4 research outputs found
Observation of the TeV gamma-ray source MGRO J1908+06 with ARGO-YBJ
The extended gamma ray source MGRO J1908+06, discovered by the Milagro air
shower detector in 2007, has been observed for about 4 years by the ARGO-YBJ
experiment at TeV energies, with a statistical significance of 6.2 standard
deviations. The peak of the signal is found at a position consistent with the
pulsar PSR J1907+0602. Parametrizing the source shape with a two-dimensional
Gauss function we estimate an extension \sigma = 0.49 \pm 0.22 degrees,
consistent with a previous measurement by the Cherenkov Array H.E.S.S.. The
observed energy spectrum is dN/dE = 6.1 \pm 1.4 \times 10^-13 (E/4 TeV)^{-2.54
\pm 0.36} photons cm^-2 s^-1 TeV^-1, in the energy range 1-20 TeV. The measured
gamma ray flux is consistent with the results of the Milagro detector, but is
2-3 times larger than the flux previously derived by H.E.S.S. at energies of a
few TeV. The continuity of the Milagro and ARGO-YBJ observations and the stable
excess rate observed by ARGO-YBJ along 4 years of data taking support the
identification of MGRO J1908+06 as the steady powerful TeV pulsar wind nebula
of PSR J1907+0602, with an integrated luminosity above 1 TeV about 1.8 times
the Crab Nebula luminosity.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for pubblication by ApJ. Replaced to correct the
author lis
Long-term Monitoring on Mrk 501 for Its VHE gamma Emission and a Flare in October 2011
As one of the brightest active blazars in both X-ray and very high energy
-ray bands, Mrk 501 is very useful for physics associated with jets
from AGNs. The ARGO-YBJ experiment is monitoring it for -rays above 0.3
TeV since November 2007. Starting from October 2011 the largest flare since
2005 is observed, which lasts to about April 2012. In this paper, a detailed
analysis is reported. During the brightest -rays flaring episodes from
October 17 to November 22, 2011, an excess of the event rate over 6 is
detected by ARGO-YBJ in the direction of Mrk 501, corresponding to an increase
of the -ray flux above 1 TeV by a factor of 6.62.2 from its steady
emission. In particular, the -ray flux above 8 TeV is detected with a
significance better than 4 . Based on time-dependent synchrotron
self-Compton (SSC) processes, the broad-band energy spectrum is interpreted as
the emission from an electron energy distribution parameterized with a single
power-law function with an exponential cutoff at its high energy end. The
average spectral energy distribution for the steady emission is well described
by this simple one-zone SSC model. However, the detection of -rays
above 8 TeV during the flare challenges this model due to the hardness of the
spectra. Correlations between X-rays and -rays are also investigated.Comment: have been accepted for publication at Ap
Evidence of a geomagnetic effect on extensive air showers detected with the ARGO-YBJ experiment
The geomagnetic field causes not only the east-west effect on primary cosmic rays but also affects the trajectories of the secondary charged particles in the shower, causing their lateral distribution to be stretched. Thus, both the density of the secondaries near the shower axis and the trigger efficiency of detector arrays decrease. The effect depends on the direction of the showers, thus, introducing a modulation in the measured azimuthal distribution. The azimuthal distribution of the events collected by the ARGO-YBJ detector is deeply investigated for different zenith angles in light of this effect
OBSERVATION OF TeV GAMMA RAYS FROM THE UNIDENTIFIED SOURCE HESS J1841−055 WITH THE ARGO-YBJ EXPERIMENT
We report the observation of a very high energy γ -ray source whose position is coincident with HESS J1841−055.
This source has been observed for 4.5 years by the ARGO-YBJ experiment from 2007 November to 2012 July.
Its emission is detected with a statistical significance of 5.3 standard deviations. Parameterizing the source shape
with a two-dimensional Gaussian function, we estimate an extension σ = (0.40+0.32
−0.22)◦, which is consistent with
the HESS measurement. The observed energy spectrum is dN/dE = (9.0 ± 1.6) × 10−13(E/5 TeV)−2.32±0.23
photons cm−2 s−1 TeV−1, in the energy range 0.9–50 TeV. The integral γ -ray flux above 1 TeV is 1.3 ± 0.4 Crab,
which is 3.2 ± 1.0 times the flux derived by HESS. The differences in the flux determination between HESS and
ARGO-YBJ and possible counterparts at other wavelengths are discussed