We present a complete analysis of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data of GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected. The burst emission above 30 MeV detected by the LAT preceded, by 1 s, the low-energy (<10 MeV) pulse that triggered the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM), as has been observed in other GRBs. The prompt phase of GRB 221009A lasted a few hundred seconds. It was so bright that we identify a bad time interval of 64 s caused by the extremely high flux of hard X-rays and soft gamma rays, during which the event reconstruction efficiency was poor and the dead time fraction quite high. The late-time emission decayed as a power law, but the extrapolation of the late-time emission during the first 450 s suggests that the afterglow started during the prompt emission. We also found that high-energy events observed by the LAT are incompatible with synchrotron origin, and, during the prompt emission, are more likely related to an extra component identified as synchrotron self-Compton (SSC). A remarkable 400 GeV photon, detected by the LAT 33 ks after the GBM trigger and directionally consistent with the location of GRB 221009A, is hard to explain as a product of SSC or TeV electromagnetic cascades, and the process responsible for its origin is uncertain. Because of its proximity and energetic nature, GRB 221009A is an extremely rare event.
We present 294 pulsars found in GeV data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Another 33 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) discovered in deep radio searches of LAT sources will likely reveal pulsations once phase-connected rotation ephemerides are achieved. A further dozen optical and/or X-ray binary systems colocated with LAT sources also likely harbor gamma-ray MSPs. This catalog thus reports roughly 340 gamma-ray pulsars and candidates, 10% of all known pulsars, compared to ≤11 known before Fermi. Half of the gamma-ray pulsars are young. Of these, the half that are undetected in radio have a broader Galactic latitude distribution than the young radio-loud pulsars. The others are MSPs, with six undetected in radio. Overall, ≥236 are bright enough above 50 MeV to fit the pulse profile, the energy spectrum, or both. For the common two-peaked profiles, the gamma-ray peak closest to the magnetic pole crossing generally has a softer spectrum. The spectral energy distributions tend to narrow as the spindown power E ̇ decreases to its observed minimum near 10 33 erg s −1 , approaching the shape for synchrotron radiation from monoenergetic electrons. We calculate gamma-ray luminosities when distances are available. Our all-sky gamma-ray sensitivity map is useful for population syntheses. The electronic catalog version provides gamma-ray pulsar ephemerides, properties, and fit results to guide and be compared with modeling results.
We report the discovery of GRB 221009A, the highest flux gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Fermi-GBM). This GRB has continuous prompt emission lasting more than 600 s, which smoothly transitions to afterglow emission visible in the Fermi-GBM energy range (8 keV–40 MeV), and total energetics higher than any other burst in the Fermi-GBM sample. By using a variety of new and existing analysis techniques we probe the spectral and temporal evolution of GRB 221009A. We find no emission prior to the Fermi-GBM trigger time ( t 0 ; 2022 October 9 at 13:16:59.99 UTC), indicating that this is the time of prompt emission onset. The triggering pulse exhibits distinct spectral and temporal properties suggestive of the thermal, photospheric emission of shock breakout, with significant emission up to ∼15 MeV. We characterize the onset of external shock at t 0 + 600 s and find evidence of a plateau region in the early-afterglow phase, which transitions to a slope consistent with Swift-XRT afterglow measurements. We place the total energetics of GRB 221009A in context with the rest of the Fermi-GBM sample and find that this GRB has the highest total isotropic-equivalent energy ( E γ ,iso = 1.0 × 10 55 erg) and second highest isotropic-equivalent luminosity ( L γ ,iso = 9.9 × 10 53 erg s –1 ) based on its redshift of z = 0.151. These extreme energetics are what allowed us to observe the continuously emitting central engine of Fermi-GBM from the beginning of the prompt emission phase through the onset of early afterglow.
We present a short overview of the TeV-Halos objects as a discovery and a relevant contribution of the High Altitude Water Çerenkov (HAWC) observatory to TeV astrophysics. We discuss history, discovery, knowledge, and the next step through a new and more detailed analysis than the original study in 2017. TeV-Halos will contribute to resolving the problem of the local positron excess observed on the Earth. To clarify the latter, understanding the diffusion process is mandatory.
All-Sky-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray observatory operating in a broad energy range, 100 keV to a few hundred MeV, recently proposed as the "Fast" (F) mission of the European Space Agency for a launch in 2028 to an L2 orbit. The scientific payload is composed of a unique gamma-ray imaging monitor for astrophysical transients, with very large field of view (almost 4π sr) and optimal sensitivity to detect bright and intermediate flux sources (gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, X-ray binaries, supernovae and novae) at different timescales ranging from seconds to months. The mission will operate in a maturing gravitational wave and multi-messenger epoch, opening up new and exciting synergies.
