Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Berenji, B

Publications and source records attributed to Berenji, B.

57 records · Page 4

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF MISALIGNED ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Analysis is presented for 15 months of data taken with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope for 11 non-blazar active galactic nuclei (AGNs), including seven FRI radio galaxies and four FRII radio sources consisting of two FRII radio galaxies and two steep spectrum radio quasars. The broad line FRI radio galaxy 3C 120 is reported here as a {gamma}-ray source for the first time. The analysis is based on directional associations of LAT sources with radio sources in the 3CR, 3CRR, and MS4 (collectively referred to as 3C-MS) catalogs. Seven of the eleven LAT sources associated with 3C-MS radio sources have spectral indices larger than 2.3 and, except for the FRI radio galaxy NGC 1275 that shows possible spectral curvature, are well described by a power law. No evidence for time variability is found for any sources other than NGC 1275. The {gamma}-ray luminosities of FRI radio galaxies are significantly smaller than those of the BL Lac objects detected by the LAT, whereas the {gamma}-ray luminosities of the FRII sources are quite similar to those of FSRQs, which could reflect different beaming factors for the {gamma}-ray emission. A core dominance (CD) study of the 3CRR sample indicates that sources closer to the jet axis are preferentially detected with the Fermi LAT, insofar as the {gamma}-ray-detected misaligned AGNs have larger CD at a given average radio flux. The results are discussed in view of the AGN unification scenario.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE VIEW OF THE CORE OF THE RADIO GALAXY CENTAURUS A

We present {gamma}-ray observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope of the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A (Cen A). The previous EGRET detection is confirmed, and the localization is improved using data from the first 10 months of Fermi science operation. In previous work, we presented the detection of the lobes by the LAT; in this work, we concentrate on the {gamma}-ray core of Cen A. Flux levels as seen by the LAT are not significantly different from that found by EGRET, nor is the extremely soft LAT spectrum ({Gamma} = 2.67 {+-} 0.10{sub stat} {+-} 0.08{sub sys} where the photon flux is {Phi} {proportional_to} E {sup -{Gamma}}). The LAT core spectrum, extrapolated to higher energies, is marginally consistent with the non-simultaneous HESS spectrum of the source. The LAT observations are complemented by simultaneous observations from Suzaku, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope and X-ray Telescope, and radio observations with the Tracking Active Galactic Nuclei with Austral Milliarcsecond Interferometry program, along with a variety of non-simultaneous archival data from a variety of instruments and wavelengths to produce a spectral energy distribution (SED). We fit this broadband data set with a single-zone synchrotron/synchrotron self-Compton model, which describes the radio through GeV emission well, but fails to account for the non-simultaneous higher energy TeV emission observed by HESS from 2004 to 2008. The fit requires a low Doppler factor, in contrast to BL Lac objects which generally require larger values to fit their broadband SEDs. This indicates that the {gamma}-ray emission originates from a slower region than that from BL Lac objects, consistent with previous modeling results from Cen A. This slower region could be a slower moving layer around a fast spine, or a slower region farther out from the black hole in a decelerating flow. The fit parameters are also consistent with Cen A being able to accelerate ultra-high energy cosmic-rays, as hinted at by results from the Auger observatory.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUPERNOVA REMNANT W28 (G6.4-0.1)

We present detailed analysis of two gamma-ray sources, 1FGL J1801.3-2322c and 1FGL J1800.5-2359c, that have been found toward the supernova remnant (SNR) W28 with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. 1FGL J1801.3-2322c is found to be an extended source within the boundary of SNR W28, and to extensively overlap with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1801-233, which is associated with a dense molecular cloud interacting with the SNR. The gamma-ray spectrum measured with the LAT from 0.2 to 100 GeV can be described by a broken power-law function with a break at {approx}1 GeV and photon indices of 2.09 {+-} 0.08 (stat) {+-} 0.28 (sys) below the break and 2.74 {+-} 0.06 (stat) {+-} 0.09 (sys) above the break. Given the clear association between HESS J1801-233 and the shocked molecular cloud and a smoothly connected spectrum in the GeV-TeV band, we consider the origin of the gamma-ray emission in both GeV and TeV ranges to be the interaction between particles accelerated in the SNR and the molecular cloud. The decay of neutral pions produced in interactions between accelerated hadrons and dense molecular gas provides a reasonable explanation for the broadband gamma-ray spectrum. 1FGL J1800.5-2359c, located outside the southern boundary of SNR W28, cannot be resolved. An upper limit on the size of the gamma-ray emission was estimated to be {approx}16' using events above {approx}2 GeV under the assumption of a circular shape with uniform surface brightness. It appears to coincide with the TeV source HESS J1800-240B, which is considered to be associated with a dense molecular cloud that contains the ultra compact H II region W28A2 (G5.89-0.39). We found no significant gamma-ray emission in the LAT energy band at the positions of TeV sources HESS J1800-230A and HESS J1800-230C. The LAT data for HESS J1800-230A combined with the TeV data points indicate a spectral break between 10 GeV and 100 GeV.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