336 research outputs found
Observation of Galactic Sources of Very High Energy Gamma-Rays with the MAGIC Telescope
The MAGIC telescope with its 17m diameter mirror is today the largest
operating single-dish Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT). It is located on
the Canary Island La Palma, at an altitude of 2200m above sea level, as part of
the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory. The MAGIC telescope
detects celestial very high energy gamma-radiation in the energy band between
about 50 GeV and 10 TeV. Since the autumn of 2004 MAGIC has been taking data
routinely, observing various objects, like supernova remnants (SNRs), gamma-ray
binaries, Pulsars, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB). We
briefly describe the observational strategy, the procedure implemented for the
data analysis, and discuss the results of observations of Galactic Sources.Comment: Brief Review, to be pulished in: Mod. Phys. Lett.
Interpretation of the Center-Filled Emission from the Supernova Remnant W44
(Abridged) We have investigated two evolutionary scenarios advanced to
explain the centrally-brightened X-ray morphology of the supernova remnant
(SNR) W44: (1) a model involving the slow thermal evaporation of clouds
engulfed by a supernova blast wave as it propagates though a clumpy
interstellar medium (ISM), and (2) a hydrodynamical simulation of a blast wave
propagating through a homogeneous ISM, including the effects of radiative
cooling. Both models can have their respective parameters tuned to approximate
the remnant's morphology. The mean temperature of the hot plasma in W44 (~0.9
keV) as determined by our nonequilibrium ionization X-ray spectral analysis
provides the essential key to discriminate between these scenarios. Based on
the size (using the well established distance of 3 kpc) and temperature of W44,
the dynamical evolution predicted by the cloud evaporation model gives an age
for the SNR of merely 6500 yr. We argue that, because this age is inconsistent
with the characteristic age (approx. 20000 yr) of the associated PSR 1853+01,
this model cannot provide the explanation for the center-filled morphology. We
favor the radiative-phase shock model since it can reproduce both the
morphology and age of W44 assuming reasonable values for the initial explosion
energy in the range 0.7E51 to 0.9E51 ergs and the ambient ISM density of
between 3 and 4 cm**-3.Comment: 31 pages, including 4 postscript figs, LaTeX, accepted by Ap.
Discovery of an Ultra-fast X-ray Pulsar in the Supernova Remnant N157B
We present the serendipitous discovery of 16 ms pulsed X-ray emission from
the Crab-like supernova remnant N157B in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This is
the fastest spinning pulsar associated with a supernova remnant (SNR).
Observations with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), centered on the field
containing SN1987A, reveal an X-ray pulsar with a narrow pulse profile.
Archival ASCA X-ray data confirm this detection and locate the pulsar within 1'
of the supernova remnant N157B, 14' from SN1987A. The pulsar manifests evidence
for glitch(es) between the RXTE and ASCA observations which span 3.5 years; the
mean linear spin-down rate is Pdot = 5.126 X 10E-14 s/s. The background
subtracted pulsed emission is similar to other Crab-like pulsars with a power
law of photon index of ~ 1.6. The characteristic spin-down age (~ 5000 years)
is consistent with the previous age estimate of the SNR. The inferred B-field
for a rotationally powered pulsar is ~ 1 X 10E12 Gauss. Our result confirms the
Crab-like nature of N157B; the pulsar is likely associated with a compact X-ray
source revealed by ROSAT HRI observations.Comment: 9 pages with 3 eps figure, LaTex (aas2pp2, psfig). Submitted to the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Accretion Disk Spectra of the Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources in Nearby Spiral Galaxies and Galactic Superluminal Jet Sources
Ultra-luminous Compact X-ray Sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies and
Galactic superluminal jet sources share the common spectral characteristic that
they have unusually high disk temperatures which cannot be explained in the
framework of the standard optically thick accretion disk in the Schwarzschild
metric. On the other hand, the standard accretion disk around the Kerr black
hole might explain the observed high disk temperature, as the inner radius of
the Kerr disk gets smaller and the disk temperature can be consequently higher.
