A population of gamma-ray emitting globular clusters seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

被引:103
作者
Abdo, A. A. [1 ,2 ]
Ackermann, M. [3 ,4 ]
Ajello, M. [3 ,4 ]
Baldini, L. [5 ]
Ballet, J. [6 ]
Barbiellini, G. [7 ,8 ]
Bastieri, D. [9 ,10 ]
Bellazzini, R. [5 ]
Blandford, R. D. [3 ,4 ]
Bloom, E. D. [3 ,4 ]
Bonamente, E. [11 ,12 ]
Borgland, A. W. [3 ,4 ]
Bouvier, A. [3 ,4 ]
Brandt, T. J. [13 ,14 ]
Bregeon, J. [5 ]
Brigida, M. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Bruel, P. [18 ]
Buehler, R. [3 ,4 ]
Buson, S. [9 ]
Caliandro, G. A. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Cameron, R. A. [3 ,4 ]
Caraveo, P. A. [19 ]
Carrigan, S. [10 ]
Casandjian, J. M. [6 ]
Charles, E. [3 ,4 ]
Chaty, S. [6 ]
Chekhtman, A. [1 ,20 ]
Cheung, C. C. [1 ,2 ]
Chiang, J. [3 ,4 ]
Ciprini, S. [12 ]
Claus, R. [3 ,4 ]
Cohen-Tanugi, J. [21 ]
Conrad, J. [22 ,23 ,24 ]
DeCesar, M. E. [25 ,26 ,27 ]
Dermer, C. D. [1 ]
de Palma, F. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Digel, S. W. [3 ,4 ]
do Couto e Silva, E. [3 ,4 ]
Drell, P. S. [3 ,4 ]
Dubois, R. [3 ,4 ]
Dumora, D. [28 ]
Favuzzi, C. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Fortin, P. [18 ]
Frailis, M. [29 ,30 ,31 ]
Fukazawa, Y. [32 ]
Fusco, P. [15 ,16 ,17 ]
Gargano, F. [17 ]
Gasparrini, D. [33 ]
Gehrels, N. [25 ]
Germani, S. [11 ,12 ]
机构
[1] USN, Div Space Sci, Res Lab, Washington, DC 20375 USA
[2] Natl Res Council Res Associate, Natl Acad Sci, Washington, DC 20001 USA
[3] Stanford Univ, SLAC Natl Accelerator Lab, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
[4] Stanford Univ, Dept Phys, Kavli Inst Particle Astrophys & Cosmol, WW Hansen Expt Phys Lab, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
[5] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy
[6] Univ Paris Diderot, CEA Saclay, Serv Astrophys, CEA IRFU CNRS,Lab AIM, 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] CNRS UPS, Ctr Etud Spatiale Rayonnements, F-31028 Toulouse 4, France
[14] Ohio State Univ, Ctr Cosmol & Astroparticle Phys, Dept 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] INAF Ist Astrofis Spaziale & Fis Cosm, I-20133 Milan, Italy
[20] George Mason Univ, Fairfax, VA 22030 USA
[21] Univ Montpellier 2, CNRS, IN2P3, Lab Phys Theor & Astroparticules, Montpellier, France
[22] Stockholm Univ, Dept Phys, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
[23] Oskar Klein Ctr Cosmoparticle Phys, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
[24] Royal Swedish Acad Sci, Stockholm, Sweden
[25] NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
[26] Univ Maryland, Dept Phys, College Pk, MD 20742 USA
[27] Univ Maryland, Dept Astron, College Pk, MD 20742 USA
[28] Univ Bordeaux, Ctr Etud Nucl Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, F-33175 Gradignan, France
[29] Univ Udine, Dipartimento Fis, I-33100 Udine, Italy
[30] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Trieste, Grp Collegato Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy
[31] Ist Nazl Astrofis, Osservatorio Astron Trieste, I-34143 Trieste, Italy
[32] Hiroshima Univ, Dept Phys Sci, Hiroshima 7398526, Japan
[33] Agenzia Spaziale Italiana ASI Sci Data Ctr, I-00044 Rome, Italy
[34] Univ Alabama, CSPAR, Huntsville, AL 35899 USA
[35] ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
[36] Waseda Univ, Res Inst Sci & Engn, Shinjuku Ku, Tokyo 1698555, Japan
[37] Univ Washington, Dept Phys, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
[38] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Roma Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome, Italy
[39] Univ Denver, Dept Phys & Astron, Denver, CO 80208 USA
[40] Hiroshima Univ, Hiroshima Astrophys Sci Ctr, Hiroshima 7398526, Japan
[41] Max Planck Inst Extraterr Phys, D-85748 Garching, Germany
[42] Leopold Franzens Univ Innsbruck, Inst Astro & Teilchenphys, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
[43] Leopold Franzens Univ Innsbruck, Inst Theoret Phys, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
[44] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Inst Particle Phys, Dept Phys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
[45] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Dept Astron & Astrophys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
[46] NYCB Real Time Comp Inc, Lattingtown, NY 11560 USA
[47] Purdue Univ Calumet, Dept Chem & Phys, Hammond, IN 46323 USA
[48] Japan Aerosp Explorat Agcy, Inst Space & Astronaut Sci, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 2298510, Japan
[49] Inst Ciencies Espai IEEC CSIC, Barcelona 08193, Spain
[50] CIFS, I-10133 Turin, Italy
关键词
pulsars: general; globular clusters: general; gamma rays: general; TO-LIGHT RATIO; MILLISECOND PULSARS; COMPACT BINARIES; XMM-NEWTON; DISCOVERY; CATALOG; CHANDRA; PARAMETERS; PHOTOMETRY; DISTANCES;
D O I
10.1051/0004-6361/201014458
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
Context. Globular clusters with their large populations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are believed to be potential emitters of high-energy gamma-ray emission. The observation of this emission provides a powerful tool to assess the millisecond pulsar population of a cluster, is essential for understanding the importance of binary systems for the evolution of globular clusters, and provides complementary insights into magnetospheric emission processes. Aims. Our goal is to constrain the millisecond pulsar populations in globular clusters from analysis of gamma-ray observations. Methods. We use 546 days of continuous sky-survey observations obtained with the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to study the gamma-ray emission towards 13 globular clusters. Results. Steady point-like high-energy gamma-ray emission has been significantly detected towards 8 globular clusters. Five of them (47 Tucanae, Omega Cen, NGC 6388, Terzan 5, and M 28) show hard spectral power indices (0.7 < Gamma < 1.4) and clear evidence for an exponential cut-off in the range 1.0-2.6 GeV, which is the characteristic signature of magnetospheric emission from MSPs. Three of them (M 62, NGC 6440 and NGC 6652) also show hard spectral indices (1.0 < Gamma < 1.7), however the presence of an exponential cut-off can not be unambiguously established. Three of them (Omega Cen, NGC 6388, NGC 6652) have no known radio or X-ray MSPs yet still exhibit MSP spectral properties. From the observed gamma-ray luminosities, we estimate the total number of MSPs that is expected to be present in these globular clusters. We show that our estimates of the MSP population correlate with the stellar encounter rate and we estimate 2600-4700 MSPs in Galactic globular clusters, commensurate with previous estimates. Conclusions. The observation of high-energy gamma-ray emission from globular clusters thus provides a reliable independent method to assess their millisecond pulsar populations.
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页数:11
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