Hard x-ray to low energy gamma ray spectrum of the Crab Nebula

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6961458

Jung, G V

The spectrum of the Crab Nebula has been determined in the energy range 10 keV to 5 MeV from the data of the UCSD/MIT Hard-X-ray and Low Energy Gamma Ray Experiment on the first High Energy Astronomy Observatory, HEAO-1. The x-ray to ..gamma..-ray portion of the continuous emission from the Crab is indicative of the electron spectrum, its transport through the nebula, and the physical conditions near the shocked interface between the nebular region and the wind which is the physical link between the nebula and the pulsar, NP0532. The power-law dependence of the spectrum found in the lower-energy decade of this observation (10 to 100 keV) is not continued without modification to higher energies. Evidence for this has been accumulating from previous observations in the ..gamma..-ray ranges of 1-10 MeV and above 35 MeV. The observations on which this dissertation is based further characterize the spectral change in the 100 keV to 1 MeV region. These observations provide a crucial connection between the x-ray and ..gamma..-ray spectrum of the non-pulsed emission of the Crab Nebula. The continuity of this spectrum suggests that the emission mechanism responsible for the non-pulsed ..gamma..-rays observed above 35 MeV is of the same origin as the emission at lower energies, i.e. that of synchrotron radiation in the magnetic field of the nebula.

• Research Organization: California Univ., San Diego (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6961458
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
CRAB NEBULA
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON DRIFT
EMISSION SPECTRA
ENERGY RANGE
GAMMA SPECTRA
KEV RANGE
MEV RANGE
NEBULAE
RADIATIONS
SPECTRA
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION
X-RAY SPECTRA