However, we point out that the observable Kerr disk spectra becomes
significantly harder than Schwarzschild disk spectra only when the disk is
highly inclined. This is because the emission from the innermost part of the
accretion disk is Doppler-boosted for an edge-on Kerr disk, while hardly seen
for a face-on disk. The Galactic superluminal jet sources are known to be
highly inclined systems, thus their energy spectra may be explained with the
standard Kerr disk with known black hole masses. For ULXs, on the other hand,
the standard Kerr disk model seems implausible, since it is highly unlikely
that their accretion disks are preferentially inclined, and, if edge-on Kerr
disk model is applied, the black hole mass becomes unreasonably large (> 300
M_solar). Instead, the slim disk (advection dominated optically thick disk)
model is likely to explain the observed super-Eddington luminosities, hard
energy spectra, and spectral variations of ULXs. We suggest that ULXs are
accreting black holes with a few tens of solar mass, which is not unexpected
from the standard stellar evolution scenario, and that their X-ray emission is
from the slim disk shining at super-Eddington luminosities.Comment: ApJ, accepte
XMM-Newton observations of the supernova remnant IC443: I. soft X-ray emission from shocked interstellar medium
The shocked interstellar medium around IC443 produces strong X-ray emission
in the soft energy band (E<1.5 keV). We present an analysis of such emission as
observed with the EPIC MOS cameras on board the XMM-Newotn observatory, with
the purpose to find clear signatures of the interactions with the interstellar
medium (ISM) in the X-ray band, which may complement results obtained in other
wavelenghts. We found that the giant molecular cloud mapped in CO emission is
located in the foreground and gives an evident signature in the absorption of
X-rays. This cloud may have a torus shape and the part of torus interacting
with the IC443 shock gives rise to 2MASS-K emission in the southeast. The
measured density of emitting X-ray shocked plasma increases toward the
northeastern limb, where the remnant is interacting with an atomic cloud. We
found an excellent correlation between emission in the 0.3-0.5 keV band and
bright optical/radio filament on large spatial scales. The partial shell
structure seen in this band therefore traces the encounter with the atomic
cloud.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (20 September
2006, v649). For hi-res figures, see
http://www.astropa.unipa.it/Library/OAPA_preprints/ic443ele1.ps.g
Large-Area Scintillator Hodoscope with 50 ps Timing Resolution Onboard BESS
We describe the design and performance of a large-area scintillator hodoscope
onboard the BESS rigidity spectrometer; an instrument with an acceptance of 0.3
m^{2}sr.
The hodoscope is configured such that 10 and 12 counters are respectively
situated in upper and lower layers.
Each counter is viewed from its ends by 2.5 inch fine-mesh photomultiplier
tubes placed in a stray magnetic field of 0.2 Tesla.
Various beam-test data are presented.
Use of cosmic-ray muons at ground-level confirmed 50 ps timing resolution for
each layer, giving an overall time-of-flight resolution of 70 ps rms using a
pure Gaussian resolution function.
Comparison with previous measurements on a similar scintillator hodoscope
indicates good agreement with the scaling law that timing resolution is
proportional to 1/, where is the effective
number of photoelectrons.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure
X-Ray Observations of the supernova remnant G21.5-0.9
We present the analysis of archival X-ray observations of the supernova
remnant (SNR) G21.5-0.9. Based on its morphology and spectral properties,
G21.5-0.9 has been classified as a Crab-like SNR. In their early analysis of
the CHANDRA calibration data, Slane et al. (2000) discovered a
low-surface-brightness, extended emission. They interpreted this component as
the blast wave formed in the supernova (SN) explosion. In this paper, we
present the CHANDRA analysis using a total exposure of ~150 ksec. We also
include ROSAT and ASCA observations. Our analysis indicates that the extended
emission is non-thermal -- a result in agreement with XMM observations. The
entire remnant of radius ~ 2'.5 is best fitted with a power law model with a
photon index steepening away from the center. The total unabsorbed flux in the
0.5-10 keV is 1.1E-10 erg/cm2/s with an 85% contribution from the 40" radius
inner core. Timing analysis of the High-Resolution Camera (HRC) data failed to
