pith. sign in

arxiv: 1005.0032 · v4 · pith:E3CRURP5new · submitted 2010-04-30 · 🌌 astro-ph.HE

Discovery of VHE γ-ray emission from the SNR G54.1+0.3

classification 🌌 astro-ph.HE
keywords gamma-rayemissiongammameasureddiscoveryenergyfluxspectrum
0
0 comments X
read the original abstract

We report the discovery of very high energy gamma-ray emission from the direction of the SNR G54.1+0.3 using the VERITAS ground-based gamma-ray observatory. The TeV signal has an overall significance of 6.8$\sigma$ and appears point-like given the 5$^{arcminute}$ resolution of the instrument. The integral flux above 1 TeV is 2.5% of the Crab Nebula flux and significant emission is measured between 250 GeV and 4 TeV, well described by a power-law energy spectrum dN/dE $\sim$ E$^{-\Gamma}$ with a photon index $\Gamma= 2.39\pm0.23_{stat}\pm0.30_{sys}$. We find no evidence of time variability among observations spanning almost two years. Based on the location, the morphology, the measured spectrum, the lack of variability and a comparison with similar systems previously detected in the TeV band, the most likely counterpart of this new VHE gamma-ray source is the PWN in the SNR G54.1+0.3. The measured X-ray to VHE gamma-ray luminosity ratio is the lowest among all the nebulae supposedly driven by young rotation-powered pulsars, which could indicate a particle-dominated PWN.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet.

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Forward citations

Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. A catalogue of TeV pulsar environments

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    A homogenized catalogue of 128 TeV sources associated with 66 pulsars, covering all evolutionary stages and showing only weak correlation between luminosity and pulsar age.