759 research outputs found
Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List
Following its launch in June 2008, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
(Fermi) began a sky survey in August. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi
in 3 months produced a deeper and better-resolved map of the gamma-ray sky than
any previous space mission. We present here initial results for energies above
100 MeV for the 205 most significant (statistical significance greater than
~10-sigma) gamma-ray sources in these data. These are the best-characterized
and best-localized point-like (i.e., spatially unresolved) gamma-ray sources in
the early-mission data.Comment: Accepted by ApJS. Many helpful comments by referee incorporated 57
pages, 12 figure
Fermi-LAT Study of Gamma-ray Emission in the Direction of Supernova Remnant W49B
We present an analysis of the gamma-ray data obtained with the Large Area
Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the direction of
SNR W49B (G43.3-0.2). A bright unresolved gamma-ray source detected at a
significance of 38 sigma is found to coincide with SNR W49B. The energy
spectrum in the 0.2-200 GeV range gradually steepens toward high energies. The
luminosity is estimated to be 1.5x10^{36} (D/8 kpc)^2 erg s^-1 in this energy
range. There is no indication that the gamma-ray emission comes from a pulsar.
Assuming that the SNR shell is the site of gamma-ray production, the observed
spectrum can be explained either by the decay of neutral pi mesons produced
through the proton-proton collisions or by electron bremsstrahlung. The
calculated energy density of relativistic particles responsible for the LAT
flux is estimated to be remarkably large, U_{e,p}>10^4 eV cm^-3, for either
gamma-ray production mechanism.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Discovery of gamma and X-ray pulsations from the young and energetic PSR J1357-6429 with Fermi and XMM-Newton
Since the launch of the Fermi satellite, the number of known gamma-ray
pulsars has increased tenfold. Most gamma-ray detected pulsars are young and
energetic, and many are associated with TeV sources. PSR J1357-6429 is a high
spin-down power pulsar (Edot = 3.1 * 10^36 erg/s), discovered during the Parkes
multibeam survey of the Galactic plane, with significant timing noise typical
of very young pulsars. In the very-high-energy domain, H.E.S.S. has reported
the detection of the extended source HESS J1356-645 (intrinsic Gaussian width
of 12') whose centroid lies 7' from PSR J1357-6429. Using a rotational
ephemeris obtained with 74 observations made with the Parkes telescope at 1.4
GHz, we phase-fold more than two years of gamma-ray data acquired by Fermi-LAT
as well as those collected with XMM-Newton, and perform gamma-ray spectral
modeling. Significant gamma and X-ray pulsations are detected from PSR
J1357-6429. The light curve in both bands shows one broad peak. Gamma-ray
spectral analysis of the pulsed emission suggests that it is well described by
a simple power-law of index 1.5 +/- 0.3stat +/- 0.3syst with an exponential
cut-off at 0.8 +/- 0.3stat +/- 0.3syst GeV and an integral photon flux above
100 MeV of (6.5 +/- 1.6stat +/- 2.3syst) * 10^-8 cm^-2 s^-1. The X-ray spectra
obtained from the new data provide results consistent with those reported by
Zavlin (2007). Upper limits on the gamma-ray emission from its potential pulsar
wind nebula (PWN) are also reported. Assuming a distance of 2.4 kpc, the Fermi
LAT energy flux yields a gamma-ray luminosity for PSR J1357-6429 of L_gamma =
(2.13 +/- 0.25stat +/- 0.83syst) * 10^34 erg/s, consistent with an L_gamma
\propto sqrt(Edot) relationship. The Fermi non-detection of the pulsar wind
nebula associated with HESS J1356-645 provides new constraints on the electron
population responsible for the extended TeV emission.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&A; 7 pages, 5 figure
Fermi LAT observations of the Geminga pulsar
We report on the \textit{Fermi}-LAT observations of the Geminga pulsar, the
second brightest non-variable GeV source in the -ray sky and the first
example of a radio-quiet -ray pulsar. The observations cover one year,
from the launch of the satellite through 2009 June 15. A data sample of
over 60,000 photons enabled us to build a timing solution based solely on
rays. Timing analysis shows two prominent peaks, separated by = 0.497 0.004 in phase, which narrow with increasing energy. Pulsed
rays are observed beyond 18 GeV, precluding emission below 2.7 stellar
radii because of magnetic absorption. The phase-averaged spectrum was fitted
with a power law with exponential cut-off of spectral index = (1.30
0.01 0.04), cut-off energy = (2.46 0.04 0.17)
GeV and an integral photon flux above 0.1 GeV of (4.14 0.02 0.32)
10 cm s. The first uncertainties are statistical
and the second are systematic. The phase-resolved spectroscopy shows a clear
evolution of the spectral parameters, with the spectral index reaching a
minimum value just before the leading peak and the cut-off energy having maxima
