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Title: First NuSTAR Observations of Mrk 501 within a Radio to TeV Multi-Instrument Campaign

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
 [1]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). et al.

We report on simultaneous broadband observations of the TeV-emitting blazar Markarian 501 between 2013 April 1 and August 10, including the first detailed characterization of the synchrotron peak with Swift and NuSTAR. During the campaign, the nearby BL Lac object was observed in both a quiescent and an elevated state. The broadband campaign includes observations with NuSTAR, MAGIC, VERITAS, the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Swift X-ray Telescope and UV Optical Telescope, various ground-based optical instruments, including the GASP-WEBT program, as well as radio observations by OVRO, Metsähovi, and the F-Gamma consortium. Some of the MAGIC observations were affected by a sand layer from the Saharan desert, and had to be corrected using event-by-event corrections derived with a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) facility. This is the first time that LIDAR information is used to produce a physics result with Cherenkov Telescope data taken during adverse atmospheric conditions, and hence sets a precedent for the current and future ground-based gamma-ray instruments. The NuSTAR instrument provides unprecedented sensitivity in hard X-rays, showing the source to display a spectral energy distribution (SED) between 3 and 79 keV consistent with a log-parabolic spectrum and hard X-ray variability on hour timescales. None (of the four extended NuSTAR observations) show evidence of the onset of inverse-Compton emission at hard X-ray energies. We apply a single-zone equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model to five simultaneous broadband SEDs. We find that the SSC model can reproduce the observed broadband states through a decrease in the magnetic field strength coinciding with an increase in the luminosity and hardness of the relativistic leptons responsible for the high-energy emission.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Contributing Organization:
NuSTAR Team; MAGIC Collaboration; VERITAS Collaboration; F-Gamma Consortium
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1221587
Report Number(s):
SLAC-PUB-16396; arXiv:1509.04936
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 812, Issue 1; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 35 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (21)

The TANAMI Multiwavelength Program: Dynamic spectral energy distributions of southern blazars journal June 2016
Multiband variability studies and novel broadband SED modeling of Mrk 501 in 2009 journal July 2017
Hard X-ray properties of NuSTAR blazars journal November 2018
Extreme HBL behavior of Markarian 501 during 2012 journal December 2018
Study of the variable broadband emission of Markarian 501 during the most extreme Swift X-ray activity journal May 2020
The prolonged X-ray flaring activity of Mrk 501 in 2014 journal April 2017
Blazar Mrk 501 shows rhythmic oscillations in its γ-ray emission journal May 2019
Sub-Hour X-Ray Variability of High-Energy Peaked BL Lacertae Objects journal March 2018
Fractional Variability—A Tool to Study Blazar Variability journal May 2019
Mrk 421 after the Giant X-Ray Outburst in 2013 journal October 2017
Extremely Rapid X-Ray Flares of TeV Blazars in the RXTE Era journal January 2018
Swift Observations of Mrk 421 in Selected Epochs. I. The Spectral and Flux Variability in 2005–2008 journal February 2018
Swift Observations of Mrk 421 in Selected Epochs. II. An Extreme Spectral Flux Variability in 2009–2012 journal May 2018
X-Ray Flux and Spectral Variability of Six TeV Blazars with NuSTAR journal May 2018
Strong X-Ray and Multiwavelength Flaring Activity for 1ES 1959+650, 2016 August–2017 November journal September 2018
Fractional variability—a tool to study blazar variability text January 2019
Multiband variability studies and novel broadband SED modeling of Mrk 501 in 2009 text January 2017
The extreme HBL behaviour of Markarian 501 during 2012 text January 2018
Fractional Variability—A Tool to Study Blazar Variability text January 2019
Multiband variability studies and novel broadband SED modeling of Mrk 501 in 2009 text January 2016
Extremely rapid x-ray flares of tev blazars in the rxte era text January 2017

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