VERITAS discovery of a new VHE Gamma-ray Source, VER J0521+211
ATel #2260; Rene A. Ong (for the VERITAS Collaboration)
on 25 Oct 2009; 23:42 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Request For Observations
Credential Certification: Rene Ong (rene@astro.ucla.edu)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, AGN
The VERITAS Collaboration reports the discovery of a new very high
energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) gamma-ray source, VER J0521+211, at R.A. =
80.48, Dec. = +21.19 (J2000), with a positional uncertainty of about
0.05 degrees. This new VHE source was detected with a significance of
5.5 standard deviations in 230 minutes of observations between 22
October 2009 and 24 October 2009 (UT) with the VERITAS
atmospheric-Cherenkov telescope array. The observations were motivated
by the identification of a high energy (>30 GeV) source at this
position in the public Fermi-LAT data. This position is also
consistent, within errors, with the position of the radio-loud active
galaxy RGB J0521.8+2112, detected in the ROSAT all-sky X-ray survey
and included in the RASS-Green Bank catalog, for which the
redshift is unknown. The VHE flux measured by
VERITAS is ~5% of the steady Crab Nebula flux above 200 GeV.
Observations at all wavelengths are encouraged in order to clarify the
nature of this object. In particular, optical spectroscopy would be
extremely valuable to determine the unknown redshift.
VERITAS Web Site
