arXiv subjects

VERITAS Collaboration

Publications and source records attributed to VERITAS Collaboration.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

VERITAS Data Acquisition

VERITAS employs a multi-stage data acquisition chain that extends from the VME readout of custom 500 MS/s flash ADC electronics to the construction of telescope events and ultimately the compilation of information from each telescope into array level data. These systems provide access to the programming of the channel level triggers and the FADCs. They also ensure the proper synchronization of event information across the array and provide the first level of data quality monitoring. Additionally, the data acquisition includes features to handle the readout of special trigger types and to monitor channel scaler rates. In this paper we describe the software and hardware components of the systems and the protocols used to communicate between the VME, telescope, and array levels. We also discuss the performance of the data acquisition for array operations.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Focal Plane Instrumentation of VERITAS

VERITAS is a new atmospheric Cherenkov imaging telescope array to detect very high energy gamma rays above 100 GeV. The array is located in southern Arizona, USA, at an altitude of 1268m above sea level. The array consists of four 12-m telescopes of Davies-Cotton design and structurally resembling the Whipple 10-m telescope. The four focal plane instruments are equipped with high-resolution (499 pixels) fast photo-multiplier-tube (PMT) cameras covering a 3.5 degree field of view with 0.15 degree pixel separation. Light concentrators reduce the dead-space between PMTs to 25% and shield the PMTs from ambient light. The PMTs are connected to high-speed preamplifiers allowing operation at modest anode current and giving good single photoelectron peaks in situ. Electronics in the focus box provides real-time monitoring of the anode currents for each pixel and ambient environmental conditions. A charge injection subsystem installed in the focus box allows daytime testing of the trigger and data acquisition system by injecting pulses of variable amplitude and length directly into the photomultiplier preamplifiers. A brief description of the full VERITAS focal plane instrument is given in this paper.

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arXiv2007

Observation of the Supernova Remnant IC 443 with VERITAS

Shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs) accelerate particles at the shock front between the expanding remnant and the swept-up interstellar medium. If these particles include protons and nuclei, very-high-energy gamma-ray emission may result from the decay of pions produced in interactions between cosmic rays and the local insterstellar medium. For SNRs that are interacting with a nearby molecular cloud, such as IC 443, the enhanced matter density provides a target medium that can amplify the gamma-ray emission. IC 443 also contains the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) CXOU J061705.3+222127. PWNe are the most plentiful galactic sources of very-high-energy gamma rays, which are produced in the shock formed at the collision of the pulsar wind with the ambient medium. VERITAS is an array of four 12-m telescopes dedicated to gamma-ray astronomy in the energy band above 100 GeV. Located on Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona, VERITAS operated during the 2006-2007 season in 2-, 3-, and 4-telescope observation modes. In this talk, results from three-telescope observations of the composite supernova remnant IC 443 during the 2006-2007 season are discussed.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

TeV and X-ray Monitoring of LS I +61 303 With VERITAS, Swift, and RXTE

Between September 2006 and February 2007, the galactic binary LS I +61 303 was monitored in the TeV band with the VERITAS array of imaging Cherenkov telescopes. These observations confirm LS I +61 303 as a variable TeV gamma-ray source, with emission peaking between orbital phase 0.6 and 0.7. During this observational period, monitoring in the X-ray regime was also carried out using both the RXTE and Swift detectors, which offered complementary coverage of the source. Outbursts in the 0.2-10 keV band were observed by both satellites at close to the same orbital phase as the TeV peak during the 2 orbital cycles covered simultaneously in both bands. While this source has been extensively studied in the X-ray band in the past, this is the first observational campaign to utilize contemporaneous X-ray and TeV data on LS I +61 303.

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arXiv2007

Observations of the Crab Nebula with the Whipple 10 m Telescope

Due to the strong and steady TeV gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula supernova remnant, its measured flux and energy spectrum can be used to verify the calibration and data reduction methods applied to IACT data acquired over many observing seasons. This gives us confidence in the results obtained on variable TeV sources observed over the same period and in relating the sensitivity of new instruments to historical datasets. Here we present the results of an analysis of 65.3 hours of good quality data taken on the Crab Nebula between October 2000 and March 2006 with the Whipple 10m telescope. The total exposure resulted in a 46 sigma signal with 11886 selected excess events. The energy spectrum was best fit by a power law of the form dN/dE = (3.19 +/- 0.07_stat) x 10^-11 (E/TeV)^(-2.64 +/- 0.03_stat) cm^-2/s/TeV in the energy range 0.49--8 TeV. The systematic uncertainty in the flux was estimated to be 30%, with a systematic error of 0.2 in the photon index. A reasonable agreement is shown for a fit to a constant flux over the 6 years.

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arXiv2003

Multi-Wavelength Observations of 1ES1959+650 in a Flaring State

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.

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