Discovery of Very-High-Energy Gamma-Rays from the Galactic Centre Ridge

F. Aharonian , A.G. Akhperjanian , A.R. Bazer-Bachi , M. Beilicke , Wystan Benbow , David Berge , K. Bernlohr , C. Boisson , O. Bolz , V. Borrel , I. Braun , F. Breitling , A.M. Brown , P.M. Chadwick , L.-M. Chounet (1) , R. Cornils , L. Costamante , B. Degrange (1) , H.J. Dickinson , A. Djannati-Atai (2) , L.O'C. Drury , G. Dubus (1) , D. Emmanoulopoulos , P. Espigat (2) , F. Feinstein (3) , G. Fontaine (1) , Y. Fuchs , S. Funk , Y. Gallant (3) , B. Giebels (1) , S. Gillessen , J.F. Glicenstein , P. Goret , C. Hadjichristidis , D. Hauser , M. Hauser , G. Heinzelmann , G. Henri , G. Hermann , J.A. Hinton , W. Hofmann , M. Holleran , Dieter Horns , A. Jacholkowska (3) , O.C. de Jager , B. Khelifi (1) , Nu. Komin , A. Konopelko , I.J. Latham , R. Le Gallou , A. Lemiere (2) , M. Lemoine-Goumard (1) , N. Leroy (1) , T. Lohse , A. Marcowith , J.M. Martin , O. Martineau-Huynh (4) , C. Masterson , T.J.L. Mccomb , M. de Naurois (4) , S.J. Nolan , A. Noutsos , K.J. Orford , J.L. Osborne , M. Ouchrif (4) , M. Panter , G. Pelletier , S. Pita (2) , G. Puhlhofer , M. Punch (2) , B.C. Raubenheimer , M. Raue , J. Raux (4) , S.M. Rayner , A. Reimer , O. Reimer , J. Ripken , L. Rob , L. Rolland (4) , G. Rowell , V. Sahakian , L. Sauge , S. Schlenker , R. Schlickeiser , U. Schwanke , M. Siewert , H. Sol , D. Spangler , R. Steenkamp , C. Stegmann , J.-P. Tavernet (4) , R. Terrier (5) , C.G. Theoret (2) , M. Tluczykont (1) , C. van Eldik , G. Vasileiadis (3) , C. Venter , P. Vincent (4) , H.J. Volk , S.J. Wagner

1 LLR - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
2 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
3 LPTA - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules
4 LPNHE - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies
5 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies

The origin of Galactic cosmic rays (with energies up to 10^15 eV) remains unclear, though it is widely believed that they originate in the shock waves of expanding supernova remnants. Currently the best way to investigate their acceleration and propagation is by observing the gamma-rays produced when cosmic rays interact with interstellar gas. Here we report observations of an extended region of very high energy (VHE, >100 GeV) gamma-ray emission correlated spatially with a complex of giant molecular clouds in the central 200 pc of the Milky Way. The hardness of the gamma-ray spectrum and the conditions in those molecular clouds indicate that the cosmic rays giving rise to the gamma-rays are likely to be protons and nuclei rather than electrons. The energy associated with the cosmic rays could have come from a single supernova explosion around 10,000 years ago.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

F. Aharonian, A.G. Akhperjanian, A.R. Bazer-Bachi, M. Beilicke, Wystan Benbow, et al.. Discovery of Very-High-Energy Gamma-Rays from the Galactic Centre Ridge. Nature, 2006, 439, pp.695-698. ⟨10.1038/nature04467⟩. ⟨in2p3-00025901⟩