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Fermi LAT discovery of GeV gamma-ray emission from the young supernova remnan Cassiopeia A [electronic resource].

Published
Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2010.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Physical Description
pages L92-L97 : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
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Summary
Here, we report on the first detection of GeV high-energy gamma-ray emission from a young supernova remnant (SNR) with the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Our observations reveal a source with no discernible spatial extension detected at a significance level of 12.2σ above 500 MeV at a location that is consistent with the position of the remnant of the supernova explosion that occurred around 1680 in the Cassiopeia constellation—Cassiopeia A (Cas A). The gamma-ray flux and spectral shape of the source are consistent with a scenario in which the gamma-ray emission originates from relativistic particles accelerated in the shell of this remnant. The total content of cosmic rays (electrons and protons) accelerated in Cas A can be estimated as W CR sime (1-4) × 1049 erg thanks to the well-known density in the remnant assuming that the observed gamma ray originates in the SNR shell(s). Finally, the magnetic field in the radio-emitting plasma can be robustly constrained as B ≥ 0.1 mG, providing new evidence of the magnetic field amplification at the forward shock and the strong field in the shocked ejecta.
Report Numbers
E 1.99:1357582
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Note
Published through SciTech Connect.
01/27/2010.
Astrophysical Journal Letters 710 1 ISSN 2041-8205 AM
A. A. Abdo.
Funding Information
AC02-76SF00515
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