Observation of pulsed gamma-rays above 25 GeV from the Crab pulsar with MAGIC.
Science
; 322(5905): 1221-4, 2008 Nov 21.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18927358
One fundamental question about pulsars concerns the mechanism of their pulsed electromagnetic emission. Measuring the high-end region of a pulsar's spectrum would shed light on this question. By developing a new electronic trigger, we lowered the threshold of the Major Atmospheric gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescope to 25 giga-electron volts. In this configuration, we detected pulsed gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar that were greater than 25 giga-electron volts, revealing a relatively high cutoff energy in the phase-averaged spectrum. This indicates that the emission occurs far out in the magnetosphere, hence excluding the polar-cap scenario as a possible explanation of our measurement. The high cutoff energy also challenges the slot-gap scenario.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Science
Año:
2008
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos