Title
Discovery of Variability in the Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Emission of 1ES 1218+304 with VERITAS
Document Type
Article
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Disciplines
Astrophysics and Astronomy | Cosmology, Relativity, and Gravity | External Galaxies | Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy
Abstract
We present results from an intensive VERITAS monitoring campaign of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1218+304 in 2008/2009. Although 1ES 1218+304 was detected previously by MAGIC and VERITAS at a persistent level of ~6% of the Crab Nebula flux, the new VERITAS data reveal a prominent flare reaching ~20% of the Crab. While very high energy (VHE) flares are quite common in many nearby blazars, the case of 1ES 1218+304 (redshift z = 0.182) is particularly interesting since it belongs to a group of blazars that exhibit unusually hard VHE spectra considering their redshifts. When correcting the measured spectra for absorption by the extragalactic background light, 1ES 1218+304 and a number of other blazars are found to have differential photon indices Γ≤ 1.5. The difficulty in modeling these hard spectral energy distributions in blazar jets has led to a range of theoretical γ-ray emission scenarios, one of which is strongly constrained by these new VERITAS observations. We consider the implications of the observed light curve of 1ES 1218+304, which shows day scale flux variations, for shock acceleration scenarios in relativistic jets, and in particular for the viability of kiloparsec-scale jet emission scenarios.
Recommended Citation
Acciari, V.A., Aliu, E., Beilicke, M., Benbow, W., Boltuch, D., Böttcher, M., Bradbury, S.M., Bugaev, V., Byrum, K., Cesarini, A., Ciupik, L., Cogan, P., Cui, W., Dickherber, R., Duke, C., Falcone, A., Finley, J.P., Finnegan, G., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Galante, N., Gall, D., Gibbs, K., Guenette, R., Gillanders, G.H., Godambe, S., Grube, J., Hanna, D., Hui, C.M., Humensky, T.B., Imran, A., Kaaret, P., Karlsson, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krawczynski, H., Krennrich, F., Lang, M.J., LeBohec, S., Maier, G., McArthur, S., McCann, A., Moriarty, P., Nagai, T., Ong, R.A., Otte, A.N., Pandel, D., Perkins, J.S., Pichel, A., Pohl, M., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reyes, L.C., Reynolds, P.T., Roache, E., Rose, H.J., Schroedter, M., Sembroski, G.H., Smith, A.W., Steele, D., Swordy, S.P., Theiling, M., Thibadeau, S., Vassiliev, V.V., Vincent, S., Wakely, S.P., Weekes, T.C., Weinstein, A., Weisgarber, T. and Williams, D.A. (2010). DISCOVERY OF VARIABILITY IN THE VERY HIGH ENERGY γ-RAY EMISSION OF 1ES 1218+304 WITH VERITAS. The Astrophysical Journal, 709(2), pp.L163–L167. Available at: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/709/2/L163/meta
Included in
Cosmology, Relativity, and Gravity Commons, External Galaxies Commons, Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy Commons
Publication Details
Astrophysical Letters