around the peaks. Phase-resolved spectroscopy reveals that pulsar emission is
present at all rotational phases. The spectral shape, broad pulse profile, and
maximum photon energy favor the outer magnetospheric emission scenarios.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal. Corresponding authors: Denis Dumora
([email protected]), Fabio Gargano ([email protected]),
Massimiliano Razzano ([email protected]
Fermi-LAT Search for Pulsar Wind Nebulae around gamma-ray Pulsars
The high sensitivity of the Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope) offers the first
opportunity to study faint and extended GeV sources such as pulsar wind nebulae
(PWNe). After one year of observation the LAT detected and identified three
pulsar wind nebulae: the Crab Nebula, Vela-X and the PWN inside MSH 15-52. In
the meantime, the list of LAT detected pulsars increased steadily. These
pulsars are characterized by high energy loss rates from ~3 \times 10^{33} erg
s to 5 \times 10 erg s and are therefore likely to power a
PWN. This paper summarizes the search for PWNe in the off-pulse windows of 54
LAT-detected pulsars using 16 months of survey observations. Ten sources show
significant emission, seven of these likely being of magnetospheric origin. The
detection of significant emission in the off-pulse interval offers new
constraints on the gamma-ray emitting regions in pulsar magnetospheres. The
three other sources with significant emission are the Crab Nebula, Vela-X and a
new pulsar wind nebula candidate associated with the LAT pulsar PSR J1023-5746,
coincident with the TeV source HESS J1023-575. We further explore the
association between the H.E.S.S. and the Fermi source by modeling its spectral
energy distribution. Flux upper limits derived for the 44 remaining sources are
used to provide new constraints on famous PWNe that have been detected at keV
and/or TeV energies.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal, 42 pages, 17
figure
Constraining super-critical string/brane cosmologies with astrophysical data
We discuss fits of unconventional dark energy models to the available data
from high-redshift supernovae, distant galaxies and baryon oscillations. The
models are based either on brane cosmologies or on Liouville strings in which a
relaxation dark energy is provided by a rolling dilaton field (Q-cosmology).
Such cosmologies feature the possibility of effective four-dimensional
negative-energy dust and/or exotic scaling of dark matter. We find evidence for
a negative-energy dust at the current era, as well as for exotic-scaling
(a^{-delta}) contributions to the energy density, with delta ~= 4, which could
be due to dark matter coupling with the dilaton in Q-cosmology models. We
conclude that Q-cosmology fits the data equally well with the LambdaCDM model
for a range of parameters that are in general expected from theoretical
considerations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Contributed to 11th International Conference on
Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2009) 1-5 Jul 2009,
Rome, Italy; J. Phys. Conf. Series to appea
The structure and emission model of the relativistic jet in the quasar 3C 279 inferred from radio to high-energy gamma-ray observations in 2008-2010
We present time-resolved broad-band observations of the quasar 3C 279
obtained from multi-wavelength campaigns conducted during the first two years
of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. While investigating the
previously reported gamma-ray/optical flare accompanied by a change in optical
polarization, we found that the optical emission appears delayed with respect
to the gamma-ray emission by about 10 days. X-ray observations reveal a pair of
`isolated' flares separated by ~90 days, with only weak gamma-ray/optical
counterparts. The spectral structure measured by Spitzer reveals a synchrotron
component peaking in the mid-infrared band with a sharp break at the
far-infrared band during the gamma-ray flare, while the peak appears in the
mm/sub-mm band in the low state. Selected spectral energy distributions are
fitted with leptonic models including Comptonization of external radiation
produced in a dusty torus or the broad-line region. Adopting the interpretation
of the polarization swing involving propagation of the emitting region along a
curved trajectory, we can explain the evolution of the broad-band spectra
during the gamma-ray flaring event by a shift of its location from ~ 1 pc to ~
4 pc from the central black hole. On the other hand, if the gamma-ray flare is
generated instead at sub-pc distance from the central black hole, the
far-infrared break can be explained by synchrotron self-absorption. We also
model the low spectral state, dominated by the mm/sub-mm peaking synchrotron
component, and suggest that the corresponding inverse-Compton component
explains the steady X-ray emission.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures 5 tables, Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Cosmic Ray Anomalies from the MSSM?
