Related Content
Search Google Scholar for:
More Information
Related Jobs from ScienceCareers
|
|
Science 27 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5884, pp. 1752 - 1754
DOI: 10.1126/science.1157087
|
|
Reports
Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays from a Distant Quasar: How Transparent Is the Universe?
The MAGIC Collaboration: *
J. Albert,1
E. Aliu,2
H. Anderhub,3
L. A. Antonelli,4
P. Antoranz,5
M. Backes,6
C. Baixeras,7
J. A. Barrio,5
H. Bartko,8
D. Bastieri,9
J. K. Becker,6
W. Bednarek,10
K. Berger,1
E. Bernardini,11
C. Bigongiari,9
A. Biland,3
R. K. Bock,8,9*
G. Bonnoli,12
P. Bordas,13
V. Bosch-Ramon,13
T. Bretz,1
I. Britvitch,3
M. Camara,5
E. Carmona,8
A. Chilingarian,14
S. Commichau,3
J. L. Contreras,5
J. Cortina,2
M. T. Costado,15,16
S. Covino,4
V. Curtef,6
F. Dazzi,9
A. De Angelis,17
E. De Cea del Pozo,18
R. de los Reyes,5
B. De Lotto,17
M. De Maria,17
F. De Sabata,17
C. Delgado Mendez,15
A. Dominguez,19
D. Dorner,1
M. Doro,9
M. Errando,2
M. Fagiolini,12
D. Ferenc,20
E. Fernández,2
R. Firpo,2
M. V. Fonseca,5
L. Font,7
N. Galante,8
R. J. García López,15,16
M. Garczarczyk,8
M. Gaug,15
F. Goebel,8
M. Hayashida,8
A. Herrero,15,16
D. Höhne,1
J. Hose,8
C. C. Hsu,8
S. Huber,1
T. Jogler,8
T. M. Kneiske,6
D. Kranich,3
A. La Barbera,4
A. Laille,20
E. Leonardo,12
E. Lindfors,21
S. Lombardi,9
F. Longo,17
M. López,9
E. Lorenz,3,8
P. Majumdar,8
G. Maneva,22
N. Mankuzhiyil,17
K. Mannheim,1
L. Maraschi,4
M. Mariotti,9
M. Martínez,2
D. Mazin,2
M. Meucci,12
M. Meyer,1
J. M. Miranda,5
R. Mirzoyan,8
S. Mizobuchi,8
M. Moles,19
A. Moralejo,2
D. Nieto,5
K. Nilsson,21
J. Ninkovic,8
N. Otte,8,23
I. Oya,5
M. Panniello,15
R. Paoletti,12
J. M. Paredes,13
M. Pasanen,21
D. Pascoli,9
F. Pauss,3
R. G. Pegna,12
M. A. Perez-Torres,19
M. Persic,17,24
L. Peruzzo,9
A. Piccioli,12
F. Prada,19
E. Prandini,9
N. Puchades,2
A. Raymers,14
W. Rhode,6
M. Ribó,13
J. Rico,25,2
M. Rissi,3
A. Robert,7
S. Rügamer,1
A. Saggion,9
T. Y. Saito,8
M. Salvati,4
M. Sanchez-Conde,19
P. Sartori,9
K. Satalecka,11
V. Scalzotto,9
V. Scapin,17
R. Schmitt,1
T. Schweizer,8
M. Shayduk,8,23
K. Shinozaki,8
S. N. Shore,26
N. Sidro,2
A. Sierpowska-Bartosik,18
A. Sillanpää,21
D. Sobczynska,10
F. Spanier,1
A. Stamerra,12
L. S. Stark,3
L. Takalo,21
F. Tavecchio,4
P. Temnikov,22
D. Tescaro,2
M. Teshima,8
M. Tluczykont,11
D. F. Torres,25,18
N. Turini,12
H. Vankov,22
A. Venturini,9
V. Vitale,17
R. M. Wagner,8
W. Wittek,8
V. Zabalza,13
F. Zandanel,19
R. Zanin,2
J. Zapatero7
The atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope MAGIC, designed for a low-energy threshold, has detected very-high-energy gamma rays from a giant flare of the distant Quasi-Stellar Radio Source (in short: radio quasar) 3C 279, at a distance of more than 5 billion light-years (a redshift of 0.536). No quasar has been observed previously in very-high-energy gamma radiation, and this is also the most distant object detected emitting gamma rays above 50 gigaelectron volts. Because high-energy gamma rays may be stopped by interacting with the diffuse background light in the universe, the observations by MAGIC imply a low amount for such light, consistent with that known from galaxy counts.
2 Institut de Física d'Altes Energies, Edifici Cn., Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
3 ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
4 Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) National Institute for Astrophysics, I-00136 Rome, Italy.
5 Universidad Complutense, E-28040 Madrid, Spain.
6 Technische Universität Dortmund, D-44221 Dortmund, Germany.
7 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
8 Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, D-80805 München, Germany.
9 Università di Padova and INFN, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
10 University of  ód , PL-90236 Lodz, Poland.
11 DESY Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany.
12 Università di Siena, and INFN Pisa, I-53100 Siena, Italy.
13 Universitat de Barcelona Institut de Ciencias del Cosmos–Institut d'Estudis Especials de Catalunya (IEEC), E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
14 Yerevan Physics Institute, AM-375036 Yerevan, Armenia.
15 Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
16 Departamento de Astrofisica, Universidad, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
17 Università di Udine, and INFN Trieste, I-33100 Udine, Italy.
18 Institut de Cienciès de l'Espai [IEEC-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cíentificas (CSIC)], E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
19 Inst. de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC), E-18080 Granada, Spain.
20 University of California, Davis, CA 95616–8677, USA.
21 Tuorla Observatory, Turku University, FI-21500 Piikkiö, Finland.
22 Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, BG-1784 Sofia, Bulgaria.
23 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-12489 Berlin, Germany.
24 INAF/Osservatorio Astronomico and INFN, I-34143 Trieste, Italy.
25 Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats, E-08010 Barcelona, Spain.
26 Università di Pisa, and INFN Pisa, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
* The complete list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of this paper.
 Present address: Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
 Deceased.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rkbock{at}gmail.com
Read the Full Text
|
|
