arXiv subjects

E. Lindfors

Publications and source records attributed to E. Lindfors.

213 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

AGILE detection of a rapid gamma-ray flare from the blazar PKS 1510-089 during the GASP-WEBT monitoring

We report the detection by the AGILE satellite of a rapid gamma-ray flare from the powerful gamma-ray quasar PKS 1510-089, during a pointing centered on the Galactic Center region from 1 March to 30 March 2008. This source has been continuosly monitored in the radio-to-optical bands by the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT). Moreover, the gamma-ray flaring episode triggered three ToO observations by the Swift satellite in three consecutive days, starting from 20 March 2008. In the period 1-16 March 2008, AGILE detected gamma-ray emission from PKS 1510-089 at a significance level of 6.2-sigma with an average flux over the entire period of (84 +/- 17) x 10^{-8} photons cm^{-2} s^{-1} for photon energies above 100 MeV. After a predefined satellite re-pointing, between 17 and 21 March 2008, AGILE detected the source at a significance level of 7.3-sigma, with an average flux (E > 100 MeV) of (134 +/- 29) x 10^{-8} photons cm^{-2} s^{-1} and a peak level of (281 +/- 68) x 10^{-8} photons cm^{-2} s^{-1} with daily integration. During the observing period January-April 2008, the source also showed an intense and variable optical activity, with several flaring episodes and a significant increase of the flux was observed at millimetric frequencies. Moreover, in the X-ray band the Swift/XRT observations seem to show an harder-when-brighter behaviour of the source spectrum. The spectral energy distribution of mid-March 2008 is modelled with a homogeneous one-zone synchrotron self Compton emission plus contributions from inverse Compton scattering of external photons from both the accretion disc and the broad line region. Indeed, some features in the optical-UV spectrum seem to indicate the presence of Seyfert-like components, such as the little blue bump and the big blue bump.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

The Host Galaxy of 3C 279

We have obtained a deep i-band image of the blazar 3C 279 while the target was in a low optical state. Due to the faintness of the optical nucleus we have made the first detection of the host galaxy. The host galaxy has an apparent I-band magnitude of 18.4 +- 0.3 and an effective radius of (2.7 +- 1.1) arcsec. The luminosity of the host galaxy M_R = -23.8 is consistent with the luminosities of other radio-loud quasar host galaxies. Using the empirical correlation between bulge luminosity and central black hole mass M_bh we estimate log(M_bh/M_Sun) = 8.9 +- 0.5, broadly consistent with values obtained by photoionization methods.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

MAGIC Collaboration: Contributions to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2009)

Index entry listing the contributed papers of the MAGIC collaboration to the 31th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2009), July 7-15 2009, Łódź, Poland. The individual papers are sorted by subject: Overview and Highlight Papers; MAGIC-II Status and Components; Software and Analysis Techniques; Technical Developments; Scientific Results. This HTML document includes clickable links to the papers that exist on the astro-ph arXiv. We hope that this will make it easy to access the MAGIC contributions in a systematic way.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Multiwavelength observation from radio through very-high-energy Gamma-ray of OJ 287 during the 12-year cycle flare in 2007

We performed simultaneous multiwavelength observations of OJ 287 with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array for radio, the KANATA telescope and the KVA telescope for optical, the Suzaku satellite for X-ray and the MAGIC telescope for very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray in 2007. The observations were conducted for a quiescent state in April and in a flaring state in November-December. We clearly observed increase of fluxes from radio to X-ray bands during the flaring state while MAGIC could not detect significant VHE gamma-ray emission from the source. We could derive an upper limit (95% confidence level) of 1.7% of the Crab Nebula flux above 150 GeV from about 41.2 hours of the MAGIC observation. A simple SSC model suggests that the observed flaring activity could be caused by evolutions in the distribution of the electron population rather than changes of the magnetic field strength or Doppler beaming factor in the jet.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Monitoring of bright blazars with MAGIC telescope

Blazars, a class of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) characterized by a close orientation of their relativistic outflows (jets) towards the line of sight, are a well established extragalactic TeV $γ$-ray emitters. Since 2006, three nearby and TeV bright blazars, Markarian (Mrk) 421, Mrk 501 and 1ES 1959+650, are regularly observed by the MAGIC telescope with single exposures of 30 to 60 minutes. The sensitivity of MAGIC allows to establish a flux level of 30% of the Crab flux for each such observation. In a case of Mrk 421 strong flux variability in different time scales and a high correlation between X-ray/TeV emissions have been observed. In addition, preliminary results on measured light curves from Mrk 501 and 1ES1959+650 in 2007/8 are shown.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Discovery of Very High Energy gamma-rays from the blazar S5 0716+714

The MAGIC collaboration reports the detection of the blazar S50716+714 (redshift uncertain) in very high energy gamma-rays. The observations were performed in November 2007 and in April 2008, and were triggered by the KVA telescope due to the high optical state of the object. The blazar S50716+714 is the third low frequency BL Lac detected at energies above 100 GeV until today. Here, we present the results of the MAGIC observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Detection of the host galaxy of S5 0716+714

We have acquired a deep i-band image of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714 while the target was in an low optical state. Due to the faintness of the nucleus, we were able to detect the underlying host galaxy. The host galaxy is measured to have an I-band magnitude of 17.5 +- 0.5 and an effective radius of (2.7 +- 0.8) arcsec. Using the host galaxy as a ``standard candle'', we derive z = 0.31 +- 0.08 (1 sigma error) for the host galaxy of S5 0716+714. This redshift is consistent with the redshift z = 0.26 determined by spectroscopy for 3 galaxies close to S5 0716+714. The effective radius at z = 0.31 would be 12 +- 4 kpc, which is consistent with values obtained for BL Lac host galaxies. An optical spectrum acquired during the same epoch shows no identifiable spectral lines.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

