The HAWC Observatory collected 6 yr of extensive data, providing an ideal platform for long-term monitoring of blazars in the very high energy (VHE) band, without bias toward specific flux states. HAWC continuously monitors blazar activity at TeV energies, focusing on sources with a redshift of z ≤ 0.3, based on the Third Fermi-LAT Catalog of High-Energy sources. We specifically focused our analysis on Mrk 421 and Mrk 501, as they are the brightest blazars observed by the HAWC Observatory. With a data set of 2143 days, this work significantly extends the monitoring previously published, which was based on 511 days of observation. By utilizing HAWC data for the VHE γ -ray emission in the 300 GeV–100 TeV energy range, in conjunction with Swift-XRT data for the 0.3–10 keV X-ray emission, we aim to explore potential correlations between these two bands. For Mrk 501, we found evidence of a long-term correlation. Additionally, we identified a period in the light curve where the flux was very low for more than 2 yr. On the other hand, our analysis of Mrk 421 measured a strong linear correlation for quasi-simultaneous observations collected by HAWC and Swift-XRT. This result is consistent with a linear dependence and a multiple-zone synchrotron self-Compton model to explain the X-ray and γ -ray emission. Finally, as suggested by previous findings, we confirm a harder-when-brighter behavior in the spectral evolution of the flux properties for Mrk 421. These findings contribute to the understanding of blazar emissions and their underlying mechanisms.
We report the total energy spectrum of cosmic rays in the energy interval from 10 TeV to 1 PeV, which lies in the energy region where both direct and indirect cosmic ray experiments overlap. The all-particle spectrum was obtained from an unfolding analysis of 5.3 years of data collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory for zenith angles smaller than or equal to 35 degrees. The study was carried out in the framework of the QGSJET-II-04 hadronic interaction model. The measured spectrum confirms the presence of a knee-like feature at tens of TeV. In our analysis, the position of this softening is found at 40.2 +/- 1.0(stat.)+6.2 -6.4(sys.) TeV. The measured spectral indices before and after the break are gamma 1 = -2.53 +/- 0.01(stat.)+0.04 -0.05(sys.) and gamma 2 = -2.71 +/- 0.01(stat.)+0.03-0.04(sys.), respectively.
Supernova remnants are one potential source class considered a PeVatron (i.e., capable of accelerating cosmic rays above PeV energies). The shock fronts produced after the explosion of the supernova are ideal regions for particle acceleration. IC 443 is a supernova remnant that has been studied extensively at different wavelengths. Using 2966 days of gamma-ray data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, we study the emission of IC 443 with the objective of finding signatures of cosmic-ray acceleration at the PeV scale. Using a maximum likelihood method, we find a point source located at (alpha = 94 .degrees 42, delta = 22 .degrees 35) that we associate with IC 443. The measured spectrum is a simple power law with an index of -3.14 +/- 0.18, which is consistent with previous TeV observations. Although we cannot confirm that IC 443 is a hadronic PeVatron, we do not find any sign that the spectrum has a cutoff at tens of TeV energies, with the spectrum extending to similar to 30 TeV. Furthermore, we also find a new extended component in the region whose emission is described by a simple power law with an index of -2.49 +/- 0.08 and which we call HAWC J0615+2213. While we show evidence that this new source might be a new TeV halo, we defer a detailed analysis of this new source to another publication.
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory, located on the side of the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, has been fully operational since 2015. The HAWC collaboration has recently significantly improved their extensive air shower reconstruction algorithms, which has notably advanced the observatory performance. The energy resolution for primary gamma rays with energies below 1 TeV was improved by including a noise-suppression algorithm. Corrections have also been made to systematic errors in direction fitting related to the detector and shower plane inclinations, O(0.degrees 1) biases in highly inclined showers, and enhancements to the core reconstruction. The angular resolution for gamma rays approaching the HAWC array from large zenith angles (>37 degrees) has improved by a factor of 4 at the highest energies (>70 TeV) as compared to previous reconstructions. The inclusion of a lateral distribution function fit to the extensive air shower footprint on the array to separate gamma-ray primaries from cosmic-ray ones based on the resulting chi(2) values improved the background rejection performance at all inclinations. At large zenith angles, the improvement in significance is a factor of 4 compared to previous HAWC publications. These enhancements have been verified by observing the Crab Nebula, which is an overhead source for the HAWC Observatory. We show that the sensitivity to Crab-like point sources (E-2.63) with locations overhead to 30 degrees zenith is comparable to or less than 10% of the Crab Nebula's flux between 2 and 50 TeV. Thanks to these improvements, HAWC can now detect more sources, including the Galactic center.
