dc.contributor.author | Abdalla, H. | |
dc.contributor.author | Arcaro, C. | |
dc.contributor.author | Backes, M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Barnard, M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Böttcher, M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Chand, T. | |
dc.contributor.author | Chandra, S. | |
dc.contributor.author | Ndiyavala, H. | |
dc.contributor.author | Schutte, H. | |
dc.contributor.author | Seyffert, A.S. | |
dc.contributor.author | Van der Walt, D.J. | |
dc.contributor.author | Van Rensburg, C. | |
dc.contributor.author | Venter, C. | |
dc.contributor.author | Wadiasingh, Z. | |
dc.contributor.author | Zacharias, M. | |
dc.contributor.author | H.E.S.S. Collaboration | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-03-12T08:01:55Z | |
dc.date.available | 2020-03-12T08:01:55Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Abdalla, H. et al. 2020. Resolving the Crab pulsar wind nebula at teraelectronvolt energies. Nature astronomy, 4(2):167-173. [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0910-0] | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 2397-3366 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10394/34331 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0910-0 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0910-0 | |
dc.description.abstract | The Crab nebula is one of the most-studied cosmic particle accelerators, shining brightly across the entire electromagnetic spectrum up to very-high-energy gamma rays1,2. It is known from observations in the radio to gamma-ray part of the spectrum that the nebula is powered by a pulsar, which converts most of its rotational energy losses into a highly relativistic outflow. This outflow powers a pulsar wind nebula, a region of up to ten light-years across, filled with relativistic electrons and positrons. These particles emit synchrotron photons in the ambient magnetic field and produce very-high-energy gamma rays by Compton up-scattering of ambient low-energy photons. Although the synchrotron morphology of the nebula is well established, it has not been known from which region the very-high-energy gamma rays are emitted3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report that the Crab nebula has an angular extension at gamma-ray energies of 52 arcseconds (assuming a Gaussian source width), much larger than at X-ray energies. This result closes a gap in the multi-wavelength coverage of the nebula, revealing the emission region of the highest-energy gamma rays. These gamma rays enable us to probe a previously inaccessible electron and positron energy range. We find that simulations of the electromagnetic emission reproduce our measurement, providing a non-trivial test of our understanding of particle acceleration in the Crab nebula | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | Nature | en_US |
dc.subject | High-energy astrophysics | en_US |
dc.subject | Particle astrophysics | en_US |
dc.title | Resolving the Crab pulsar wind nebula at teraelectronvolt energies | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dc.contributor.researchID | 26598973 - Abdalla, Hassan | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 30588766 - Arcaro, Cornelia | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 28644743 - Backes, Michael | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 20574266 - Barnard, Monica | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 24420530 - Böttcher, Markus | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 30366755 - Chand, Tej B. | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 31125417 - Chandra, Sunil | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 26403366 - Ndiyavala, Hambeleleni | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 10060499 - Van der Walt, Diederick Johannes | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 10060499 - Van der Walt, Diederick Johannes | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 12006653 - Venter, Christo | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 26594080 - Wadiasingh, Zorawar | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 22799133 - Schutte, Hester M. | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 20126999 - Seyffert, Albertus Stefanus | |
dc.contributor.researchID | 29092086 - Zacharias, Michael | |