VERITAS Observations of the Galactic Center Region at Multi-TeV Gamma-Ray Energies

被引:34
作者
Adams, C. B. [1 ]
Benbow, W. [2 ]
Brill, A. [3 ]
Brose, R. [4 ,5 ]
Buchovecky, M. [6 ]
Capasso, M. [1 ]
Christiansen, J. L. [7 ]
Chromey, A. J. [8 ]
Daniel, M. K. [2 ]
Errando, M. [9 ]
Falcone, A. [10 ]
Feng, Q. [1 ]
Finley, J. P. [11 ]
Fortson, L. [12 ]
Furniss, A. [13 ]
Gent, A. [14 ]
Gillanders, G. H. [15 ]
Giuri, C. [16 ]
Hanna, D. [17 ]
Hervet, O. [18 ,19 ]
Holder, J. [20 ,21 ]
Hughes, G. [2 ]
Humensky, T. B. [3 ]
Jin, W. [22 ]
Kaaret, P. [23 ]
Kelley-Hoskins, N. [16 ]
Kertzman, M. [24 ]
Kieda, D. [25 ]
Krennrich, F. [8 ]
Kumar, S. [17 ]
Lang, M. J. [15 ]
Lundy, M. [17 ]
Maier, G. [16 ]
Moriarty, P. [15 ]
Mukherjee, R. [1 ]
Nieto, D. [26 ]
Nievas-Rosillo, M. [16 ]
O'Brien, S. [17 ]
Ong, R. A. [6 ]
Otte, A. N. [14 ]
Pfrang, K. [16 ]
Pohl, M. [4 ,5 ]
Prado, R. R. [16 ]
Pueschel, E. [16 ]
Quinn, J. [27 ]
Ragan, K. [17 ]
Reynolds, P. T. [28 ]
Ribeiro, D. [3 ]
Richards, G. T. [20 ,21 ]
Roache, E. [2 ]
机构
[1] Columbia Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Barnard Coll, New York, NY 10027 USA
[2] Harvard & Smithsonian, Ctr Astrophys, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
[3] Columbia Univ, Dept Phys, New York, NY 10027 USA
[4] Univ Potsdam, Inst Phys & Astron, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
[5] DESY, Inst Phys & Astron, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
[6] Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Phys & Astron, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
[7] Calif Polytech State Univ San Luis Obispo, Dept Phys, San Luis Obispo, CA 94307 USA
[8] Iowa State Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Ames, IA 50011 USA
[9] Washington Univ, Dept Phys, St Louis, MO 63130 USA
[10] Penn State Univ, Dept Astron & Astrophys, 525 Davey Lab, University Pk, PA 16802 USA
[11] Purdue Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, W Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
[12] Univ Minnesota, Sch Phys & Astron, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
[13] Calif State Univ, Dept Phys, Hayward, CA 94542 USA
[14] Georgia Inst Technol, Ctr Relativist AstroPhys, Sch Phys, 837 State St NW, Atlanta, GA 30332 USA
[15] Natl Univ Ireland Galway, Sch Phys, Univ Rd, Galway, Ireland
[16] DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
[17] McGill Univ, Dept Phys, Montreal, PQ H3A 2T8, Canada
[18] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Inst Particle Phys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
[19] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Dept Phys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
[20] Univ Delaware, Dept Phys & Astron, Newark, DE 19716 USA
[21] Univ Delaware, Bartol Res Inst, Newark, DE 19716 USA
[22] Univ Alabama, Dept Phys & Astron, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA
[23] Univ Iowa, Dept Phys & Astron, Allen Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA
[24] Depauw Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Greencastle, IN 46135 USA
[25] Univ Utah, Dept Phys & Astron, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA
[26] Univ Complutense Madrid, Inst Particle & Cosmos Phys, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
[27] Univ Coll Dublin, Sch Phys, Dublin 4, Ireland
[28] Cork Inst Technol, Dept Phys Sci, Cork, Ireland
[29] CTAO, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
[30] Univ Chicago, Enrico Fermi Inst, Chicago, IL 60637 USA
基金
加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会; 美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
MASSIVE BLACK-HOLE; SAGITTARIUS-A-ASTERISK; LARGE-AREA TELESCOPE; MOLECULAR CLOUDS; STELLAR ORBITS; DARK-MATTER; EMISSION; ORIGIN; GALAXY; STAR;
D O I
10.3847/1538-4357/abf926
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
The Galactic Center (GC) region hosts a variety of powerful astronomical sources and rare astrophysical processes that emit a large flux of nonthermal radiation. The inner 375 pc x 600 pc region, called the Central Molecular Zone, is home to the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, massive cloud complexes, and particle accelerators such as supernova remnants (SNRs). We present the results of our improved analysis of the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission above 2 TeV from the GC using 125 hr of data taken with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System imaging-atmospheric Cerenkov telescope between 2010 and 2018. The central source VER J1745-290, consistent with the position of Sagittarius A*, is detected at a significance of 38 standard deviations above the background level (38 sigma), and we report its spectrum and light curve. Its differential spectrum is consistent with a power law with exponential cutoff, with a spectral index of spectral index of 2.12(-0.17)(+0.22), a flux normalization at 5.3 TeV of 1.27(-0.23)(+0.22) x 10(-13) TeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1), and cutoff energy of 10.0(-2.0)(+4.0) TeV. We also present results on the diffuse emission near the GC, obtained by combining data from multiple regions along the GC ridge, which yield a cumulative significance of 9.5 sigma. The diffuse GC ridge spectrum is best fit by a power law with a hard index of 2.19 +/- 0.20, showing no evidence of a cutoff up to 40 TeV. This strengthens the evidence for a potential accelerator of PeV cosmic rays being present in the GC. We also provide spectra of the other sources in our field of view with significant detections, composite SNR G0.9+0.1, and HESS J1746-285.
