Gamma-Ray Flares from the Crab Nebula

被引:290
作者
Abdo, A. A. [3 ,4 ]
Ackermann, M. [1 ,2 ]
Ajello, M. [1 ,2 ]
Allafort, A. [1 ,2 ]
Baldini, L. [5 ]
Ballet, J. [6 ]
Barbiellini, G. [7 ,8 ]
Bastieri, D. [9 ,10 ]
Bechtol, K. [1 ,2 ]
Bellazzini, R. [5 ]
Berenji, B. [1 ,2 ]
Blandford, R. D. [1 ,2 ]
Bloom, E. D. [1 ,2 ]
Bonamente, E. [11 ,12 ]
Borgland, A. W. [1 ,2 ]
Bouvier, A. [1 ,2 ]
Brandt, T. J. [13 ,14 ]
Bregeon, J. [5 ]
Brez, A. [5 ]
Brigida, M. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Bruel, P. [18 ]
Buehler, R. [1 ,2 ]
Buson, S. [9 ,10 ]
Caliandro, G. A. [19 ]
Cameron, R. A. [1 ,2 ]
Cannon, A. [20 ,21 ]
Caraveo, P. A. [22 ]
Casandjian, J. M. [6 ]
Celik, O. [20 ,23 ,24 ,25 ]
Charles, E. [1 ,2 ]
Chekhtman, A. [26 ]
Cheung, C. C. [3 ,4 ]
Chiang, J. [1 ,2 ]
Ciprini, S. [12 ]
Claus, R. [1 ,2 ]
Cohen-Tanugi, J. [27 ]
Costamante, L. [1 ,2 ]
Cutini, S. [28 ]
D'Ammando, F. [29 ,30 ]
Dermer, C. D. [31 ]
de Angelis, A. [32 ,33 ]
de Luca, A. [34 ]
de Palma, F. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Digel, S. W. [1 ,2 ]
do Couto e Silva, E. [1 ,2 ]
Drell, P. S. [1 ,2 ]
Drlica-Wagner, A. [1 ,2 ]
Dubois, R. [1 ,2 ]
Dumora, D. [35 ]
Favuzzi, C. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
机构
[1] Stanford Univ, Dept Phys, Kavli Inst Particle Astrophys & Cosmol, WW Hansen Expt Phys Lab, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
[2] Stanford Univ, SLAC Natl Accelerator Lab, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
[3] Natl Acad Sci, Natl Res Council, Washington, DC 20001 USA
[4] USN, Res Lab, Washington, DC 20375 USA
[5] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy
[6] Univ Paris Diderot, CEA Saclay, Inst Res Fundamental Laws Universe, CNRS,CEA,Lab AIM,Serv Astrophys, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France
[7] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
[8] Univ Trieste, Dipartimento Fis, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
[9] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Padova, I-35131 Padua, Italy
[10] Univ Padua, Dipartimento Fis G Galilei, I-35131 Padua, Italy
[11] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
[12] Univ Perugia, Dipartimento Fis, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
[13] UPS, CNRS, Ctr Etud Spatiale Rayonnements, F-31028 Toulouse 4, France
[14] Ohio State Univ, Dept Phys, Ctr Cosmol & Astroparticle Phys, Columbus, OH 43210 USA
[15] Univ Bari, Dipartimento Fis M Merlin, I-70126 Bari, Italy
[16] Politecn Bari, I-70126 Bari, Italy
[17] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Bari, I-70126 Bari, Italy
[18] Ecole Polytech, CNRS, IN2P3, Lab Leprince Ringuet, F-91128 Palaiseau, France
[19] CSIC, IEEC, Inst Ciencies Espai, Barcelona 08193, Spain
[20] NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
[21] Univ Coll Dublin, Sch Phys, Dublin 4, Ireland
[22] Ist Astrofis Spaziale & Fis Cosm, Ist Nazl Astrofis, I-20133 Milan, Italy
[23] CRESST, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
[24] Univ Maryland Baltimore Cty, Dept Phys, Baltimore, MD 21250 USA
[25] Univ Maryland Baltimore Cty, Ctr Space Sci & Technol, Baltimore, MD 21250 USA
[26] George Mason Univ, Coll Sci, Fairfax, VA 22030 USA
[27] Univ Montpellier 2, CNRS, IN2P3, Lab Phys Theor & Astroparticules, Montpellier, France
[28] ASI, Sci Data Ctr, I-00044 Frascati, Roma, Italy
[29] IASF Palermo, I-90146 Palermo, Italy
[30] INAF IASF, I-00133 Rome, Italy
[31] USN, Res Lab, Div Space Sci, Washington, DC 20375 USA
[32] Univ Udine, Dipartimento Fis, I-33100 Udine, Italy
[33] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Trieste, Grp Collegato Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy
[34] IUSS, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
[35] Univ Bordeaux 1, CNRS, IN2P3, Ctr Etud Nucl Bordeaux Gradignan, F-33175 Gradignan, France
[36] Ist Nazl Astrofis, Osservatorio Astron Trieste, I-34143 Trieste, Italy
[37] Hiroshima Univ, Dept Phys Sci, Hiroshima 7398526, Japan
[38] INAF Ist Radioastron, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
[39] Univ Alabama, Ctr Space Plasma & Aeron Res, Huntsville, AL 35899 USA
[40] Univ Iceland, Inst Sci, IS-107 Reykjavik, Iceland
[41] Univ Maryland, Dept Phys, College Pk, MD 20742 USA
[42] Univ Maryland, Dept Astron, College Pk, MD 20742 USA
[43] Waseda Univ, Res Inst Sci & Engn, Shinjuku Ku, Tokyo 1698555, Japan
[44] Univ Washington, Dept Phys, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
[45] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Roma Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome, Italy
[46] Univ Denver, Dept Phys & Astron, Denver, CO 80208 USA
[47] Hiroshima Univ, Hiroshima Astrophys Sci Ctr, Hiroshima 7398526, Japan
[48] Japan Aerosp Explorat Agcy, Inst Space & Astronaut Sci, Chuo Ku, Kanagawa 2525210, Japan
[49] Leopold Franzens Univ Innsbruck, Inst Astro & Teilchenphys, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
[50] Leopold Franzens Univ Innsbruck, Inst Theoret Phys, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
基金
瑞典研究理事会;
关键词
PARTICLE-ACCELERATION; HIGH-ENERGY; PULSAR; SYNCHROTRON; EMISSION; POLARIZATION; TELESCOPE; COMPTEL; MODEL;
D O I
10.1126/science.1199705
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
A young and energetic pulsar powers the well-known Crab Nebula. Here, we describe two separate gamma-ray (photon energy greater than 100 mega-electron volts) flares from this source detected by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The first flare occurred in February 2009 and lasted approximately 16 days. The second flare was detected in September 2010 and lasted approximately 4 days. During these outbursts, the gamma-ray flux from the nebula increased by factors of four and six, respectively. The brevity of the flares implies that the gamma rays were emitted via synchrotron radiation from peta-electron-volt (10(15) electron volts) electrons in a region smaller than 1.4 x 10(-2) parsecs. These are the highest-energy particles that can be associated with a discrete astronomical source, and they pose challenges to particle acceleration theory.
引用
收藏
页码:739 / 742
页数:4
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