THE FIRST DETECTION OF GeV EMISSION FROM AN ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXY: Arp 220 AS SEEN WITH THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- School of Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031 (China)
- Department of Astronomy and Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China)
Cosmic rays (CRs) in starburst galaxies produce high-energy gamma-rays by colliding with the dense interstellar medium. Arp 220 is the nearest ultraluminous infrared galaxy that has star formation at extreme levels, so it has long been predicted to emit high-energy gamma-rays. However, no evidence of gamma-ray emission was found despite intense search efforts. Here we report the discovery of high-energy gamma-ray emission above 200 MeV from Arp 220 at a confidence level of ∼6.3σ using 7.5 years of Fermi Large Area Telescope observations. The gamma-ray emission shows no significant variability over the observation period and it is consistent with the quasi-linear scaling relation between the gamma-ray luminosity and total infrared luminosity for star-forming galaxies, suggesting that these gamma-rays arise from CR interactions. As the high-density medium of Arp 220 makes it an ideal CR calorimeter, the gamma-ray luminosity can be used to measure the efficiency of powering CRs by supernova (SN) remnants given a known supernova rate in Arp 220. We find that this efficiency is about 4.2 ± 2.6% for CRs above 1 GeV.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518470
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 821, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
X-Ray Emission from the Nuclear Region of Arp 220
Theoretical Modelling of the Diffuse Emission of (gamma)-rays From Extreme Regions of Star Formation: The Case of Arp 220