators of cosmic rays within the Galaxy through the process of diffusive shock acceleration. The connection between SNRs and cosmic rays is supported by the detection of high energy (HE; 100 MeV to 100 GeV) and very high energy (VHE; 100 GeV to 100 TeV) gamma rays from young and middle-aged SNRs. However, the interpretation of the gamma-ray observations is not unique. This is because gamma rays can be produced both by electrons through non-thermal Bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering, and by proto…
Supernova remnants (SNRs) have long been considered the leading candidate sites for the acceleration of cosmic rays within the Galaxy through the process of diffusive shock acceleration. The connection between SNRs and cosmic rays is supported by the detection of high energy (HE; 100 MeV to 100 GeV) and very high energy (VHE; 100 GeV to 100 TeV) gamma rays from young and middle-aged SNRs. However, the interpretation of the gamma-ray observations is not unique. This is due to the fact that gamma rays can be produced by electrons through non-thermal Bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering,…
The ground-based gamma-ray observatory VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is sensitive to photons of astrophysical origin with energies in the range between $\approx 85$ GeV to $\approx 30$ TeV. The instrument consists of four 12-m diameter imaging Cherenkov telescopes operating at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in southern Arizona. VERITAS started four-telescope operations in 2007 and collects about 1100 hours of good-weather data per year. The VERITAS collaboration has published over 100 journal articles since 2008 reporting on gamma-ray observati…
The Cygnus region of the Galactic plane contains many known supernova remnants, pulsars, X-ray and GeV gamma-ray emitters which make it a prime candidate for a Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray survey in the Northern Hemisphere. The VERITAS observatory, an array of four atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located at the base of Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona, USA, has carried out an extensive survey of the Cygnus region between 67 and 82 degrees in galactic longitude and between -1 and 4 degrees in galactic latitude. The survey, comprising more than 140 hours of observations, reaches an average V…
We report recent progress on the on-going NuSTAR observational campaign of 8 TeV-detected pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). This campaign constitutes a major part of our NuSTAR study of some of the most energetic TeV sources in our Galaxy detected by VERITAS and HAWC. NuSTAR is the first focusing X-ray telescope operating above 10 keV in space with sub-arcminute angular resolution. Broad-band X-ray imaging and spectroscopy data, obtained by NuSTAR, allow us to probe sub-PeV electron populations through detecting synchrotron X-ray radiation. Our targets include PeVatron candidates detected by HAWC, t…
Investigation of the Microquasar SS 433 with VERITAS
DePauw University(迪保大学);Temple University(天普大学);University of Utah(犹他大学);University College Dublin(都柏林大学学院);University of California, Los Angeles(加州大学洛杉矶分校);California Polytechnic State University(加州州立理工大学);Washington University(华盛顿大学);Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics(圣克鲁兹粒子物理研究所);University of California, Santa Cruz(加州大学圣克鲁兹分校)
The VERITAS IACT observatory has carried out an extensive survey of the Cygnus region between 67 and 82 degrees in galactic longitude and between -1 and 4 degrees in galactic latitude. This region is a natural choice for a Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray survey in the Northern Hemisphere, as it contains a substantial number of potential VHE gamma-ray emitters such as supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, high-mass X-ray binaries, and massive star clusters, in addition to a few previously detected VHE gamma-ray sources. It is also home to a number of GeV gamma-ray sources, including no less…
We argue that the cosmic ray positron excess observed in ATIC-2, Fermi LAT, PAMELA, HESS and recently in the precision AMS-02 experiment can be attributed to the production in a local, middle-aged supernova remnant (SNR). Using the prediction of our model of cosmic ray acceleration in SNR we estimate that the SNR responsible for the observed positron excess is located between 250 and 320pc from the Sun and is 170-380 kyear old. The most probable candidate for such a source is the SNR which gave birth to the well-known Geminga pulsar, but is no longer visible. Other contenders are also discusse…
We present evidence that the very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission coincident with the supernova remnant IC 443 is extended. IC 443 contains one of the best-studied sites of supernova remnant/molecular cloud interaction and the pulsar wind nebula CXOU J061705.3+222127, both of which are important targets for VHE observations. VERITAS observed IC 443 for 37.9 hours during 2007 and detected emission above 300 GeV with an excess of 247 events, resulting in a significance of 8.3 standard deviations (sigma) before trials and 7.5 sigma after trials in a point-source search. The emis…