引用
收藏
页数:11
相关论文
共 102 条
[1]   The IceCube Neutrino Observatory: instrumentation and online systems [J].
Aartsen, M. G. ;
Ackermann, M. ;
Adams, J. ;
Aguilar, J. A. ;
Ahlers, M. ;
Ahrens, M. ;
Altmann, D. ;
Andeen, K. ;
Anderson, T. ;
Ansseau, I. ;
Anton, G. ;
Archinger, M. ;
Arguelles, C. ;
Auer, R. ;
Auffenberg, J. ;
Axani, S. ;
Baccus, J. ;
Bai, X. ;
Barnet, S. ;
Barwick, S. W. ;
Baum, V. ;
Bay, R. ;
Beattie, K. ;
Beatty, J. J. ;
Tjus, J. Becker ;
Becker, K. -H. ;
Bendfelt, T. ;
BenZvi, S. ;
Berley, D. ;
Bernardini, E. ;
Bernhard, A. ;
Besson, D. Z. ;
Binder, G. ;
Bindig, D. ;
Bissok, M. ;
Blaufuss, E. ;
Blot, S. ;
Boersma, D. ;
Bohm, C. ;
Boerner, M. ;
Bos, F. ;
Bose, D. ;
Boeser, S. ;
Botner, O. ;
Bouchta, A. ;
Braun, J. ;
Brayeur, L. ;
Bretz, H. -P. ;
Bron, S. ;
Burgman, A. .
JOURNAL OF INSTRUMENTATION, 2017, 12
[2]   The consistency of Fermi-LAT observations of the galactic center with a millisecond pulsar population in the central stellar cluster [J].
Abazajian, Kevork N. .
JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS, 2011, (03)
[3]   Characterising the VHE diffuse emission in the central 200 parsecs of our Galaxy with HESS [J].
Abdalla, H. ;
Abramowski, A. ;
Aharonian, F. ;
Benkhali, F. Ait ;
Akhperjanian, A. G. ;
Andersson, T. ;
Anguener, E. O. ;
Arakawa, M. ;
Arrieta, M. ;
Aubert, P. ;
Backes, M. ;
Balzer, A. ;
Barnard, M. ;
Becherini, Y. ;
Tjus, J. Becker ;
Berge, D. ;
Bernhard, S. ;
Bernloehr, K. ;
Blackwell, R. ;
Boettcher, M. ;
Boisson, C. ;
Bolmont, J. ;
Bonnefoy, S. ;
Bordas, P. ;
Bregeon, J. ;
Brun, F. ;
Brun, P. ;
Bryan, M. ;
Buechele, M. ;
Bulik, T. ;
Capasso, M. ;
Carr, J. ;
Casanova, S. ;
Cerruti, M. ;
Chakraborty, N. ;
Chaves, R. C. G. ;
Chen, A. ;
Chevalier, J. ;
Coffaro, M. ;
Colafrancesco, S. ;
Cologna, G. ;
Condon, B. ;
Conrad, J. ;
Cui, Y. ;
Davids, I. D. ;
Decock, J. ;
Degrange, B. ;
Deil, C. ;
Devin, J. ;
deWilt, P. .
