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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 This paper investigates the origin of theγ-ray emission from MGRO J1908+06 in the GeV–TeV energy band. By analyzing the data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, and High Altitude Water Cherenkov, with the addition of spectral data previously reported by LHAASO, a multiwavelength study of the morphological and spectral features of MGRO J1908+06 provides insight into the origin of theγ-ray emission. The mechanism behind the bright TeV emission is studied by constraining the magnetic field strength, the source age, and the distance through detailed broadband modeling. Both spectral shape and energy-dependent morphology support the scenario that inverse Compton emission of an evolved pulsar wind nebula associated with PSR J1907+0602 is responsible for the MGRO J1908+06γ-ray emission with a best-fit true age ofT= 22 ± 9 kyr and a magnetic field ofB= 5.4 ± 0.8μG, assuming the distance to the pulsard_PSR= 3.2 kpc. 

Context.Since 2019, GRAVITY has provided direct observations of giant planets and brown dwarfs at separations of down to 95 mas from the host star. Some of these observations have provided the first direct confirmation of companions previously detected by indirect techniques (astrometry and radial velocities). Aims.We want to improve the observing strategy and data reduction in order to lower the inner working angle of GRAVITY in dual-field on-axis mode. We also want to determine the current limitations of the instrument when observing faint companions with separations in the 30–150 mas range. Methods.To improve the inner working angle, we propose a fiber off-pointing strategy during the observations to maximize the ratio of companion-light-to-star-light coupling in the science fiber. We also tested a lower-order model for speckles to decouple the companion light from the star light. We then evaluated the detection limits of GRAVITY using planet injection and retrieval in representative archival data. We compare our results to theoretical expectations. Results.We validate our observing and data-reduction strategy with on-sky observations; first in the context of brown dwarf follow-up on the auxiliary telescopes with HD 984 B, and second with the first confirmation of a substellar candidate around the starGaiaDR3 2728129004119806464. With synthetic companion injection, we demonstrate that the instrument can detect companions down to a contrast of 8 × 10⁻⁴(ΔΚ= 7.7 mag) at a separation of 35 mas, and a contrast of 3 × 10⁻⁵(ΔΚ= 11 mag) at 100 mas from a bright primary (K< 6.5), for 30 min exposure time. Conclusions.With its inner working angle and astrometric precision, GRAVITY has a unique reach in direct observation parameter space. This study demonstrates the promising synergies between GRAVITY andGaiafor the confirmation and characterization of substellar companions. 

Context. The response of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes to incident γ -ray-initiated showers in the atmosphere changes as the telescopes age due to exposure to light and weather. These aging processes affect the reconstructed energies of the events and γ -ray fluxes. Aims. This work discusses the implementation of signal calibration methods for the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) to account for changes in the optical throughput and detector performance over time. Methods. The total throughput of a Cherenkov telescope is the product of camera-dependent factors, such as the photomultiplier tube gains and their quantum efficiencies, and the mirror reflectivity and Winston cone response to incoming radiation. This document summarizes different methods to determine how the camera gains and mirror reflectivity have evolved over time and how we can calibrate this changing throughput in reconstruction pipelines for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The implementation is validated against seven years of observations with the VERITAS telescopes of the Crab Nebula, which is a reference object in very-high-energy astronomy. Results. Regular optical throughput monitoring and the corresponding signal calibrations are found to be critical for the reconstruction of extensive air shower images. The proposed implementation is applied as a correction to the signals of the photomultiplier tubes in the telescope simulation to produce fine-tuned instrument response functions. This method is shown to be effective for calibrating the acquired γ -ray data and for recovering the correct energy of the events and photon fluxes. At the same time, it keeps the computational effort of generating Monte Carlo simulations for instrument response functions affordably low. 

Abstract The Breakthrough Listen Initiative is conducting a program using multiple telescopes around the world to search for “technosignatures”: artificial transmitters of extraterrestrial origin from beyond our solar system. The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) Collaboration joined this program in 2018 and provides the capability to search for one particular technosignature: optical pulses of a few nanoseconds in duration detectable over interstellar distances. We report here on the analysis and results of dedicated VERITAS observations of Breakthrough Listen targets conducted in 2019 and 2020 and of archival VERITAS data collected since 2012. Thirty hours of dedicated observations of 136 targets and 249 archival observations of 140 targets were analyzed and did not reveal any signals consistent with a technosignature. The results are used to place limits on the fraction of stars hosting transmitting civilizations. We also discuss the minimum pulse sensitivity of our observations and present VERITAS observations of CALIOP: a space-based pulsed laser on board the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. The detection of these pulses with VERITAS, using the analysis techniques developed for our technosignature search, allows a test of our analysis efficiency and serves as an important proof of principle. 

