Systematic Search for VHE Gamma-Ray Emission from X-Ray-bright High-Frequency BL Lac Objects

Albert, J.; Aliu, E.; Anderhub, H.; Antoranz, P.; Baixeras, C.; Barrio, J. A.; Bartko, H.; Bastieri, D.; Becker, J. K.; Bednarek, W.; Berger, K.; Bigongiari, C.; Biland, A.; Bock, R. K.; Bordas, P.; Bosch-Ramon, V.; Bretz, T.; Britvitch, I.; Camara, M.; Carmona, E.; Chilingarian, A.; Coarasa, J. A.; Commichau, S.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Costado, M. T.; Curtef, V.; Danielyan, V.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; Delgado, C.; de los Reyes, R.; De Lotto, B.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Errando, M.; Fagiolini, M.; Ferenc, D.; Fernández, E.; Firpo, R.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Fuchs, M.; Galante, N.; García-López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gaug, M.; Giller, M.; Goebel, F.; Hakobyan, D.; Hayashida, M.; Hengstebeck, T.; Herrero, A.; Höhne, D.; Hose, J.; Huber, S.; Hsu, C. C.; Jacon, P.; Jogler, T.; Kosyra, R.; Kranich, D.; Kritzer, R.; Laille, A.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; Lorenz, E.; Majumdar, P.; Maneva, G.; Mannheim, K.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Merck, C.; Meucci, M.; Meyer, M.; Miranda, J. M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Mizobuchi, S.; Moralejo, A.; Nieto, D.; Nilsson, K.; Ninkovic, J.; Oña-Wilhelmi, E.; Otte, N.; Oya, I.; Panniello, M.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Pasanen, M.; Pascoli, D.; Pauss, F.; Pegna, R.; Persic, M.; Peruzzo, L.; Piccioli, A.; Prandini, E.; Puchades, N.; Raymers, A. et al.
Referencia bibliográfica

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 681, Issue 2, pp. 944-953.

Fecha de publicación:
7
2008
Número de autores
138
Número de autores del IAC
6
Número de citas
31
Número de citas referidas
20
Descripción
All but three (M87, BL Lac, and 3C 279) extragalactic sources detected so far at very high energy γ-rays belong to the class of high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects. This suggested to us a systematic scan of candidate sources with the MAGIC telescope, based on the Donato et al. compilation of X-ray blazars. The observations took place from 2004 December to 2006 March and cover northern sky sources visible under small zenith distances zd<30deg at culmination, constraining the declination to -2° to +58°. The sensitivity of the search was planned for detecting X-ray-bright [F(1 keV)>2 μJy] sources emitting at least the same energy flux at 200 GeV as at 1 keV. To avoid strong γ-ray attenuation close to the energy threshold, source redshift was constrained to z<0.3. Of the 14 sources observed, 1ES 1218+304 (for the first time at VHE) and 1ES 2344+514 (strong detection in a low flux state) were detected in addition to the known bright TeV blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501. A marginal excess of 3.5 σ from the position of 1ES 1011+496 was observed and then confirmed as a VHE γ-ray source by a second MAGIC observation triggered by a high optical state. For the remaining sources, we present 99% c.l. upper limits on the integral flux >~200 GeV. We characterize the HBL sample (including all HBLs detected at VHE so far) by looking for correlations between their multifrequency spectral indices determined from simultaneous optical, archival X-ray, and radio luminosities, finding that VHE-emitting HBLs do not seem to constitute a unique subclass. The HBLs' absorption-corrected γ-ray luminosities at 200 GeV are generally not higher than their X-ray luminosities at 1 keV.
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