Fermi Large Area Telescope Data Research Articles

Systematic Search for and Study of Short-timescale Flare Structures in BL Lac Object Gamma-Ray Emission

We present here the first systematic search of short-timescale γ-ray flares from 29 high Galactic latitude BL Lac objects over 14 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. Using a combined Bayesian Blocks and HOP algorithm, we identified seven high-quality orbital timescale flare segments from three sources and quantified 24 short-timescale flare structures. We then performed a comprehensive analysis of flare symmetry, power spectral density (PSD) of variability, and flux–photon index relation. The main results are as follows. (1) The flare symmetry parameter A shows a “U-shaped” distribution. Short-timescale flares are symmetric while long-timescale flares are asymmetric. The number of fast-rise, slow-decay and slow-rise, fast-decay type flares are equal. No correlation is found between A and peak/integral flux. No parameter evolution is seen between consecutive flares, either. The observations support a scenario where longer-timescale flares originate from the superposition of short, symmetric subhour flares. (2) PSD from yearly to hourly timescales is modeled using the CARMA process. At lower frequencies, the PSD follows the typical broken power-law form. The high-frequency region of the PSD exhibits a continuous power-law shape, indicating that γ-ray variability originates from a single physical process across all probed timescales. (3) The flux–photon index distribution shows a pattern of “harder-when-brighter” or “softer-when-brighter,” but becomes flat above a certain critical flux, with Γ ≈ 2. This behavior cannot be simply explained by a two-component or blazar sequence model, and we speculate it may be related to complex interplay between electron acceleration and cooling.

A blind search for intraday gamma-ray transients with Fermi -LAT: Detections of GRB and solar emissions

***General notes. a) I have edited to UK English convention as this most closely matches your spelling and punctuation use. b) A A uses the past tense to describe the specific steps used in a paper and the present tense to describe general methods and recent findings. Please make sure this is followed throughout the paper. For details, see Sect. 6 of the Language Guide: https://www.aanda.org/for-authors/language-editing/6-verb-tenses c) All abbreviations and acronyms are introduced at first use, once in the Abstract and again in the main text. Instrument and program names are introduced at first use (when appropriate) in the main text. All abbreviations should be used consistently. Please check throughout We present a search for intraday transient gamma -ray signals using years of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data. The search is based on a recently developed variable-size sliding-time-window (VSSTW) analysis and is aimed at studying variable gamma -ray emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the Sun. We refined the algorithm for searches for transient sources in order to solve the search problem within a reasonable amount of CPU time. These refinements allowed us to increase the number of gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, and quiescent solar events detected with the VSSTW technique by several times compared to the previous VSSTW search. The current search revealed a new gamma -ray signal recorded with Fermi -LAT on 2018 January 12. This signal is probably from a GRB and deserves an exploration of the existing archival multiwavelength observations in order to identify it in an unambiguous way. We also report a gamma -ray signal from the solar flare on 2023 December 31 that occurred during the 25th solar cycle.

Possible GeV gamma-ray emission from the pulsar wind nebula in CTA 1

ABSTRACT We report a detection of GeV γ-ray emission potentially originating from the pulsar wind nebula in CTA 1 by analysing about 15 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. By selecting an energy range from 50 GeV to 1 TeV to remove contamination from the γ-ray pulsar PSR J0007+7303, we have discovered an extended γ-ray source with a test statistic value of ∼44.94 in the region of CTA 1. The obtained flux is measured to be 6.71 ± 2.60 × 10−12 erg cm−2 s−1 with a spectral index of 1.61 ± 0.36, which allows for a smooth connection with the flux in the TeV band. CTA 1 is also considered to be associated with 1LHAASO J0007+7303u, which is an ultra-high-energy source listed in the recently published catalogue of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory. We assume that the radiation originates from the pulsar wind nebula and that its multiwavelength spectral energy distribution can be explained well with a time-dependent one-zone model.