The origin of high-energy galactic cosmic rays is yet to be understood, but some galactic cosmic-ray accelerators can accelerate cosmic rays up to PeV energies. The high-energy cosmic rays are expected to interact with the surrounding material or radiation, resulting in the production of gamma-rays and neutrinos. To optimize for the detection of such associated production of gamma-rays and neutrinos for a given source morphology and spectrum, a multimessenger analysis that combines gamma-rays and neutrinos is required. In this study, we use the Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework with IceCube Maximum Likelihood Analysis software and HAWC Accelerated Likelihood to search for a correlation between 22 known gamma-ray sources from the third HAWC gamma-ray catalog and 14 yr of IceCube track-like data. No significant neutrino emission from the direction of the HAWC sources was found. We report the best-fit gamma-ray model and 90% CL neutrino flux limit from the 22 sources. From the neutrino flux limit, we conclude that, for five of the sources, the gamma-ray emission observed by HAWC cannot be produced purely from hadronic interactions. We report the limit for the fraction of gamma-rays produced by hadronic interactions for these five sources.
The decay or annihilation of dark matter particles may produce a steady flux of very-high-energy gamma rays detectable above the diffuse background. Nearby clusters of galaxies provide excellent targets to search for the signatures of particle dark matter interactions. In particular, the Virgo cluster spans several degrees across the sky and can be efficiently probed with a wide field-of-view instrument. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, due to its wide field of view and sensitivity to gamma rays at an energy scale of 300 GeV--100 TeV is well-suited for this search. Using 2141 days of data, we search for gamma-ray emission from the Virgo cluster, assuming well-motivated dark matter sub-structure models. Our results provide some of the strongest constraints on the decay lifetime of dark matter for masses above 10 TeV.
This paper investigates the origin of the gamma-ray emission from MGRO J1908+06 in the GeV-TeV energy band. By analyzing the data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, and High Altitude Water Cherenkov, with the addition of spectral data previously reported by LHAASO, a multiwavelength study of the morphological and spectral features of MGRO J1908+06 provides insight into the origin of the gamma-ray emission. The mechanism behind the bright TeV emission is studied by constraining the magnetic field strength, the source age, and the distance through detailed broadband modeling. Both spectral shape and energy-dependent morphology support the scenario that inverse Compton emission of an evolved pulsar wind nebula associated with PSR J1907+0602 is responsible for the MGRO J1908+06 gamma-ray emission with a best-fit true age of T = 22 +/- 9 kyr and a magnetic field of B = 5.4 +/- 0.8 mu G, assuming the distance to the pulsar d(PSR) = 3.2 kpc.
High-energy cosmic rays that hit the Earth can be used to study large-scale atmospheric perturbations. After a first interaction in the upper parts of the atmosphere, cosmic rays produce a shower of particles that sample the atmosphere down to the detector level. The HAWC (High-Altitude Water Cherenkov) cosmic-ray observatory in Central Mexico at 4,100 m elevation detects air shower particles continuously with 300 water Cherenkov detectors with an active area of 12,500 m$^{2}$. On January 15th, 2022, HAWC detected the passage of the pressure wave created by the explosion of the Hunga volcano in the Tonga islands, 9,000 km away, as an anomaly in the measured rate of shower particles. The HAWC measurements are used to characterize the shape of four pressure wave passages, determine the propagation speed of each one, and correlate the variations of the shower particle rates with the barometric pressure changes, extracting a barometric parameter. The profile of the shower particle rate and atmospheric pressure variations for the first transit of the pressure wave at HAWC is compared to the pressure measurements at Tonga island, near the volcanic explosion. This work opens the possibility of using large particle cosmic-ray air shower detectors to trace large atmospheric transient waves.
