Proton acceleration in thermonuclear nova explosions revealed by gamma rays
Abstract
Classical novae are cataclysmic binary star systems in which the matter of a companion star is accreted on a white dwarf (WD). Accumulation of hydrogen in a layer eventually causes a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of the WD, brightening the WD to ~10^5 solar luminosities and triggering ejection of the accumulated matter.They provide extreme conditions required to accelerate particles, electrons or protons, to high energies. Here we present the detection of gamma rays by the MAGIC telescopes from the 2021 outburst of RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph), a recurrent nova with a red giant (RG) companion, that allowed us, for the first time, to accurately characterize the emission from a nova in the 60 GeV to 250 GeV energy range. The theoretical interpretation of the combined Fermi-LAT and MAGIC data suggests that protons are accelerated to hundreds of GeV in the nova shock. Such protons should create bubbles of enhanced Cosmic Ray density, on the order of 10 pc, from the recurrent novae.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2202.07681,
title = {Proton acceleration in thermonuclear nova explosions revealed by gamma rays},
author = {MAGIC Collaboration and V. A. Acciari and S. Ansoldi and L. A. Antonelli and A. Arbet Engels and M. Artero and K. Asano and D. Baack and A. Babić and A. Baquero and U. Barres de Almeida and J. A. Barrio and I. Batković and J. Becerra González and W. Bednarek and L. Bellizzi and E. Bernardini and M. Bernardos and A. Berti and J. Besenrieder and W. Bhattacharyya and C. Bigongiari and A. Biland and O. Blanch and H. Bökenkamp and G. Bonnoli and Ž. Bošnjak and G. Busetto and R. Carosi and G. Ceribella and M. Cerruti and Y. Chai and A. Chilingarian and S. Cikota and S. M. Colak and E. Colombo and J. L. Contreras and J. Cortina and S. Covino and G. D'Amico and V. D'Elia and P. Da Vela and F. Dazzi and A. De Angelis and B. De Lotto and A. Del Popolo and M. Delfino and J. Delgado and C. Delgado Mendez and D. Depaoli and F. Di Pierro and L. Di Venere and E. Do Souto Espiñeira and D. Dominis Prester and A. Donini and D. Dorner and M. Doro and D. Elsaesser and V. Fallah Ramazani and L. Fariña Alonso and A. Fattorini and M. V. Fonseca and L. Font and C. Fruck and S. Fukami and Y. Fukazawa and R. J. García López and M. Garczarczyk and S. Gasparyan and M. Gaug and N. Giglietto and F. Giordano and P. Gliwny and N. Godinović and J. G. Green and D. Green and D. Hadasch and A. Hahn and T. Hassan and L. Heckmann and J. Herrera and J. Hoang and D. Hrupec and M. Hütten and T. Inada and K. Ishio and Y. Iwamura and I. Jiménez Martínez and J. Jormanainen and L. Jouvin and D. Kerszberg and Y. Kobayashi and H. Kubo and J. Kushida and A. Lamastra and D. Lelas and F. Leone and E. Lindfors and L. Linhoff and S. Lombardi and F. Longo and R. López-Coto and M. López-Moya and A. López-Oramas and S. Loporchio and B. Machado de Oliveira Fraga and C. Maggio and P. Majumdar and M. Makariev and M. Mallamaci and G. Maneva and M. Manganaro and K. Mannheim and L. Maraschi and M. Mariotti and M. Martínez and A. Mas Aguilar and D. Mazin and S. Menchiari and S. Mender and S. Mićanović and D. Miceli and T. Miener and J. M. Miranda and R. Mirzoyan and E. Molina and A. Moralejo and D. Morcuende and V. Moreno and E. Moretti and T. Nakamori and L. Nava and V. Neustroev and M. Nievas Rosillo and C. Nigro and K. Nilsson and K. Nishijima and K. Noda and S. Nozaki and Y. Ohtani and T. Oka and J. Otero-Santos and S. Paiano and M. Palatiello and D. Paneque and R. Paoletti and J. M. Paredes and L. Pavletić and P. Peñil and M. Persic and M. Pihet and P. G. Prada Moroni and E. Prandini and C. Priyadarshi and I. Puljak and W. Rhode and M. Ribó and J. Rico and C. Righi and A. Rugliancich and N. Sahakyan and T. Saito and S. Sakurai and K. Satalecka and F. G. Saturni and B. Schleicher and K. Schmidt and T. Schweizer and J. Sitarek and I. Šnidarić and D. Sobczynska and A. Spolon and A. Stamerra and J. Strišković and D. Strom and M. Strzys and Y. Suda and T. Surić and M. Takahashi and R. Takeishi and F. Tavecchio and P. Temnikov and T. Terzić and M. Teshima and L. Tosti and S. Truzzi and A. Tutone and S. Ubach and J. van Scherpenberg and G. Vanzo and M. Vazquez Acosta and S. Ventura and V. Verguilov and C. F. Vigorito and V. Vitale and I. Vovk and M. Will and C. Wunderlich and T. Yamamoto and D. Zarić and F. Ambrosino and M. Cecconi and G. Catanzaro and C. Ferrara and A. Frasca and M. Munari and L. Giustolisi and J. Alonso-Santiago and M. Giarrusso and U. Munari and P. Valisa},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.07681},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
THIS VERSION IS AFTER THE JOURNAL REVIEW