Sub-GeV Gamma Rays from Nearby Seyfert Galaxies and Implications for Coronal Neutrino Emission

Recent observations of high-energy neutrinos by IceCube and gamma rays by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the MAGIC telescope have suggested that neutrinos are produced in gamma-ray opaque environments in the vicinity of supermassive black holes. In this work, we present 20 MeV–1 TeV spectra of three Seyfert galaxies whose nuclei are predicted to be active in neutrinos, NGC 4151, NGC 4945, and the Circinus galaxy, using 14.4 yr of Fermi LAT data. In particular, we find evidence of sub-GeV excess emission that can be attributed to gamma rays from NGC 4945, as was also seen in NGC 1068. These spectral features are consistent with predictions of the magnetically powered corona model, and we argue that NGC 4945 is among the brightest neutrino active galaxies detectable for KM3Net and Baikal-GVD. On the other hand, in contrast to other reported results, we do not detect gamma rays from NGC 4151, which constrains neutrino emission from the accretion shock model. Future neutrino detectors such as IceCube-Gen2 and MeV gamma-ray telescopes such as AMEGO-X will be crucial for discriminating among the theoretical models.

Energy-dependent Analyses of the Gamma-Ray Emission from HESS J1857+026 with Fermi-LAT

We report the discovery of the energy-dependent morphology of the GeV gamma-ray emission from HESS J1857+026 with more than 13 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. The GeV gamma-ray emission from this region is composed of two extended components. The hard component with an index of 1.74 ± 0.07 in the energy range of 0.5–500 GeV is spatially coincident with HESS J1857+026, and its 68% containment radius varies from ∼0.°44 below 40 GeV to ∼0.°30 above 140 GeV. The hard GeV gamma-ray spectrum and the energy-dependent morphology of HESS J1857+026 make it favor a pulsar wind nebula origin, which is associated with the energetic pulsar PSR J1856+0245. The soft component with an index of 2.70 ± 0.16 and another extended gamma-ray source detected in this region, 4FGL J1857.9+0313e, with an index of 2.55 ± 0.07, are spatially coincident with two molecular clumps in the northeast and southwest of HESS J1857+026, which favors the hadronic process, and the protons could be accelerated by the hypothetical supernova remnant associated with PSR J1856+0245.

Galactic Diffuse γ-Ray Emission from GeV to PeV Energies in Light of Up-to-date Cosmic-Ray Measurements

Diffuse γ-ray emission between 10 and 1000 TeV from the Galactic plane was recently measured by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). These observations will help tremendously in constraining the propagation and interaction of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. Additionally, new measurements of cosmic-ray spectra reach a very high precision of up to 100 TeV energies, revealing multiple spectral structures of various species. In this work, based on up-to-date measurements of local cosmic-ray spectra and a simplified propagation setup, we confront a model prediction of diffuse γ-ray emission with measurements of diffuse γ-rays. To better constrain the low-energy part of the model, we analyze the 14.6 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) data to extract the Galactic diffuse emission between 1 and 500 GeV from the same sky regions of LHAASO, after subtracting the contribution from known sources and the isotropic diffuse γ-ray background. The joint Fermi-LAT and LHAASO spectra thus cover a very wide energy range from 1 GeV to 1 PeV with small gaps from 0.5 to 10 TeV. Compared with the prediction, we find that clear excesses between several GeV and ∼60 TeV of the diffuse emission exist. Possible reasons to explain the excesses may include unresolved sources or more complicated propagation models. We illustrate that an exponential cutoff power-law component with an index of −2.40 and a cutoff energy of ∼30 TeV is able to account for such excesses.

