Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Discovery of very-high-energy γ-rays from the Galactic Centre ridge. |
| Authors: |
Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A. G., Bazer-Bachi, A. R., Beilicke, M., Benbow, W., Berge, D., Bernlöhr, K., Boisson, C., Bolz, O., Borrel, V., Braun, I., Breitling, F., Brown, A. M., Chadwick, P. M., Chounet, L.-M., Cornils, R., Costamante, L., Degrange, B., Dickinson, H. J., Djannati-Ataï, A. |
| Source: |
Nature. 2/9/2006, Vol. 439 Issue 7077, p695-698. 4p. 3 Graphs. |
| Subjects: |
Galactic cosmic rays, Galaxies, Properties of matter, Shock waves, Interstellar hydrogen, Interstellar medium, Astrophysics, Space environment |
| Abstract: |
The source of Galactic cosmic rays (with energies up to 1015 eV) remains unclear, although it is widely believed that they originate in the shock waves of expanding supernova remnants. At present the best way to investigate their acceleration and propagation is by observing the γ-rays produced when cosmic rays interact with interstellar gas. Here we report observations of an extended region of very-high-energy (> 1011 eV) γ-ray emission correlated spatially with a complex of giant molecular clouds in the central 200 parsecs of the Milky Way. The hardness of the γ-ray spectrum and the conditions in those molecular clouds indicate that the cosmic rays giving rise to the γ-rays are likely to be protons and nuclei rather than electrons. The energy associated with the cosmic rays could have come from a single supernova explosion around 104 years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|
Copyright of Nature is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| Database: |
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
