Gamma-Ray Emission Concurrent with the Nova in the Symbiotic Binary V407 Cygni

Journal Article · Fri Aug 13 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192537· OSTI ID:1357543

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Atwood, W. B.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bonamente, E.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Brandt, T. J.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Brigida, M. ; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Burnett, T. H.; Buson, S.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Caraveo, P. A.; Carrigan, S.; Casandjian, J. M.; Cecchi, C.; Celik, O.; Charles, E.; Chaty, S.; Chekhtman, A.; Cheung, C. C.; Chiang, J.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Conrad, J.; Corbel, S.; Corbet, R.; DeCesar, M. E.; den Hartog, P. R.; Dermer, C. D.; de Palma, F.; Digel, S. W.; Donato, D.; do Couto e Silva, E.; Drell, P. S.; Dubois, R.; Dubus, G.; Dumora, D.; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S. J.; Ferrara, E. C.; Fortin, P.; Frailis, M.; Fuhrmann, L.; Fukazawa, Y.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Gehrels, N.; Germani, S.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Grenier, I. A.; Grondin, M. -. H.; Grove, J. E.; Guiriec, S.; Hadasch, D.; Harding, A. K.; Hayashida, M.; Hays, E.; Healey, S. E.; Hill, A. B.; Horan, D.; Hughes, R. E.; Itoh, R.; Jean, P.; Johannesson, G.; Johnson, A. S.; Johnson, R. P.; Johnson, T. J.; Johnson, W. N.; Kamae, T.; Katagiri, H.; Kataoka, J.; Kerr, M.; Knodlseder, J.; Koerding, E.; Kuss, M.; Lande, J.; Latronico, L.; Lee, S. -. H.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Llena Garde, M.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lott, B.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Makeev, A.; Mazziotta, M. N.; McConville, W.; McEnery, J. E.; Mehault, J.; Michelson, P. F.; Mizuno, T.; Moiseev, A. A.; Monte, C.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Nakamori, T.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Nestoras, I.; Nolan, P. L.; Norris, J. P.; Nuss, E.; Ohno, M.; Ohsugi, T.; Okumura, A.; Omodei, N.; Orlando, E.; Ormes, J. F.; Ozaki, M.; Paneque, D.; Panetta, J. H.; Parent, D.; Pelassa, V.; Pepe, M.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Piron, F.; Porter, T. A.; Raino, S.; Rando, R.; Ray, P. S.; Razzano, M.; Razzaque, S.; Rea, N.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Reposeur, T.; Ripken, J.; Ritz, S.; Romani, R. W.; Roth, M.; Sadrozinski, H. F. -. W.; Sander, A.; Saz Parkinson, P. M.; Scargle, J. D.; Schinzel, F. K.; Sgro, C.; Shaw, M. S.; Siskind, E. J.; Smith, D. A.; Smith, P. D.; Sokolovsky, K. V.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Stawarz, L.; Strickman, M. S.; Suson, D. J.; Takahashi, H.; Takahashi, T.; Tanaka, T.; Tanaka, Y.; Thayer, J. B.; Thayer, J. G.; Thompson, D. J.; Tibaldo, L.; Torres, D. F.; Tosti, G.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T. L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Vilchez, N.; Vitale, V.; Waite, A. P.; Wallace, E.; Wang, P.; Winer, B. L.; Wolff, M. T.; Wood, K. S.; Yang, Z.; Ylinen, T.; Ziegler, M.; Maehara, H.; Nishiyama, K.; Kabashima, F.; Bach, U.; Bower, G. C.; Falcone, A.; Forster, J. R.; Henden, A.; Kawabata, K. S.; Koubsky, P.; Mukai, K.; Nelson, T.; Oates, S. R.; Sakimoto, K.; Sasada, M.; Shenavrin, V. I.; Shore, S. N.; Skinner, G. K.; Sokoloski, J.; Stroh, M.; Tatarnikov, A. M.; Uemura, M.; Wahlgren, G. M.; Yamanaka, M.

Novae are thermonuclear explosions on a white dwarf surface fueled by mass accreted from a companion star. Current physical models posit that shocked expanding gas from the nova shell can produce x-ray emission, but emission at higher energies has not been widely expected. Here in this paper, we report the Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of variable γ-ray emission (0.1 to 10 billion electron volts) from the recently detected optical nova of the symbiotic star V407 Cygni. We propose that the material of the nova shell interacts with the dense ambient medium of the red giant primary and that particles can be accelerated effectively to produce π⁰ decay γ-rays from proton-proton interactions. Lastly, emission involving inverse Compton scattering of the red giant radiation is also considered and is not ruled out.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Contributing Organization: The Fermi-LAT Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1357543
• Journal Information: Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 5993 Vol. 329; ISSN 0036-8075
• Publisher: AAAS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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