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 satelli
te 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.
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.
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 l
uminosity 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 $(7.1pm1.3)times 10^{-12} {mathrm{ph,cm^{-2},s^{-1}}}$ and a photon index of ($3.8pm0.7$). 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 $0.34pm0.08pm0.05$. 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.
We aim to characterize the broadband emission from 2FGL J2001.1+4352, which has been associated with the unknown-redshift blazar MG4 J200112+4352. Based on its gamma-ray spectral properties, it was identified as a potential very high energy (VHE; E >
100 GeV) gamma-ray emitter. The source was observed with MAGIC first in 2009 and later in 2010 within a multi-instrument observation campaign. The MAGIC observations yielded 14.8 hours of good quality stereoscopic data. The object was monitored at radio, optical and gamma-ray energies during the years 2010 and 2011. The source, named MAGIC J2001+439, is detected for the first time at VHE with MAGIC at a statistical significance of 6.3 {sigma} (E > 70 GeV) during a 1.3-hour long observation on 2010 July 16. The multi-instrument observations show variability in all energy bands with the highest amplitude of variability in the X-ray and VHE bands. We also organized deep imaging optical observations with the Nordic Optical Telescope in 2013 to determine the source redshift. We determine for the first time the redshift of this BL Lac object through the measurement of its host galaxy during low blazar activity. Using the observational evidence that the luminosities of BL Lac host galaxies are confined to a relatively narrow range, we obtain z = 0.18 +/- 0.04. Additionally, we use the Fermi-LAT and MAGIC gamma-ray spectra to provide an independent redshift estimation, z = 0.17 +/- 0.10. Using the former (more accurate) redshift value, we adequately describe the broadband emission with a one-zone SSC model for different activity states and interpret the few-day timescale variability as produced by changes in the high-energy component of the electron energy distribution.
LOFT, the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing, was one of the ESA M3 mission candidates that completed their assessment phase at the end of 2013. LOFT is equipped with two instruments, the Large Area Detector (LAD) and the Wide Field Monitor (WFM). Th
e LAD performs pointed observations of several targets per orbit (~90 minutes), providing roughly ~80 GB of proprietary data per day (the proprietary period will be 12 months). The WFM continuously monitors about 1/3 of the sky at a time and provides data for about ~100 sources a day, resulting in a total of ~20 GB of additional telemetry. The LOFT Burst alert System additionally identifies on-board bright impulsive events (e.g., Gamma-ray Bursts, GRBs) and broadcasts the corresponding position and trigger time to the ground using a dedicated system of ~15 VHF receivers. All WFM data are planned to be made public immediately. In this contribution we summarize the planned organization of the LOFT ground segment (GS), as established in the mission Yellow Book 1 . We describe the expected GS contributions from ESA and the LOFT consortium. A review is provided of the planned LOFT data products and the details of the data flow, archiving and distribution. Despite LOFT was not selected for launch within the M3 call, its long assessment phase (> 2 years) led to a very solid mission design and an efficient planning of its ground operations.
The NA48/2 Collaboration at CERN has accumulated and analysed unprecedented statistics of rare kaon decays in the $K_{e4}$ modes: $K_{e4}(+-)$ ($K^pm to pi^+ pi^- e^pm u$) and $K_{e4}(00)$ ($K^pm to pi^0 pi^0 e^pm u$) with nearly one percent backgr
ound contamination. It leads to the improved measurement of branching fractions and detailed form factor studies. New final results from the analysis of 381 $K^pm to pi^pm gamma gamma$ rare decay candidates collected by the NA48/2 and NA62 experiments at CERN are presented. The results include a decay rate measurement and fits to Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) description.