The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) mission is being designed to establish charged-particle astronomy with ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and to observe cosmogenic tau neutrinos (CTNs). The study of UHECRs and CTNs from space will yield orders-of-magnitude increase in statistics of observed UHECRs at the highest energies, and the observation of the cosmogenic flux of neutrinos for a range of UHECR models. These observations should solve the long-standing puzzle of the origin of the highest energy particles ever observed, providing a new window onto the most energetic environments and events in the Universe, while studying particle interactions well beyond accelerator energies. The discovery of CTNs will help solve the puzzle of the origin of UHECRs and begin a new field of Astroparticle Physics with the study of neutrino properties at ultra-high energies.
We report on the observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 190114C by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The early-time observations reveal multiple emission components that evolve independently, with a delayed power-law component that exhibits significant spectral attenuation above 40 MeV in the first few seconds of the burst. This power-law component transitions to a harder spectrum that is consistent with the afterglow emission observed at later times. This afterglow component is clearly identifiable in the GBM and BAT light curves as a slowly fading emission component on which the rest of the prompt emission is superimposed. As a result, we are able to constrain the transition from internal shock to external shock dominated emission. We find that the temporal and spectral evolution of the broadband afterglow emission can be well modeled as synchrotron emission from a forward shock propagating into a wind-like circumstellar environment and find that high-energy photons observed by Fermi LAT are in tension with the theoretical maximum energy that can be achieved through synchrotron emission from a shock. These violations of the maximum synchrotron energy are further compounded by the detection of very high energy (VHE) emission above 300 GeV by MAGIC concurrent with our observations. We conclude that the observations of VHE photons from GRB 190114C necessitates either an additional emission mechanism at very high energies that is hidden in the synchrotron component in the LAT energy range, an acceleration mechanism that imparts energy to the particles at a rate that is faster than the electron synchrotron energy loss rate, or revisions of the fundamental assumptions used in estimating the maximum photon energy attainable through the synchrotron process.
The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) is designed to identify the sources of Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) and to observe cosmic neutrinos, both with full-sky coverage. Developed as a NASA Astrophysics Probe-class mission, POEMMA consists of two spacecraft flying in a loose formation at 525 km altitude, 28.5 deg inclination orbits. Each spacecraft hosts a Schmidt telescope with a large collecting area and wide field of view. A novel focal plane is optimized to observe both the UV fluorescence signal from extensive air showers (EASs) and the beamed optical Cherenkov signals from EASs. In POEMMA-stereo fluorescence mode, POEMMA will measure the spectrum, composition, and full-sky distribution of the UHECRs above 20 EeV with high statistics along with remarkable sensitivity to UHE neutrinos. The spacecraft are designed to quickly re-orient to a POEMMA-limb mode to observe neutrino emission from Target-of-Opportunity (ToO) transient astrophysical sources viewed just below the Earth's limb. In this mode, POEMMA will have unique sensitivity to cosmic neutrino tau events above 20 PeV by measuring the upward-moving EASs induced by the decay of the emerging tau leptons following the interactions of neutrino tau inside the Earth.
The constantly improving sensitivity of ground-based and space-borne observatories has made possible the detection of high-energy emission (X-rays and gamma-rays) from several thousands of extragalactic sources. Enormous progress has been made in measuring the continuum flux enabling us to perform imaging, spectral and timing studies. An important remaining challenge for high-energy astronomy is measuring polarization. The capability to measure polarization is being realized currently at X-ray energies (e.g. with IXPE), and sensitive gamma-ray telescopes capable of measuring polarization, such as AMEGO, AdEPT, e-ASTROGAM, etc., are being developed. These future gamma-ray telescopes will probe the radiation mechanisms and magnetic fields of relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei at spatial scales much smaller than the angular resolution achieved with continuum observations of the instrument. In this white paper, we discuss the scientific potentials of high-energy polarimetry, especially gamma-ray polarimetry, including the theoretical implications, and observational technology advances being made. In particular, we will explore the primary scientific opportunities and wealth of information expected from synergy of multi-wavelength polarimetry that will be brought to multi-messenger astronomy.
The first multimessenger observation of a neutron star merger was independently detected in gamma-rays by Fermi-GBM and INTEGRAL SPI-ACS and gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. Gravitational waves are emitted from systems with accelerating quadrupole moments, and detectable sources are expected to be compact objects. Nearly all distant astrophysical gamma-ray sources are compact objects. Therefore, serendipitous observations of these two messengers will continue to uncover the sources of gravitational waves and gamma-rays, and enable multimessenger science across the Astro2020 thematic areas. This requires upgrades to the ground-based gravitational wave network and ~keV-MeV gamma-ray coverage for observations of neutron star mergers, and broadband coverage in both gravitational waves and gamma-rays to monitor other expected joint sources.
