56 research outputs found
Detection of Gamma-rays around 1TeV from RX J0852.0-4622 by CANGAROO-II
We have detected gamma-ray emission at the 6sigma level at energies greater
than 500GeV from the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622 (G266.2-1.2) using the
CANGAROO-II Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT). The flux was 0.12
times of that of Crab at 1TeV. The signal centroid is consistent with the peak
of the X-ray emission in the north-west rim of the remnant.Comment: 12pages, 4figures, to be published in ApJ
Intestinal Epithelial-Derived TAK1 Signaling Is Essential for Cytoprotection against Chemical-Induced Colitis
We have previously reported that intestinal epithelium-specific TAK1 deleted mice exhibit severe inflammation and mortality at postnatal day 1 due to TNF-induced epithelial cell death. Although deletion of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) can largely rescue those neonatal phenotypes, mice harboring double deletion of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) and intestinal epithelium-specific deletion of TAK1 (TNFR1KO/TAK1(IE)KO) still occasionally show increased inflammation. This indicates that TAK1 is important for TNF-independent regulation of intestinal integrity.In this study, we investigated the TNF-independent role of TAK1 in the intestinal epithelium. Because the inflammatory conditions were sporadically developed in the double mutant TNFR1KO/TAK1(IE)KO mice, we hypothesize that epithelial TAK1 signaling is important for preventing stress-induced barrier dysfunction. To test this hypothesis, the TNFR1KO/TAK1(IE)KO mice were subjected to acute colitis by administration of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). We found that loss of TAK1 significantly augments DSS-induced experimental colitis. DSS induced weight loss, intestinal damages and inflammatory markers in TNFR1KO/TAK1(IE)KO mice at higher levels compared to the TNFR1KO control mice. Apoptosis was strongly induced and epithelial cell proliferation was decreased in the TAK1-deficient intestinal epithelium upon DSS exposure. These suggest that epithelial-derived TAK1 signaling is important for cytoprotection and repair against injury. Finally, we showed that TAK1 is essential for interleukin 1- and bacterial components-induced expression of cytoprotective factors such as interleukin 6 and cycloxygenase 2.Homeostatic cytokines and microbes-induced intestinal epithelial TAK1 signaling regulates cytoprotective factors and cell proliferation, which is pivotal for protecting the intestinal epithelium against injury
CANGAROO-III Search for Gamma Rays from SN 1987A and the Surrounding Field
Optical images of SN 1987A show a triple ring structure. The inner (dust)
ring has recently increased in brightness and in the number of hot spots
suggesting that the supernova shock wave has collided with the dense
pre-existing circumstellar medium, a scenario supported by radio and X-ray
observations. Such a shocked environment is widely expected to result in the
acceleration of charged particles, and the accompanying emission of very high
energy gamma-rays. Here, we report the results of observations made in 2004 and
2006 which yield upper limits on the TeV gamma-ray flux, which are compared
with a theoretical prediction. In addition, we set upper limits on the TeV flux
for four high energy objects which are located within the same field of view of
the observation: the super-bubble 30 Dor C, the Crab-like pulsar PSR
B054069, the X-ray binary LMC X-1, and the supernova remnant N157B.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
CANGAROO-III Observation of TeV Gamma Rays from the vicinity of PSR B1 706-44
Observation by the CANGAROO-III stereoscopic system of the Imaging Cherenkov
Telescope has detected extended emission of TeV gamma rays in the vicinity of
the pulsar PSR B170644. The strength of the signal observed as
gamma-ray-like events varies when we apply different ways of emulating
background events. The reason for such uncertainties is argued in relevance to
gamma-rays embedded in the "off-source data", that is, unknown sources and
diffuse emission in the Galactic plane, namely, the existence of a complex
structure of TeV gamma-ray emission around PSR B170644.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Ap
Observation of Very High Energy Gamma Rays from HESS J1804-216 with CANGAROO-III Telescopes
We observed the unidentified TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1804-216 with the
CANGAROO-III atmospheric Cerenkov telescopes from May to July in 2006. We
detected very high energy gamma rays above 600 GeV at the 10 sigma level in an
effective exposure of 76 hr. We obtained a differential flux of
(5.0+/-1.5_{stat}+/-1.6_{sys})\times 10^{-12}(E/1 TeV)^{-\alpha}
cm^{-2}s^{-1}TeV^{-1} with a photon index \alpha of 2.69 +/- 0.30_{stat} +/-
0.34_{sys}, which is consistent with that of the H.E.S.S. observation in 2004.