Multi-wavelength Study of HESS J1303-631 with 14 yr of Fermi-LAT Data

HESS J1303-631 is an extended TeV pulsar wind nebula powered by the pulsar PSR J1301-6305 detected with the High Energy Stereoscopic System. We present an analysis of the GeV γ-ray region of HESS J1303-631 with about 14 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. The GeV γ-ray emission, coincident with the very-high-energy source, has a photon index of 1.69 ± 0.09 in 10–500 GeV band, and the GeV morphology has an extension to the same direction as indicated in the TeV band. Moreover, the observed multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution of the nebula is studied with a one-zone time-dependent leptonic model, in which the electrons/positrons injected into the nebula are assumed to have a broken power-law spectrum. The result indicates that the multi-wavelength non-thermal emission can be well reproduced via synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton scattering of the particles.

Disentangling the Hadronic Components in NGC 1068

The recent detection of high-energy neutrinos by IceCube in the direction of the nearby Seyfert/starburst galaxy NGC 1068 implies that radio-quiet active galactic nuclei can accelerate cosmic-ray ions. Dedicated multimessenger analyses suggest that the interaction of these high-energy ions with ambient gas or photons happens in a region of the galaxy that is highly opaque for GeV–TeV gamma rays. Otherwise, the GeV–TeV emission would violate existing constraints provided by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov. The conditions of high optical depth are realized near the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). At the same time, the GeV emission detected by the Fermi LAT is likely related to the galaxy’s sustained star formation activity. In this work, we derive a 20 MeV–1 TeV spectrum of NGC 1068 using 14 yr of Fermi LAT observations. We find that the starburst hadronic component is responsible for NGC 1068's emission above ∼500 MeV. However, below this energy, an additional component is required. In the 20–500 MeV range, the Fermi LAT data are consistent with hadronic emission initiated by non-thermal ions interacting with gas or photons in the vicinity of the central SMBH. This highlights the importance of the MeV band to discover hidden cosmic-ray accelerators.

Constraints on the Gamma-Ray Emission from Small Solar System Bodies with the Fermi Large Area Telescope Data

All known small solar system bodies have diameters between a few meters and a few thousands of kilometers. Based on the collisional evolution of solar system bodies, a larger number of asteroids with diameters down to ∼2 m is thought to exist. As all solar system bodies, small bodies can be passive sources of high-energy gamma-rays, produced by the interaction of energetic cosmic rays impinging on their surfaces. Since the majority of known asteroids are in orbits between Mars and Jupiter (in a region known as the Main Belt), we expect them to produce a diffuse emission close to the ecliptic plane. In this work, we have studied the gamma-ray emission coming from the ecliptic using the data collected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite. We have fit the results with simulations of the gamma-ray intensity at the source level (calculated with the software FLUKA) to constrain the small solar system bodies population. Finally, we have proposed a model describing the distribution of asteroid sizes and we have used the LAT data to constrain the gamma-ray emission expected from this model and, in turn, on the model itself.

External Inverse-compton and Proton Synchrotron Emission from the Reverse Shock as the Origin of VHE Gamma Rays from the Hyper-bright GRB 221009A

The detection of the hyper-bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) 221009A enables us to explore the nature of the GRB emission and the origin of very high-energy gamma rays. We analyze the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) data of this burst and investigate the GeV–TeV emission in the framework of the external reverse-shock model. We show that the early ∼1–10 GeV emission can be explained by the external inverse-Compton mechanism via upscattering MeV gamma rays by electrons accelerated at the reverse shock, in addition to the synchrotron self-Compton component. The predicted early optical flux could have been brighter than that of the naked-eye GRB 080319B. We also show that proton synchrotron emission from accelerated ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is detectable and could potentially explain ≳TeV photons detected by LHAASO or constrain the UHECR acceleration mechanism. Our model suggests that the detection of photons with energies up to ∼18 TeV is possible for reasonable models of the extragalactic background light without invoking new physics and predicts anticorrelations between MeV photons and TeV photons, which can be tested with the LHAASO data.

