Fermi-LAT Discovery of Extended Gamma-ray Emission in the Direction of Supernova Remnant W51C

A. A. Abdo; M. Ackermann; M. Ajello; L. Baldini; Jean Ballet; G. Barbiellini; Matthew G. Baring; D. Bastieri; B. M. Baughman; K. Bechtol; R. Bellazzini; B. Berenji; R. D. Blandford; E. D. Bloom; E. Bonamente; A. W. Borgland; A. Bouvier; J. Bregeon; A. Brez; M. Brigida; Pascal Bruel; T. H. Burnett; S. Buson; G. A. Caliandro; R. A. Cameron; P. A. Caraveo; J. M. Casandjian; C. Cecchi; O. Celik; A. Chekhtman; C. C. Cheung; J. Chiang; S. Ciprini; R. Claus; J. Cohen-Tanugi; L. R. Cominski; J. Conrad; S. Cutini; C. D. Dermer; A. de Angelis; F. de Palma; S. W. Digel; M. Dormody; E. Do Couto e Silva; P. S. Drell; R. Dubois; D. Dumora; C. Farnier; C. Favuzzi; S.J. Fegan; W. B. Focke; P. Fortin; M. Frailis; Y. Fukazawa; S. Funk; P. Fusco; F. Gargano; D. Gasparrini; N. Gehrels; S. Germani; G. Giavitto; B. Giebels; N. Giglietto; F. Giordano; T. Glanzman; G. Godfrey; I. A. Grenier; M.H. Grondin; J. E. Grove; L. Guillemot; S. Guiriec; Y. Hanabata; A. K. Harding; M. Hayashida; E. Hays; R. E. Hugues; M. S. Jackson; G. Johannesson; A. S. Johnson; T. J. Johnson; W. N. Johnson; T. Kamae; H. Katagiri; J. Kataoka; N. Kawai; M. Kerr; Jürgen Knödlseder; M. L. Kocian; M. Kuss; J. Lande; L. Latronico; M. Lemoine-Goumard; F. Longo; F. Loparco; B. Lott; M. N. Lovellette; P. Lubrano; A. Makeev; M. N. Mazziotta; J. E. Mcenery; C. Meurer; P. F. Michelson; W. Mitthumsiri; T. Mizuno; A. A. Moiseev; C. Monte; M. E. Monzani; A. Morselli; I. V. Moskalenko; S. Murgia; T. Nakamori; P. L. Nolan; J. P. Norris; E. Nuss; T. Ohsugi; A. Okumura; N. Omodei; E. Orlando; J. F. Ormes; D. Paneque; D. Parent; V. Pelassa; M. Pepe; M. Pesce-Rollins; F. Piron; T. A. Porter; S. Rainò; R. Rando; M. Razzano; A. Reimer; O. Reimer; T. Reposeur; S. Ritz; A. Y. Rodriguez; R. W. Romani; M. Roth; F. Ryde; H. F-W. Sadrosinski; D. Sanchez; A. Sander; P. M. Saz Parkinson; J. D. Scargle; T. L. Schalk; C. Sgrò; E. J. Siskind; D.A. Smith; P. D. Smith; G. Spandre; P. Spinelli; M. S. Strickman; D. J. Suson; H. Tajima; H. Takahashi; T. Takahashi; T. Tanaka; J. B. Thayer; J. G. Thayer; D. J. Thompson; L. Tibaldo; O. Tibolla; D. F. Torres; G. Tosti; A. Tramacere; Y. Uchiyama; T. L. Usher; V. Vasileiou; C. Venter; N. Vilchez; V. Vitale; A. P. Waite; P. Wang; B. L. Winer; K. S. Wood; R. Yamazaki; T. Ylinen; M. Ziegler

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/706/1/L1

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Fermi-LAT Discovery of Extended Gamma-ray Emission in the Direction of Supernova Remnant W51C

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Fermi-LAT Discovery of Extended Gamma-ray Emission in the Direction of Supernova Remnant W51C

