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Gamma-ray emission from the shell of supernova remnant W44 revealed by the Fermi LAT.
Gamma-ray emission from the shell of supernova remnant W44 revealed by the Fermi LAT.
- Source :
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Science (New York, N.Y.) [Science] 2010 Feb 26; Vol. 327 (5969), pp. 1103-6. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Jan 07. - Publication Year :
- 2010
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Abstract
- Recent observations of supernova remnants (SNRs) hint that they accelerate cosmic rays to energies close to ~10(15) electron volts. However, the nature of the particles that produce the emission remains ambiguous. We report observations of SNR W44 with the Fermi Large Area Telescope at energies between 2 x 10(8) electron volts and 3 x10(11) electron volts. The detection of a source with a morphology corresponding to the SNR shell implies that the emission is produced by particles accelerated there. The gamma-ray spectrum is well modeled with emission from protons and nuclei. Its steepening above approximately 10(9) electron volts provides a probe with which to study how particle acceleration responds to environmental effects such as shock propagation in dense clouds and how accelerated particles are released into interstellar space.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1095-9203
- Volume :
- 327
- Issue :
- 5969
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Science (New York, N.Y.)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20056857
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1182787