Discovery of tev gamma-ray emission toward supernova remnant snr g78.2+2.1
Aliu, E. Archambault, S. Arlen, T. Aune, T. Beilicke, M. Benbow, W. Bird, R. Bouvier, A. Bradbury, S. M. Buckley, J. H.
Aliu, E.
Archambault, S.
Arlen, T.
Aune, T.
Beilicke, M.
Benbow, W.
Bird, R.
Bouvier, A.
Bradbury, S. M.
Buckley, J. H.
Publication Date
2013-05-29
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Article
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Aliu, E. Archambault, S.; Arlen, T.; Aune, T.; Beilicke, M.; Benbow, W.; Bird, R.; Bouvier, A.; Bradbury, S. M.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V.; Byrum, K.; Cannon, A.; Cesarini, A.; Ciupik, L.; Collins-Hughes, E.; Connolly, M. P.; Cui, W.; Dickherber, R.; Duke, C.; Dumm, J.; Dwarkadas, V. V.; Errando, M.; Falcone, A.; Federici, S.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P.; Finnegan, G.; Fortson, L.; Furniss, A.; Galante, N.; Gall, D.; Gillanders, G. H.; Godambe, S.; Gotthelf, E. V.; Griffin, S.; Grube, J.; Gyuk, G.; Hanna, D.; Holder, J.; Huan, H.; Hughes, G.; Humensky, T. B.; Kaaret, P.; Karlsson, N.; Kertzman, M.; Khassen, Y.; Kieda, D.; Krawczynski, H.; Krennrich, F.; Lang, M. J.; Lee, K.; Madhavan, A. S; Maier, G.; Majumdar, P.; McArthur, S.; McCann, A.; Millis, J.; Moriarty, P.; Mukherjee, R.; Nelson, T.; O'Faoláin de Bhróithe, A.; Ong, R. A.; Orr, M.; Otte, A. N.; Pandel, D.; Park, N.; Perkins, J. S.; Pohl, M.; Popkow, A.; Prokoph, H.; Quinn, J.; Ragan, K.; Reyes, L. C.; Reynolds, P. T.; Roache, E.; Rose, H. J.; Ruppel, J.; Saxon, D. B.; Schroedter, M.; Sembroski, G. H.; Şentürk, G. D.; Skole, C.; Telezhinsky, I.; Tešić, G.; Theiling, M.; Thibadeau, S.; Tsurusaki, K.; Tyler, J.; Varlotta, A.; Vassiliev, V. V.; Vincent, S.; Wakely, S. P.; Ward, J. E.; Weekes, T. C.; Weinstein, A.; Weisgarber, T.; Welsing, R.; Williams, D. A.; Zitzer, B. (2013). Discovery of tev gamma-ray emission toward supernova remnant snr g78.2+2.1. The Astrophysical Journal 770 (2),
Abstract
We report the discovery of an unidentified, extended source of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission, VER J2019+407, within the radio shell of the supernova remnant SNR G78.2+2.1, using 21.4 hr of data taken by the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory in 2009. These data confirm the preliminary indications of gamma-ray emission previously seen in a two-year (2007-2009) blind survey of the Cygnus region by VERITAS. VER J2019+407, which is detected at a post-trials significance of 7.5 standard deviations in the 2009 data, is localized to the northwestern rim of the remnant in a region of enhanced radio and X-ray emission. It has an intrinsic extent of 0 degrees.23 +/- 0 degrees.03(stat-0 degrees.02sys)(+0 degrees.04) and its spectrum is well-characterized by a differential power law (dN/dE = N-0 x (E/TeV)-Gamma) with a photon index of Gamma = 2.37 +/- 0.14(stat) +/- 0.20(sys) and a flux normalization of N-0 = 1.5 +/- 0.2(stat) +/- 0.4(sys) x 10(-12) photon TeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1). This yields an integral flux of 5.2 +/- 0.8(stat) +/- 1.4(sys) x 10(-12) photon cm(-2) s(-1) above 320 GeV, corresponding to 3.7% of the Crab Nebula flux. We consider the relationship of the TeV gamma-ray emission with the GeV gamma-ray emission seen from SNR G78.2+2.1 as well as that seen from a nearby cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays. Multiple scenarios are considered as possible origins for the TeV gamma-ray emission, including hadronic particle acceleration at the SNR shock.
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IOP Publishing
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland