Context: MWC 656 has recently been established as the first observationally detected high-mass X-ray binary system containing a Be star and a black hole (BH). The system has been associated with a ...gamma-ray flaring event detected by the AGILE satellite in July 2010. Aims: Our aim is to evaluate if the MWC 656 gamma-ray emission extends to very high energy (VHE > 100 GeV) gamma rays. Methods. We have observed MWC 656 with the MAGIC telescopes for \(\sim\)23 hours during two observation periods: between May and June 2012 and June 2013. During the last period, observations were performed contemporaneously with X-ray (XMM-Newton) and optical (STELLA) instruments. Results: We have not detected the MWC 656 binary system at TeV energies with the MAGIC Telescopes in either of the two campaigns carried out. Upper limits (ULs) to the integral flux above 300 GeV have been set, as well as differential ULs at a level of \(\sim\)5% of the Crab Nebula flux. The results obtained from the MAGIC observations do not support persistent emission of very high energy gamma rays from this system at a level of 2.4% the Crab flux.
MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes sensitive above ~60 GeV, and located on the Canary Island of La Palma at the height of 2200 m.a.s.l. Since Autumn 2009 both ...telescopes are working together in stereoscopic mode. We use both Crab Nebula observations and Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the performance of the system. Advanced stereo analysis allows MAGIC to achieve a sensitivity better than 0.8% of the Crab Nebula flux in 50 h of observations in the medium energy range (around a few hundred GeV). At those energies the angular resolution is better than 0.07{\circ}, and the energy resolution is as good as 16%. We perform also a detailed study of possible systematics effects for the MAGIC telescopes.
We present a systematic search for potential dark matter clumps in our Galaxy among the 630 unassociated sources included in the LAT 1-year Point Source Catalog. Assuming a dark matter particle that ...generates observable gamma-ray photons beyond the Fermi energy range through self-annihilation, we compile a list of reasonable targets for the MAGIC Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. In order to narrow down the origin of these enigmatic sources, we summarize ongoing multiwavelength studies including X-ray, radio, and optical spectroscopy. We report on observations of two of these candidates using the MAGIC Telescopes. We find that the synergy between Fermi and Cherenkov telescopes, along with multiwavelength observations, could play a key role in indirect searches for dark matter.
The mechanisms producing fast variability of the \(\gamma\)-ray emission in active galactic nuclei are under debate. The MAGIC telescopes detected a fast very high energy (VHE, E\(>100\) GeV) ...\(\gamma\)-ray flare from BL Lacertae on 2015 June 15. The flare had a maximum flux of \((1.5\pm 0.3)\times 10^{-10}\) photons cm\(^{-2}\) s\(^{-1}\) and halving time of \(26\pm8\) minutes. The MAGIC observations were triggered by a high state in the optical and high energy (HE, E\(>100\) MeV) \(\gamma\)-ray bands. In this paper we present the MAGIC VHE \(\gamma\)-ray data together with multiwavelength data from radio, optical, X-rays, and HE \(\gamma\) rays from 2015 May 1 to July 31. Well-sampled multiwavelength data allow us to study the variability in detail and compare it to the other epochs when fast VHE \(\gamma\)-ray flares have been detected from this source. Interestingly, we find that the behaviour in radio, optical, X-rays and HE \(\gamma\)-rays is very similar to two other observed VHE \(\gamma\)-ray flares. In particular, also during this flare there was an indication of rotation of the optical polarization angle and of activity at the 43\,GHz core. These repeating patterns indicate a connection between the three events. We also test modelling of the spectral energy distribution, based on constraints from the light curves and VLBA observations, with two different geometrical setups of two-zone inverse Compton models. In addition we model the \(\gamma\)-ray data with the star-jet interaction model. We find that all of the tested emission models are compatible with the fast VHE \(\gamma\)-ray flare, but all have some tension with the multiwavelength observations.
The mechanisms producing fast variability of the γ-ray emission in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are under debate. The MAGIC telescopes detected a fast, very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) γ-ray ...flare from BL Lacertae on 2015 June 15. The flare had a maximum flux of (1.5 ± 0.3) × 10−10 photons cm−2 s−1 and halving time of 26 ± 8 min. The MAGIC observations were triggered by a high state in the optical and high-energy (HE, E > 100 MeV) γ-ray bands. In this paper we present the MAGIC VHE γ-ray data together with multi-wavelength data from radio, optical, X-rays, and HE γ rays from 2015 May 1 to July 31. Well-sampled multi-wavelength data allow us to study the variability in detail and compare it to the other epochs when fast, VHE γ-ray flares have been detected from this source. Interestingly, we find that the behaviour in radio, optical, X-rays, and HE γ-rays is very similar to two other observed VHE γ-ray flares. In particular, also during this flare there was an indication of rotation of the optical polarization angle and of activity at the 43 GHz core. These repeating patterns indicate a connection between the three events. We also test modelling of the spectral energy distribution based on constraints from the light curves and VLBA observations, with two different geometrical setups of two-zone inverse Compton models. In addition we model the γ-ray data with the star-jet interaction model. We find that all of the tested emission models are compatible with the fast VHE γ-ray flare, but all have some tension with the multi-wavelength observations.Key words: BL Lacertae objects: individual: BL Lacertae / gamma rays: galaxies⋆ MAGIC and multiwavelength data are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/623/A175⋆⋆ Corresponding authors: E. Lindfors, e-mail: elilin@utu.fi; M. Vazquez Acosta, e-mail: monicava@iac.es; S. Tsujimoto, e-mail: shimpei.tsujimoto@gmail.com
Starburst galaxies and star-forming active galactic nuclei are among the candidate sources thought to contribute appreciably to the extragalactic gamma-ray and neutrino backgrounds. NGC 1068 is the ...brightest of the star-forming galaxies found to emit gamma-rays from 0.1 to 50 GeV. Precise measurements of the high-energy spectrum are crucial to study the particle accelerators and probe the dominant emission mechanisms. We have carried out 125 hr of observations of NGC 1068 with the MAGIC telescopes in order to search for gamma-ray emission in the very-high-energy band. We did not detect significant gamma-ray emission, and set upper limits at the 95% confidence level to the gamma-ray flux above 200 GeV f < 5.1 × 10−13 cm−2 s−1. This limit improves previous constraints by about an order of magnitude and allows us to put tight constraints on the theoretical models for the gamma-ray emission. By combining the MAGIC observations with the Fermi-LAT spectrum we limit the parameter space (spectral slope, maximum energy) of the cosmic ray protons predicted by hadronuclear models for the gamma-ray emission, while we find that a model postulating leptonic emission from a semi-relativistic jet is fully consistent with the limits. We provide predictions for IceCube detection of the neutrino signal foreseen in the hadronic scenario. We predict a maximal IceCube neutrino event rate of 0.07 yr−1.
