FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE CRAB PULSAR AND NEBULA

Abdo, A A; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Bechtol, K; Berenji, B; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Borgland, A W; Atwood, W B; Axelsson, M; Baldini, L; Bellazzini, R; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Baring, M G; Bastieri, D; Bonamente, E; Brigida, M

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1254

Title: FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE CRAB PULSAR AND NEBULA

Journal Article · Sun Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1254· OSTI ID:21392412

Abdo, A A ^[1]; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Bechtol, K; Berenji, B; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Borgland, A W ^[2]; Atwood, W B ^[3]; Axelsson, M ^[4]; Baldini, L; Bellazzini, R; Bregeon, J; Brez, A ^[5]; Ballet, J ^[6]; Barbiellini, G ^[7]; Baring, M G ^[8]; Bastieri, D ^[9]; Bonamente, E ^[10]; Brigida, M ^[11]

Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)
W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)
Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)
Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette (France)
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, MS-108, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 (United States)
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy)
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy)
Dipartimento di Fisica 'M. Merlin' dell'Universita e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy)

We report on gamma-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 Nancay and Jodrell Bank radio telescopes shows two main peaks stable in phase with energy. The first gamma-ray peak leads the radio main pulse by (281 +- 12 +- 21) mus, giving new constraints on the production site of non-thermal emission in pulsar magnetospheres. The first uncertainty is due to gamma-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 E{sub c} = (5.8 +- 0.5 +- 1.2) GeV, spectral index of GAMMA = (1.97 +- 0.02 +- 0.06) and integral photon flux above 100 MeV of (2.09 +- 0.03 +- 0.18) x 10{sup -6} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. The first errors represent the statistical error on the fit parameters, while the second ones are the systematic uncertainties. Pulsed gamma-ray photons are observed up to approx 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 gamma-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 GAMMA{sub sync} = (3.99 +- 0.12 +- 0.08) and GAMMA{sub IC} = (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.

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OSTI ID:: 21392412

Journal Information:: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 708, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1254; ISSN 0004-637X

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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79 ASTROPHYSICS
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GEV RANGE
NEBULAE
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PULSARS
PULSES
RADIO TELESCOPES
ROTATION
SCATTERING
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
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ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
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Title: FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE CRAB PULSAR AND NEBULA

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