We report an observation of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) gamma rays from the Galactic center (GC) region, using 7 yr of data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. The HAWC data are best described as a point-like source (HAWC J1746-2856) with a power-law spectrum (dN dE = phi(E/26 TeV)(gamma)), where gamma = -2.88 +/- 0.15(stat) - 0.1(sys) and phi = 1.5 x 10(-15) (TeV cm(2) s)(-1) +/- 0.3(stat) (+0.08sys)(-0.13sys) extending from 6 to 114 TeV. We find no evidence of a spectral cutoff up to 100 TeV using HAWC data. Two known point-like gamma-ray sources are spatially coincident with the HAWC gamma-ray excess: Sgr A* (HESS J1745-290) and the Arc (HESS J1746-285). We subtract the known flux contribution of these point sources from the measured flux of HAWC J1746-2856 to exclude their contamination and show that the excess observed by HAWC remains significant (>5 sigma), with the spectrum extending to >100 TeV. Our result supports that these detected UHE gamma rays can originate via hadronic interaction of PeV cosmic-ray protons with the dense ambient gas and confirms the presence of a proton PeVatron at the GC.
Very-high-energy (0.1-100 TeV) gamma-ray emission was observed in HAWC data from the lobes of the microquasar SS 433, making them the first set of astrophysical jets that were resolved at TeV energies. In this work, we update the analysis of SS 433 using 2,565 days of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. Our analysis reports the detection of a point-like source in the east lobe at a significance of $6.6\,\sigma$ and in the west lobe at a significance of $8.2\,\sigma$. For each jet lobe, we localize the gamma-ray emission and identify a best-fit position. The locations are close to the X-ray emission sites "e1" and "w1" for the east and west lobes, respectively. We analyze the spectral energy distributions and find that the energy spectra of the lobes are consistent with a simple power-law $\text{d}N/\text{d}E\propto E^{\alpha}$ with $\alpha = -2.44^{+0.13+0.04}_{-0.12-0.04}$ and $\alpha = -2.35^{+0.12+0.03}_{-0.11-0.03}$ for the east and west lobes, respectively. The maximum energy of photons from the east and west lobes reaches 56 TeV and 123 TeV, respectively. We compare our observations to various models and conclude that the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission can be produced by a population of electrons that were efficiently accelerated.
Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are charged particles that reach the heliosphere almost isotropically in a wide energy range. In the inner heliosphere, the GCR flux is modulated by solar activity so that only energetic GCRs reach the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. In this work, we propose that high-energy GCRs can be used to explore the solar magnetic fields at low coronal altitudes. We used GCR data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory to construct maps of GCR flux coming from the Sun’s sky direction and studied the observed GCR deficit, known as Sun shadow (SS), over a 6 yr period (2016–2021) with a time cadence of 27.3 days. We confirm that the SS is correlated with sunspot number, but we focus on the relationship between the photospheric solar magnetic field measured at different heliolatitudes and the relative GCR deficit at different energies. We found a linear relationship between the relative deficit of GCRs represented by the depth of the SS and the solar magnetic field. This relationship is evident in the observed energy range of 2.5–226 TeV, but is strongest in the range of 12.4 33.4 TeV, which implies that this is the best energy range to study the evolution of magnetic fields in the low solar atmosphere.
HESS J1809-193 is an unidentified TeV source, first detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) collaboration. The emission originates in a source-rich region that includes several supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsars including SNR G11.1+0.1, SNR G11.0-0.0, and the young radio pulsar PSR J1809-1917. Originally classified as a pulsar wind nebula candidate, recent studies show the peak of the TeV region overlapping with a system of molecular clouds. This resulted in the revision of the original leptonic scenario to look for alternate hadronic scenarios. Marked as a potential PeVatron candidate, this region has been studied extensively by H.E.S.S. due to its emission extending up to several tens of TeV. In this work, we use 2398 days of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory to carry out a systematic source search of the HESS J1809-193 region. We were able to resolve emission detected as an extended component (modelled as a symmetric Gaussian with a 1 σ radius of 0.°21) with no clear cutoff at high energies and emitting photons up to 210 TeV. We model the multiwavelength observations for the region around HESS J1809-193 using a time-dependent leptonic model and a lepto-hadronic model. Our model indicates that both scenarios could explain the observed data within the region of HESS J1809-193.