INTEGRAL observations of the blazar Mrk 421 in outburst (Results of a multi-wavelength campaign)

We report the results of a multi-wavelength campaign on the blazar Mrk 421 during outburst. We observed four strong flares at X-ray energies that were not seen at other wavelengths (partially because of missing data). From the fastest rise in the X-rays, an upper limit could be derived on the extension of the emission region. A time lag between high-energy and low-energy X-rays was observed, which allowed an estimation of the magnetic-field strength. The spectral analysis of the X-rays revealed a slight spectral hardening of the low-energy (3 - 43 keV) spectral index. The hardness-ratio analysis of the Swift-XRT (0.2 - 10 keV) data indicated a small correlation with the intensity; i. e., a hard-to-soft evolution was observed. At the energies of IBIS/ISGRI (20 - 150 keV), such correlations are less obvious. A multiwavelength spectrum was composed and the X-ray and bolometric luminosities are calculated.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

The MAGIC Project: Contributions to ICRC 2007

The MAGIC Project: Contributions to ICRC 2007, Merida, Mexico. Contents pages for the Contribution on behalf of the MAGIC Collaboration to the 30th ICRC that took place in July 2007 in Merida, Mexico. The contents are in html form with clickable links to the papers that exist on the Astrophysics archive. We hope that this will make it easier to access the output of the conference in a systematic way. Comments on how useful this is/ how it could be improved should be sent to michela.demaria@iuav.it.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Host galaxy subtraction of TeV candidate BL Lacertae objects

We have derived R-band host galaxy fluxes of 20 TeV candidate BL Lacertae objects as a function of aperture radius and FWHM. The results are given as correction tables, that list the fluxes (in mJy) of all ``contaminating'' sources (host galaxy + significant nearby objects) as a function of aperture radius and FWHM. We found that the derived fluxes depend strongly on aperture radius, but the FWHM has only a minor effect (a few percent). We also discuss the implications of our findings to optical monitoring programs and potential sources of error in our derived fluxes. During this work we have also constructed new calibration star sequences for 9 objects and present the finding charts and calibrated magnitudes.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Discovery of very high-energy gamma-ray emission from the LBL object BL Lacertae

The low-frequency peaked BL Lac (LBL) object BL Lacertae was observed with the MAGIC telescope from 2005 August to December (22.2 hr), and from 2006 July to September (26.0 hr). A very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray signal was discovered with a 5.1 sigma excess in the 2005 data. Above 200 GeV, an integral flux of (0.6+-0.2)x10e-11 m-2 s-1 was measured, corresponding to approximately 3% of the Crab flux. The differential spectrum between 150 and 900 GeV is rather steep, with a photon index of -3.6+-0.5. The light curve shows no significant variability during the observations in 2005. For the first time a clear detection of VHE gamma-ray emission from an LBL object was obtained. The 2006 data show no significant excess. This drop in flux follows the observed trend in optical activity

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Successful ToO triggers on the extragalactic sources with the MAGIC telescope

The MAGIC collaboration has been performing Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations whenever alerted that known or potential very high energy gamma-ray emitting extragalactic sources were in a high flux state in the optical, X-ray band or/and in the TeV energy range. Here we report on MAGIC observations performed after such triggers, results of the analysis, and a possible optical-TeV correlation seen in the data. Detections as well as spectral and temporal characterestics of Mkn 180, PKS 2155-304, and 1ES 1011+496 are reported.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Discovery of VHE gamma-ray emission from 1ES1218+30.4

The MAGIC collaboration has studied the high peaked BL-Lac object 1ES1218+30.4 at a redshift z = 0.182, using the MAGIC imaging air Cherenkov telescope located on the Canary island of La Palma. A gamma-ray signal was observed with 6.4sigma significance. The differential energy spectrum for an energy threshold of 120GeV can be fitted by a simple power law yielding F_E(E) = (8.1+-2.1)*10^-7 (E/250GeV)^(-3.0+-0.4) TeV^-1 m^-2 s^-1. During the six days of observation in January 2005 no time variability on time scales of days was found within the statistical errors. The observed integral flux above 350GeV is nearly a factor two below the the upper limit reported by the Whipple Collaboration in 2003.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Flux upper limit of gamma-ray emission by GRB050713a from MAGIC Telescope observations

The long-duration GRB050713a was observed by the MAGIC Telescope, 40 seconds after the burst onset, and followed up for 37 minutes, until twilight. The observation, triggered by a SWIFT alert, covered energies above ~175 GeV. Using standard MAGIC analysis, no evidence for a gamma signal was found. As the redshift of the GRB was not measured directly, the flux upper limit, estimated by MAGIC, is still compatible with the assumption of an unbroken power-law spectrum extending from a few hundred keV to our energy range.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Optical Monitoring of PKS 2155-304 during August-September 2004 with the KVA telescope

The southern gamma-ray blazar PKS 2155-304 is one of the brightest and most intensively studied prototypes of BL Lac object. PKS 2155-304 has recently aroused the interest of Cherenkov telescope projects like HESS and MAGIC, the former having already observed the source in 2002 and 2003. This blazar was monitored with the KVA optical telescope (R-band intranight photometry and unfiltered polarization observations), in the frame of a new HESS multiwavelength campaign performed in August-September 2004.

astro-ph↗