Measurement of the extragalactic background light spectral energy distribution with VERITAS

THE VERITAS COLLABORATION; A.C. ROVERO

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019 vol. 885 p. 1 - 8

0004-637X

The extragalactic background light (EBL), a diffuse photon field in the optical andinfrared range, is a record of radiative processes over the Universe?s history. Spectralmeasurements of blazars at very high energies (>100 GeV) enable the reconstructionof the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL, as the blazar spectra aremodified by redshift- and energy-dependent interactions of the gamma-rayphotons with the EBL. The spectra of 14 VERITAS-detected blazars are includedin a new measurement of the EBL SED that is independent of EBL SED models. Theresulting SED covers an EBL wavelength range of 0.56?56 μm, and is in good agreementwith lower limits obtained by assuming that the EBL is entirely due to radiation fromcataloged galaxies.