Discovery of very high energy gamma-rays from the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 with the MAGIC telescope

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of very high energy gamma-rays from the distant quasar 3C 279 using the MAGIC telescope, providing insights into gamma-ray emission mechanisms and the extragalactic background light.

Contribution

First detection of VHE gamma-rays from 3C 279 at z=0.536, demonstrating the telescope's capability and informing models of gamma-ray emission and cosmic background light.

Findings

Detected gamma-ray signal at E > 75 GeV during a flare

Implications for extragalactic background light attenuation models

Constraints on gamma-ray emission mechanisms in quasars

Abstract

3C 279 is one of the best studied flat spectrum radio quasars located at a comparatively large redshift of z = 0.536. Observations in the very high energy band of such distant sources were impossible until recently due to the expected steep energy spectrum and the strong gamma-ray attenuation by the extragalactic background light photon field, which conspire to make the source visible only with a low energy threshold. Here the detection of a significant gamma-ray signal from 3C 279 at very high energies (E > 75 GeV) during a flare in early 2006 is reported. Implications of its energy spectrum on the current understanding of the extragalactic background light and very high energy gamma-ray emission mechanism models are discussed.