The first TeV gamma-ray source with no lower energy counterparts, TeV J2032+4130, was discovered by HEGRA. It appears in the third HAWC catalog as 3HWC J2031+415 and it is a bright TeV gamma-ray source whose emission has previously been resolved as two sources: HAWC J2031+415 and HAWC J2030+409. While HAWC J2030+409 has since been associated with the Fermi Large Area Telescope Cygnus Cocoon, no such association for HAWC J2031+415 has yet been found. In this work, we investigate the spectrum and energy-dependent morphology of HAWC J2031+415. We associate HAWC J2031+415 with a gamma-ray binary system containing the pulsar PSR J2032+4127 and its companion MT91 213. We study HAWC data to observe their periastron in 2017. Additionally, we perform a combined multiwavelength analysis using radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray emission. We conclude that HAWC J2031+415 and, by extension, TeV J2032+4130 are most probably a pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J2032+4127.
We present the most precise measurements to date for the spatial extension and energy spectrum of the gamma-ray region between a pulsar's wind nebula and the interstellar medium, better known as the halo, present around Geminga and PSR B0656+14 (Monogem) using similar to 2398 days of >1 TeV data collected by the HAWC observatory. We interpret the data using a physically motivated model for the diffuse gamma-ray emission generated from positrons and electrons (e(+/-)) injected by the pulsar wind nebula and inverse Compton scattering with interstellar radiation fields. We find the morphologies of the regions inside these halos are characterized by an inhibited diffusion that are approximately three orders of magnitudes smaller than the Galactic average. We also obtain the e(+/-) emission efficiencies of 6.6% and 5.1%, respectively, for Geminga and Monogem. These results have remarkable consequences for the study of the particle diffusion in the region between the pulsar wind nebulae and the interstellar medium, and for the interpretation of the flux of positrons measured by the AMS-02 experiment above 10 GeV.
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are believed to be capable of accelerating cosmic rays (CRs) to PeV energies. SNR G106.3+2.7 is a prime PeVatron candidate. It is formed by a head region, where the pulsar J2229+6114 and its boomerang-shaped pulsar wind nebula are located, and a tail region containing SN ejecta. The lack of observed gamma ray emission from the two regions of this SNR has made it difficult to assess which region would be responsible for the PeV CRs. We aim to characterize the very-high-energy (VHE, 0.1-100 TeV) gamma ray emission from SNR G106.3+2.7 by determining the morphology and spectral energy distribution of the region. This is accomplished using 2565 days of data and improved reconstruction algorithms from the HAWC Observatory. We also explore possible gamma ray production mechanisms for different energy ranges. Using a multi-source fitting procedure based on a maximum-likelihood estimation method, we evaluate the complex nature of this region. We determine the morphology, spectrum, and energy range for the source found in the region. Molecular cloud information is also used to create a template and evaluate the HAWC gamma ray spectral properties at ultra-high-energies (UHE, >56 TeV). This will help probe the hadronic nature of the highest-energy emission from the region. We resolve one extended source coincident with all other gamma ray observations of the region. The emission reaches above 100 TeV and its preferred log-parabola shape in the spectrum shows a flux peak in the TeV range. The molecular cloud template fit on the higher energy data reveals that the SNR's energy budget is fully capable of producing a purely hadronic source for UHE gamma rays.
