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Abstract Observations of GeV gamma-ray emission from the well-studied mixed-morphology supernova remnant (SNR) W44 by Fermi-Large Area Telescope and AGILE imply that it is a site of significant cosmic-ray acceleration. The spectral energy distribution (SED) derived from the GeV data suggests that the gamma-ray emission likely originates from the decay of neutral pions generated by cosmic-ray interactions. It is essential to measure the SED of W44 in the X-ray and very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray bands to verify the hadronic origin of the emission and to gauge the potential contributions from leptonic emission. We report an upper limit of the nonthermal X-ray flux from W44 of 5  × 10⁻¹³erg cm⁻²s⁻¹in the 0.5–8.0 keV band based on  ∼300 ks of XMM-Newton observations. The X-ray upper limit is consistent with previously estimated hadronic models, but in tension with the leptonic models. We estimate the VHE flux upper limit of  ∼1.2  × 10⁻¹²erg s⁻¹cm⁻²in the 0.5–5.0 TeV range from W44 using data from the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System. Our nondetection of W44 at VHE wavelengths is in agreement with observations from other imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and is perhaps consistent with the evolutionary stage of the SNR. 

Abstract Pulsar halos are regions around middle-aged pulsars extending out to tens of parsecs. The large extent of the halos and well-defined central cosmic-ray accelerators make this new class of Galactic sources an ideal laboratory for studying cosmic-ray transport. LHAASO J0621+3755 is a candidate pulsar halo associated with the middle-aged gamma-ray pulsar PSR J0622+3749. We observed LHAASO J0621+3755 with VERITAS and XMM-Newton in the TeV and X-ray bands, respectively. For this work, we developed a novel background estimation technique for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope observations of such extended sources. No halo emission was detected with VERITAS (0.3–10 TeV) or XMM-Newton (2–7 keV) within 1^∘and $10^{\prime }$around PSR J0622+3749, respectively. Combined with the LHAASO Kilometer Square Array (KM2A) and Fermi-LAT data, VERITAS flux upper limits establish a spectral break at  ∼1–10 TeV, a unique feature compared with Geminga, the most studied pulsar halo. We model the gamma-ray spectrum and LHAASO-KM2A surface brightness as inverse Compton emission and find suppressed diffusion around the pulsar, similar to Geminga. A smaller diffusion suppression zone and harder electron injection spectrum than Geminga are necessary to reproduce the spectral cutoff. A magnetic field ≤1μG is required by our XMM-Newton observation and synchrotron spectral modeling, consistent with Geminga. Our findings support slower diffusion and lower magnetic field around pulsar halos than the Galactic averages, hinting at magnetohydrodynamic turbulence around pulsars. Additionally, we report the detection of an X-ray point source spatially coincident with PSR J0622+3749, whose periodicity is consistent with the gamma-ray spin period of 333.2 ms. The soft spectrum of this source suggests a thermal origin. 

Abstract Assuming Galactic cosmic rays originate in supernovae and the winds of massive stars, starburst galaxies should produce very-high-energy (VHE;E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission via the interaction of their copious quantities of cosmic rays with the large reservoirs of dense gas within the galaxies. Such VHE emission was detected by VERITAS from the starburst galaxy M82 in 2008–09. An extensive, multiyear campaign followed these initial observations, yielding a total of 254 hr of good-quality VERITAS data on M82. Leveraging modern analysis techniques and the larger exposure, these VERITAS data show a more statistically significant VHE signal (∼6.5 standard deviations,σ). The corresponding photon spectrum is well fit by a power law (Γ = 2.3 ± 0.3_stat ± 0.2_sys), and the observed integral flux isF(>450 GeV) = (3.2 ± 0.6_stat ± 0.6_sys) × 10⁻¹³cm⁻²s⁻¹, or ∼0.4% of the Crab Nebula flux above the same energy threshold. The improved VERITAS measurements, when combined with various multiwavelength data, enable modeling of the underlying emission and transport processes. A purely leptonic scenario is found to be a poor representation of the gamma-ray spectral energy distribution (SED). A lepto-hadronic scenario with cosmic rays following a power-law spectrum in momentum (indexs ≃ 2.25) and with significant bremsstrahlung below 1 GeV provides a good match to the observed SED. The synchrotron emission from the secondary electrons indicates that efficient nonradiative losses of cosmic-ray electrons may be related to advective escape from the starburst core. 

