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The spectrum and morphology of the Fermi bubbles

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1]; ; ; ; ; ;  [2];  [3]; ;  [4];  [5];  [6]; ;  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];
  1. Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany)
  2. 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)
  3. 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)
  4. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)
  5. Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France)
  6. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
  7. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy)
  8. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, and Università di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
  9. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  10. Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS/IN2P3, Montpellier (France)
  11. Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, École polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Palaiseau (France)
The Fermi bubbles are two large structures in the gamma-ray sky extending to 55° above and below the Galactic center. We analyze 50 months of Fermi Large Area Telescope data between 100 MeV and 500 GeV above 10° in Galactic latitude to derive the spectrum and morphology of the Fermi bubbles. We thoroughly explore the systematic uncertainties that arise when modeling the Galactic diffuse emission through two separate approaches. The gamma-ray spectrum is well described by either a log parabola or a power law with an exponential cutoff. We exclude a simple power law with more than 7σ significance. The power law with an exponential cutoff has an index of 1.9 ± 0.2 and a cutoff energy of 110 ± 50 GeV. We find that the gamma-ray luminosity of the bubbles is 4.4{sub −0.9}{sup +2.4}×10{sup 37} erg s{sup –1}. We confirm a significant enhancement of gamma-ray emission in the southeastern part of the bubbles, but we do not find significant evidence for a jet. No significant variation of the spectrum across the bubbles is detected. The width of the boundary of the bubbles is estimated to be 3.4{sub −2.6}{sup +3.7} deg. Both inverse Compton (IC) models and hadronic models including IC emission from secondary leptons fit the gamma-ray data well. In the IC scenario, synchrotron emission from the same population of electrons can also explain the WMAP and Planck microwave haze with a magnetic field between 5 and 20 μG.
OSTI ID:
22364998
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 793; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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The Bending Feature of the Fermi Bubbles: A Presumed Horizontal Galactic Wind and Its Implication on the Bubbles' Age text January 2018
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The e-ASTROGAM mission: Exploring the extreme Universe with gamma rays in the MeV – GeV range journal June 2017
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