Ref HAL: in2p3-00460590_v1
Ref Arxiv: 0912.0730
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/708/2/L100
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
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58 citations
Abstract:

We report the first detection of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission above 140 GeV from PKS 1424+240, a BL Lac object with an unknown redshift. The photon spectrum above 140 GeV measured by VERITAS is well described by a power law with a photon index of 3.8 +- 0.5_stat +- 0.3_syst and a flux normalization at 200 GeV of (5.1 +- 0.9_stat +- 0.5_syst) x 10^{-11} TeV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1, where stat and syst denote the statistical and systematical uncertainty, respectively. The VHE flux is steady over the observation period between MJD 54881 and 55003 (2009 February 19 to June 21). Flux variability is also not observed in contemporaneous high energy observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Contemporaneous X-ray and optical data were also obtained from the Swift XRT and MDM observatory, respectively. The broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) is well described by a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model favoring a redshift of less than 0.1. Using the photon index measured with Fermi in combination with recent extragalactic background light (EBL) absorption models it can be concluded from the VERITAS data that the redshift of PKS 1424+240 is less than 0.66.

Ref HAL: in2p3-00453816_v1
Ref Arxiv: 0911.3063
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1426
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42 citations
Abstract:

We report the detection of pulsed gamma-rays for PSRs J0631+1036, J0659+1414, J0742-2822, J1420-6048, J1509-5850 and J1718-3825 using the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly known as GLAST). Although these six pulsars are diverse in terms of their spin parameters, they share an important feature: their gamma-ray light curves are (at least given the current count statistics) single peaked. For two pulsars there are hints for a double-peaked structure in the light curves. The shapes of the observed light curves of this group of pulsars are discussed in the light of models for which the emission originates from high up in the magnetosphere. The observed phases of the gamma-ray light curves are, in general, consistent with those predicted by high-altitude models, although we speculate that the gamma-ray emission of PSR J0659+1414, possibly featuring the softest spectrum of all Fermi pulsars coupled with a very low efficiency, arises from relatively low down in the magnetosphere. High-quality radio polarization data are available showing that all but one have a high degree of linear polarization. This allows us to place some constraints on the viewing geometry and aids the comparison of the gamma-ray light curves with high-energy beam models.

Comments: 24 pages, 19 figures, Accepted for publications in Astrophysical Journal

Ref HAL: in2p3-00453792_v1
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1310
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39 citations
Abstract:

We report the observations of PG 1553+113 during the first ∼200 days of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope science operations, from 2008 August 4 to 2009 February 22 (MJD 54682.7–54884.2). This is the first detailed study of PG 1553+113 in the GeV gamma-ray regime and it allows us to fill a gap of three decades in energy in its spectral energy distribution (SED). We find PG 1553+113 to be a steady source with a hard spectrum that is best fit by a simple power law in the Fermi energy band. We combine the Fermi data with archival radio, optical, X-ray, and very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray data to model its broadband SED and find that a simple, one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model provides a reasonable fit. PG 1553+113 has the softest VHE spectrum of all sources detected in that regime and, out of those with significant detections across the Fermi energy bandpass so far, the hardest spectrum in that energy regime. Thus, it has the largest spectral break of any gamma-ray source studied to date, which could be due to the absorption of the intrinsic gamma-ray spectrum by the extragalactic background light (EBL). Assuming this to be the case, we selected a model with a low level of EBL and used it to absorb the power-law spectrum from PG 1553+113 measured with Fermi (200 MeV–157 GeV) to find the redshift, which gave the best fit to the measured VHE data (90 GeV–1.1 TeV) for this parameterization of the EBL. We show that this redshift can be considered an upper limit on the distance to PG 1553+113.

