Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the Crab pulsar and Nebula

A.A. Abdo; Markus Ackermann; Marco Ajello; W. B. Atwood; Magnus Axelsson; Luca Baldini; Jean Ballet; Guido Barbiellini; M. G. Baring; D. Bastieri; K. Bechtol; R. Bellazzini; B. Berenji; R. D. Blandford; E. D. Bloom; E. Bonamente; A. W. Borgland; J. Bregeon; A. Brez; M. Brigida; Pascal Bruel; T. H. Burnett; G. A. Caliandro; R. A. Cameron; F. Camilo; P. A. Caraveo; J. M. Casandjian; C. Cecchi; O. Celik; A. Chekhtman; C. C. Cheung; J. Chiang; S. Ciprini; R. Claus; Ismaël Cognard; J. Cohen-Tanugi; L. R. Cominsky; J. Conrad; C. D. Dermer; A. de Angelis; A. de Luca; F. de Palma; S. W. Digel; E. Do Couto E Silva; P. S. Drell; R. Dubois; D. Dumora; C. Espinoza; C. Farnier; C. Favuzzi; S. J. Fegan; E. C. Ferrara; W. B. Focke; M. Frailis; P. C. C. Freire; 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. Hughes; G. Johannesson; A. S. Johnson; R. P. Johnson; T. J. Johnson; W. N. Johnson; S. Johnston; T. Kamae; H. Katagiri; J. Kataoka; N. Kawai; M. Kerr; Jürgen Knödlseder; M. L. Kocian; M. Kramer; F. Kuehn; M. Kuss; J. Lande; L. Latronico; S.-H. Lee; M. Lemoine-Goumard; F. Longo; F. Loparco; B. Lott; M. N. Lovellette; P. Lubrano; A. G. Lyne; A. Makeev; M. Marelli; M. N. Mazziotta; J. E. Mcenery; C. Meurer; P. F. Michelson; W. Mitthumsiri; T. Mizuno; A. A. Moiseev; C. Monte; M. E. Monzani; E. Moretti; A. Morselli; I. V. Moskalenko; S. Murgia; T. Nakamori; P. L. Nolan; J. P. Norris; A. Noutsos; E. Nuss; T. Ohsugi; N. Omodei; E. Orlando; J. F. Ormes; M. Ozaki; D. Paneque; J. H. Panetta; D. Parent; V. Pelassa; M. Pepe; M. Pesce-Rollins; M. Pierbattista; F. Piron; T.A. Porter; S. Raino; R. Rando; P. S. Ray; M. Razzano; A. Reimer; O. Reimer; T. Reposeur; S. Ritz; L. S. Rochester; A. Y. Rodriguez; R. W. Romani; M. Roth; F. Ryde; H. F.-W. Sadrozinski; D. Sanchez; A. Sander; P. M. Saz Parkinson; J. D. Scargle; C. Sgro; E. J. Siskind; David Stanley Smith; P. D. Smith; G. Spandre; P. Spinelli; B. W. Stappers; M. S. Strickman; D. J. Suson; H. Tajima; H. Takahashi; T. Tanaka; J. B. Thayer; J. G. Thayer; G. Theureau; D. J. Thompson; S. E. Thorsett; L. Tibaldo; D. F. Torres; G. Tosti; A. Tramacere; Y. Uchiyama; T. L. Usher; A. van Etten; V. Vasileiou; N. Vilchez; V. Vitale; A. P. Waite; E. Wallace; P. Wang; K. Watters; P. Weltevrede; B. L. Winer; K. S. Wood; T. Ylinen; M. Ziegler

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1254

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Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the Crab pulsar and Nebula

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Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the Crab pulsar and Nebula

A.A. Abdo, Markus Ackermann, Marco Ajello, W. B. Atwood, Magnus Axelsson, Luca Baldini, Jean Ballet, Guido Barbiellini, M. G. Baring, D. Bastieri, …

The Astrophysical Journal, Vol.708, pp.1254-1267

10/01/2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1254

Abstract

pulsars: individual (Crab)

supernova remnants

gamma rays: observations

ISM: individual (Crab Nebula)

We report on γ -ray observations of the Crab Pulsar and Nebula using 8 months of survey data with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). The high quality light curve obtained using the ephemeris provided by the Nan¸cay and Jodrell Bank radio telescopes shows two main peaks stable in phase with energy. The first γ -ray peak leads the radio main pulse by (281 ± 12 ± 21) μs, giving new constraints on the production site of non-thermal emission in pulsar magnetospheres. The first uncertainty is due to γ -ray statistics, and the second arises from the rotation parameters. The improved sensitivity and the unprecedented statistics afforded by the LAT enable precise measurement of the Crab Pulsar spectral parameters: cut-off energy at Ec = (5.8 ± 0.5 ± 1.2) GeV, spectral index of Γ = (1.97 ± 0.02 ± 0.06) and integral photon flux above 100 MeV of (2.09 ± 0.03 ± 0.18) × 10−6 cm−2 s−1. The first errors represent the statistical error on the fit parameters, while the second ones are the systematic uncertainties. Pulsed γ -ray photons are observed up to ∼20 GeV which precludes emission near the stellar surface, below altitudes of around 4–5 stellar radii in phase intervals encompassing the two main peaks. A detailed phase-resolved spectral analysis is also performed: the hardest emission from the Crab Pulsar comes from the bridge region between the two γ -ray peaks while the softest comes from the falling edge of the second peak. The spectrum of the nebula in the energy range 100 MeV–300 GeV is well described by the sum of two power laws of indices Γsync = (3.99 ± 0.12 ± 0.08) and ΓIC = (1.64 ± 0.05 ± 0.07), corresponding to the falling edge of the synchrotron and the rising edge of the inverse Compton (IC) components, respectively. This latter, which links up naturally with the spectral data points of Cherenkov experiments, is well reproduced via IC scattering from standard magnetohydrodynamic nebula models, and does not require any additional radiation mechanism.