Supermassive black holes with masses of millions to billions of solar masses are commonly found in the centers of galaxies. Astronomers seek to image jet formation using radio interferometry, but ...still suffer from insufficient angular resolution. An alternative method to resolve small structures is to measure the time variability of their emission. Here, we report on gamma-ray observations of the radio galaxy IC 310 obtained with the MAGIC telescopes revealing variability with doubling time scales faster than 4.8 min. Causality constrains the size of the emission region to be smaller than 20\% of the gravitational radius of its central black hole. We suggest that the emission is associated with pulsar-like particle acceleration by the electric field across a magnetospheric gap at the base of the radio jet.
SNR G24.7+0.6 is a 9.5 kyrs radio and \(\gamma\)-ray supernova remnant evolving in a dense medium. In the GeV regime, SNR G24.7+0.6 (3FHL\,J1834.1--0706e/FGES\,J1834.1--0706) shows a hard spectral ...index ($\Gamma$$\sim\(2) up to \)200\(\,GeV, which makes it a good candidate to be observed with Cherenkov telescopes such as MAGIC. We observed the field of view of \snr\ with the MAGIC telescopes for a total of 31 hours. We detect very high energy \)\gamma\(-ray emission from an extended source located 0.34\degr\ away from the center of the radio SNR. The new source, named \mgc\ is detected up to 5\,TeV, and its spectrum is well-represented by a power-law function with spectral index of \)2.74 \pm 0.08\(. The complexity of the region makes the identification of the origin of the very-high energy emission difficult, however the spectral agreement with the LAT source and overlapping position at less than 1.5\)\sigma\( point to a common origin. We analysed 8 years of \fermi-LAT data to extend the spectrum of the source down to 60\,MeV. \fermi-LAT and MAGIC spectra overlap within errors and the global broad band spectrum is described by a power-law with exponential cutoff at \)1.9\pm0.5\(\,TeV. The detected \)\gamma$-ray emission can be interpreted as the results of proton-proton interaction between the supernova and the CO-rich surrounding.
The number of known very high energy (VHE) blazars is \(\sim\,50\), which is very small in comparison to the number of blazars detected in other frequencies. This situation is a handicap for ...population studies of blazars, which emit about half of their luminosity in the \(\gamma\)-ray domain. Moreover, VHE blazars, if distant, allow for the study of the environment that the high-energy \(\gamma\)-rays traverse in their path towards the Earth, like the extragalactic background light (EBL) and the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF), and hence they have a special interest for the astrophysics community. We present the first VHE detection of 1ES\,0033+595 with a statistical significance of 5.5\,\(\sigma\). The VHE emission of this object is constant throughout the MAGIC observations (2009 August and October), and can be parameterized with a power law with an integral flux above 150 GeV of \((7.1\pm1.3)\times 10^{-12} {\mathrm{ph\,cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}}}\) and a photon index of (\(3.8\pm0.7\)). We model its spectral energy distribution (SED) as the result of inverse Compton scattering of synchrotron photons. For the study of the SED we used simultaneous optical R-band data from the KVA telescope, archival X-ray data by \textit{Swift} as well as \textit{INTEGRAL}, and simultaneous high energy (HE, \(300\)\,MeV~--~\(10\)\,GeV) \(\gamma\)-ray data from the \textit{Fermi} LAT observatory. Using the empirical approach of Prandini et al. (2010) and the \textit{Fermi}-LAT and MAGIC spectra for this object, we estimate the redshift of this source to be \(0.34\pm0.08\pm0.05\). This is a relevant result because this source is possibly one of the ten most distant VHE blazars known to date, and with further (simultaneous) observations could play an important role in blazar population studies, as well as future constraints on the EBL and IGMF.
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Observatory must be capable of issuing fast alerts on variable and transient sources to maximize the scientific return. This will be accomplished by means of a ...Real-Time Analysis (RTA) pipeline, a key system of the CTA observatory. The latency and sensitivity requirements of the alarm system impose a challenge because of the large foreseen data flow rate, between 0.5 and 8 GB/s. As a consequence, substantial efforts toward the optimization of this high-throughput computing service are envisaged, with the additional constraint that the RTA should be performed on-site (as part of the auxiliary infrastructure of the telescopes). In this work, the functional design of the RTA pipeline is presented.
