New Clues to the Origin of Galactic Positrons

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The imaging spectrometer SPI on board ESA's INTEGRAL observatory provides us with an unprecedented view of positron annihilation in our Galaxy. The first sky maps in the 511 keV annihilation line and in the positronium (Ps) continuum from SPI showed a puzzling concentration of annihilation radiation in the Galactic bulge region; detailed spectroscopy with SPI showed that positrons annihilate there in a warm interstellar medium. By now, more than twice as many INTEGRAL observations are available, offering new clues to the origin of Galactic positrons. We present the current status of our analyses of this augmented data set. We now detect significant emission from outside the Galactic bulge region. The 511 keV line is clearly detected from the Galactic disk, allowing us to perform the first spectroscopic study of this emission with SPI. In addition, there is a tantalizing hint at possible halo-like emission. The available data do not yet permit to discern whether the emission around the bulge region originates from a halo-like component or from a disk component that is very extended in latitude.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

New Clues to the Origin of Galactic Positrons does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with New Clues to the Origin of Galactic Positrons, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and New Clues to the Origin of Galactic Positrons will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1480483

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.