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Title: Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the Crab pulsar and Nebula
Creators - without role: A.A. Abdo - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Markus Ackermann - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Marco Ajello - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
W. B. Atwood
Magnus Axelsson - Fraunhofer Chalmers Research Centre for Industrial Mathematics
Luca Baldini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
Jean Ballet - Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation
Guido Barbiellini - University of Trieste
M. G. Baring
D. Bastieri - University of Padua
K. Bechtol - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. Bellazzini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
B. Berenji - Stanford University
R. D. Blandford
E. D. Bloom
E. Bonamente - University of Perugia
A. W. Borgland
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
G. A. Caliandro
R. A. Cameron
F. Camilo - Columbia University
P. A. Caraveo - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
J. M. Casandjian - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
C. Cecchi - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia
O. Celik - Goddard Space Flight Center
A. Chekhtman - George Mason University
C. C. Cheung
J. Chiang - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
S. Ciprini - University of Perugia
R. Claus - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Ismaël Cognard - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
J. Cohen-Tanugi - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
L. R. Cominsky
J. Conrad - Stockholm University
C. D. Dermer
A. de Angelis - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
A. de Luca - Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia
F. de Palma - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
S. W. Digel
E. Do Couto E Silva
P. S. Drell
R. Dubois - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
D. Dumora - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
C. Espinoza - University of Manchester
C. Farnier - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
C. Favuzzi - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
S. J. Fegan - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
E. C. Ferrara
W. B. Focke
M. Frailis - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
P. C. C. Freire
Y. Fukazawa - Hiroshima University
S. Funk P. Fusco
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 - University of Trieste
B. Giebels - École Polytechnique
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 - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
M.-H. Grondin - Université de Bordeaux
J. E. Grove
L. Guillemot - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
S. Guiriec - University of Alabama in Huntsville
Y. Hanabata - Hiroshima University
A. K. Harding
M. Hayashida - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
E. Hays - Goddard Space Flight Center
R. E. Hughes
G. Johannesson - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. S. Johnson
R. P. Johnson
T. J. Johnson
W. N. Johnson
S. Johnston - Australia Telescope National Facility
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 d'Études Spatiales
M. L. Kocian
M. Kramer - Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
F. Kuehn - The Ohio State University
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
S.-H. Lee - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
M. Lemoine-Goumard - Université de Bordeaux
F. Longo - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
F. Loparco - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
B. Lott - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
M. N. Lovellette
P. Lubrano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia
A. G. Lyne
A. Makeev - United States Naval Research Laboratory
M. Marelli - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
M. N. Mazziotta
J. E. Mcenery
C. Meurer - AlbaNova
P. F. Michelson
W. Mitthumsiri - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Mizuno - Hiroshima University
A. A. Moiseev
C. Monte - Polytechnic University of Bari
M. E. Monzani
E. Moretti - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
A. Morselli - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
I. V. Moskalenko
S. Murgia - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Nakamori - Tokyo Institute of Technology
P. L. Nolan
J. P. Norris
A. Noutsos - University of Manchester
E. Nuss - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
T. Ohsugi - Hiroshima University
N. Omodei - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. Orlando - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
J. F. Ormes
M. Ozaki - Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
D. Paneque - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
J. H. Panetta
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
M. Pierbattista - Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation
F. Piron - Université de Montpellier
T.A. Porter - University of California, Santa Cruz
S. Raino - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
R. Rando - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova
P. S. Ray
M. Razzano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
A. Reimer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
O. Reimer - Universität Innsbruck
T. Reposeur - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
S. Ritz - University of California, Santa Cruz
L. S. Rochester
A. Y. Rodriguez
R. W. Romani
M. Roth - University of Washington
F. Ryde - KTH Royal Institute of Technology
H. F.-W. Sadrozinski
D. Sanchez - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
A. Sander - The Ohio State University
P. M. Saz Parkinson
J. D. Scargle
C. Sgro - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. J. Siskind
David Stanley Smith - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
P. D. Smith
G. Spandre - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
P. Spinelli - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
B. W. Stappers
M. S. Strickman
D. J. Suson
H. Tajima - Stanford University
H. Takahashi - Hiroshima University
T. Tanaka - Stanford University
J. B. Thayer
J. G. Thayer
G. Theureau - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
D. J. Thompson
S. E. Thorsett
L. Tibaldo - CEA Paris-Saclay
D. F. Torres
G. Tosti - University of Perugia
A. Tramacere - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Y. Uchiyama - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
T. L. Usher
A. van Etten - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
V. Vasileiou - Goddard Space Flight Center
N. Vilchez - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier
V. Vitale - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
A. P. Waite
E. Wallace - University of Washington
P. Wang - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
K. Watters - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
P. Weltevrede - University of Manchester
B. L. Winer
K. S. Wood
T. Ylinen - Fraunhofer Chalmers Research Centre for Industrial Mathematics
M. Ziegler - University of California, Santa Cruz
Publication Details: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol.708, pp.1254-1267
Identifiers: 9933812009311
Academic Unit: Université de Montpellier
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: in2p3-00453756