High Energy Gamma-rays

We study the emission mechanisms at work within very high-energy blazars by observing them when they are in a flaring state. For this to occur, it is necessary to be able to determine which sources are in active states. The space-based Fermi Large Area Telescope has a wide field of view, allowing it to efficiently monitor the sky for flaring blazars. Fermi is stationed in space to detect gamma rays directly whereas VERITAS, a ground-based gamma-ray observatory, detects gamma-ray-initiated showers from the ground. Our project seeks to create a trigger when a source is flaring in order to send an alert to the VERITAS team so they can direct the telescopes to observe the flare. Our mission is to focus on two state criteria to indicate a source is in a flaring state: the number of high-energy photons and the ratio of high-energy photons to low-energy photons. We aim to set thresholds that will allow telescopes such as VERITAS to trigger on approximately 10 total high states per year.