The most commonly used techniques for estimating the background contribution in IACT data analysis are the ring background model and the reflected region methods. However, these two techniques are poorly suited for analyses of sources with extensions comparable to the detector's field of view (greater than $\sim$1$^{\circ}$). Nearby pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants interacting with molecular clouds, and dark matter signatures from galaxy clusters are just a few potentially highly extended source classes. A three dimensional maximum likelihood analysis is in development that seeks to res…
Gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants (SNRs) can provide a unique window to observe the cosmic-ray acceleration believed to take place in these objects. Tycho is an especially good target for investigating hadronic cosmic-ray acceleration and interactions because it is a young type Ia SNR that is well studied in other wavelengths, and it is located in a relatively clean environment. Several different theoretical models have been advanced to explain the broadband spectral energy emission of Tycho from radio to the gamma-ray emission detected by the Fermi-LAT in the GeV and by VERITAS in th…
The Galactic Center (GC) region hosts a variety of powerful astronomical sources and rare astrophysical processes that emit a large flux of non-thermal radiation. The inner 375 pc x 600 pc region, called the Central Molecular Zone, is home to the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, massive cloud complexes, and particle accelerators such as supernova remnants. We present the results of our improved analysis of the very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission above 2 TeV from the GC using 125 hours of data taken with the VERITAS imaging-atmospheric Cherenkov telescope between 2010 and 2018. The…
High-energy gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants (SNRs) has provided a unique perspective for studies of Galactic cosmic-ray acceleration. Tycho's SNR is a particularly good target because it is a young, type Ia SNR that is well-studied over a wide range of energies and located in a relatively clean environment. Since the detection of gamma-ray emission from Tycho's SNR by VERITAS and Fermi-LAT, there have been several theoretical models proposed to explain its broadband emission and high-energy morphology. We report on an update to the gamma-ray measurements of Tycho's SNR with 147 hour…
We report the detection of X-ray pulsations with a period of ~315.87 ms from the 2009 XMM-Newton observation for the radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar, LAT PSR J0007+7303, centered in the supernova remnant CTA 1. The detected pulsed period is consistent with the gamma-ray periodicity at the same epoch found with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The broader sinusoidal structure in the folded light curve of the X-ray emission is dissimilar to that of the gamma-ray emission, and the phase of the peak is about 0.5 shifting from the peak in the gamma-ray bands, indicating that the main component of …
We present a study of $γ$-ray emission from the core-collapse supernova remnant Cas~A in the energy range from 0.1GeV to 10TeV. We used 65 hours of VERITAS data to cover 200 GeV - 10 TeV, and 10.8 years of \textit{Fermi}-LAT data to cover 0.1-500 GeV. The spectral analysis of \textit{Fermi}-LAT data shows a significant spectral curvature around $1.3 \pm 0.4_{stat}$ GeV that is consistent with the expected spectrum from pion decay. Above this energy, the joint spectrum from \textit{Fermi}-LAT and VERITAS deviates significantly from a simple power-law, and is best described by a power-law with s…
Gamma ray observations from a few hundred MeV up to tens of TeV are a valuable tool for studying particle acceleration and diffusion within our galaxy. Constructing a coherent physical picture of particle accelerators such as supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, and star-forming regions requires the ability to detect extended regions of gamma ray emission, to analyze small-scale spatial variation within these regions, and to synthesize data from multiple observatories across multiple wavebands. Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) provide fine angular resolution (<0.1$^\circ$) …
We report the detection of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from supernova remnant (SNR) G106.3+2.7. Observations performed in 2008 with the VERITAS atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope resolve extended emission overlapping the elongated radio SNR. The 7.3 sigma (pre-trials) detection has a full angular extent of roughly 0.6deg by 0.4deg. Most notably, the centroid of the VHE emission is centered near the peak of the coincident 12CO (J = 1-0) emission, 0.4deg away from the pulsar PSR J2229+6114, situated at the northern end of the SNR. Evidently the current-epoch particles from t…