Observations of Active Galactic Nuclei by the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE)
Abstract
We present new results from observations of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) by the STACEE experiment. STACEE is a detector for 50-500 GeV gamma rays which uses the array of heliostat mirrors at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) located at Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. STACEE uses 64 of these heliostats at night to collect Cherenkov light from air showers due to high energy gamma rays. With a large collecting area, STACEE has good sensitivity below 100 GeV. This allow us to search for gamma rays from extragalactic sources at larger redshift distances (to z of 0.2 or more) than can be studied by more conventional imaging Cherenkov telescopes operating at higher energy thresholds. We summarize recent STACEE observations of W Comae (also known as ON+231), Markarian 421, and H 1426+428. Analysis of observations on these sources in ongoing, and new results will be presented at the conference. We also briefly describe plans for future STACEE observations of AGN in the context of multiwavelength campaigns.
