Discovery of a Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Signal from the 3C 66A/B Region

Aliu, E.; Anderhub, H.; Antonelli, L. A.; Antoranz, P.; Backes, M.; Baixeras, C.; Balestra, S.; Barrio, J. A.; Bartko, H.; Bastieri, D.; Becerra González, J.; Becker, J. K.; Bednarek, W.; Berger, K.; Bernardini, E.; Biland, A.; Bock, R. K.; Bonnoli, G.; Bordas, P.; Borla Tridon, D.; Bosch-Ramon, V.; Bretz, T.; Britvitch, I.; Camara, M.; Carmona, E.; Chilingarian, A.; Commichau, S.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Costado, M. T.; Covino, S.; Curtef, V.; Dazzi, F.; DeAngelis, A.; DeCea del Pozo, E.; de los Reyes, R.; DeLotto, B.; DeMaria, M.; DeSabata, F.; Delgado Mendez, C.; Dominguez, A.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Elsaesser, D.; Errando, M.; Ferenc, D.; Fernández, E.; Firpo, R.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Galante, N.; García López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gaug, M.; Goebel, F.; Hadasch, D.; Hayashida, M.; Herrero, A.; Höhne-Mönch, D.; Hose, J.; Hsu, C. C.; Huber, S.; Jogler, T.; Kranich, D.; La Barbera, A.; Laille, A.; Leonardo, E.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; Lorenz, E.; Majumdar, P.; Maneva, G.; Mankuzhiyil, N.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Meucci, M.; Meyer, M.; Miranda, J. M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moldón, J.; Moles, M.; Moralejo, A.; Nieto, D.; Nilsson, K.; Ninkovic, J.; Otte, N.; Oya, I.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Pasanen, M.; Pascoli, D.; Pauss, F.; Pegna, R. G.; Perez-Torres, M. A.; Persic, M. et al.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 692, Issue 1, pp. L29-L33 (2009).

Advertised on:
2
2009
Number of authors
148
IAC number of authors
6
Citations
64
Refereed citations
48
Description
The MAGIC telescope observed the region around the distant blazar 3C 66A for 54.2 hr in 2007 August-December. The observations resulted in the discovery of a γ-ray source centered at celestial coordinates R.A. = 2h23m12s and decl. = 43°0farcm7 (MAGIC J0223+430), coinciding with the nearby radio galaxy 3C 66B. A possible association of the excess with the blazar 3C 66A is discussed. The energy spectrum of MAGIC J0223+430 follows a power law with a normalization of (1.7 ± 0.3stat ± 0.6syst) × 10-11 TeV-1 cm-2 s-1 at 300 GeV and a photon index Γ = -3.10 ± 0.31stat ± 0.2syst.
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Particle Astrophysics

The MAGIC Collaboration is integrated by 20 research institutes and university departments from Armenia, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and USA. The collaboration comprises two 17m diameter telescopes, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, designed to measure the Cherenkov radiation associated with

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García López