Advanced γ-Ray Emission Studies of G15.4+0.1 with Fermi-LAT: Evidence of Escaping Cosmic Rays Interacting with Surrounding Molecular Clouds

We present an analysis of γ-ray emission in the direction of supernova remnant (SNR) G15.4+0.1 with 13 yr Fermi Large Area Telescope data. There are three point-like GeV sources in this region: one is spatially coincident with the TeV source HESS J1818-154 and is interpreted as the counterpart of HESS J1818-154. Its γ-ray spectrum can be well fitted by a single power law with an index of 2.3. The other two sources with log-parabola spectra are spatially coincident with dense regions of surrounding molecular clouds revealed by CO observations. Their γ-ray emission originates from hadronic π 0 decay due to inelastic collisions between nuclei in the clouds and cosmic rays accelerated in and escaping from SNR G15.4+0.1. The total energy of the escaping protons is about 1048 erg, assuming a point-like instantaneous injection. However, the inferred diffusion coefficients are lower than the typical Galactic value.

Deep Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from the Accreting X-Ray Pulsar 1A 0535+262

Binary systems are a well-established subclass of gamma-ray sources. The high mass X-ray binary pulsar 1A 0535+262 has been considered to be a possible gamma-ray emitter for a long time, although former gamma-ray searches using the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and VERITAS data resulted in upper limits only. We aim at a deep search for gamma-ray emission and pulsations from 1A 0535+262 using more than 13 yr of Fermi-LAT data. The analysis was performed for both the whole Fermi-LAT data set, as well as for the X-ray outbursts that 1A 0535+262 has experienced since the launch of Fermi. Various X‐ray observations have been used to generate the ephemeris for the pulsation search. We also investigate the long-term gamma-ray flux variability and perform orbital phase-resolved analysis for the outbursts. We did not detect any steady or pulsed gamma-ray emission from 1A 0535+262 during the whole Fermi-LAT mission span or its X-ray outbursts. We thus derived the deepest gamma-ray luminosity upper limits to date at the 95% confidence level to be around (2.3–4.7) × 1032 erg s−1 depending on different spectral indices assumed, which results in a ratio of L γ to L X (2–150 keV) being (1.9–3.9) × 10−6.

GeV Gamma-Ray Emission from Pulsar Wind Nebula HESS J1356-645 with Fermi-Large Area Telescope

HESS J1356-645 is considered to be a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) associated with the pulsar PSR J1357-6429. We reanalyze the GeV gamma-ray emission in the direction of HESS J1356-645 with more than 13 yr of Fermi-Large Area Telescope data. The extended gamma-ray emission above 5 GeV is found to be spatially coincident with HESS J1356-645. The spectrum in the energy range of 1 GeV–1 TeV can be described by a power law with an index of Γ = 1.51 ± 0.10. The broadband spectrum of HESS J1356-645 can be reproduced by a leptonic model with a broken power-law electronic spectrum. In addition, we found evidence that the morphology of the GeV emission from HESS J1356-645 varies with energy; a behavior that is similar to that of the PWN Vela-X. More broadband observations will be helpful to study the energy-dependent characteristics of HESS J1356-645.

Detection of GeV Emission from an Ultralong Gamma-Ray Burst with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

GRB 220627A, detected by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), shows two episodes of gamma-ray emission, which are separated by a ∼700 s long quiescent phase. Due to similar temporal shapes and spectra in the two episodes, GRB 220627A is speculated to be a gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst (GRB). We analyze Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data and find that about 49 gamma-ray photons above 100 MeV come from the GRB during the first episode, while there are no photons above 100 MeV in the second episode. Based on the broadband spectral study of the two episodes, the gravitationally lensing scenario can be ruled out at a high confidence level and we thus conclude that GRB 220627A is an intrinsically ultralong GRB with the prompt burst emission lasting longer than 1000 s. It is then the first case that GeV emission is detected from an ultralong GRB. We find that a short spike seen in the LAT light curve is also present in GBM detectors that see the burst, suggesting a common internal region of emission across the entire Fermi energy range. The detection of a 15.7 GeV photon during the early prompt phase places a lower limit of Γ ≥ 300 on the bulk Lorentz factor of the GRB ejecta. The constraint on the bulk Lorentz factor could shed light on the origin of ultralong GRBs.

