VERITAS Reports Markarian 421 in a High Flaring State
ATel #2443; Rene A Ong (UCLA) for the VERITAS Collaboration
on 18 Feb 2010; 02:21 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, Transient
The VERITAS array of imaging atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes
has detected strong flaring in very high energy
(VHE, E >100 GeV) gamma rays from the blazar Markarian 421.
A preliminary analysis of approximately 5 h of observations
taken last night (UT 20100217; MJD 55244) shows a variable
VHE gamma-ray flux, which exceeded 3 times the Crab Nebula
flux for the duration of the observations. The peak flux
observed is more than 10 times that of the Crab Nebula.
VERITAS will continue to observe this source tonight.
Multi-wavelength observations across the electromagnetic
spectrum are very much encouraged.
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