Molecular Clouds as Cosmic-Ray Barometers
Abstract
The advent of high sensitivity, high resolution gamma-ray detectors, together with a knowledge of the distribution of the atomic hydrogen and especially of the molecular hydrogen in the Galaxy on sub-degree scales creates a unique opportunity to explore the flux of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. We here present the new data on the distribution of the molecular hydrogen from a large region of the inner Galaxy obtained by the NANTEN Collaboration. We then introduce a methodology which aims to provide a test bed for current and future gamma-ray observatories to explore the cosmic ray flux at various positions in our Galaxy. In particular, for a distribution of molecular clouds, as provided by the NANTEN survey, and local cosmic ray density as measured at the Earth, we estimate the expected GeV to TeV gamma-ray signal, which can then be compared with observations and use to test the cosmic ray flux.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0904.2887,
title = {Molecular Clouds as Cosmic-Ray Barometers},
author = {S. Casanova and F. A. Aharonian and Y. Fukui and S. Gabici and D. I. Jones and A. Kawamura and T. Onishi and G. Rowell and K. Torii and H. Yamamoto},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0904.2887},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
PASJ (in press)