Clusters of galaxies are expected to be reservoirs of cosmic rays (CRs) that should produce diffuse gamma-ray emission due to their hadronic interactions with the intra-cluster medium. The nearby Perseus cool-core cluster, identified as the most promising target to search for such an emission, has been observed with the MAGIC telescopes at very-high energies (VHE, E>100 GeV) for a total of 253 hr from 2009 to 2014. The active nuclei of NGC 1275, the central dominant galaxy of the cluster, and IC 310, lying at about 0.6$^\circ$ from the centre, have been detected as point-like VHE gamma-ray emitters during the first phase of this campaign. We report an updated measurement of the NGC 1275 spectrum, which is well described by a power law with a photon index of $3.6\pm0.2_{stat}\pm0.2_{syst}$ between 90 GeV and 1.2 TeV. We do not detect any diffuse gamma-ray emission from the cluster and set stringent constraints on its CR population. In order to bracket the uncertainties over the CR spatial and spectral distributions, we adopt different spatial templates and power-law spectral indexes $\alpha$. For $\alpha=2.2$, the CR-to-thermal pressure within the cluster virial radius is constrained to be below 1-2%, except if CRs can propagate out of the cluster core, generating a flatter radial distribution and releasing the CR-to-thermal pressure constraint to <20%. Assuming that the observed radio mini-halo of Perseus is generated by secondary electrons from CR hadronic interactions, we can derive lower limits on the central magnetic field, $B_0$, that depend on the CR distribution. For $\alpha=2.2$, $B_0\gtrsim5-8 \mu$G, which is below the 25 $\mu$G inferred from Faraday rotation measurements, whereas, for $\alpha\lesssim2.1$, the hadronic interpretation of the diffuse radio emission is in contrast with our gamma-ray flux upper limits independently of the magnetic field strength.

10.1051/0004-6361/201527846

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The awakening of BL Lacertae: observations by Fermi, Swift and the GASP-WEBT★

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013)

C. M. Raiteri M. Villata F. D’Ammando V. M. Larionov Mark Gurwell

Since the launch of the Fermi satellite, BL Lacertae has been moderately active at gamma-rays and optical frequencies until May 2011, when the source started a series of strong flares. The exceptional optical sampling achieved by the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) in collaboration with the Steward Observatory allows us to perform a detailed comparison with the daily gamma-ray observations by Fermi. Discrete correlation analysis between the optical and gamma-ray emission reveals correlation with a time lag of 0 +- 1 d, which suggests cospatiality of the corresponding jet emitting regions. A better definition of the time lag is hindered by the daily gaps in the sampling of the extremely fast flux variations. In general, optical flares present more structure and develop on longer time scales than corresponding gamma-ray flares. Observations at X-rays and at millimetre wavelengths reveal a common trend, which suggests that the region producing the mm and X-ray radiation is located downstream from the optical and gamma-ray-emitting zone in the jet. The mean optical degree of polarisation slightly decreases over the considered period and in general it is higher when the flux is lower. The optical electric vector polarisation angle (EVPA) shows a preferred orientation of about 15 deg, nearly aligned with the radio core EVPA and mean jet direction. Oscillations around it increase during the 2011-2012 outburst. We investigate the effects of a geometrical interpretation of the long-term flux variability on the polarisation. A helical magnetic field model predicts an evolution of the mean polarisation that is in reasonable agreement with the observations. These can be fully explained by introducing slight variations in the compression factor in a transverse shock waves model.

Flare

10.1093/mnras/stt1672

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Wavelength Dependent Polarimetry of High Redshift Quasars

Wayne Webb M. Malkan A. Sillanpää L. O. Takalo

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THE JUNE 2008 FLARE OF MARKARIAN 421 FROM OPTICAL TO TeV ENERGIES

The Astrophysical Journal (2008)

