Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Aharonian, F.
• Akhperjanian, A.
• Beilicke, M.
• Bernlöhr, K.
• Börst, H.-G.
• Bojahr, H.
• Bolz, O.
• Coarasa, T.
• Contreras, J. L.
• Cortina, J.
• Denninghoff, S.
• Fonseca, M. V.
• Girma, M.
• Götting, N.
• Heinzelmann, G.
• Hermann, G.
• Heusler, A.
• Hofmann, W.
• Horns, D.
• Jung, I.
• Kankanyan, R.
• Kestel, M.
• Kohnle, A.
• Konopelko, A.
• Kornmeyer, H.
• Kranich, D.
• Lampeitl, H.
• Lopez, M.
• Lorenz, E.
• Lucarelli, F.
• Mang, O.
• Meyer, H.
• Mirzoyan, R.
• Moralejo, A.
• Ona-Wilhelmi, E.
• Panter, M.
• Plyasheshnikov, A.
• Pühlhofer, G.
• R. de los Reyes
• Rhode, W.
• Ripken, J.
• Rowell, G.
• Sahakian, V.
• Samorski, M.
• Schilling, M.
• Siems, M.
• Sobzynska, D.
• Stamm, W.
• Tluczykont, M.
• Vitale, V.
• Völk, H. J.
• Wiedner, C. A.
• Wittek, W.

Titel

Is the giant radio galaxy M 87 a TeV gamma-ray emitter?

Ist Teil von

• Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), 2003-05, Vol.403 (1), p.L1-L5

Ort / Verlag

EDP Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• For the first time an excess of photons above an energy threshold of 730 GeV from the giant radio galaxy M 87 has been measured at a significance level above 4 σ. The data have been taken during the years 1998 and 1999 with the HEGRA stereoscopic system of 5 imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The excess of $107.4\,\pm\,26.8$ events above 730 GeV corresponds to an integral flux of 3.3% of the Crab flux or $N_\gamma(E > 730\,\mbox{GeV}) = (0.96 \pm 0.23) \times 10^{-12}$ phot cm-2 s-1. M 87 is located at the center of the Virgo cluster of galaxies at a relatively small redshift of $z = 0.00436$ and is a promising candidate among the class of giant radio galaxies for the emission of TeV γ-radiation. The detection of TeV γ-rays from M 87 – if confirmed – would establish a new class of extragalactic source in this energy regime since all other AGN detected to date at TeV energies are BL Lac type objects.