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Detection of gamma-ray emission from the Vela pulsar wind nebula with AGILE

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 06:25 authored by Pellizzoni, A, Trois, A, Tavani, M, Pilia, M, Giuliani, A, Pucella, G, Esposito, P, Sabatini, S, Piano, G, Argan, A, Barbiellini, G, Bulgarelli, A, Burgay, M, Caraveo, P, Cattaneo, PW, Chen, AW, Cocco, V, Contessi, T, Costa, E, D'Ammando, F, Del Monte, E, De Paris, G, Di Cocco, G, Di Persio, G, Donnarumma, I, Evangelista, Y, Feroci, M, Ferrari, A, Fiorini, M, Fuschino, F, Galli, M, Gianotti, F, Hotan, A, Labanti, C, Lapshov, I, Lazzarotto, F, Lipari, P, Longo, F, Marisaldi, M, Mastropietro, M, Mereghetti, S, Moretti, E, Morselli, A, Pacciani, L, Jim PalfreymanJim Palfreyman, Perotti, F, Picozza, F, Pittori, C, Possenti, A, Prest, M, Rapisarda, M
Pulsars are known to power winds of relativistic particles that can produce bright nebulae by interacting with the surrounding medium. These pulsar wind nebulae are observed by their radio, optical, and x-ray emissions, and in some cases also at TeV (teraelectron volt) energies, but the lack of information in the gamma-ray band precludes drawing a comprehensive multiwavelength picture of their phenomenology and emission mechanisms. Using data from the AGILE satellite, we detected the Vela pulsar wind nebula in the energy range from 100 MeV to 3 GeV. This result constrains the particle population responsible for the GeV emission and establishes a class of gamma-ray emitters that could account for a fraction of the unidentified galactic gamma-ray sources.

History

Publication title

Science

Volume

327

Issue

5966

Pagination

663-665

ISSN

0036-8075

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Amer Assoc Advancement Science

Place of publication

1200 New York Ave, Nw, Washington, USA, Dc, 20005

Rights statement

Copyright 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences

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