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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2022). gamma-Ray Emission from Classical Nova V392 Per: Measurements from Fermi and HAWC. Astrophys. J., 940(2), 141–14pp.
Abstract: This paper reports on the gamma-ray properties of the 2018 Galactic nova V392 Per, spanning photon energies similar to 0.1 GeV-100 TeV by combining observations from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the HAWC Observatory. As one of the most rapidly evolving gamma-ray signals yet observed for a nova, GeV gamma-rays with a power-law spectrum with an index Gamma = 2.0 +/- 0.1 were detected over 8 days following V392 Per's optical maximum. HAWC observations constrain the TeV gamma-ray signal during this time and also before and after. We observe no statistically significant evidence of TeV gamma-ray emission from V392 Per, but present flux limits. Tests disfavor the extension of the Fermi Large Area Telescope spectrum to energies above 5 TeV by 2 standard deviations (95%) or more. We fit V392 Per's GeV gamma-rays with hadronic acceleration models, incorporating optical observations, and compare the calculations with HAWC limits.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2021). A Survey of Active Galaxies at TeV Photon Energies with the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory. Astrophys. J., 907(2), 67–18pp.
Abstract: The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory continuously detects TeV photons and particles within its large field of view, accumulating every day a deeper exposure of two-thirds of the sky. We analyzed 1523 days of HAWC live data acquired over four and a half years, in a follow-up analysis of 138 nearby (z < 0.3) active galactic nuclei from the Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT sources culminating within 40 degrees of the zenith at Sierra Negra, the HAWC site. This search for persistent TeV emission used a maximum-likelihood analysis assuming intrinsic power-law spectra attenuated by pair production of gamma-ray photons with the extragalactic background light. HAWC clearly detects persistent emission from Mkn 421 and Mkn 501, the two brightest blazars in the TeV sky, at 65 sigma and 17 sigma level, respectively. Marginal evidence, just above the 3 sigma level, was found for three other known very high-energy emitters: the radio galaxy M87 and the BL Lac objects VER J0521+211 and 1ES 1215+303, the latter two at z similar to 0.1. We find a 4.2 sigma evidence for collective emission from the set of 30 previously reported very high-energy sources, with Mkn 421 and Mkn 501 excluded. Upper limits are presented for the sample under the power-law assumption and in the predefined (0.5-2.0), (2.0-8.0), and (8.0-32.0) TeV energy intervals.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2021). Probing the Sea of Cosmic Rays by Measuring Gamma-Ray Emission from Passive Giant Molecular Clouds with HAWC. Astrophys. J., 914(2), 106–14pp.
Abstract: The study of high-energy gamma rays from passive giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our Galaxy is an indirect way to characterize and probe the paradigm of the “sea” of cosmic rays in distant parts of the Galaxy. By using data from the High Altitude Water Cerenkov (HAWC) Observatory, we measure the gamma-ray flux above 1 TeV of a set of these clouds to test the paradigm. We selected high galactic latitude clouds that are in HAWC's field of view and that are within 1 kpc distance from the Sun. We find no significant excess emission in the cloud regions, nor when we perform a stacked log-likelihood analysis of GMCs. Using a Bayesian approach, we calculate 95% credible interval upper limits of the gamma-ray flux and estimate limits on the cosmic-ray energy density of these regions. These are the first limits to constrain gamma-ray emission in the multi-TeV energy range (>1 TeV) using passive high galactic latitude GMCs. Assuming that the main gamma-ray production mechanism is due to proton-proton interaction, the upper limits are consistent with a cosmic-ray flux and energy density similar to that measured at Earth.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2021). Spectrum and Morphology of the Very-high-energy Source HAWC J2019+368. Astrophys. J., 911(2), 143–11pp.
Abstract: The MGRO J2019+37 region is one of the brightest sources in the sky at TeV energies. It was detected in the second HAWC catalog as 2HWC J2019+367 and here we present a detailed study of this region using data from HAWC. This analysis resolves the region into two sources: HAWC J2019+368 and HAWC J2016+371. We associate HAWC J2016+371 with the evolved supernova remnant CTB 87, although its low significance in this analysis prevents a detailed study at this time. An investigation of the morphology (including possible energy-dependent morphology) and spectrum for HAWC J2019+368 is the focus of this work. We associate HAWC J2019+368 with PSR J2021+3651 and its X-ray pulsar wind nebula, the Dragonfly nebula. Modeling the spectrum measured by HAWC and Suzaku reveals a similar to 7 kyr pulsar and nebula system producing the observed emission at X-ray and gamma-ray energies.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2021). Evidence of 200 TeV Photons from HAWC J1825-134. Astrophys. J. Lett., 907(2), L30–9pp.