A. A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, L. Baldini, Jean Ballet, G. Barbiellini, Matthew G. Baring, D. Bastieri, B. M. Baughman, K. Bechtol, …

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol.706, pp.L1-L6

20/11/2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/706/1/L1

Abstract

acceleration of particles

ISM: individual (W51C)

radiation mechanisms: non-thermal

The discovery of bright gamma-ray emission coincident with supernova remnant (SNR) W51C is reported using the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. W51C is a middle-aged remnant (~10^4 yr) with intense radio synchrotron emission in its shell and known to be interacting with a molecular cloud. The gamma-ray emission is spatially extended, broadly consistent with the radio and X-ray extent of SNR W51C. The energy spectrum in the 0.2-50 GeV band exhibits steepening toward high energies. The luminosity is greater than 1x10^{36} erg/s given the distance constraint of D>5.5 kpc, which makes this object one of the most luminous gamma-ray sources in our Galaxy. The observed gamma-rays can be explained reasonably by a combination of efficient acceleration of nuclear cosmic rays at supernova shocks and shock-cloud interactions. The decay of neutral pi-mesons produced in hadronic collisions provides a plausible explanation for the gamma-ray emission. The product of the average gas density and the total energy content of the accelerated protons amounts to 5x10^{51}(D/6kpc)^2 erg/cm^3. Electron density constraints from the radio and X-ray bands render it difficult to explain the LAT signal as due to inverse Compton scattering. The Fermi LAT source coincident with SNR W51C sheds new light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays.

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Title: Fermi-LAT Discovery of Extended Gamma-ray Emission in the Direction of Supernova Remnant W51C
Creators - without role: A. A. Abdo - National Academy of Sciences
M. Ackermann - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Ajello - Stanford University
L. Baldini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
Jean Ballet - Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation
G. Barbiellini - University of Trieste
Matthew G. Baring - Rice University
D. Bastieri - University of Padua
B. M. Baughman - The Ohio State University
K. Bechtol - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. Bellazzini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
B. Berenji - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. D. Blandford - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
E. D. Bloom - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
E. Bonamente - University of Perugia
A. W. Borgland - Stanford University
A. Bouvier - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Bregeon - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
A. Brez - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
M. Brigida - Polytechnic University of Bari
Pascal Bruel - École Polytechnique
T. H. Burnett - University of Washington
S. Buson - University of Padua
G. A. Caliandro - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
R. A. Cameron - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
P. A. Caraveo - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
J. M. Casandjian - Université Paris Cité
C. Cecchi - University of Perugia
O. Celik - Goddard Space Flight Center
A. Chekhtman - George Mason University
C. C. Cheung - Goddard Space Flight Center
J. Chiang - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
S. Ciprini - University of Perugia
R. Claus - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. Cohen-Tanugi - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
L. R. Cominski
J. Conrad - Stockholm University
S. Cutini - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
C. D. Dermer - United States Naval Research Laboratory
A. de Angelis - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
F. de Palma - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
S. W. Digel - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Dormody - University of California, Santa Cruz
E. Do Couto e Silva
P. S. Drell - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. Dubois - Stanford University
D. Dumora - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
C. Farnier - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
C. Favuzzi - Polytechnic University of Bari
S.J. Fegan - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
W. B. Focke - Stanford University
P. Fortin - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
M. Frailis - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
Y. Fukazawa - Hiroshima University
S. Funk - Stanford University
P. Fusco - Polytechnic University of Bari
F. Gargano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
D. Gasparrini - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
N. Gehrels - Goddard Space Flight Center
S. Germani - University of Perugia
G. Giavitto - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
B. Giebels - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
N. Giglietto - Polytechnic University of Bari
F. Giordano - Polytechnic University of Bari
T. Glanzman - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
G. Godfrey - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
I. A. Grenier - CEA Paris-Saclay
M.H. Grondin - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
J. E. Grove - United States Naval Research Laboratory
L. Guillemot - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
S. Guiriec - University of Alabama in Huntsville
Y. Hanabata - Hiroshima University
A. K. Harding - Goddard Space Flight Center
M. Hayashida - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
E. Hays - Goddard Space Flight Center
R. E. Hugues
M. S. Jackson - Fraunhofer Chalmers Research Centre for Industrial Mathematics
G. Johannesson - Stanford University
A. S. Johnson - Stanford University
T. J. Johnson - University of Maryland, College Park
W. N. Johnson - United States Naval Research Laboratory
T. Kamae - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
H. Katagiri - Hiroshima University
J. Kataoka - Waseda University
N. Kawai - RIKEN
M. Kerr - University of Washington
Jürgen Knödlseder - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
M. L. Kocian - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Kuss - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
J. Lande - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
L. Latronico - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
M. Lemoine-Goumard - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
F. Longo - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
F. Loparco - Polytechnic University of Bari
B. Lott - Université de Bordeaux
M. N. Lovellette - United States Naval Research Laboratory
P. Lubrano - University of Perugia
A. Makeev - United States Naval Research Laboratory
M. N. Mazziotta - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
J. E. Mcenery - Goddard Space Flight Center
C. Meurer - AlbaNova
P. F. Michelson - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
W. Mitthumsiri - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Mizuno - Hiroshima University
A. A. Moiseev - Goddard Space Flight Center
C. Monte - Polytechnic University of Bari
M. E. Monzani - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. Morselli - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
I. V. Moskalenko - Stanford University
S. Murgia - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Nakamori - Tokyo Institute of Technology
P. L. Nolan - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. P. Norris - University of Denver
E. Nuss - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
T. Ohsugi - Hiroshima University
A. Okumura - The University of Tokyo
N. Omodei - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. Orlando - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
J. F. Ormes - University of Denver
D. Paneque - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
D. Parent - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
V. Pelassa - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
M. Pepe - University of Perugia
M. Pesce-Rollins - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
F. Piron - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
T. A. Porter - University of California, Santa Cruz
S. Rainò - Polytechnic University of Bari
R. Rando - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova
M. Razzano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
A. Reimer - Universität Innsbruck
O. Reimer - Universität Innsbruck
T. Reposeur - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
S. Ritz - University of California, Santa Cruz
A. Y. Rodriguez - Institute of Space Sciences
R. W. Romani - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Roth - University of Washington
F. Ryde - AlbaNova
H. F-W. Sadrosinski
D. Sanchez - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
A. Sander - The Ohio State University
P. M. Saz Parkinson
J. D. Scargle - Ames Research Center
T. L. Schalk - University of California, Santa Cruz
C. Sgrò - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. J. Siskind - Real Time Tomography
D.A. Smith - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
P. D. Smith - The Ohio State University
G. Spandre - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
P. Spinelli - Polytechnic University of Bari
M. S. Strickman - United States Naval Research Laboratory
D. J. Suson - Purdue University Northwest
H. Tajima - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
H. Takahashi - Hiroshima University
T. Takahashi - Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
T. Tanaka - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. B. Thayer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. G. Thayer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
D. J. Thompson - Goddard Space Flight Center
L. Tibaldo - University of Padua
O. Tibolla - Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
D. F. Torres - Institute of Space Sciences
G. Tosti - University of Perugia
A. Tramacere - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Y. Uchiyama - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. L. Usher - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
V. Vasileiou - Goddard Space Flight Center
C. Venter - Goddard Space Flight Center
N. Vilchez - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier
V. Vitale - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
A. P. Waite - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
P. Wang - Stanford University
B. L. Winer - The Ohio State University
K. S. Wood - United States Naval Research Laboratory
R. Yamazaki - Hiroshima University
T. Ylinen - Fraunhofer Chalmers Research Centre for Industrial Mathematics
M. Ziegler - University of California, Santa Cruz
Publication Details: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol.706, pp.L1-L6
Identifiers: 9934435709311
Academic Unit: Université de Montpellier
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: in2p3-00436134