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 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° of previously detected TeV emitters, and 20 sources that are more than 1° 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.
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.
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
γ
-rays from decaying
π
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
γ
-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.
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 ∼7 kyr pulsar and nebula system producing the observed emission at X-ray and
γ
-ray energies.
Abstract
We present the results of dark matter (DM) searches in a sample of 31 dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies within the field of view of the HAWC Observatory. dIrr galaxies are DM-dominated objects ...in which astrophysical gamma-ray emission is estimated to be negligible with respect to the secondary gamma-ray flux expected by annihilation or decay of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). While we do not see any statistically significant DM signal in dIrr galaxies, we present the exclusion limits (95% C.L.) for annihilation cross section and decay lifetime for WIMP candidates with masses between 1 and 100 TeV. Exclusion limits from dIrr galaxies are relevant and complementary to benchmark dwarf Spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. In fact, dIrr galaxies are targets kinematically different from benchmark dSph, preserving the footprints of different evolution histories. We compare the limits from dIrr galaxies to those from ultrafaint and classical dSph galaxies previously observed with HAWC. We find that the constraints are comparable to the limits from classical dSph galaxies and ∼2 orders of magnitude weaker than the ultrafaint dSph limits.
Abstract
Galactic gamma-ray diffuse emission (GDE) is emitted by cosmic rays (CRs), ultra-relativistic protons, and electrons, interacting with gas and electromagnetic radiation fields in the ...interstellar medium. Here we present the analysis of teraelectronvolt diffuse emission from a region of the Galactic plane over the range in longitude of
l
∈ 43°, 73°, using data collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) detector. Spectral, longitudinal, and latitudinal distributions of the teraelectronvolt diffuse emission are shown. The radiation spectrum is compatible with the spectrum of the emission arising from a CR population with an
index
similar to that of the observed CRs. When comparing with the
DRAGON
base model
, the HAWC GDE flux is higher by about a factor of 2. Unresolved sources such as pulsar wind nebulae and teraelectronvolt halos could explain the excess emission. Finally, deviations of the Galactic CR flux from the locally measured CR flux may additionally explain the difference between the predicted and measured diffuse fluxes.
Abstract 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.
Abstract
The latest High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) point-like source catalog up to 56 TeV reported the detection of two sources in the region of the Galactic plane at galactic longitude 52° <
ℓ
...< 55°, 3HWC J1930+188 and 3HWC J1928+178. The first one is associated with a known TeV source, the supernova remnant SNR G054.1+00.3. It was discovered by one of the currently operating Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT), the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS), detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S), and identified as a composite SNR. However, the source 3HWC J1928+178, discovered by HAWC and coincident with the pulsar PSR J1928+1746, was not detected by any IACT despite their long exposure on the region, until a recent new analysis of H.E.S.S. data was able to confirm it. Moreover, no X-ray counterpart has been detected from this pulsar. We present a multicomponent fit of this region using the latest HAWC data. This reveals an additional new source, HAWC J1932+192, which is potentially associated with the pulsar PSR J1932+1916, whose
γ
-ray emission could come from the acceleration of particles in its pulsar wind nebula. In the case of 3HWC J1928+178, several possible explanations are explored, in an attempt to unveil the origins of the very-high-energy
γ
-ray emission.
Abstract
The radio galaxy M87 is the central dominant galaxy of the Virgo Cluster. Very high-energy (VHE, ≳0.1 TeV) emission from M87 has been detected by imaging air Cherenkov telescopes. Recently, ...marginal evidence for VHE long-term emission has also been observed by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, a gamma-ray and cosmic-ray detector array located in Puebla, Mexico. The mechanism that produces VHE emission in M87 remains unclear. This emission originates in its prominent jet, which has been spatially resolved from radio to X-rays. In this paper, we construct a spectral energy distribution from radio to gamma rays that is representative of the nonflaring activity of the source, and in order to explain the observed emission, we fit it with a lepto-hadronic emission model. We found that this model is able to explain nonflaring VHE emission of M87 as well as an orphan flare reported in 2005.
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