Ultrahigh-energy photons up to 1.4 petaelectronvolts from 12 γ-ray Galactic sources

Zhen Cao^{1

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3}, F A Aharonian^{4

5}, Q An^{6

7}, Axikegu⁸, L X Bai⁹, Y X Bai^{10

11}, Y W Bao¹², D Bastieri¹³, X J Bi^{10

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14}, Y J Bi^{10

11}, H Cai¹⁵, J T Cai¹³, Zhe Cao^{6

7}, J Chang¹⁶, J F Chang^{10

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6}, X C Chang^{10

11}, B M Chen¹⁷, J Chen⁹, L Chen^{10

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14}, Liang Chen¹⁸, Long Chen⁸, M J Chen^{10

11}, M L Chen^{10

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6}, Q H Chen⁸, S H Chen^{10

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14}, S Z Chen^{19

20}, T L Chen²¹, X L Chen^{10

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14}, Y Chen¹², N Cheng^{10

11}, Y D Cheng^{10

11}, S W Cui¹⁷, X H Cui²², Y D Cui²³, B Z Dai²⁴, H L Dai^{10

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16}, Z G Dai¹², Danzengluobu²¹, D Della Volpe²⁵, B D Ettorre Piazzoli²⁶, X J Dong^{10

11}, J H Fan¹³, Y Z Fan¹⁶, Z X Fan^{10

11}, J Fang²⁴, K Fang^{10

11}, C F Feng²⁷, L Feng¹⁶, S H Feng^{10

11}, Y L Feng¹⁶, B Gao^{10

11}, C D Gao²⁷, Q Gao²¹, W Gao²⁷, M M Ge²⁴, L S Geng^{10

11}, G H Gong²⁸, Q B Gou^{10

11}, M H Gu^{10

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11}, X Hou³⁰, H B Hu^{10

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14}, S Hu⁹, S C Hu^{10

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11}, X L Ji^{10

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6}, H Y Jia⁸, K Jiang^{6

7}, Z J Jiang²⁴, C Jin^{10

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14}, D Kuleshov³¹, K Levochkin³¹, B B Li¹⁷, Cong Li^{10

11}, Cheng Li^{6

7}, F Li^{10

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6}, H B Li^{10

11}, H C Li^{10

11}, H Y Li^{7

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6}, K Li^{10

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7}, Xin Li⁸, X R Li^{10

11}, Y Li⁹, Y Z Li^{10

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14}, Zhe Li^{10

11}, Zhuo Li³², E W Liang³³, Y F Liang³³, S J Lin²³, B Liu⁷, C Liu^{10

11}, D Liu²⁷, H Liu⁸, H D Liu²⁹, J Liu^{10

11}, J L Liu^{34

35}, J S Liu²³, J Y Liu^{10

11}, M Y Liu²¹, R Y Liu³⁶, S M Liu¹⁶, W Liu^{10

11}, Y N Liu²⁸, Z X Liu⁹, W J Long⁸, R Lu²⁴, H K Lv^{10

11}, B Q Ma³², L L Ma^{10

11}, X H Ma^{10

11}, J R Mao³⁰, A Masood⁸, W Mitthumsiri³⁷, T Montaruli²⁵, Y C Nan²⁷, B Y Pang⁸, P Pattarakijwanich³⁷, Z Y Pei¹³, M Y Qi^{10

