2010A&A...524A..75A

Query : 2010A&A...524A..75A

2010A&A...524A..75A - Astronomy and Astrophysics, volume 524A75-75 (2010/12-1)

A population of gamma-ray emitting globular clusters seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope.

ABDO A.A., ACKERMANN M., AJELLO M., BALDINI L., BALLET J., BARBIELLINI G., BASTIERI D., BELLAZZINI R., BLANDFORD R.D., BLOOM E.D., BONAMENTE E., BORGLAND A.W., BOUVIER A., BRANDT T.J., BREGEON J., BRIGIDA M., BRUEL P., BUEHLER R., BUSON S., CALIANDRO G.A., CAMERON R.A., CARAVEO P.A., CARRIGAN S., CASANDJIAN J.M., CHARLES E., CHATY S., CHEKHTMAN A., CHEUNG C.C., CHIANG J., CIPRINI S., CLAUS R., COHEN-TANUGI J., CONRAD J., DECESAR M.E., DERMER C.D., DE PALMA F., DIGEL S.W., DO COUTO E SILVA E., DRELL P.S., DUBOIS R., DUMORA D., FAVUZZI C., FORTIN P., FRAILIS M., FUKAZAWA Y., FUSCO P., GARGANO F., GASPARRINI D., GEHRELS N., GERMANI S., GIGLIETTO N., GIORDANO F., GLANZMAN T., GODFREY G., GRENIER I., GRONDIN M.-H., GROVE J.E., GUILLEMOT L., GUIRIEC S., HADASCH D., HARDING A.K., HAYS E., JEAN P., JOHANNESSON G., JOHNSON T.J., JOHNSON W.N., KAMAE T., KATAGIRI H., KATAOKA J., KERR M., KNOEDLSEDER J., KUSS M., LANDE J., LATRONICO L., LEE S.-H., LEMOINE-GOUMARD M., LLENA GARDE M., LONGO F., LOPARCO F., LOVELLETTE M.N., LUBRANO P., MAKEEV A., MAZZIOTTA M.N., MICHELSON P.F., MITTHUMSIRI W., MIZUNO T., MONTE C., MONZANI M.E., MORSELLI A., MOSKALENKO I.V., MURGIA S., NAUMANN-GODO M., NOLAN P.L., NORRIS J.P., NUSS E., OHSUGI T., OMODEI N., ORLANDO E., ORMES J.F., PANCRAZI B., PARENT D., PEPE M., PESCE-ROLLINS M., PIRON F., PORTER T.A., RAINO S., RANDO R., REIMER A., REIMER O., REPOSEUR T., RIPKEN J., ROMANI R.W., ROTH M., SADROZINSKI H.F.-W., SAZ PARKINSON P.M., SGRO C., SISKIND E.J., SMITH D.A., SPINELLI P., STRICKMAN M.S., SUSON D.J., TAKAHASHI H., TAKAHASHI T., TANAKA T., THAYER J.B., THAYER J.G., TIBALDO L., TORRES D.F., TOSTI G., TRAMACERE A., UCHIYAMA Y., USHER T.L., VASILEIOU V., VENTER C., VILCHEZ N., VITALE V., WAITE A.P., WANG P., WEBB N., WINER B.L., YANG Z., YLINEN T. and ZIEGLER M.

Abstract (from CDS):