The recent positron excess in cosmic rays (CR) observed by the PAMELA
satellite may be a signal for dark matter (DM) annihilation. When these
measurements are combined with those from FERMI on the total () flux
and from PAMELA itself on the ratio, these and other results are
difficult to reconcile with traditional models of DM, including the
conventional mSUGRA version of Supersymmetry even if boosts as large as
are allowed. In this paper, we combine the results of a previously
obtained scan over a more general 19-parameter subspace of the MSSM with a
corresponding scan over astrophysical parameters that describe the propagation
of CR. We then ascertain whether or not a good fit to this CR data can be
obtained with relatively small boost factors while simultaneously satisfying
the additional constraints arising from gamma ray data. We find that a specific
subclass of MSSM models where the LSP is mostly pure bino and annihilates
almost exclusively into pairs comes very close to satisfying these
requirements. The lightest in this set of models is found to be
relatively close in mass to the LSP and is in some cases the nLSP. These models
lead to a significant improvement in the overall fit to the data by an amount
dof in comparison to the best fit without Supersymmetry
while employing boosts . The implications of these models for future
experiments are discussed.Comment: 57 pages, 31 figures, references adde
Influence of Gamma-Ray Emission on the Isotopic Composition of Clouds in the Interstellar Medium
We investigate one mechanism of the change in the isotopic composition of
cosmologically distant clouds of interstellar gas whose matter was subjected
only slightly to star formation processes. According to the standard
cosmological model, the isotopic composition of the gas in such clouds was
formed at the epoch of Big Bang nucleosynthesis and is determined only by the
baryon density in the Universe. The dispersion in the available cloud
composition observations exceeds the errors of individual measurements. This
may indicate that there are mechanisms of the change in the composition of
matter in the Universe after the completion of Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We
have calculated the destruction and production rates of light isotopes (D, 3He,
4He) under the influence of photonuclear reactions triggered by the gamma-ray
emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We investigate the destruction and
production of light elements depending on the spectral characteristics of the
gamma-ray emission. We show that in comparison with previous works, taking into
account the influence of spectral hardness on the photonuclear reaction rates
can increase the characteristic radii of influence of the gamma-ray emission
from AGNs by a factor of 2-8. The high gamma-ray luminosities of AGNs observed
in recent years increase the previous estimates of the characteristic radii by
two orders of magnitude. This may suggest that the influence of the emission
from AGNs on the change in the composition of the medium in the immediate
neighborhood (the host galaxy) has been underestimated.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 3 table
Constraints on the Cosmic-Ray Density Gradient beyond the Solar Circle from Fermi gamma-ray Observations of the Third Galactic Quadrant
We report an analysis of the interstellar -ray emission in the third
Galactic quadrant measured by the {Fermi} Large Area Telescope. The window
encompassing the Galactic plane from longitude 210\arcdeg to 250\arcdeg has
kinematically well-defined segments of the Local and the Perseus arms, suitable
to study the cosmic-ray densities across the outer Galaxy. We measure no large
gradient with Galactocentric distance of the -ray emissivities per
interstellar H atom over the regions sampled in this study. The gradient
depends, however, on the optical depth correction applied to derive the \HI\
column densities. No significant variations are found in the interstellar
spectra in the outer Galaxy, indicating similar shapes of the cosmic-ray
spectrum up to the Perseus arm for particles with GeV to tens of GeV energies.
The emissivity as a function of Galactocentric radius does not show a large
enhancement in the spiral arms with respect to the interarm region. The
measured emissivity gradient is flatter than expectations based on a cosmic-ray
propagation model using the radial distribution of supernova remnants and
uniform diffusion properties. In this context, observations require a larger
halo size and/or a flatter CR source distribution than usually assumed. The
molecular mass calibrating ratio, , is
found to be
in the Local-arm clouds and is not significantly sensitive to the choice of
\HI\ spin temperature. No significant variations are found for clouds in the
interarm region.Comment: Corresponding authors: I. A. Grenier ([email protected]); T.
Mizuno ([email protected]); L. Tibaldo
([email protected]) accepted for publication in Ap
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