11}, D Ruffolo³⁷, V Rulev³¹, A Sáiz³⁷, L Shao¹⁷, O Shchegolev^{31

38}, X D Sheng^{10

11}, J R Shi^{10

11}, H C Song³², Yu V Stenkin^{31

38}, V Stepanov³¹, Q N Sun⁸, X N Sun³³, Z B Sun³⁹, P H T Tam²³, Z B Tang^{6

7}, W W Tian^{14

22}, B D Wang^{10

11}, C Wang³⁹, H Wang⁸, H G Wang¹³, J C Wang³⁰, J S Wang^{34

35}, L P Wang²⁷, L Y Wang^{10

11}, R N Wang⁸, W Wang²³, W Wang¹⁵, X G Wang³³, X J Wang^{10

11}, X Y Wang¹², Y D Wang^{10

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11}, Y P Wang^{10

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14}, Zheng Wang^{10

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6}, Zhen Wang^{34

35}, Z H Wang⁹, Z X Wang²⁴, D M Wei¹⁶, J J Wei¹⁶, Y J Wei^{10

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14}, T Wen²⁴, C Y Wu^{10

11}, H R Wu^{10

11}, S Wu^{10

11}, W X Wu⁸, X F Wu¹⁶, S Q Xi⁸, J Xia^{7

16}, J J Xia⁸, G M Xiang^{14

18}, G Xiao^{10

11}, H B Xiao¹³, G G Xin¹⁵, Y L Xin⁸, Y Xing¹⁸, D L Xu^{34

35}, R X Xu³², L Xue²⁷, D H Yan³⁰, C W Yang⁹, F F Yang^{10

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6}, J Y Yang²³, L L Yang²³, M J Yang^{10

11}, R Z Yang⁴⁰, S B Yang²⁴, Y H Yao⁹, Z G Yao^{10

11}, Y M Ye²⁸, L Q Yin^{10

11}, N Yin²⁷, X H You^{10

11}, Z Y You^{10

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6}, W Zeng²⁴, Z K Zeng^{10

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14}, M Zha^{10

11}, X X Zhai^{10

11}, B B Zhang¹², H M Zhang¹², H Y Zhang²⁷, J L Zhang²², J W Zhang⁹, L Zhang¹⁷, Li Zhang²⁴, L X Zhang¹³, P F Zhang²⁴, P P Zhang¹⁷, R Zhang^{7

16}, S R Zhang¹⁷, S S Zhang^{10

11}, X Zhang¹², X P Zhang^{10

11}, Yong Zhang^{10

11}, Yi Zhang^{10

16}, Y F Zhang⁸, Y L Zhang^{10

11}, B Zhao⁸, J Zhao^{10

11}, L Zhao^{6

7}, L Z Zhao¹⁷, S P Zhao^{16

27}, F Zheng³⁹, Y Zheng⁸, B Zhou^{10

11}, H Zhou^{34

35}, J N Zhou¹⁸, P Zhou¹², R Zhou⁹, X X Zhou⁸, C G Zhu²⁷, F R Zhu⁸, H Zhu²², K J Zhu^{10

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6}, X Zuo^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics & Experimental Physics Division & Computing Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. caozh@ihep.ac.cn.
² TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. caozh@ihep.ac.cn.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. caozh@ihep.ac.cn.
⁴ Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin, Ireland. felix.aharonian@mpi-hd.mpg.de.
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany. felix.aharonian@mpi-hd.mpg.de.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics, Beijing, China.
⁷ University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
⁸ School of Physical Science and Technology & School of Information Science and Technology, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China.
⁹ College of Physics, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics & Experimental Physics Division & Computing Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹¹ TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
¹² School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
¹³ Center for Astrophysics, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.
¹⁴ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹⁵ School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
¹⁶ Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
¹⁷ Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China.
¹⁸ Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
¹⁹ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics & Experimental Physics Division & Computing Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. chensz@ihep.ac.cn.
²⁰ TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. chensz@ihep.ac.cn.
²¹ Key Laboratory of Cosmic Rays (Tibet University), Ministry of Education, Lhasa, Tibet, China.
²² National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
²³ School of Physics and Astronomy & School of Physics (Guangzhou), Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.
²⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
²⁵ Département de Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire, Faculté de Sciences, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁶ Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Napoli "Federico II", Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, Naples, Italy.
²⁷ Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
²⁸ Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
²⁹ School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
³⁰ Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
³¹ Institute for Nuclear Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
³² School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China.
³³ School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China.
³⁴ Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³⁶ School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. ryliu@nju.edu.cn.
³⁷ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
³⁸ Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia.
³⁹ National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴⁰ University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. yangrz@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 34002091
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03498-z

Ultrahigh-energy photons up to 1.4 petaelectronvolts from 12 γ-ray Galactic sources

Zhen Cao et al. Nature. 2021 Jun.