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2018, 612
[4]   HESS J1741-302: a hidden accelerator in the Galactic plane [J].
Abdalla, H. ;
Abramowski, A. ;
Aharonian, F. ;
Benkhali, F. Ait ;
Anguner, E. O. ;
Arakawa, M. ;
Armand, C. ;
Arrieta, M. ;
Backes, M. ;
Balzer, A. ;
Barnard, M. ;
Becherini, Y. ;
Tjus, J. Becker ;
Berge, D. ;
Bernhard, S. ;
Bernloehr, K. ;
Blackwell, R. ;
Boettcher, M. ;
Boisson, C. ;
Bolmont, J. ;
Bonnefoy, S. ;
Bordas, P. ;
Bregeon, J. ;
Brun, F. ;
Brun, P. ;
Bryan, M. ;
Buechele, M. ;
Bulik, T. ;
Capasso, M. ;
Caroff, S. ;
Carosi, A. ;
Casanova, S. ;
Cerruti, M. ;
Chakraborty, N. ;
Chaves, R. C. G. ;
Chen, A. ;
Chevalier, J. ;
Colafrancesco, S. ;
Condon, B. ;
Conrad, J. ;
Davids, I. D. ;
Decock, J. ;
Deil, C. ;
Devin, J. ;
deWilt, P. ;
Dirson, L. ;
Djannati-Atai, A. ;
Donath, A. ;
O'Cdrury, L. ;
Dyks, J. .
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2018, 612
[5]   The HESS Galactic plane survey [J].
Abdalla, H. ;
Abramowski, A. ;
Aharonian, F. ;
Benkhali, F. Ait ;
Anguener, E. O. ;
Arakawa, M. ;
Arrieta, M. ;
Aubert, P. ;
Backes, M. ;
Balzer, A. ;
Barnard, M. ;
Becherini, Y. ;
Tjus, J. Becker ;
Berge, D. ;
Bernhard, S. ;
Bernloehr, K. ;
Blackwell, R. ;
Boettcher, M. ;
Boisson, C. ;
Bolmont, J. ;
Bonnefoy, S. ;
Bordas, P. ;
Bregeon, J. ;
Brun, F. ;
Brun, P. ;
Bryan, M. ;
Buechele, M. ;
Bulik, T. ;
Capasso, M. ;
Carrigan, S. ;
Caroff, S. ;
Carosi, A. ;
Casanova, S. ;
Cerruti, M. ;
Chakraborty, N. ;
Chaves, R. C. G. ;
Chen, A. ;
Chevalier, J. ;
Colafrancesco, S. ;
Condon, B. ;
Conrad, J. ;
Davids, I. D. ;
Decock, J. ;
Deil, C. ;
Devin, J. ;
deWilt, P. ;
Dirson, L. ;
Djannati-Atai, A. ;
Domainko, W. ;
Donath, A. .
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2018, 612
[6]   Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog [J].
Abdollahi, S. ;
Acero, F. ;
Ackermann, M. ;
Ajello, M. ;
Atwood, W. B. ;
Axelsson, M. ;
Baldini, L. ;
Ballet, J. ;
Barbiellini, G. ;
Bastieri, D. ;
Becerra Gonzalez, J. ;
Bellazzini, R. ;
Berretta, A. ;
Bissaldi, E. ;
Blandford, R. D. ;
Bloom, E. D. ;
Bonino, R. ;
Bottacini, E. ;
Brandt, T. J. ;
Bregeon, J. ;
Bruel, P. ;
Buehler, R. ;
Burnett, T. H. ;
Buson, S. ;
Cameron, R. A. ;
Caputo, R. ;
Caraveo, P. A. ;
Casandjian, J. M. ;
Castro, D. ;
Cavazzuti, E. ;
Charles, E. ;
Chaty, S. ;
Chen, S. ;
Cheung, C. C. ;
Chiaro, G. ;
Ciprini, S. ;
Cohen-Tanugi, J. ;
Cominsky, L. R. ;
Coronado-Blazquez, J. ;
Costantin, D. ;
Cuoco, A. ;
Cutini, S. ;
D'Ammando, F. ;
DeKlotz, M. ;
Luque, P. de la Tone ;
de Palma, F. ;
Desai, A. ;
Digel, S. W. ;
Di Lalla, N. ;
Di Mauro, M. .
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES, 2020, 247 (01)
[7]   Acceleration of petaelectronvolt protons in the Galactic Centre [J].
