Simultaneous X‐Ray and TeV Gamma‐Ray Observation of the TeV Blazar Markarian 421 during 2000 February and May

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of simultaneous observations of the TeV blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) at X-ray and TeV Gamma-ray energies with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and the stereoscopic Cherenkov Telescope system of the HEGRA (High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy) experiment, respectively. The source was monitored from February 2nd to February 16th and from May 3rd to May 8th, 2000. We discuss in detail the temporal and spectral properties of the source. Remarkably, the TeV observations of February 7th/8th showed statistically significant evidence for substantial TeV flux variability on 30 min time scale. We show the results of modeling the data with a time dependent homogeneous Synchrotron Self-Compton (SSC) model. The X-ray and TeV gamma-ray emission strengths and energy spectra together with the rapid flux variability strongly suggest that the emission volume is approaching the observer with a Doppler factor of 50 or higher. The different flux variability time scales observed at X-rays and TeV Gamma-rays indicate that a more detailed analysis will require inhomogeneous models with several emission zones.