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Title: Probing the very high energy  γ-ray spectral curvature in the blazar PG 1553+113 with the MAGIC telescopes

Journal Article · · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv811· OSTI ID:1354935
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PG 1553+113 is a very high energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) γ-ray emitter classified as a BL Lac object. Its redshift is constrained by intergalactic absorption lines in the range 0.4 < z < 0.58. The MAGIC telescopes have monitored the source's activity since 2005. In early 2012, PG 1553+113 was found in a high state, and later, in April of the same year, the source reached its highest VHE flux state detected so far. Simultaneous observations carried out in X-rays during 2012 April show similar flaring behaviour. In contrast, the γ-ray flux at E < 100 GeV observed by Fermi-LAT is compatible with steady emission. Here, in this paper, a detailed study of the flaring state is presented. The VHE spectrum shows clear curvature, being well fitted either by a power law with an exponential cut-off or by a log-parabola. A simple power-law fit hypothesis for the observed shape of the PG 1553+113 VHE γ-ray spectrum is rejected with a high significance (fit probability P = 2.6 × 10-6). The observed curvature is compatible with the extragalactic background light (EBL) imprint predicted by current generation EBL models assuming a redshift z ~ 0.4. New constraints on the redshift are derived from the VHE spectrum. These constraints are compatible with previous limits and suggest that the source is most likely located around the optical lower limit, z = 0.4, based on the detection of Lyα absorption. Lastly, we find that the synchrotron self-Compton model gives a satisfactory description of the observed multiwavelength spectral energy distribution during the flare.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Contributing Organization:
for the Fermi-LAT Collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; NNX08AW31G; NNX11A043G; AST-0808050; AST-1109911; 268740; 745/N-HESS-MAGIC/2010/0
OSTI ID:
1354935
Journal Information:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 450, Issue 4; ISSN 0035-8711
Publisher:
Royal Astronomical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 20 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (6)

Long-term optical monitoring of TeV emitting blazars: I. Data analysis⋆ journal December 2018
High-energy neutrino flux from individual blazar flares journal September 2019
The Blazar PG 1553+113 as a Binary System of Supermassive Black Holes journal February 2018
Gamma-ray blazar spectra with H.E.S.S. II mono analysis: the case of PKS 2155-304 and PG 1553+113 text January 2016
Gamma-ray blazar spectra with H.E.S.S. II mono analysis: The case of PKS 2155−304 and PG 1553+113 journal April 2017
High energy neutrino flux from individual blazar flares text January 2019

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Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
gamma rays
PG 1553+113
blazar
AGNs