Abramowski, A. ;
Aharonian, F. ;
Benkhali, F. Ait ;
Akhperjanian, A. G. ;
Anguener, E. O. ;
Backes, M. ;
Balzer, A. ;
Becherini, Y. ;
Tjus, J. Becker ;
Berge, D. ;
Bernhard, S. ;
Bernloehr, K. ;
Birsin, E. ;
Blackwell, R. ;
Boettcher, M. ;
Boisson, C. ;
Bolmont, J. ;
Bordas, P. ;
Bregeon, J. ;
Brun, F. ;
Brun, P. ;
Bryan, M. ;
Bulik, T. ;
Carr, J. ;
Casanova, S. ;
Chakraborty, N. ;
Chalme-Calvet, R. ;
Chaves, R. C. G. ;
Chen, A. ;
Chretien, M. ;
Colafrancesco, S. ;
Cologna, G. ;
Conrad, J. ;
Couturier, C. ;
Cui, Y. ;
Davids, I. D. ;
Degrange, B. ;
Deil, C. ;
deWilt, P. ;
Djannati-Ata, A. ;
Domainko, W. ;
Donath, A. ;
Drury, L. O'C. ;
Dubus, G. ;
Dutson, K. ;
Dyks, J. ;
Dyrda, M. ;
Edwards, T. ;
Egberts, K. ;
Eger, P. .
NATURE, 2016, 531 (7595) :476-+
[8]   MAGIC observations of the diffuse γ-ray emission in the vicinity of the Galactic center [J].
Acciari, V. A. ;
Ansoldi, S. ;
Antonelli, L. A. ;
Engels, A. Arbet ;
Baack, D. ;
Babic, A. ;
Banerjee, B. ;
Barres de Almeida, U. ;
Barrio, J. A. ;
Becerra Gonzalez, J. ;
Bednarek, W. ;
Bellizzi, L. ;
Bernardini, E. ;
Berti, A. ;
Besenrieder, J. ;
Bhattacharyya, W. ;
Bigongiari, C. ;
Biland, A. ;
Blanch, O. ;
Bonnoli, G. ;
Bosnjak, Z. ;
Busetto, G. ;
Carosi, R. ;
Ceribella, G. ;
Chai, Y. ;
Chilingaryan, A. ;
Cikota, S. ;
Colak, S. M. ;
Colin, U. ;
Colombo, E. ;
Contreras, J. L. ;
Cortina, J. ;
Covino, S. ;
D'Elia, V ;
Da Vela, P. ;
Dazzi, F. ;
De Angelis, A. ;
De Lotto, B. ;
Delfino, M. ;
Delgado, J. ;
Depaoli, D. ;
Di Pierro, F. ;
Di Venere, L. ;
Do Souto Espineira, E. ;
Prester, D. Dominis ;
Donini, A. ;
Dorner, D. ;
Doro, M. ;
Elsaesser, D. ;
Ramazani, V. Fallah .
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2020, 642
[9]   Localizing the VHE γ-ray source at the Galactic Centre [J].
Acero, F. ;
Aharonian, F. ;
Akhperjanian, A. G. ;
Anton, G. ;
de Almeida, U. Barres ;
Bazer-Bachi, A. R. ;
Becherini, Y. ;
Behera, B. ;
Bernloehr, K. ;
Bochow, A. ;
Boisson, C. ;
Bolmont, J. ;
Borrel, V. ;
Braun, I. ;
Brucker, J. ;
Brun, F. ;
Brun, P. ;
Buehler, R. ;
Bulik, T. ;
Buesching, I. ;
Boutelier, T. ;
Chadwick, P. M. ;
Charbonnier, A. ;
Chaves, R. C. G. ;
Cheesebrough, A. ;
Conrad, J. ;
Chounet, L. -M. ;
Clapson, A. C. ;
Coignet, G. ;
Dalton, M. ;
Daniel, M. K. ;
Davids, I. D. ;
Degrange, B. ;
Deil, C. ;
Dickinson, H. J. ;
Djannati-Atai, A. ;
Domainko, W. ;
Drury, L. O'C. ;
Dubois, F. ;
Dubus, G. ;
Dyks, J. ;
Dyrda, M. ;
Egberts, K. ;
Eger, P. ;
Espigat, P. ;
Fallon, L. ;
Farnier, C. ;
Fegan, S. ;
Feinstein, F. ;
Fiasson, A. .
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2010, 402 (03) :1877-1882
[10]  
Acharya BS, 2019, SCIENCE WITH THE CHERENKOV TELESCOPE ARRAY, DOI 10.1142/10986