. 2021 Jun;594(7861):33-36.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03498-z. Epub 2021 May 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics & Experimental Physics Division & Computing Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. caozh@ihep.ac.cn.
² TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. caozh@ihep.ac.cn.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. caozh@ihep.ac.cn.
⁴ Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin, Ireland. felix.aharonian@mpi-hd.mpg.de.
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany. felix.aharonian@mpi-hd.mpg.de.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics, Beijing, China.
⁷ University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
⁸ School of Physical Science and Technology & School of Information Science and Technology, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China.
⁹ College of Physics, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics & Experimental Physics Division & Computing Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹¹ TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
¹² School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
¹³ Center for Astrophysics, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.
¹⁴ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹⁵ School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
¹⁶ Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
¹⁷ Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China.
¹⁸ Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
¹⁹ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics & Experimental Physics Division & Computing Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. chensz@ihep.ac.cn.
²⁰ TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. chensz@ihep.ac.cn.
²¹ Key Laboratory of Cosmic Rays (Tibet University), Ministry of Education, Lhasa, Tibet, China.
²² National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
²³ School of Physics and Astronomy & School of Physics (Guangzhou), Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.
²⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
²⁵ Département de Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire, Faculté de Sciences, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁶ Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Napoli "Federico II", Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, Naples, Italy.
²⁷ Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
²⁸ Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
²⁹ School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
³⁰ Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
³¹ Institute for Nuclear Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
³² School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China.
³³ School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China.
³⁴ Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³⁶ School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. ryliu@nju.edu.cn.
³⁷ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
³⁸ Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia.
³⁹ National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴⁰ University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. yangrz@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 34002091
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03498-z

Abstract

The extension of the cosmic-ray spectrum beyond 1 petaelectronvolt (PeV; 10¹⁵ electronvolts) indicates the existence of the so-called PeVatrons-cosmic-ray factories that accelerate particles to PeV energies. We need to locate and identify such objects to find the origin of Galactic cosmic rays¹. The principal signature of both electron and proton PeVatrons is ultrahigh-energy (exceeding 100 TeV) γ radiation. Evidence of the presence of a proton PeVatron has been found in the Galactic Centre, according to the detection of a hard-spectrum radiation extending to 0.04 PeV (ref. ²). Although γ-rays with energies slightly higher than 0.1 PeV have been reported from a few objects in the Galactic plane^3-6, unbiased identification and in-depth exploration of PeVatrons requires detection of γ-rays with energies well above 0.1 PeV. Here we report the detection of more than 530 photons at energies above 100 teraelectronvolts and up to 1.4 PeV from 12 ultrahigh-energy γ-ray sources with a statistical significance greater than seven standard deviations. Despite having several potential counterparts in their proximity, including pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants and star-forming regions, the PeVatrons responsible for the ultrahigh-energy γ-rays have not yet been firmly localized and identified (except for the Crab Nebula), leaving open the origin of these extreme accelerators.

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Comment in

Hunting the strongest accelerators in our Galaxy.
Huentemeyer P. Huentemeyer P. Nature. 2021 Jun;594(7861):30-31. doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-01377-1. Nature. 2021. PMID: 34079132 No abstract available.

References

1. Aloisio, R., Coccia, E. & Vissani, F. (eds) Multiple Messengers and Challenges in Astroparticle Physics (Springer, 2018).
1. HESS Collaboration. Acceleration of petaelectronvolt protons in the Galactic Centre. Nature 531, 476–479 (2016). - DOI
1. Amenomori, M. et al. First detection of photons with energy beyond 100 TeV from an astrophysical source. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 051101 (2019). - PubMed - DOI
1. Abeysekara, A. U. et al. Multiple Galactic sources with emission above 56 TeV detected by HAWC. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 021102 (2020). - PubMed - DOI
1. Abeysekara, A. U. et al. HAWC observations of the acceleration of very-high-energy cosmic rays in the Cygnus Cocoon. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01318-y (2021).

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Ultrahigh-energy photons up to 1.4 petaelectronvolts from 12 γ-ray Galactic sources

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Ultrahigh-energy photons up to 1.4 petaelectronvolts from 12 γ-ray Galactic sources

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