An update on Fermi-LAT transients in the Galactic plane, including strong activity of Cygnus X-3 in mid-2020

ABSTRACT We present a search for Galactic transient γ-ray sources using 13 yr of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data. The search is based on a recently developed variable-size sliding-time-window (VSSTW) analysis and aimed at studying variable γ-ray emission from binary systems, including novae, γ-ray binaries, and microquasars. Compared to the previous search for transient sources at random positions in the sky with 11.5 yr of data, we included γ-rays with energies down to 500 MeV, increased a number of test positions, and extended the data set by adding data collected between 2020 February and 2021 July. These refinements allowed us to detect additional three novae, V1324 Sco, V5855 Sgr, V357 Mus, and one γ-ray binary, PSR B1259-63, with the VSSTW method. Our search revealed a γ-ray flare from the microquasar, Cygnus X-3, occurred in 2020. When applied to equal quarters of the data, the analysis provided us with detections of repeating signals from PSR B1259-63, LS I +61°303, PSR J2021+4026, and Cygnus X-3. While the Cygnus X-3 was bright in γ-rays in mid-2020, it was in a soft X-ray state and we found that its γ-ray emission was modulated with the orbital period.

How do the dynamics of the Milky Way–Large Magellanic Cloud system affect gamma-ray constraints on particle dark matter?

ABSTRACT Previous studies on astrophysical dark matter (DM) constraints have all assumed that the Milky Way’s (MW) DM halo can be modelled in isolation. However, recent work suggests that the MW’s largest dwarf satellite, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), has a mass of 10–20${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ that of the MW and is currently merging with our Galaxy. As a result, the DM haloes of the MW and LMC are expected to be strongly deformed. We here address and quantify the impact of the dynamical response caused by the passage of the LMC through the MW on the prospects for indirect DM searches. Utilizing a set of state-of-the-art numerical simulations of the evolution of the MW–LMC system, we derive the DM distribution in both galaxies at the present time based on the basis function expansion formalism. Consequently, we build $\mathcal {J}$-factor all-sky maps of the MW–LMC system to study the impact of the LMC passage on gamma-ray indirect searches for thermally produced DM annihilating in the outer MW halo as well as within the LMC halo stand-alone. We conduct a detailed analysis of 12 yr of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data that incorporates various large-scale gamma-ray emission components and we quantify the systematic uncertainty associated with the imperfect knowledge of the astrophysical gamma-ray sources. We find that the dynamical response caused by the LMC passage can alter the constraints on the velocity-averaged annihilation cross-section for weak-scale particle DM at a level comparable to the existing observational uncertainty of the MW halo’s density profile and total mass.

Detection of Diffuse γ-Ray Emission toward a Massive Star-forming Region Hosting Wolf–Rayet Stars

Isotopic and elemental abundances seen in Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) imply that ∼20% of the cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei are probably synthesized by massive Wolf–Rayet (W-R) stars. Massive star clusters hosting W-R- and OB-type stars have been proposed as potential GCR accelerators for decades, in particular via diffusive shock acceleration at wind termination shocks. Here we report the analysis of Fermi Large Area Telescope data toward the direction of Masgomas-6a, a young massive star cluster candidate hosting two W-R stars. We detect an extended γ-ray source with a test statistic = 183 in the vicinity of Masgomas-6a, spatially coincident with two unassociated Fermi 4FGL sources. We also present the CO observational results of molecular clouds in this region, using the data from the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting project. The γ-ray emission intensity correlates well with the distribution of molecular gas at the distance of Masgomas-6a, indicating that these γ-rays may be produced by CRs accelerated by massive stars in Masgomas-6a. At the distance of 3.9 kpc of Masgomas-6a, the luminosity of the extended source is (1.81 ± 0.02) × 1035 erg s−1. With a kinetic luminosity of ∼1037 erg s−1 in the stellar winds, the W-R stars are capable of powering the γ-ray emission via neutral pion decay resulted from CR proton–proton interactions. The size of the GeV source and the energetic requirement suggests a CR diffusion coefficient smaller than that in the Galactic interstellar medium, indicating a strong suppression of CR diffusion in the molecular cloud.

