Measurement of the Extragalactic Background Light Spectral Energy Distribution with VERITAS

A. U. Abeysekara, A. Archer, W. Benbow, R. Bird, A. Brill, R. Brose, M. Buchovecky, D. Calderon-Madera, J. L. Christiansen, W. Cui, M. K. Daniel, A. Falcone, Q. Feng, M. Fernandez-Alonso, J. P. Finley, L. Fortson, A. Furniss, A. Gent, C. Giuri, O. GuetaD. Hanna, T. Hassan, O. Hervet, J. Holder, G. Hughes, T. B. Humensky, C. A. Johnson, P. Kaaret, M. Kertzman, D. Kieda, M. Krause, F. Krennrich, S. Kumar, M. J. Lang, G. Maier, P. Moriarty, R. Mukherjee, M. Nievas-Rosillo, S. O'brien, R. A. Ong, K. Pfrang, M. Pohl, R. R. Prado, E. Pueschel, J. Quinn, K. Ragan, P. T. Reynolds, D. Ribeiro, G. T. Richards, E. Roache, A. C. Rovero, I. Sadeh, M. Santander, G. H. Sembroski, K. Shahinyan, I. Sushch, T. Svraka, A. Weinstein, R. M. Wells, P. Wilcox, A. Wilhelm, D. A. Williams, T. J. Williamson, B. Zitzer

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Abstract

The extragalactic background light (EBL), a diffuse photon field in the optical and infrared range, is a record of radiative processes over the universe's history. Spectral measurements of blazars at very high energies (>100 GeV) enable the reconstruction of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL, as the blazar spectra are modified by redshift- A nd energy-dependent interactions of the gamma-ray photons with the EBL. The spectra of 14 VERITAS-detected blazars are included in a new measurement of the EBL SED that is independent of EBL SED models. The resulting SED covers an EBL wavelength range of 0.56-56 μm, and is in good agreement with lower limits obtained by assuming that the EBL is entirely due to radiation from cataloged galaxies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number150
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume885
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 10 2019

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© 2019 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

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