Microquasars are laboratories for the study of jets of relativistic particles produced by accretion onto a spinning black hole. Microquasars are near enough to allow detailed imaging of spatial features across the multiwavelength spectrum. The recent extension of the spatial morphology of a microquasar, SS 433, to TeV gamma rays \cite{abeysekara2018very} localizes the acceleration of electrons at shocks in the jet far from the black hole \cite{hess2024ss433}. Here we report TeV gamma-ray emission from another microquasar, V4641~Sgr, which reveals particle acceleration at similar distances from the black hole as SS~433. Additionally, the gamma-ray spectrum of V4641 is among the hardest TeV spectra observed from any known gamma-ray source and is detected up to 200 TeV. Gamma rays are produced by particles, either electrons or hadrons, of higher energies. Because electrons lose energy more quickly the higher their energy, such a spectrum either very strongly constrains the electron production mechanism or points to the acceleration of high-energy hadrons. This observation suggests that large-scale jets from microquasars could be more common than previously expected and that microquasars could be a significant source of Galactic cosmic rays. high energy gamma-rays also provide unique constraints on the acceleration mechanisms of extra-Galactic cosmic rays postulated to be produced by the supermassive black holes and relativistic jets of quasars. The distance to quasars limits imaging studies due to insufficient angular resolution of gamma-rays and due to attenuation of the highest energy gamma-rays by the extragalactic background light.
The performance of the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-ray Observatory (HAWC) is mainly shaped by its event reconstruction methodologies, which take as input only the footprint left on the ground by the air shower. We discuss here the revamped reconstruction algorithms, including noise suppression cleaning, a refined core reconstruction method using simulations to fit hit observation, addressing systematic error sources in direction reconstruction, and a new gamma/hadron separation approach based on a more accurate model. As a result, HAWC's angular resolution and gamma/hadron separation reach an improvement of a factor of 2 and 3, respectively, at the highest energies for highly inclined showers and can now observe the Galactic Center at a significance of over 5$\sigma$. Furthermore, we verify the overall performance improvement by observing the Crab Nebula as a reference source which we observe at 250$\sigma$ using 2434 days of data.
Microquasars are one of the classes of powerful Galactic particle accelerators that emit gamma rays beyond multi-TeV energies. Recently, gamma-ray emission above tens of TeV has been detected from some of these objects. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory has previously reported gamma-ray emission with a median energy of 25 TeV from the microquasar SS 433, suggesting that gamma-ray binaries can accelerate particles to above 100 TeV inside the jets. With 2,321 days of data and better reconstruction algorithms, the HAWC observatory detected emissions above 20 TeV from two other binaries, V4641 Sagittarii and LS 5039. The V4641 Sgr is detected with a significance great than 9 sigma. It’s a low-mass X-ray binary(LMXB) that has been observed with a small-scale jet-like structure in the radio wavelength. In this talk, I will present the preliminary results from V4641 Sgr and discuss possible scenarios for gamma-ray production. We will also present future plans to search for additional X-ray binaries with HAWC.
The connection between short Gamma-Ray Bursts (sGRBs) and Gravitational Waves (GWs) has long been a subject of study, motivating the search for counterparts by gamma-ray instruments. Both phenomena are thought to be produced by the same astrophysical event. However, only one event to date has been identified as a simultaneous occurrence of both, a sGRB (GRB 170817A) and a GW (GW170817). GRB 170817A was classified as an unusual burst due to its low-luminosity and prolonged non-thermal emission (afterglow) observed across radio, optical, and X-ray bands, which reached their maximum hundreds of days after the trigger time. Although TeV emissions were not immediately observed for this burst, if they exist, they are most likely generated through synchrotron-self-Compton of the delayed radio emission from each burst. We have identified 8 sGRBs within the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor catalogue that appear to share some characteristics with GRB 170817A during the time interval spanning from December 5th, 2014 until December 5th, 2022. In this work, we discuss the methodology utilized to identify sGRBs that are alike GRB 170817A and discuss the implications of our results.
We report the first detection of a TeV γ-ray flux from the solar disk (6.3σ), based on 6.1 years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. The 0.5-2.6 TeV spectrum is well fit by a power law, dN/dE=A(E/1 TeV)^{-γ}, with A=(1.6±0.3)×10^{-12} TeV^{-1} cm^{-2} s^{-1} and γ=3.62±0.14. The flux shows a strong indication of anticorrelation with solar activity. These results extend the bright, hard GeV emission from the disk observed with Fermi-LAT, seemingly due to hadronic Galactic cosmic rays showering on nuclei in the solar atmosphere. However, current theoretical models are unable to explain the details of how solar magnetic fields shape these interactions. HAWC's TeV detection thus deepens the mysteries of the solar-disk emission.