The very-high-energy ( VHE ; E ¿ 100 GeV ) gamma-ray experiment , VERITAS , detected exceptionally bright flares from the high-mass X-ray binary LS I +61 ^ { \circ } 303 during the period October – December 2014 .
LS I +61 ^ { \circ } 303 is a known VHE gamma-ray source , the flux from which varies strongly with the orbital period of \sim 26.5 days .
The maximum VHE flux is found around apastron ( orbital phase \sim 0.6 ) at a level typically corresponding to 10 – 15 % of the Crab Nebula flux ( ¿300 GeV ) .
During these most recent observations , relatively short ( day scale ) , bright TeV flares were observed from the source around apastron in two orbital cycles ( October and November ) .
Both cases exhibited peak fluxes above 25 % of the Crab Nebula flux ( ¿300 GeV ) , making these the brightest VHE flares ever detected from this source .
In the last orbital cycle observed ( December ) , the source had returned to its historical level of activity .
The results of these VERITAS observations from 2014 will be presented .