Globular clusters with their large populations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are believed to be potential emitters of high-energy gamma-ray emission. The observation of this emission provides a powerful tool to assess the millisecond pulsar population of a cluster, is essential for understanding the importance of binary systems for the evolution of globular clusters, and provides complementary insights into magnetospheric emission processes. Our goal is to constrain the millisecond pulsar populations in globular clusters from analysis of gamma-ray observations. We use 546 days of continuous sky-survey observations obtained with the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to study the gamma-ray emission towards 13 globular clusters. Steady point-like high-energy gamma-ray emission has been significantly detected towards 8 globular clusters. Five of them (47 Tucanae, Omega Cen, NGC 6388, Terzan 5, and M 28) show hard spectral power indices (0.7<Γ<1.4) and clear evidence for an exponential cut-off in the range 1.0-2.6GeV, which is the characteristic signature of magnetospheric emission from MSPs. Three of them (M 62, NGC 6440 and NGC 6652) also show hard spectral indices (1.0<Γ<1.7), however the presence of an exponential cut-off can not be unambiguously established. Three of them (Omega Cen, NGC 6388, NGC 6652) have no known radio or X-ray MSPs yet still exhibit MSP spectral properties. From the observed gamma-ray luminosities, we estimate the total number of MSPs that is expected to be present in these globular clusters. We show that our estimates of the MSP population correlate with the stellar encounter rate and we estimate 2600-4700 MSPs in Galactic globular clusters, commensurate with previous estimates. The observation of high-energy gamma-ray emission from globular clusters thus provides a reliable independent method to assess their millisecond pulsar populations.

Abstract Copyright: ∼

Journal keyword(s): pulsars: general - globular clusters: general - gamma rays: general

Simbad objects: 26

goto Full paper

goto View the references in ADS

Number of rows : 26
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA 		ICRS (J2000)
DEC 		Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026 		#notes
1 NGC 104 GlC 00 24 05.359 -72 04 53.20     4.09     ~ 4158 0
2 NGC 1851 GlC 05 14 06.76 -40 02 47.6           ~ 1529 0
3 M 53 GlC 13 12 55.25 +18 10 05.4     7.79     ~ 907 0
4 NAME Centaurus A BLL 13 25 27.61521044 -43 01 08.8050291   8.18 6.84 6.66   ~ 4774 3
5 NGC 5139 GlC 13 26 47.28 -47 28 46.1           ~ 3677 0
6 PMN J1328-4728 BLL 13 28 40.6236883896 -47 27 49.456920852           ~ 53 1
7 1RXS J132846.7-472759 X 13 28 46.7 -47 27 59           ~ 1 0
8 M 3 GlC 13 42 11.62 +28 22 38.2     6.39     ~ 2593 0
9 M 62 GlC 17 01 12.60 -30 06 44.5           ~ 668 0
10 NGC 6388 GlC 17 36 17.461 -44 44 08.34           ~ 988 1
11 PSR J1741-2054 Psr 17 41 57.282 -20 54 04.11           ~ 123 1
12 NAME Galactic Center reg 17 45 39.60213 -29 00 22.0000           ~ 16269 0
13 Cl Terzan 5 Cl* 17 48 05.00 -24 46 48.0           ~ 948 1
14 NGC 6440 GlC 17 48 52.67 -20 21 34.5           ~ 592 0
15 NGC 6441 GlC 17 50 13.06 -37 03 05.2           ~ 940 0
16 NGC 6517 GlC 18 01 50.376 -08 57 34.39   11.08       ~ 215 0
17 M 21 OpC 18 04 10.1 -22 30 00           ~ 157 0
18 NGC 6541 GlC 18 08 02.36 -43 42 53.6           ~ 409 0
19 PSR J1820-30A Psr 18 23 40.4842 -30 21 39.920           ~ 168 1
20 NGC 6624 GlC 18 23 40.51 -30 21 39.7           ~ 939 1
21 PSR J1824-2452A Psr 18 24 32.009 -24 52 11.10           ~ 529 2
22 M 28 GlC 18 24 32.89 -24 52 11.4           ~ 821 0
23 NGC 6652 GlC 18 35 45.63 -32 59 26.6           ~ 474 0
24 NGC 6752 GlC 19 10 52.11 -59 59 04.4           ~ 2121 0
25 M 15 GlC 21 29 58.33 +12 10 01.2           ~ 3274 0
26 NAME Galactic Bulge reg ~ ~           ~ 4794 0

To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:objects in 2010A&A...524A..75A and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu