A study of TeV emission from the Crab Nebula and selected AGN using the Milagro Gamma-Ray Observatory.

摘要

The Milagro Gamma-Ray Observatory, located near Los Alamos, New Mexico, employs a water-Cherenkov technique to continuously monitor the northern sky for astrophysical gamma-ray emission near 1 TeV. Milagro's high duty-cycle (∼95%) and wide aperture (∼2 sr) allow for the detection of flaring behavior associated with TeV active galactic nuclei, even during daytime transits. A search is performed with the Milagro 2000–2002 data set for TeV emission from the Crab Nebula and 27 selected AGN. The detection of both the Crab Nebula and Markarian 421, during its bright flare in early 2001, is reported. The fluxes from these two detections, as well as upper limits on the flux for the 26 undetected AGN, are presented.