Possible Detection of Gamma-Rays from Epsilon Eridani

Riley, Alexander H.; Strigari, Louis E.; Porter, Troy A.; Blandford, Roger D.; Murgia, Simona; Kerr, Matthew; Jóhannesson, Guðlaugur

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab1a3c

Title: Possible Detection of Gamma-Rays from Epsilon Eridani

Journal Article · 06 June 2019 · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab1a3c · OSTI ID:1532464

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Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Mitchell Inst. for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Mitchell Inst. for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Kavli Inst. for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Kavli Inst. for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Naval Research Lab. (NRL), Washington, DC (United States). Space Science Division
KTH Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden); Univ. of Iceland, Reykjavik (Iceland). Science Inst.

We use the Fermi Large Area Telescope gamma-ray observatory to search for gamma-ray emission from four nearby, debris disk-hosting main-sequence stars: τ Ceti, ϵ Eridani, Fomalhaut, and Vega. For three stars (τ Ceti, Fomalhaut, and Vega), we establish upper limits that are consistent with theoretical expectations. For epsilon Eridani, we find a possible spatially coincident source with a soft energy spectrum of dN/dE ~ E ^-3.6. However, at this stage we are unable to rule out that this emission is due to a more extended feature in the diffuse background. In the interpretation that the emission is due to epsilon Eridani, the >100 MeV gamma-ray luminosity is ~10²⁷ erg s^-1 ≃ 3 × 10^-7 L _⊙, which is ~10¹⁰ times the gamma-ray luminosity from the disk of the quiet Sun. We find ≲2σ evidence of source variability over a ~7 yr timescale. In the interpretation that the gamma-ray emission is from epsilon Eridani itself, we consider two possible models: (1) cosmic-ray collisions with solid bodies in the debris disk, which extends out ~60 au from the host star, and (2) emission from the stellar activity. For the former model, assuming a total disk mass consistent with infrared measurements, we find that the size distribution of bodies is steeper than expected for a collisional cascade state. Finally, if confirmed as being associated with ϵ Eridani, this would be the first indication of gamma-ray emission from the vicinity of a main-sequence star other than the Sun.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1532464

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 878, Issue 1; ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 4 works

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