I. Donnarumma V. Vittorini S. Vercellone E. Del Monte M. Feroci

We present optical, X-ray, high energy ($\lessapprox 30$ GeV) and very high energy ($\gtrapprox 100$ GeV; VHE) observations of the high-frequency peaked blazar Mrk 421 taken between 2008 May 24 and June 23. A high energy $\gamma$-ray signal was detected by AGILE with \sqrt{TS}=4.5 on June 9--15, with $F(E>100 \mathrm{MeV})= 42^{+14}_{-12}\times 10^{-8}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. This flaring state is brighter than the average flux observed by EGRET by a factor of $\sim$3, but still consistent with the highest EGRET flux. In hard X-rays (20-60 keV) SuperAGILE resolved a 5-day flare (June 9-15) peaking at $\sim$ 55 mCrab. SuperAGILE, RXTE/ASM and Swift/BAT data show a correlated flaring structure between soft and hard X-rays. Hints of the same flaring behavior are also detected in the simultaneous optical data provided by the GASP-WEBT. A Swift/XRT observation near the flaring maximum revealed the highest 2-10 keV flux ever observed from this source, of 2.6 $\times 10^{-9}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ (i.e. > 100 mCrab). A peak synchrotron energy of $\sim$3 keV was derived, higher than typical values of $\sim$0.5-1 keV. VHE observations with MAGIC and VERITAS on June 6-8 show the flux peaking in a bright state, well correlated with the X-rays. This extraordinary set of simultaneous data, covering a twelve-decade spectral range, allowed for a deep analysis of the spectral energy distribution as well as of correlated light curves. The $\gamma$-ray flare can be interpreted within the framework of the synchrotron self-Compton model in terms of a rapid acceleration of leptons in the jet.

Flare

Spectral energy distribution

10.1088/0004-637x/691/1/l13

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Multiwavelength observations of the February 1996 high-energy flare in the blazar 3C 279

AIP conference proceedings (1997)

A. E. Wehrle E. Pian C. M. Urry L. Maraschi G. Ghisellini

We report CGRO, RXTE, ASCA, ROSAT, IUE, HST and ground-based observations of a large flare in 3C 279 in February 1996. X-rays and γ-rays peaked simultaneously (within one day). We show simultaneous spectral energy distributions prior to and near the flare peak. The γ-ray flare was the brightest ever observed in this source.

Flare

ROSAT

High energy

10.1063/1.53954

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WEBT and XMM-Newton observations of 3C 454.3 during the post-outburst phase

Astronomy and Astrophysics (2007)

C. M. Raiteri M. Villata V. M. Larionov T. Pursimo M. Ibrahimov

The blazar 3C 454.3 underwent an unprecedented optical outburst in spring 2005. This was first followed by a mm and then by a cm radio outburst, which peaked in February 2006. We report on follow-up observations by the WEBT to study the multiwavelength emission in the post-outburst phase. XMM-Newton observations on July and December 2006 added information on the X-ray and UV fluxes. The source was in a faint state. The radio flux at the higher frequencies showed a fast decreasing trend, which represents the tail of the big radio outburst. It was followed by a quiescent state, common at all radio frequencies. In contrast, moderate activity characterized the NIR and optical light curves, with a progressive increase of the variability amplitude with increasing wavelength. We ascribe this redder-when-brighter behaviour to the presence of a "little blue bump" due to line emission from the broad line region, which is clearly visible in the source SED during faint states. Moreover, the data from the XMM-Newton OM reveal a rise of the SED in the UV, suggesting the existence of a "big blue bump" due to thermal emission from the accretion disc. The X-ray spectra are well fitted with a power-law model with photoelectric absorption, possibly larger than the Galactic one. However, the comparison with previous X-ray observations would imply that the amount of absorbing matter is variable. Alternatively, the intrinsic X-ray spectrum presents a curvature, which may depend on the X-ray brightness. In this case, two scenarios are possible.

10.1051/0004-6361:20078289

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Accretion onto magnetic white dwarfs: flow structure from QPO eclipses.

S. Larsson V. Piirola L. O. Takalo

Intermediate polar

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The host galaxy of 3C 279

Astronomy and Astrophysics (2009)

K. Nilsson T. Pursimo C. Villforth E. Lindfors L. O. Takalo

We have obtained a deep i-band image of the blazar 3C 279 while the target was in a low optical state. Due to the faintness of the optical nucleus we have made the first detection of the host galaxy. The host galaxy has an apparent I-band magnitude of and an effective radius of () arcsec. The luminosity of the host galaxy M_{R_{= -23.8 is consistent with the luminosities of other radio-loud quasar host galaxies. Using the empirical correlation between bulge luminosity and central black hole mass M_{bh_{we estimate , broadly consistent with values obtained by photoionization methods.}}}}

10.1051/0004-6361/200912820

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Optical-UV Observations of OJ 287

AAS (1996)

E. S. Howard J. R. Webb T. J. Balonek P. Boltwood S. Clements

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CTA Contributions to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015)

arXiv (Cornell University) (2015)

the CTA Consortium NULL AUTHOR_ID A. Abchiche A. U. Abeysekara Ó. Abril

List of contributions from the CTA Consortium presented at the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July - 6 August 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands.

10.48550/arxiv.1508.05894

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