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[4.24] Intensive TeV Gamma-Ray and X-Ray Observations of the Blazar Mrk 421 in December 2002 and January 2003

P.F. Rebillot, S.B. Hughes (Washington University, St. Louis), M. Aller, H. Aller (University of Michigan), P. Boltwood (Boltwood Observatory, Ontario, Canada), D. Kranich (University of California, Davis, Department of Physics), J. McEnery (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), A. Sillanpaa (University of Turku, Vaisala,Institute for Space Physics and Astronomy), A. Sadun (University of Denver), VERITAS Collaboration

We report on observations of Markarian 421 made with the Whipple 10m gamma-ray telescope and the {\emph Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer} (RXTE) satellite during a multi-wavelength campaign in December 2002 and January 2003. These target of opportunity observations were initiated by the detection of a flaring state by the Whipple 10m telescope and the RXTE All Sky Monitor (ASM). The observations revealed several flares with flux levels between 1 and 1.5 times the flux of the Crab Nebula, in the gamma-ray energy region. We present results of the multi-wavelength campaign, that included observations in the optical (Boltwood, LaPalma, and WIYN 0.9m), radio (University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory), X-ray (RXTE PCA), and TeV gamma-ray bands (taken with the Whipple 10m telescope, as well as the HEGRA CT1 telescope). The observations covered several flares of intermediate strength. We will discuss the temporal properties, including the complicated correlation of the X-ray and gamma-ray fluxes.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: rebillot@hbar.wustl.edu

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.