Study of the VHE Gamma Ray Emission from the AGN 1ES1959+650 with the HEGRA Cherenkov Telescope CT1

The BL Lac object 1ES1959+650 has been observed by the HEGRA Collaboration in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. Here we report on the results obtained in 2002 with the standalone CT1 telescope. While the source has only shown weak TeV activity until mid-May 2002, significant TeV emission has been observed later in 2002. During 2002 the source has been monitored for about 200 hours, of which 30 hours data were taken under moonlight conditions. The signal from the ’dark ’ time 2002 data set showed a significance of 11σ. Preliminary results on the light curve and the spectrum of the 2002 ’dark ’ time data up to 45 ◦ zenith angle are presented. 1