It has been claimed that the nova-like cataclysmic variable (CV) AE Aquarii (AE Aqr) is a very-high-energy (VHE, $E>$100 GeV) source both on observational and theoretical grounds. We aim to search for VHE gamma-ray emission from AE Aqr during differe
nt states of the source at several wavelengths to confirm or rule out previous claims of detection of gamma-ray emission from this object. We report on observations of AE Aqr performed by MAGIC. The source was observed during 12 hours as part of a multiwavelength campaign carried out between May and June 2012 covering the optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray ranges. Besides MAGIC, the other facilities involved were the KVA, Skinakas, and Vidojevica telescopes in the optical and Swift in X-rays. We calculated integral upper limits coincident with different states of the source in the optical. We computed upper limits to the pulsed emission limiting the signal region to 30% of the phaseogram and we also searched for pulsed emission at different frequencies applying the Rayleigh test. AE Aqr was not detected at VHE energies during the multiwavelength campaign. We establish integral upper limits at the 95% confidence level for the steady emission assuming the differential flux proportional to a power-law function dphi/dE propto E^{-Gamma}, with a Crab-like photon spectral index of Gamma=2.6. The upper limit above 200 GeV is 6.4times10^{-12} cm^{-2}s^{-1} and above 1 TeV is 7.4times10^{-13} cm^{-2}s^{-1}. We obtained an upper limit for the pulsed emission of 2.6times10^{-12} cm^{-2}s^{-1} for energies above 200 GeV. Applying the Rayleigh test for pulsed emission at different frequencies we did not find any significant signal. Our results indicate that AE Aqr is not a VHE gamma-ray emitter at the level of emission previously claimed. We have established the most constraining upper limits for the VHE gamma-ray emission of AE Aqr.
The Crab pulsar is the only astronomical pulsed source detected at very high energy (VHE, E>100GeV) gamma-rays. The emission mechanism of VHE pulsation is not yet fully understood, although several theoretical models have been proposed. In order to t
est the new models, we measured the light curve and the spectra of the Crab pulsar with high precision by means of deep observations. We analyzed 135 hours of selected MAGIC data taken between 2009 and 2013 in stereoscopic mode. In order to discuss the spectral shape in connection with lower energies, 4.6 years of {it Fermi}-LAT data were also analyzed. The known two pulses per period were detected with a significance of $8.0 sigma$ and $12.6 sigma$. In addition, significant emission was found between the two pulses with $6.2 sigma$. We discovered the bridge emission above 50 GeV between the two main pulses. This emission can not be explained with the existing theories. These data can be used for testing new theoretical models.
We present a study of the very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission of the blazar PKS 1424+240 observed with the MAGIC telescopes. The primary aim of this paper is the multiwavelength spectral characterization and modeling of this blazar
, which is made particularly interesting by the recent discovery of a lower limit of its redshift of z > 0.6 and makes it a promising candidate to be the most distant VHE source. The source has been observed with the MAGIC telescopes in VHE gamma rays for a total observation time of ~33.6 h from 2009 to 2011. The source was marginally detected in VHE gamma rays during 2009 and 2010, and later, the detection was confirmed during an optical outburst in 2011. The combined significance of the stacked sample is ~7.2 sigma. The differential spectra measured during the different campaigns can be described by steep power laws with the indices ranging from 3.5 +/- 1.2 to 5.0 +/- 1.7. The MAGIC spectra corrected for the absorption due to the extragalactic background light connect smoothly, within systematic errors, with the mean spectrum in 2009-2011 observed at lower energies by the Fermi-LAT. The absorption-corrected MAGIC spectrum is flat with no apparent turn down up to 400 GeV. The multiwavelength light curve shows increasing flux in radio and optical bands that could point to a common origin from the same region of the jet. The large separation between the two peaks of the constructed non-simultaneous spectral energy distribution also requires an extremely high Doppler factor if an one zone synchrotron self-Compton model is applied. We find that a two-component synchrotron self-Compton model describes the spectral energy distribution of the source well, if the source is located at z~0.6.
We present the results of stereoscopic observations of the satellite galaxy Segue 1 with the MAGIC Telescopes, carried out between 2011 and 2013. With almost 160 hours of good-quality data, this is the deepest observational campaign on any dwarf gala
xy performed so far in the very high energy range of the electromagnetic spectrum. We search this large data sample for signals of dark matter particles in the mass range between 100 GeV and 20 TeV. For this we use the full likelihood analysis method, which provides optimal sensitivity to characteristic gamma-ray spectral features, like those expected from dark matter annihilation or decay. In particular, we focus our search on gamma-rays produced from different final state Standard Model particles, annihilation with internal bremsstrahlung, monochromatic lines and box-shaped signals. Our results represent the most stringent constraints to the annihilation cross-section or decay lifetime obtained from observations of satellite galaxies, for masses above few hundred GeV. In particular, our strongest limit (95% confidence level) corresponds to a ~500 GeV dark matter particle annihilating into tau+tau-, and is of order <sigma v> ~ 1.2x10^{-24} cm^3 s^{-1} - a factor ~40 above the <sigma v> thermal value.
