High energy blazars spectroscopy with X-Shooter on the VLT

TL;DR

This paper reports UV to near-IR spectroscopic observations of eight blazars, aiming to determine their redshifts, especially for those recently detected or suspected at Very High Energies, to better understand their properties.

Contribution

It provides new spectroscopic data for eight blazars, including three recently discovered at VHE, focusing on redshift determination to aid in their characterization.

Findings

Redshifts determined for several blazars.

Identification of candidate blazars for VHE gamma-ray detection.

Enhanced understanding of blazar spectral properties.

Abstract

We present results of observations in the UV to near-IR range for eight blazars, three of which have been recently discovered at Very High Energies (VHE) and five appearing as interesting candidates for VHE {\gamma}-ray detection. We focus in this paper on the search for their redshifts, which are unknown or considered as uncertain.