Göttingen 2012 – scientific programme
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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 92: Gammaastronomie 4
T 92.7: Talk
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 18:15–18:30, ZHG 008
MAGIC stereoscopic observations of Markarian 421 during high source activity in January 2010 — •Burkhard Steinke1, Andrea Boller2, and David Paneque1 — 1MPI für Physik, München — 2ETH Zürich, Schweiz
The Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes MAGIC are performing ground-based gamma-ray astronomy in the very high energy regime. The system consists of two 17m-diameter telescopes, located at the Canary Island of La Palma. Both telescopes work together in stereoscopic mode since end of 2009. MAGIC is covering an energy range from <100 GeV to >10 TeV and has a typical energy resolution of 15-25%.
Among the targets of MAGIC observations are blazars, a subclass of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). For this class a high luminosity relativistic jet, originating in the center of the host galaxy, is pointing towards the Earth. The closest known and one of the best studied representatives of the blazar subclass is Markarian (Mrk) 421. In this talk, the first MAGIC stereoscopic observations of Mrk 421 during high source activity are presented. Implications on emission processes potentially responsible for the observed flux variations are also discussed.