detect any pulsations. We put a 16% upper limit on the pulsed fraction. We
derive the physical parameters of the putative pulsar and compare them with
those of other plerions (such as the Crab and 3C 58). G21.5-0.9 remains the
only plerion whose size in X-rays is bigger than in the radio. Deep radio
observations will address this puzzle.Comment: 23 pages including 11 figures and 3 tables; accepted by ApJ June 22,
2001; to appear in Oct 20, 2001 issue of Ap
Diffuse Hard X-ray Sources Discovered with the ASCA Galactic Plane Survey
We found diffuse hard X-ray sources, G11.0+0.0, G25.5+0.0, and G26.6-0.1 in
the ASCA Galactic plane survey data. The X-ray spectra are featureless with no
emission line, and are fitted with both models of a thin thermal plasma in
non-equilibrium ionization and a power-law function. The source distances are
estimated to be 1-8 kpc, using the best-fit NH values on the assumption that
the mean density in the line of sight is 1 H cm^-3. The source sizes and
luminosities are then 4.5-27 pc and (0.8-23)x10^33 ergs/s. Although the source
sizes are typical to supernova remnants (SNR) with young to intermediate ages,
the X-ray luminosity, plasma temperature, and weak emission lines in the
spectra are all unusual. This suggests that these objects are either shell-like
SNRs dominated by X-ray synchrotron emission, like SN 1006, or, alternatively,
plerionic SNRs. The total number of these classes of SNRs in our Galaxy is also
estimated.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures; to appear in Ap
ASCA Observations of the Supernova Remnant IC 443: Thermal Structure and Detection of Overionized Plasma
We present the results of X-ray spatial and spectral studies of the
``mixed-morphology'' supernova remnant IC 443 using ASCA. IC 443 has a
center-filled image in X-ray band, contrasting with the shell-like appearance
in radio and optical bands. The overall X-ray emission is thermal, not from a
synchrotron nebula. ASCA observed IC 443 three times, covering the whole
remnant. From the image analysis, we found that the softness-ratio map reveals
a shell-like structure. At the same time, its spectra require two (1.0 keV and
0.2 keV) plasma components; the emission of the 0.2 keV plasma is stronger in
the region near the shell than the center. These results can be explained by a
simple model that IC 443 has a hot (1.0 keV) interior surrounded by a cool (0.2
keV) outer shell. From the emission measures, we infer that the 0.2 keV plasma
is denser than the 1.0 keV plasma, suggesting pressure equilibrium between the
two. In addition, we found that the ionization temperature of sulfur, obtained
from H-like K to He-like K intensity ratio, is 1.5 keV,
significantly higher than the gas temperature of 1.0 keV suggested from the
continuum spectrum. The same can be concluded for silicon. Neither an
additional, hotter plasma component nor a multi-temperature plasma successfully
accounts for this ratio, and we conclude that the 1.0 keV plasma is
overionized. This is the first time that overionized gas has been detected in a
SNR. For the gas to become overionized in the absence of a photoionizing flux,
it must cool faster than the ions recombine. Thermal conduction from the 1.0
keV plasma to the 0.2 keV one could cause the 1.0 keV plasma to become
overionized, which is plausible within an old (3 yr) SNR.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Precise Measurements of Atmospheric Muon Fluxes with the BESS Spectrometer
The vertical absolute fluxes of atmospheric muons and muon charge ratio have
been measured precisely at different geomagnetic locations by using the BESS
spectrometer. The observations had been performed at sea level (30 m above sea
level) in Tsukuba, Japan, and at 360 m above sea level in Lynn Lake, Canada.
The vertical cutoff rigidities in Tsukuba (36.2 N, 140.1 E) and in Lynn Lake
(56.5 N, 101.0 W) are 11.4 GV and 0.4 GV, respectively. We have obtained
vertical fluxes of positive and negative muons in a momentum range from 0.6 to
20 GeV/c with systematic errors less than 3 % in both measurements. By
comparing the data collected at two different geomagnetic latitudes, we have
seen an effect of cutoff rigidity. The dependence on the atmospheric pressure
and temperature, and the solar modulation effect have been also clearly
observed. We also clearly observed the decrease of charge ratio of muons at low
momentum side with at higher cutoff rigidity region.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Astroparticle Physic
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