Speaker
Description
VERITAS is one of the world’s most sensitive detectors of astrophysical very high energy (VHE; E> 100 GeV) gamma rays. The array is located in southern Arizona, USA and is made up of four 12-m imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). With nearly 20 years of operation since the first telescope’s installation was complete, the instrument has been able to study Galactic sources such as the binary LS I+61 303, HESS J0632+057 and the pulsar PSR J2023+4127 (to name a few of many) as well as extragalactic sources such as the radio galaxy M87, and nearly 50 different VHE-emitting blazars. Over the lifetime of VERITAS, Swift has contributed to deep, long-term studies of known VHE blazars, provided first time X-ray measurement of candidate VHE blazars, and has aided in the discovery of VHE emission from unique blazars such as OJ 287. Many of the objects observed by VERITAS are remarkably variable, and benefit from the flexible and rapid response of the Swift satellite, which provides direct measurement of the X-ray photons that are demonstrably associated in some way with the VHE photons emitted by the sources. The synergy provided by contemporaneous observations of these objects by VERITAS and Swift has enabled remarkable progress in the understanding of how the VHE photons are produced. A brief survey of results made possible by these joint observations will be provided.
