Recent observations of PKS 2155-304 with MAGIC and LST-1 in a multi-wavelength context
L. Nikolić*,
G. Verna,
M. Manganaro,
G. Bonnoli,
I. Agudo,
G. Silvestri,
D. Cerasole,
F. Schiavone,
F. Podobnik,
J. Otero-Santos on behalf of the CTAO-LST Project and the MAGIC Collaboration*: corresponding author
Pre-published on:
September 24, 2025
Published on:
December 30, 2025
Abstract
PKS 2155-304 is a well-known high-frequency peaked BL Lac (HBL) at redshift z=0.116, which has been extensively studied across the electromagnetic spectrum due to its rapid and large-amplitude variability. Several violent outbursts in X-rays and 𝛾-rays have been observed in the past, with intra-night variability in very-high-energy 𝛾-rays (VHE; E > 100 GeV) detected down to the minute timescale. The alternation of quiescent and enhanced states, observed with a tentative quasi-periodicity of 1.74 ± 0.13 years in high-energy (HE; 100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) 𝛾-rays, makes this source a key target also for ground-based 𝛾-ray instruments and in particular for the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. Its brightness, proximity, and well-determined redshift make this 𝛾-ray source a prime target for fundamental physics studies, including tests of Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV), searches for axion-like particles (ALPs), and constraints on the distribution of the extragalactic background light (EBL). In the last two years, PKS 2155-304 has been independently monitored by the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescopes and the first Large-Sized Telescope (LST-1) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) located at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain). The observations were carried out at large zenith angles (LZA; ZA > 55°), and the VHE data have been complemented with simultaneous observations in HE 𝛾-rays (Fermi-LAT), X-rays (Swift-XRT) and optical wavelengths (ASAS-SN).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.501.0783
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