Abstract The ground-based gamma-ray observatory Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS, https://veritas.sao.arizona.edu/ ) is sensitive to photons of astrophysical origin with energies in the range between ≈85 GeV and ≈30 TeV. The instrument consists of four 12 m diameter imaging Cherenkov telescopes operating at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. VERITAS started four-telescope operations in 2007 and collects about 1100 hr of good-weather data per year. The VERITAS collaboration has published over 100 journal articles since 2008 reporting on gamma-ray observations of a large variety of objects: Galactic sources like supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, and binary systems; extragalactic sources like star-forming galaxies, dwarf-spheroidal galaxies, and highly variable active galactic nuclei. This note presents VTSCat: the catalog of high-level data products from all VERITAS publications. 

Abstract Galaxy clusters are expected to be both dark matter (DM) reservoirs and storage rooms for the cosmic-ray protons (CRp) that accumulate along the cluster's formation history. Accordingly, they are excellent targets to search for signals of DM annihilation and decay atγ-ray energies and are predicted to be sources of large-scaleγ-ray emission due to hadronic interactions in the intracluster medium (ICM).In this paper, we estimate the sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to detect diffuseγ-ray emission from the Perseus galaxy cluster.We first perform a detailed spatial and spectral modelling of the expected signal for both the DM and the CRp components. For each case, we compute the expected CTA sensitivity accounting for the CTA instrument response functions. The CTA observing strategy of the Perseus cluster is also discussed.In the absence of a diffuse signal (non-detection), CTA should constrain the CRp to thermal energy ratioX₅₀₀within the characteristic radiusR₅₀₀down to aboutX₅₀₀< 3 × 10^-3, for a spatial CRp distribution that follows the thermal gas and a CRp spectral index α_CRp= 2.3. Under the optimistic assumption of a pure hadronic origin of the Perseus radio mini-halo and depending on the assumed magnetic field profile, CTA should measure α_CRpdown to about Δα_CRp≃ 0.1 and the CRp spatial distribution with 10% precision, respectively. Regarding DM, CTA should improve the current ground-basedγ-ray DM limits from clusters observations on the velocity-averaged annihilation cross-section by a factor of up to ∼ 5, depending on the modelling of DM halo substructure. In the case of decay of DM particles, CTA will explore a new region of the parameter space, reaching models withτ_χ> 10²⁷s for DM masses above 1 TeV.These constraints will provide unprecedented sensitivity to the physics of both CRp acceleration and transport at cluster scale and to TeV DM particle models, especially in the decay scenario. 

Context.The nearby elliptical galaxy M87 contains one of only two supermassive black holes whose emission surrounding the event horizon has been imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). In 2018, more than two dozen multi-wavelength (MWL) facilities (from radio toγ-ray energies) took part in the second M87 EHT campaign. Aims.The goal of this extensive MWL campaign was to better understand the physics of the accreting black hole M87*, the relationship between the inflow and inner jets, and the high-energy particle acceleration. Understanding the complex astrophysics is also a necessary first step towards performing further tests of general relativity. Methods.The MWL campaign took place in April 2018, overlapping with the EHT M87* observations. We present a new, contemporaneous spectral energy distribution (SED) ranging from radio to very high-energy (VHE)γ-rays as well as details of the individual observations and light curves. We also conducted phenomenological modelling to investigate the basic source properties. Results.We present the first VHEγ-ray flare from M87 detected since 2010. The flux above 350 GeV more than doubled within a period of ≈36 hours. We find that the X-ray flux is enhanced by about a factor of two compared to 2017, while the radio and millimetre core fluxes are consistent between 2017 and 2018. We detect evidence for a monotonically increasing jet position angle that corresponds to variations in the bright spot of the EHT image. Conclusions.Our results show the value of continued MWL monitoring together with precision imaging for addressing the origins of high-energy particle acceleration. While we cannot currently pinpoint the precise location where such acceleration takes place, the new VHEγ-ray flare already presents a challenge to simple one-zone leptonic emission model approaches, and it emphasises the need for combined image and spectral modelling.