Speaker
Description
The VERITAS observatory is a ground-based air Cherenkov telescope array that detects very-high-energy gamma-ray emission (VHE;>100 GeV) from a range of astrophysical sources including nearly 40 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). The vast majority of these AGN are blazars where relativistic plasma jets aligned within a few degrees to our line of sight cause the observed radiation to be highly Doppler boosted. Radio galaxies are AGN with jets viewed at systematically larger angles to the line of sight, making these objects more challenging to detect in VHE gamma rays. Nevertheless, a few radio galaxies are detected in the VHE including M 87 and Centaurus A, opening a new angle into investigating non-thermal processes in large-scale structures of AGN. To gain further insights, the VERITAS Collaboration has carried out an effort over the past several years to monitor known sources as well as detect additional examples of radio galaxies. This presentation will highlight several of our recent results including the analysis of the NGC 1275 flares detected by VERITAS in October 2016 and January 2017 as well as the discovery in March 2018 of 3C 264, the most distant radio galaxy yet detected in VHE.
| Author's Name | Lucy Fortson |
|---|---|
| Author's Institute | University of Minnesota |
| Author's e-mail | lffortson@gmail.com |
| Abstract Title | Highlights from the VERITAS Radio Galaxy Observation Program |
| Subject | Astro/Cosmo |