A multiwavelength study of the flat-spectrum radio quasar NVSS J141922−083830 covering four flaring episodes

ABSTRACT We present multiwavelength observations and a model for flat-spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) NVSS J141922−083830, originally classified as a blazar candidate of unknown type (BCU II object) in the Third Fermi-LAT AGN Catalog. Relatively bright flares (>3 magnitudes) were observed on 2015 February 21 (MJD 57074) and 2018 September 8 (MJD 58369) in the optical band with the MASTER Global Robotic Nettelescopes. Optical spectra obtained with the Southern African Large Telescopeon 2015 March 1 (MJD 57082), during outburst, and on 2017 May 30 (MJD 57903), during quiescence, showed emission lines at 5325 Å and at ≈3630 Å that we identified as the Mg ii 2798 Å and C iii] 1909 Å lines, respectively, and hence derived a redshift $z$ = 0.903. Analysis of Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) data was performed in the quiescent regime (5 yr of data) and during four prominent flaring states in 2014 February–April, 2014 October–November, 2015 February–March, and 2018 September. We present spectral and timing analysis with Fermi-LAT. We report a hardening of the gamma-ray spectrum during the last three flaring periods, with a power-law spectral index Γ = 2.0–2.1. The maximum gamma-ray flux level was observed on 2014 October 24 (MJD 56954) at (7.57 ± 1.83) × 10−7 ph cm−2 s−1. The multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) during the 2015 February–March flare supports the earlier evidence of this blazar to belong to the FSRQ class. The SED can be well represented with a single-zone leptonic model with parameters typical of FSRQs, but also a hadronic origin of the high-energy emission cannot be ruled out.

FLUKA cross sections for cosmic-ray interactions with the DRAGON2 code

Secondary particles produced in spallation reactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas provide valuable information that allow us to investigate the injection and transport of charged particles in the Galaxy. A good understanding of the cross sections of production of these particles is crucial to correctly interpret our models, although the existing experimental data is very scarce and uncertain. We have developed a new set of cross sections, both inelastic and inclusive, computed with the FLUKA Monte Carlo nuclear code and tested its compatibility with CR data. Inelastic and inclusive cross sections have been compared to the most up-to-date data and parameterisations finding a general good agreement.Then, these cross sections have been implemented in the DRAGON2 code to characterize the spectra of CR nuclei up to Z = 26 and the secondary-to-primary ratios of B, Be and Li. Interestingly, we find that the FLUKA cross sections allow us to predict an energy-dependence of the B, Be and Li flux ratios which is compatible with AMS-02 data and to reproduce simultaneously these flux ratios with a scaling lower than 20%. Finally, we implement the cross sections of production of gamma rays, calculated with FLUKA, in the Gammasky code and compute diffuse gamma-ray sky maps and the local HI emissivity spectrum, finding a very good agreement with Fermi Large Area Telescope data.

A gamma-ray pulsar timing array constrains the nanohertz gravitational wave background.

After large galaxies merge, their central supermassive black holes are expected to form binary systems. Their orbital motion should generate a gravitational wave background (GWB) at nanohertz frequencies. Searches for this background use pulsar timing arrays, which perform long-term monitoring of millisecond pulsars at radio wavelengths. We used 12.5 years of Fermi Large Area Telescope data to form a gamma-ray pulsar timing array. Results from 35 bright gamma-ray pulsars place a 95% credible limit on the GWB characteristic strain of 1.0 × 10-14 at a frequency of 1 year-1. The sensitivity is expected to scale with tobs, the observing time span, as [Formula: see text]. This direct measurement provides an independent probe of the GWB while offering a check on radio noise models.