Abstract: The Earth is bombarded by ultrarelativistic particles, known as cosmic rays (CRs). CRs with energies up to a few PeV (=10(15) eV), the knee in the particle spectrum, are believed to have a Galactic origin. One or more factories of PeV CRs, or PeVatrons, must thus be active within our Galaxy. The direct detection of PeV protons from their sources is not possible since they are deflected in the Galactic magnetic fields. Hundred TeV gamma-rays from decaying pi(0), produced when PeV CRs collide with the ambient gas, can provide the decisive evidence of proton acceleration up to the knee. Here we report the discovery by the High Altitude Water Cerenkov (HAWC) observatory of the gamma-ray source, HAWC J1825-134, whose energy spectrum extends well beyond 200 TeV without a break or cutoff. The source is found to be coincident with a giant molecular cloud. The ambient gas density is as high as 700 protons cm(-3). While the nature of this extreme accelerator remains unclear, CRs accelerated to energies of several PeV colliding with the ambient gas likely produce the observed radiation.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2021). Evidence that Ultra-high-energy Gamma Rays Are a Universal Feature near Powerful Pulsars. Astrophys. J. Lett., 911(2), L27–8pp.
Abstract: The highest-energy known gamma-ray sources are all located within 0.degrees 5 of extremely powerful pulsars. This raises the question of whether ultra-high-energy (UHE; >56 TeV) gamma-ray emission is a universal feature expected near pulsars with a high spin-down power. Using four years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory, we present a joint-likelihood analysis of 10 extremely powerful pulsars to search for subthreshold UHE gamma-ray emission correlated with these locations. We report a significant detection (>3 sigma), indicating that UHE gamma-ray emission is a generic feature of powerful pulsars. We discuss the emission mechanisms of the gamma rays and the implications of this result. The individual environment, such as the magnetic field and particle density in the surrounding area, appears to play a role in the amount of emission.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2021). HAWC Search for High-mass Microquasars. Astrophys. J. Lett., 912(1), L4–12pp.
Abstract: Microquasars with high-mass companion stars are promising very high energy (VHE; 0.1-100 TeV) gamma-ray emitters, but their behaviors above 10 TeV are poorly known. Using the High Altitude Water Cerenkov (HAWC) observatory, we search for excess gamma-ray emission coincident with the positions of known high-mass microquasars (HMMQs). No significant emission is observed for LS 5039, Cyg X-1, Cyg X-3, and SS 433 with 1523 days of HAWC data. We set the most stringent limit above 10 TeV obtained to date on each individual source. Under the assumption that HMMQs produce gamma rays via a common mechanism, we have performed source-stacking searches, considering two different scenarios: (I) gamma-ray luminosity is a fraction epsilon ( gamma ) of the microquasar jet luminosity, and (II) VHE gamma rays are produced by relativistic electrons upscattering the radiation field of the companion star in a magnetic field B. We obtain epsilon ( gamma ) < 5.4 x 10(-6) for scenario I, which tightly constrains models that suggest observable high-energy neutrino emission by HMMQs. In the case of scenario II, the nondetection of VHE gamma rays yields a strong magnetic field, which challenges synchrotron radiation as the dominant mechanism of the microquasar emission between 10 keV and 10 MeV.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2020). 3HWC: The Third HAWC Catalog of Very-high-energy Gamma-Ray Sources. Astrophys. J., 905(1), 76–14pp.
Abstract: We present a new catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources using 1523 days of data from the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. The catalog represents the most sensitive survey of the northern gamma-ray sky at energies above several TeV, with three times the exposure compared to the previous HAWC catalog, 2HWC. We report 65 sources detected at >= 5 sigma significance, along with the positions and spectral fits for each source. The catalog contains eight sources that have no counterpart in the 2HWC catalog, but are within 1 degrees of previously detected TeV emitters, and 20 sources that are more than 1 degrees away from any previously detected TeV source. Of these 20 new sources, 14 have a potential counterpart in the fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog of gamma-ray sources. We also explore potential associations of 3HWC sources with pulsars in the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) pulsar catalog and supernova remnants in the Galactic supernova remnant catalog.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2020). HAWC J2227+610 and Its Association with G106.3+2.7, a New Potential Galactic PeVatron. Astrophys. J. Lett., 896(2), L29–9pp.
Abstract: We present the detection of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission above 100 TeV from HAWC J2227+610 with the High-Altitude Water Cherenov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) observatory. Combining our observations with previously published results by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERTIAS), we interpret the gamma-ray emission from HAWC J2227+610 as emission from protons with a lower limit in their cutoff energy of 800 TeV. The most likely source of the protons is the associated supernova remnant G106.3+2.7, making it a good candidate for a Galactic PeVatron. However, a purely leptonic origin of the observed emission cannot be excluded at this time.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2020). HAWC and Fermi-LAT Detection of Extended Emission from the Unidentified Source 2HWC J2006+341. Astrophys. J. Lett., 903(1), L14–6pp.
Abstract: The discovery of the TeV point source 2HWC J2006+341 was reported in the second HAWC gamma-ray catalog. We present a follow-up study of this source here. The TeV emission is best described by an extended source with a soft spectrum. At GeV energies, an extended source is significantly detected in Fermi-LAT data. The matching locations, sizes, and spectra suggest that both gamma-ray detections correspond to the same source. Different scenarios for the origin of the emission are considered and we rule out an association to the pulsar PSR J2004+3429 due to extreme energetics required, if located at a distance of 10.8 kpc.
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