Observation of the Crab Nebula with the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

Abeysekara, A. U.; Barber, A. S.; Albert, A.; Alfaro, R.; Becerril, A.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; Alvarez, C.; Arceo, R.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Álvarez, J. D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Solares, H. A. Ayala; Brisbois, C.; Bautista-Elivar, N.; BenZvi, S. Y.; Berley, D.; Braun, J.; Capistrán, T.; others, and

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/AA7555

Title: Observation of the Crab Nebula with the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/AA7555· OSTI ID:22876076

Abeysekara, A. U.; Barber, A. S. ^[1]; Albert, A. ^[2]; Alfaro, R.; Becerril, A.; Belmont-Moreno, E. ^[3]; Alvarez, C.; Arceo, R.; Caballero-Mora, K. S. ^[4]; Álvarez, J. D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C. ^[5]; Solares, H. A. Ayala; Brisbois, C. ^[6]; Bautista-Elivar, N. ^[7]; BenZvi, S. Y. ^[8]; Berley, D. ^[9]; Braun, J. ^[10]; Capistrán, T.; others, and

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States)
Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México (Mexico)
Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México (Mexico)
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México (Mexico)
Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931 (United States)
Universidad Politecnica de Pachuca, Pachuca, Hgo, México (Mexico)
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627 (United States)
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

The Crab Nebula is the brightest TeV gamma-ray source in the sky and has been used for the past 25 years as a reference source in TeV astronomy, for calibration and verification of new TeV instruments. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), completed in early 2015, has been used to observe the Crab Nebula at high significance across nearly the full spectrum of energies to which HAWC is sensitive. HAWC is unique for its wide field of view, nearly 2 sr at any instant, and its high-energy reach, up to 100 TeV. HAWC’s sensitivity improves with the gamma-ray energy. Above ∼1 TeV the sensitivity is driven by the best background rejection and angular resolution ever achieved for a wide-field ground array. We present a time-integrated analysis of the Crab using 507 live days of HAWC data from 2014 November to 2016 June. The spectrum of the Crab is fit to a function of the form ϕ(E)=ϕ{sub 0}(E/E{sub 0}){sup −α−β⋅ln(E/E{sub 0})}. The data is well fitted with values of α = 2.63 ± 0.03, β = 0.15 ± 0.03, and log{sub 10}(ϕ{sub 0} cm{sup 2} s TeV)=−12.60±0.02 when E {sub 0} is fixed at 7 TeV and the fit applies between 1 and 37 TeV. Study of the systematic errors in this HAWC measurement is discussed and estimated to be ±50% in the photon flux between 1 and 37 TeV. Confirmation of the Crab flux serves to establish the HAWC instrument’s sensitivity for surveys of the sky. The HAWC all-sky survey will be the deepest survey of the northern sky ever conducted in the multi-TeV band.

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OSTI ID:: 22876076

Journal Information:: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 843, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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