Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011head...12.2602p&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #12, #26.02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present the discovery and follow-up observations of emission at energies E > 30 MeV from PSR B1509-58 with a simultaneous analysis of data from the italian satellite AGILE and from Fermi. PSR B1509-58 was detected by COMPTEL up to at least 10 MeV, while EGRET reported only marginal evidence (< 4 sigma) for a weak source. AGILE detected pulsed emission from PSR B1509-58 at 6.4 sigma. The COMPTEL sharp spectral break between 10 and 30 MeV seems confirmed by AGILE point at 100 MeV. Our data imply a soft photon index of 1.87 going from tens to hundreds of MeV and the lowest up to now energy cutoff at E=80 MeV, which is confirmed by the Fermi observations. Such a low-energy break, compared to the more common GeV spectral break in gamma-ray pulsars, could be the signature of the photon splitting process inducing significant electromagnetic cascade attenuation due to the strong magnetic polar field (>1013 G). Higher magnetic field pulsars have been observed in gamma-rays by Fermi, so that a concurrence of factors has to be invoked in order to explain the soft break. With the AGILE capability of observing with good sensitivity at E>30 MeV, we investigate this peculiar population of highly magnetized pulsars as a possible contributor to a new class of "soft" gamma-ray pulsars.
AGILE Pulsar Working Group
AGILE Team
Pellizzoni Alberto
Pilia Maura
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