Manel Errando

We report the first observations of a long-duration very-high-energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) flare from BL Lacertae (VER J2202+422), taken with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). On 2022 October 15, the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) detected elevated GeV activity originating from this blazar. This triggered a multiwavelength campaign, which includes observations from VERITAS, Swift, NuSTAR, and select optical and radio observatories. VERITAS observed the source for a total of ∼9.8 hr between 2022 September 1 and 2022 December 1. An analysis of these data yields a ∼28 σ detection of the source. While previously observed VHE flares from BL Lacertae have lasted on timescales of minutes to days, VERITAS continued to detect flaring activity from the source for over a month (∼40 days) after the original flaring activity was detected with Fermi-LAT. Broadband spectral modeling shows that a synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model with an external inverse-Compton component is preferred over a one-zone SSC model.

The origin of intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs) remains one of the key open questions in cosmology. Gamma-ray pair halos produced by electromagnetic cascades from TeV-emitting blazars provide a powerful indirect probe of these fields. In this work, we present a novel search for pair halos that explicitly exploits their expected anisotropic morphology, aligning with the projected orientation of blazar jets on the sky. Using a Monte Carlo framework to model the spatial distribution of cascade emission, we identify an optimal sample of 21 high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac objects with well-constrained jet position angles from radio interferometry. By rotating and stacking Fermi -LAT observations of these sources along their jet directions, we enhance sensitivity to anisotropic extended emission that would be diluted in traditional orientation-agnostic analyses. Applying a likelihood analysis to the combined dataset, we find evidence for a non-zero IGMF, excluding the null hypothesis at 3.8σ level and obtaining a best-fit field strength of B ₀ = 2.8 × 10 ^-16 G, with a 99% confidence interval of 0.9 × 10 ^-16 G< B ₀ < 8.9 × 10 ^-16 G. Our result is consistent with previous constraints from spectral, spatial, and temporal studies, while demonstrating that incorporating anisotropic information provides a significant gain in sensitivity. This approach opens a new avenue for probing intergalactic magnetism and highlights the potential of future high-angular-resolution gamma-ray observations to directly image pair halos and map magnetic fields in cosmic voids.

The radio galaxy NGC 1275 is the brightest cluster galaxy in the Perseus Cluster. It is well studied across all wave bands, including very high-energy (VHE; E ≥ 100 GeV) γ -rays, and with radio observations over the last 20 yr tracking an unusual radio component, “C3.” NGC 1275 was observed in an exceptional VHE-flaring state between 2016 December 31 and 2017 January 3. The flare peak reached ∼1.5 Crab units as measured by the MAGIC observatory. We report on the observations of NGC 1275 conducted by VERITAS and multiwavelength data collected during this flaring state and, for context, data taken between 2009 and 2017 inclusively. VERITAS detected the declining state of the flare on 2017 January 2 (MJD 57755) and 3 (MJD 57756) at an average flux state of 0.5 Crab units. VERITAS spectra show an overall long-term trend of harder when brighter. During the flare, the γ -ray spectrum obtained from the combined Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, and VERITAS observations changes from a power law with an exponential cutoff on January 1 to a log-parabola on January 2. To study the evolution of the flare in more detail, multiband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were constructed for the nights of 2017 January 1 and 2 corresponding to the shift from the peak to the decline of the flare. A blob-in-jet modeling of the SEDs results in support for a two-component model with a θ = 10 ^∘ jet angle to the line of sight and the γ -ray emission zone located in the vicinity of the C3 radio component.

We present a new study on the MeV–TeV γ -ray origin of HESS J1857+026 using data collected from the Fermi–LAT, VERITAS, and HAWC observatories. A spatial and spectral study of HESS J1857+026 including radiative modeling of the MeV–TeV spectrum determines the likely dominant γ -ray origin as a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the energetic pulsar PSR J1856+0245. The MeV–TeV spectrum is further characterized through basic evolutionary radiative modeling assuming a PWN origin to constrain the physical properties of the system such as the magnetic field strength and PWN age. The results of the PWN evolutionary model are consistent with the observational constraints of the system, finding an age of the system between τ = [16, 21] kyr and a magnetic field strength between B = [0.4, 1.6] μ G. These estimates support an evolved PWN scenario where the observed γ -ray emission is generated by the relativistic electrons' inverse Compton (IC) scattering off local photon fields; however, the low-energy ( E < 10 GeV) spectral component could be dominated by hadronic emission originating from a supernova remnant (SNR). For a PWN component above 10 GeV, we measure the conditions for particle diffusion, finding that the local diffusion ( D (50 TeV) ∼ 10 ²⁸ cm ⁻² s ⁻¹ ) is suppressed compared to the interstellar medium (ISM) value, in agreement with similar TeV PWNe. By measuring the radial surface brightness profiles of the γ -ray source across multiple instruments, we demonstrate that the combined MeV–TeV spatial information is a powerful tool to constrain particle diffusion properties.

