TEV GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS of the GALACTIC CENTER RIDGE by VERITAS

A. Archer, W. Benbow, R. Bird, M. Buchovecky, J. H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, J. V. Cardenzana, M. Cerruti, X. Chen, L. Ciupik, E. Collins-Hughes, M. P. Connolly, J. D. Eisch, A. Falcone, Q. Feng, J. P. Finley, H. Fleischhack, A. Flinders, L. FortsonA. Furniss, G. H. Gillanders, S. Griffin, J. Grube, G. Gyuk, N. Hakansson, D. Hanna, J. Holder, T. B. Humensky, M. Hütten, C. A. Johnson, P. Kaaret, P. Kar, N. Kelley-Hoskins, M. Kertzman, D. Kieda, M. Krause, F. Krennrich, S. Kumar, M. J. Lang, S. McArthur, A. McCann, K. Meagher, J. Millis, P. Moriarty, R. Mukherjee, D. Nieto, R. A. Ong, N. Park, V. Pelassa, M. Pohl, A. Popkow, E. Pueschel, J. Quinn, K. Ragan, G. Ratliff, P. T. Reynolds, G. T. Richards, E. Roache, J. Rousselle, M. Santander, G. H. Sembroski, K. Shahinyan, A. W. Smith, D. Staszak, I. Telezhinsky, J. V. Tucci, J. Tyler, V. V. Vassiliev, S. P. Wakely, O. M. Weiner, A. Weinstein, A. Wilhelm, D. A. Williams, B. Zitzer, F. Yusef-Zadeh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Galactic Center ridge has been observed extensively in the past by both GeV and TeV gamma-ray instruments revealing a wealth of structure, including a diffuse component and the point sources G0.9+0.1 (a composite supernova remnant) and Sgr A∗ (believed to be associated with the supermassive black hole located at the center of our Galaxy). Previous very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations with the H.E.S.S. experiment have also detected an extended TeV gamma-ray component along the Galactic plane in the >300 GeV gamma-ray regime. Here we report on observations of the Galactic Center ridge from 2010 to 2014 by the VERITAS telescope array in the >2 TeV energy range. From these observations we (1) provide improved measurements of the differential energy spectrum for Sgr A∗ in the >2 TeV gamma-ray regime, (2) provide a detection in the >2 TeV gamma-ray emission from the composite SNR G0.9+0.1 and an improved determination of its multi-TeV gamma-ray energy spectrum, and (3) report on the detection of VER J1746-289, a localized enhancement of >2 TeV gamma-ray emission along the Galactic plane.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number129
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume821
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 20 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

Keywords

  • Galaxy: center
  • gamma rays: general
  • supernovae: individual (G0.9+0.1)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'TEV GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS of the GALACTIC CENTER RIDGE by VERITAS'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this