The HAWC Gamma Ray Observatory finds out where the highest energy cosmic rays in the constellation came from

LOS ALAMOS, NM, March 11, 2021 – A long-standing question in astronomy seems to have finally been answered, thanks to a collection of high-tech water tanks on the side of a mountain in Mexico. Cherenkov High Water (HAWC) data show that the highest energy cosmic rays do not come from supernovae, but from star records.

“The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays in the galaxy has been an open question in astronauts for more than 60 years,” said Patrick Harding, a Los Alamos National Laboratory pathologist conducting research using HAWC. “Few regions of the galaxy have both the power to produce high-energy particles and the environments necessary to propel these particles to the petaelectronVolt (PeV) energies seen in the cosmic rays of energy And most of the expected segments of the items have been regulated in recent years by high – energy observatories. ”

“In this paper, we discover high-energy gamma rays emanating from Cygnus OB2, the birthplace of giant stars located inside the extreme‘ Cygnus Cocoon ’, meaning that The galactic cosmic rays appear to be the highest source of energy, “Harding said.

The cosmic rays have been observed hitting the Earth’s atmosphere at PeV energy with the detection tanks at the HAWC observatory near Puebla, Mexico. Instead of supernovae, this work shows that star clusters like the Cygnus Cocoon serve as “PeVatrons” – PeV accelerators that are capable of creating high-energy particles that travel across the constellation.

The algorithms used to study the HAWC photons at the highest energy, used in a paper published today in Astronomy of nature, developed by postdoctoral researcher Los Alamos Kelly Malone. In addition, the paper first named the Cocoon as a large-scale emission of full-energy rays using the HAWC high-energy catalog, led by Malone, who is the director of the Galactic Science Working Group side inside HAWC.

“HAWC is the first observatory to detect gamma rays from across the sky with energies above 100 TeV. This high-energy reach allows us to answer fundamental questions about our galaxy,” Malone said.

The results of this result are relevant for several areas of Los Alamos astronomical study: The behavior of cosmic rays and their interaction with the surrounding center is interesting at the laboratory, and in particular, Los Alamos studies that can accelerate celestial sources effectively. cosmic rays to high energy, and the acceleration mode that makes it possible. Identifying a source of these cosmic rays full of energy leads to a greater theoretical understanding of these devices.

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The research was first conducted by Petra Huentemeyer, a professor of physics at Michigan University of Technology, along with MTU graduate Binita Hona (now a postdoc at the University of Utah), doctoral student Dezhi Huang, a former MTU graduate Henrike Fleischhack (now of Catholic University / NASA GSFC / CRESST II), Sabrina Casanova at the Polish Academy of Sciences Nuclear Physics Institute in Krakow, Ke Fang at the University of Wisconsin and Roger Blandford at Stanford University, along with several other colleagues there the HAWC Theater.

The paper: HAWC’s views on the acceleration of high-energy cosmic rays in Cygoon Cygnus, Astronomy of nature, 11 March 2021, DOI: 10.1038 / s41550-021-01318-y

The funding: HAWC research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy Science Office, the LDRD program of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, CONACyT, México, and the Polish Science Center (among others).

About Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institute engaged in strategic science for national security, is managed by Triad, a public service-based national security science organization owned by all three members. founders: Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle), the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), and the University of California (UC) Governors for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos strengthens national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stock source, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, the environment , infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.

LAUR: LA-UR-21-22418