Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-08-18
NaturePhys.2:614-619,2006
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
18 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Nature Physics (DOI below), final version available week of August 28, 2006 a
Scientific paper
10.1038/nphys391
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are believed to be the primary location of the acceleration of Galactic cosmic rays, via diffusive shock (Fermi) acceleration. Despite considerable theoretical work the precise details are still unknown, in part because of the difficulty in directly observing nucleons that are accelerated to TeV energies in, and affect the structure of, the SNR shocks. However, for the last ten years, X-ray observatories ASCA, and more recently Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku have made it possible to image the synchrotron emission at keV energies produced by cosmic-ray electrons accelerated in the SNR shocks. In this article, we describe a spatially-resolved spectroscopic analysis of Chandra observations of the Galactic SNR Cassiopeia A to map the cutoff frequencies of electrons accelerated in the forward shock. We set upper limits on the electron diffusion coefficient and find locations where particles appear to be accelerated nearly as fast as theoretically possible (the Bohm limit).
Allen Glenn E.
Davis John E.
Houck John C.
Stage Michael D.
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