2025ApJ...991....4H -
Astrophys. J., 991, 4 (2025/September-3)
Contribution of Globular Clusters to Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission from the Galactic Plane.
HE J., ZENG H., ZHANG Y., HUANG X. and YUAN Q.
Abstract (from CDS):
The diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission (DGE) provides a valuable probe for investigating the cosmic-ray propagation and interactions within our Galactic environment. Recent observations have demonstrated systematic excesses of DGE compared with the conventional cosmic-ray propagation model predictions. While gamma-ray emissions have been detected in a subset of globular clusters, their undetected populations may significantly contribute to the DGE. Motivated by this possibility, we present a comprehensive assessment of potential contributions from unresolved globular clusters to the DGE. In our analysis, a nonparametric method is employed to estimate the luminosity function and spatial distribution function of globular clusters using the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) fourth source catalog (4FGL) combined with a reference globular cluster catalog. Based on these distributions, we calculate the cumulative contribution of unresolved globular cluster populations to the DGE observed by Fermi-LAT and the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory. Our results reveal that globular clusters account for only ∼2% of the DGE at the TeV range, and smaller than 1% in the GeV regime, which is effectively negligible.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
Gamma-ray astronomy - Globular star clusters - Diffuse radiation - Cosmic background radiation
Simbad objects:
2
Full paper
View the references in ADS
To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2025ApJ...991....4H and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu