Related papers: Surprises in the Hard X-ray Sky
We review highlights of the results obtained from recent Galactic X-ray survey observations, in particular ASCA Galactic center and plane survey and our Chandra deep survey on the (l,b)=(28.5,0) region. Strong hard X-ray diffuse components…
The soft X-ray and soft gamma observations of the new discovered TeV sources by HESS and MAGIC are crucial to discriminate between various emitting scenarios and to fully understand their nature. The INTEGRAL Observatory has regularly…
Since the launch of INTEGRAL in 2002, about 300 new sources have been discovered. Understanding the nature of these objects is of prime importance for many aspects of astrophysics, such as the evolution of stars, population of sources…
Normal galaxies are faint and complex X-ray sources that provide very powerful probes for fundamental astrophysical questions. Examples include: the study of populations of X-ray emitting sources; the study of the entire spectrum of…
The universe provides numerous extremely interesting astrophysical sources of synchrotron X radiation. The Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray missions provide powerful probes of these and other cosmic X-ray sources. Chandra is the…
The solar disk is among the brightest gamma-ray sources in the sky. It is also among the most mysterious. No existing model fully explains the luminosity, spectrum, time variability, and morphology of its emission. We perform the first…
Observations of a long-lasting Gamma-ray burst, one that has the brightest optical counterpart yet discovered, challenge theoretical understanding of these bursts but may enhance their usefulness as cosmic probes.
The launch of the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope and the imaging air Cerenkov telescopes H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS have substantially transformed our knowledge of gamma-ray sources in the last decade. The extragalactic gamma-ray sky is…
More than 90% of the Galactic gas-related gamma-ray emissivity above 1 GeV is attributed to the decay of neutral pions formed in collisions between cosmic rays and interstellar matter, with lepton-induced processes becoming increasingly…
The study of the hard (E>10 keV) energy spectra of X-ray binary pulsars can give a wealth of information on the physical processes that occur close to the neutron star surface. Extreme matter regimes are probed, and precious information on…
During the last few years our knowledge about the X-ray emission from bodies within the solar system has significantly improved. Several new solar system objects are now known to shine in X-rays at energies below 2 keV. Apart from the Sun,…
Galactic cosmic rays are commonly believed to be accelerated at supernova remnants via diffusive shock acceleration. Despite the popularity of this idea, a conclusive proof for its validity is still missing. Gamma-ray astronomy provides us…
Cosmic rays may provide opportunities for probing fundamental physics. For example, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays might originate from the decays of metastable heavy particles, and astrophysical gamma rays can be used to test models of…
High-energy cosmic-ray electrons reveal some remarkable spectral features, the most noteworthy of which is the rise in the positron fraction above 10~GeV. Due to strong energy loss during propagation, these particles can reach Earth only…
Most of the visible matter in the Universe is ionized, so that cosmic magnetic fields are quite easy to generate and due to the lack of magnetic monopoles hard to destroy. Magnetic fields have been measured in or around practically all…
(Abridged) Since its launch in October 2002, the INTEGRAL satellite has revolutionized our knowledge of the hard X-ray sky thanks to its unprecedented imaging capabilities and source detection positional accuracy above 20 keV. Nevertheless,…
The origin of the high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Milky Way center is still unclear and debated because of the impact of systematics afflicting the measurements from current experiments. Several theories and phenomenological models…
The origin of magnetic fields in the Universe is an open problem in astrophysics and fundamental physics. Our present-day knowledge is limited to regions of strong magnetic fields and to star-forming disks of galaxies. Low-energy electrons…
Earth observation from space is an important scientific and industrial activity that has applications in many sectors. The instruments employed are often large, complex, and expensive. In addition, they generate large amounts of data, which…
The infrared sky from space is the sum of a cosmic signal from galaxies, quasars, and perhaps more exotic sources; and foregrounds from the Milky Way and from the Solar System. At a distance of 1 AU from the Sun, the foreground from…