Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-06-05
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To be published in Proceedings of the 30th International Cosmic Ray Conference, July 3 - 11, 2007, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Scientific paper
TeV gamma-rays can result from the photo-de-excitation of PeV cosmic ray nuclei after their parents have undergone photo-disintegration in an environment of ultraviolet photons. This process is proposed as a candidate explanation of the recently discovered HESS source at the edge of Westerlund 2. The UV background is provided by Lyman-alpha emission within the rich O and B stellar environment. The HESS flux results if there is efficient acceleration at the source of lower energy nuclei. The requirement that the Lorentz-boosted ultraviolet photons reach the Giant Dipole resonant energy (~ 20 MeV) implies a strong suppression of the gamma-ray spectrum compared to an E_\gamma^{-2} behavior at energies below about 1 TeV. This suppression is not apparent in the lowest-energy Westerlund 2 datum, but will be probed by the upcoming GLAST mission.
Anchordoqui Luis A.
Beacom John F.
Butt Yousaf M.
Goldberg Haim
Palomares-Ruiz Sergio
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