Ref HAL: in2p3-00453756_v1
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1254
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181 citations
Abstract:

We report on γ -ray observations of the Crab Pulsar and Nebula using 8 months of survey data with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). The high quality light curve obtained using the ephemeris provided by the Nan¸cay and Jodrell Bank radio telescopes shows two main peaks stable in phase with energy. The first γ -ray peak leads the radio main pulse by (281 ± 12 ± 21) μs, giving new constraints on the production site of non-thermal emission in pulsar magnetospheres. The first uncertainty is due to γ -ray statistics, and the second arises from the rotation parameters. The improved sensitivity and the unprecedented statistics afforded by the LAT enable precise measurement of the Crab Pulsar spectral parameters: cut-off energy at Ec = (5.8 ± 0.5 ± 1.2) GeV, spectral index of Γ = (1.97 ± 0.02 ± 0.06) and integral photon flux above 100 MeV of (2.09 ± 0.03 ± 0.18) × 10−6 cm−2 s−1. The first errors represent the statistical error on the fit parameters, while the second ones are the systematic uncertainties. Pulsed γ -ray photons are observed up to ∼20 GeV which precludes emission near the stellar surface, below altitudes of around 4–5 stellar radii in phase intervals encompassing the two main peaks. A detailed phase-resolved spectral analysis is also performed: the hardest emission from the Crab Pulsar comes from the bridge region between the two γ -ray peaks while the softest comes from the falling edge of the second peak. The spectrum of the nebula in the energy range 100 MeV–300 GeV is well described by the sum of two power laws of indices Γsync = (3.99 ± 0.12 ± 0.08) and ΓIC = (1.64 ± 0.05 ± 0.07), corresponding to the falling edge of the synchrotron and the rising edge of the inverse Compton (IC) components, respectively. This latter, which links up naturally with the spectral data points of Cherenkov experiments, is well reproduced via IC scattering from standard magnetohydrodynamic nebula models, and does not require any additional radiation mechanism.

Ref HAL: in2p3-00460529_v1
Ref Arxiv: 0912.1868
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.80.122004
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55 citations
Abstract:

We report on measurements of the cosmic-ray induced gamma-ray emission of Earth's atmosphere by the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The LAT has observed the Earth during its commissioning phase and with a dedicated Earth-limb following observation in September 2008. These measurements yielded 6.4 x 10^6 photons with energies >100MeV and ~250hours total livetime for the highest quality data selection. This allows the study of the spatial and spectral distributions of these photons with unprecedented detail. The spectrum of the emission - often referred to as Earth albedo gamma-ray emission - has a power-law shape up to 500 GeV with spectral index Gamma = 2.79+-0.06.

Ref HAL: in2p3-00446920_v1
Ref Arxiv: 0912.0973
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.251101
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
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156 citations
Abstract:

The diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission is produced by cosmic rays (CRs) interacting with the interstellar gas and radiation field. Measurements by the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory indicated excess gamma-ray emission > 1 GeV relative to diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission models consistent with directly measured CR spectra (the so-called ``EGRET GeV excess''). The excess emission was observed in all directions on the sky, and a variety of explanations have been proposed, including beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios like annihilating or decaying dark matter. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has measured the diffuse gamma-ray emission with improved sensitivity and resolution compared to EGRET. We report on LAT measurements of the diffuse gamma-ray emission for energies 100 MeV to 10 GeV and Galactic latitudes 10 deg. <= |b| <= 20 deg. The LAT spectrum for this region of the sky is well reproduced by a diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission model that is consistent with local CR spectra and inconsistent with the EGRET GeV excess.

Comments: 2 figures, 1 table, accepted by Physical Review Letters, available online Dec. 18th, 2009

Ref HAL: in2p3-00444982_v1
DOI: 10.1126/science.1182174
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182 citations
Abstract:

Microquasars are accreting black holes or neutron stars in binary systems with associated relativistic jets. Despite their frequent outburst activity, they have never been unambiguously detected emitting high-energy gamma rays. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has detected a variable high-energy source coinciding with the position of the x-ray binary and microquasar Cygnus X-3. Its identification with Cygnus X-3 is secured by the detection of its orbital period in gamma rays, as well as the correlation of the LAT flux with radio emission from the relativistic jets of Cygnus X-3. The gamma-ray emission probably originates from within the binary system, opening new areas in which to study the formation of relativistic jets.