Abstract We use the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging telescope Array System (VERITAS) imaging air Cherenkov telescope array to obtain the first measured angular diameter ofβUMa at visual wavelengths using stellar intensity interferometry (SII) and independently constrain the limb-darkened angular diameter. The age of the Ursa Major moving group has been assessed from the ages of its members, including nuclear member Merak (βUMa), an A1-type subgiant, by comparing effective temperature and luminosity constraints to model stellar evolution tracks. Previous interferometric limb-darkened angular-diameter measurements ofβUMa in the near-infrared (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array, 1.149 ± 0.014 mas) and mid-infrared (Keck Nuller, 1.08 ± 0.07 mas), together with the measured parallax and bolometric flux, have constrained the effective temperature. This paper presents current VERITAS-SII observation and analysis procedures to derive squared visibilities from correlation functions. We fit the resulting squared visibilities to find a limb-darkened angular diameter of 1.07 ± 0.04 (stat) ± 0.05 (sys) mas, using synthetic visibilities from a stellar atmosphere model that provides a good match to the spectrum ofβUMa in the optical wave band. The VERITAS-SII limb-darkened angular diameter yields an effective temperature of 9700 ± 200 ± 200 K, consistent with ultraviolet spectrophotometry, and an age of 390 ± 29 ± 32 Myr, using MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks. This age is consistent with 408 ± 6 Myr from the CHARA Array angular diameter. 

Abstract In 2017 February, the blazar OJ 287 underwent a period of intense multiwavelength activity. It reached a new historic peak in the soft X-ray (0.3–10 keV) band, as measured by the Swift X-ray Telescope. This event coincides with a very-high-energy (VHE)γ-ray outburst that led VERITAS to detect emission above 100 GeV, with a detection significance of 10σ(from 2016 December 9 to 2017 March 31). The time-averaged VHEγ-ray spectrum was consistent with a soft power law (Γ = −3.81 ± 0.26) and an integral flux corresponding to ∼2.4% that of the Crab Nebula above the same energy. Contemporaneous data from multiple instruments across the electromagnetic spectrum reveal a complex flaring behavior, primarily in the soft X-ray and VHE bands. To investigate the possible origin of such an event, our study focuses on three distinct activity states: before, during, and after the 2017 February peak. The spectral energy distributions during these periods suggest the presence of at least two nonthermal emission zones, with the more compact one responsible for the observed flare. Broadband modeling results and observations of a new radio knot in the jet of OJ 287 in 2017 are consistent with a flare originating from a strong recollimation shock outside the radio core. 

Abstract Dark matter is a key piece of the current cosmological scenario, with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) a leading dark matter candidate. WIMPs have not been detected in their conventional parameter space (100 GeV ≲ M χ ≲ 100 TeV), a mass range accessible with current Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. As ultraheavy dark matter (UHDM; M χ ≳ 100 TeV) has been suggested as an underexplored alternative to the WIMP paradigm, we search for an indirect dark matter annihilation signal in a higher mass range (up to 30 PeV) with the VERITAS γ -ray observatory. With 216 hr of observations of four dwarf spheroidal galaxies, we perform an unbinned likelihood analysis. We find no evidence of a γ -ray signal from UHDM annihilation above the background fluctuation for any individual dwarf galaxy nor for a joint-fit analysis, and consequently constrain the velocity-weighted annihilation cross section of UHDM for dark matter particle masses between 1 TeV and 30 PeV. We additionally set constraints on the allowed radius of a composite UHDM particle.