We also confirm the extended morphology of the source. By combining our result
with multi-wavelength observations, we discuss the possible counterparts of
HESS J1804-216 and the radiation mechanism based on leptonic and hadronic
processes for a supernova remnant and a pulsar wind nebula.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, Accepted in Ap
Observation of an extended VHE gamma-ray emission from MSH 15-52 with CANGAROO-III
We have observed the supernova remnant MSH 15-52 (G320.4-1.2), which contains
the gamma-ray pulsar PSR B1509-58, using the CANGAROO-III imaging atmospheric
Cherenkov telescope array from April to June in 2006. We detected gamma rays
above 810 GeV at the 7 sigma level during a total effective exposure of 48.4
hours. We obtained a differential gamma-ray flux at 2.35 TeV of
(7.9+/-1.5_{stat}+/-1.7_{sys}) \times 10^{-13} cm^{-2}s^{-1}TeV^{-1} with a
photon index of 2.21+/-0.39_{stat}+/-0.40_{sys}, which is compatible with that
of the H.E.S.S. observation in 2004. The morphology shows extended emission
compared to our Point Spread Function. We consider the plausible origin of the
high energy emission based on a multi-wavelength spectral analysis and
energetics arguments.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Accepted in Ap
CANGAROO-III search for TeV Gamma-rays from two clusters of galaxies
Because accretion and merger shocks in clusters of galaxies may accelerate
particles to high energies, clusters are candidate sites for the origin of
ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic-rays. A prediction was presented for gamma-ray
emission from a cluster of galaxies at a detectable level with the current
generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The gamma-ray emission
was produced via inverse Compton upscattering of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) photons by electron-positron pairs generated by collisions of UHE cosmic
rays in the cluster. We observed two clusters of galaxies, Abell 3667 and Abell
4038, searching for very-high-energy gamma-ray emission with the CANGAROO-III
atmospheric Cherenkov telescope system in 2006. The analysis showed no
significant excess around these clusters, yielding upper limits on the
gamma-ray emission. From a comparison of the upper limit for the north-west
radio relic region of Abell 3667 with a model prediction, we derive a lower
limit for the magnetic field of the region of ~0.1 micro G. This shows the
potential of gamma-ray observations in studies of the cluster environment. We
also discuss the flux upper limit from cluster center regions using a model of
gamma-ray emission from neutral pions produced in hadronic collisions of
cosmic-ray protons with the intra-cluster medium (ICM). The derived upper limit
of the cosmic-ray energy density within this framework is an order of magnitude
higher than that of our Galaxy.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Accepted in Ap
Search for VHE gamma rays from SS433/W50 with the CANGAROO-II telescope
SS433, located at the center of the supernova remnant W50, is a close
proximity binary system consisting of a compact star and a normal star. Jets of
material are directed outwards from the vicinity of the compact star
symmetrically to the east and west. Non-thermal hard X-ray emission is detected
from lobes lying on both sides. Shock accelerated electrons are expected to
generate sub-TeV gamma rays through the inverse-Compton process in the lobes.
Observations of the western X-ray lobe region of SS433/W50 system have been
performed to detect sub-TeV gamma-rays using the 10m CANGAROO-II telescope in
August and September, 2001, and July and September, 2002. The total observation
times are 85.2 hours for ON source, and 80.8 hours for OFF source data. No
significant excess of sub-TeV gamma rays has been found at 3 regions of the
western X-ray lobe of SS433/W50 system. We have derived 99% confidence level
upper limits to the fluxes of gamma rays and have set constraints on the
strengths of the magnetic fields assuming the synchrotron/inverse-Compton model
for the wide energy range of photon spectrum from radio to TeV. The derived
lower limits are 4.3 microgauss for the center of the brightest X-ray emission
region and 6.3 microgauss for the far end from SS433 in the western X-ray lobe.
In addition, we suggest that the spot-like X-ray emission may provide a major
contribution to the hardest X-ray spectrum in the lobe.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Astroparticle Physic
CANGAROO-III observation of TeV gamma rays from the unidentified gamma-ray source HESS J1614-518
We report the detection, with the CANGAROO-III imaging atmospheric Cherenkov
telescope array, of a very high energy gamma-ray signal from the unidentified
gamma-ray source HESS J1614-518, which was discovered in the H.E.S.S. Galactic
plane survey. Diffuse gamma-ray emission was detected above 760 GeV at the 8.9
sigma level during an effective exposure of 54 hr from 2008 May to August. The
spectrum can be represented by a power-law:
8.2+-2.2_{stat}+-2.5_{sys}x10^{-12}x (E/1TeV)^{-Gamma} cm^{-2} s^{-1} TeV^{-1}
with a photon index Gamma of 2.4+-0.3_{stat}+-0.2_{sys}, which is compatible
with that of the H.E.S.S. observations. By combining our result with
multi-wavelength data, we discuss the possible counterparts for HESS J1614-518
and consider radiation mechanisms based on hadronic and leptonic processes for
a supernova remnant, stellar winds from massive stars, and a pulsar wind
nebula. Although a leptonic origin from a pulsar wind nebula driven by an
unknown pulsar remains possible, hadronic-origin emission from an unknown
supernova remnant is preferred.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Searches for very high energy gamma rays from blazars with CANGAROO-III telescope in 2005-2009
We have searched for very high energy (VHE) gamma rays from four blazars
using the CANGAROO-III imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope. We report the
results of the observations of H 2356-309, PKS 2155-304, PKS 0537-441, and 3C
279, performed from 2005 to 2009, applying a new analysis to suppress the
effects of the position dependence of Cherenkov images in the field of view. No
significant VHE gamma ray emission was detected from any of the four blazars.
The GeV gamma-ray spectra of these objects were obtained by analyzing Fermi/LAT
archival data. Non-simultaneous wide range (radio to VHE gamma-ray bands)
spectral energy distributions (SEDs) including CANGAROO-III upper limits, GeV
gamma-ray spectra, and archival data are discussed using a one-zone synchrotron
self-Compton (SSC) model in combination with a external Compton (EC) radiation.
The HBLs (H 2356-309 and PKS 2155-304) can be explained by a simple SSC model,
and PKS 0537-441 and 3C 279 are well modeled by a combination of SSC and EC
model. We find a consistency with the blazar sequence in terms of strength of
magnetic field and component size.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
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