V1674 Her (Nova Her 2021) is the fastest classical nova ever recorded, with an optical decline time of t ₂ ∼ 1 day, typically interpreted as evidence for a white dwarf mass close to the Chandrasekhar limit. We present a broadband X-ray study of V1674 Her combining contemporaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations in quiescence to directly constrain the white dwarf’s mass and magnetic field strength. The hard X-ray emission is modeled using a physically motivated postshock accretion column model that accounts for the temperature gradient in the flow and reflection from the white dwarf’s surface. Under the assumption that the accretion disk is truncated at the corotation radius, we obtain a white dwarf mass of M = 1.0 9 − 0.06 + 0.07 M ⊙ . An independent constraint derived from timing analysis of the X-ray power spectrum yields a consistent value of M = 1.12 ± 0.06 M _⊙ . These values are significantly lower than those inferred from empirical decline-time relations, suggesting that such relations may overestimate white dwarf masses in extreme fast novae. From the inferred accretion rate and magnetospheric radius, we estimate a surface magnetic field strength of B = 21 . 3 − 5.7 + 6.6 ( stat ) − 8.1 + 12.9 ( sys ) MG , placing V1674 Her at the high end of the magnetic field distribution for intermediate polars. Our results demonstrate that even the fastest novae do not necessarily host near-Chandrasekhar white dwarfs, highlighting the importance of direct X-ray constraints and suggesting that additional parameters beyond white dwarf mass play a key role in setting nova timescales.

Identifying the physical mechanism driving blazar flares remains a central challenge in high-energy astrophysics. We show that the energy dependence of the standard deviation of the polarization angle variability ( σ _PA ) provides a powerful and robust discriminator of blazar flaring mechanisms. Using particle-in-cell-integrated polarized radiative transfer simulations, we perform the most rigorous statistical analyses of polarization variability to date. We demonstrate that magnetic reconnection and magnetized turbulence imprint qualitatively distinct energy dependence of σ _PA that directly reflects their different magnetic field evolution and particle transport. Reconnection predicts higher σ _PA with higher photon energy until the synchrotron spectral peak, whereas turbulence produces nearly flat σ _PA across the synchrotron spectral component. These trends are resilient to realistic observational limitations. Applying our results to optical and IXPE data of Mrk 421 and 1ES 1959+650, we find strong evidence for reconnection-driven flares embedded in a turbulent blazar zone. Energy-dependent σ _PA emerges as a decisive new probe of particle acceleration in relativistic jets.

Microquasars such as SS 433 are considered potential contributors to cosmic rays up to the knee of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum (∼4 PeV), where a transition in the dominant acceleration processes is expected. The SS 433 system, located within the W50 supernova remnant, is a Galactic microquasar with relativistic jets interacting with the surrounding medium over parsec scales, providing an example for studying jet-driven particle acceleration. A deep morphological and spectral study of SS 433 is performed using more than 150 hr of observations with VERITAS, sensitive to γ -ray energies >100 GeV. With an angular resolution better than 0 . ° 1, extended TeV γ -ray emission is resolved from both the eastern and western jet lobes, located tens of parsecs from the central binary. The emission appears elongated along the jet axis and coincides with regions where the jets interact with the surrounding supernova remnant. No TeV emission is detected from the central binary, nor is significant emission observed between the central binary and the jet lobes. Phase-resolved analyses show no evidence for variability in the orbital or precessional phase, supporting a steady emission scenario. The observed morphology and spectra are consistent with scenarios where particles are accelerated in the lobes of the jets, possibly through shocks or alternative processes such as magnetic reconnection. The extended TeV emission from the jet lobes of SS 433 favors a leptonic origin in the VERITAS energy range, suggesting that any hadronic acceleration is subdominant. The results offer valuable constraints on how microquasar jets may contribute to the Galactic cosmic-ray population toward the knee.

Significant gamma-ray emission between 1 TeV and 20 TeV from a point source, 1LHAASO J1219+2915, consistent with the location of the LINER/LLAGN galaxy NGC 4278 was recently reported by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) collaboration. These data were later split into active and quasi-quiet states, with most of the LHAASO significance coming from the active state (MJD 59449-59589). Subsequent analysis of Fermi-LAT and Swift-XRT observations have been used to explore the double-peaked broadband emission. Models of the spectral energy distribution (SED) are currently unconstrained due to the lack of contemporaneous multiwavelength data at either peak. Here, we report serendipitous observations of NGC 4278 with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS), made possible by the contemporaneous observations of the nearby blazars 1ES 1218+304, 1ES 1215+303, and W Comae, each of which are located within 2° of NGC 4278. VERITAS did not detect any gamma-ray emission, and a flux upper limit was calculated. The flux upper limits constrain the photon spectrum of the quasi-quiet period, and together with Fermi-LAT, indicate a peak in the SED between 100 GeV and 2 TeV. We present an interpretation of the broadband SED that is based on acceleration of protons in the corona of the active galactic nuclei, followed by p – γ interactions and optically thin γ -ray emission. Within this framework, the implied neutrino signal is slightly below the current sensitivity of IceCube.

Dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are excellent targets for indirect dark matter (DM) searches using gamma-ray telescopes because they are thought to have high DM content and a low astrophysical background. The sensitivity of these searches is improved by combining the observations of dSphs made by different gamma-ray telescopes. We present the results of a combined search by the most sensitive currently operating gamma-ray telescopes, namely: the satellite-borne Fermi -LAT telescope; the ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS; and the HAWC water Cherenkov detector. Individual datasets were analyzed using a common statistical approach. Results were subsequently combined via a global joint likelihood analysis. We obtain constraints on the velocity-weighted cross section 〈 σv 〉 for DM self-annihilation as a function of the DM particle mass. This five-instrument combination allows the derivation of up to 2-3 times more constraining upper limits on 〈 σv 〉 than the individual results over a wide mass range spanning from 5 GeV to 100 TeV. Depending on the DM content modeling, the 95% confidence level observed limits reach 1.5×10 ^-24 cm ³ s ^-1 and 3.2×10 ^-25 cm ³ s ^-1 , respectively, in the τ ⁺ τ ^- annihilation channel for a DM mass of 2 TeV.