Long-duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs) originate from ultra-relativistic jets launched from the collapsing cores of dying massive stars. They are characterized by an initial phase of bright and highly variable radiation in the kiloelectronvolt-to-megaelectronvolt band, which is probably produced within the jet and lasts from milliseconds to minutes, known as the prompt emission1,2. Subsequently, the interaction of the jet with the surrounding medium generates shock waves that are responsible for the afterglow emission, which lasts from days to months and occurs over a broad energy range from the radio to the gigaelectronvolt bands1-6. The afterglow emission is generally well explained as synchrotron radiation emitted by electrons accelerated by the external shock7-9. Recently, intense long-lasting emission between 0.2 and 1 teraelectronvolts was observed from GRB 190114C10,11. Here we report multi-frequency observations of GRB 190114C, and study the evolution in time of the GRB emission across 17 orders of magnitude in energy, from 5 × 10-6 to 1012 electronvolts. We find that the broadband spectral energy distribution is double-peaked, with the teraelectronvolt emission constituting a distinct spectral component with power comparable to the synchrotron component. This component is associated with the afterglow and is satisfactorily explained by inverse Compton up-scattering of synchrotron photons by high-energy electrons. We find that the conditions required to account for the observed teraelectronvolt component are typical for GRBs, supporting the possibility that inverse Compton emission is commonly produced in GRBs.
List of proceedings from the HAWC Collaboration presented at the 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 24 July - 1 August 2019, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
GRB 131108A is a bright long gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected by the Large Area Telescope and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Dedicated temporal and spectral analyses reveal three ?-ray flares dominating above 100 MeV, which are not directly related to the prompt emission in the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor band (10 keV?10 MeV). The high-energy light curve of GRB 131108A (100 MeV?10 GeV) shows an unusual evolution: a steep decay, followed by three flares with an underlying emission, and then a long-lasting decay phase. The detailed analysis of the ?-ray flares finds that the three flares are 6?20 times brighter than the underlying emission and are similar to each other. The fluence of each flare, (1.6?2.0)10(?6) erg cm(?2), is comparable to that of emission during the steep decay phase, 1.710(?6) erg cm(?2). The total fluence from three ?-ray flares is 5.310(?6) erg cm(?2). The three ?-ray flares show properties similar to the usual X-ray flares that are sharp flux increases, occurring in ?50% of afterglows, in some cases well after the prompt emission. Also, the temporal and spectral indices during the early steep decay phase and the decaying phase of each flare show the consistency with a relation of the curvature effect (<CDATA<i=2 + <CDATA<i), which is the first observational evidence of the high-latitude emission in the GeV energy band.
e-ASTROGAM (enhanced ASTROGAM) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV - the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV-GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and LISA.
e-ASTROGAM (enhanced ASTROGAM) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV - the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV-GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and LISA.
Gamma rays reveal the Universe's history How many stars have formed in the Universe, and when did they do so? These fundamental questions are difficult to answer because there are systematic uncertainties in converting the light we observe into the total mass of stars in galaxies. The Fermi-LAT Collaboration addressed these questions by exploiting the way that gamma rays from distant blazars propagate through intergalactic space, which depends on the total amount of light emitted by all galaxies. The collaboration found that star formation peaked about 3 billion years after the Big Bang (see the Perspective by Prandini). Although this is similar to previous estimates from optical and infrared observations, the results provide valuable confirmation because they should be affected by different systematic effects. Science , this issue p. 1031 ; see also p. 995
We present a search for spatial extension in high-latitude (vertical bar b vertical bar > 5 degrees) sources in recent Fermi point source catalogs. The result is the Fermi High-Latitude Extended Sources Catalog, which provides source extensions (or upper limits thereof) and likelihood profiles for a suite of tested source morphologies. We find 24. extended sources, 19 of which were not previously characterized as extended. These include sources that are potentially associated with supernova remnants and star-forming regions. We also found extended.-ray emission in the vicinity of the Cen. A radio lobes and-at GeV energies for the first time-spatially coincident with the radio emission of the SNR CTA 1, as well as from the Crab Nebula. We also searched for halos around active galactic nuclei, which are predicted from electromagnetic cascades induced by the e(+)e(-) pairs that are deflected in intergalactic magnetic fields. These pairs are produced when gamma-rays interact with background radiation fields. We do not find evidence for extension in individual sources or in stacked source samples. This enables us to place limits on the flux of the extended source components, which are then used to constrain the intergalactic magnetic field to be stronger than 3 x 10(-16) G for a coherence length lambda greater than or similar to 10 kpc, even when conservative assumptions on the source duty cycle are made. This improves previous limits by several orders of magnitude.