Discovery of very-high-energy γ-rays from the Galactic Centre ridge

Aharonian, F.; Akhperjanian, A. G.; Bazer-Bachi, A. R.; Beilicke, M.; Benbow, W.; Berge, D.; Bernlöhr, K.; Boisson, C.; Bolz, O.; Borrel, V.; Braun, I.; Breitling, F.; Brown, A. M.; Chadwick, P. M.; Chounet, L.-M.; Cornils, R.; Costamante, L.; Degrange, B.; Dickinson, H. J.; Djannati-Ataï, A.; Drury, L. O'C.; Dubus, G.; Emmanoulopoulos, D.; Espigat, P.; Feinstein, F.; Fontaine, G.; Fuchs, Y.; Funk, S.; Gallant, Y. A.; Giebels, B.; Gillessen, S.; Glicenstein, J. F.; Goret, P.; Hadjichristidis, C.; Hauser, D.; Hauser, M.; Heinzelmann, G.; Henri, G.; Hermann, G.; Hinton, J. A.; Hofmann, W.; Holleran, M.; Horns, D.; Jacholkowska, A.; de Jager, O. C.; Khélifi, B.; Klages, S.; Komin, Nu.; Konopelko, A.; Latham, I. J.

doi:10.1038/nature04467

Cited by 494

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Discovery of very-high-energy γ-rays from the Galactic Centre ridge

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Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A. G., Bazer-Bachi, A. R., Beilicke, M., Benbow, W., Berge, D., Bernlöhr, K., Boisson, C., Bolz, O., Borrel, V., Braun, I., Breitling, F., Brown, A. M., Chadwick, P. M., Chounet, L.-M., Cornils, R., Costamante, L., Degrange, B., Dickinson, H. J., Djannati-Ataï, A., Drury, L. O'C., Dubus, G., Emmanoulopoulos, D., Espigat, P., Feinstein, F., Fontaine, G., Fuchs, Y., Funk, S., Gallant, Y. A., Giebels, B., Gillessen, S., Glicenstein, J. F., Goret, P., Hadjichristidis, C., Hauser, D., Hauser, M., Heinzelmann, G., Henri, G., Hermann, G., Hinton, J. A., Hofmann, W., Holleran, M., Horns, D., Jacholkowska, A., de Jager, O. C., Khélifi, B., Klages, S., Komin, Nu., Konopelko, A., Latham, I. J., Le Gallou, R., Lemière, A., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Leroy, N., Lohse, T., Marcowith, A., Martin, J. M., Martineau-Huynh, O., Masterson, C., McComb, T. J. L., de Naurois, M., Nolan, S. J., Noutsos, A., Orford, K. J., Osborne, J. L., Ouchrif, M., Panter, M., Pelletier, G., Pita, S., Pühlhofer, G., Punch, M., Raubenheimer, B. C., Raue, M., Raux, J., Rayner, S. M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ripken, J., Rob, L., Rolland, L., Rowell, G., Sahakian, V., Saugé, L., Schlenker, S., Schlickeiser, R., Schuster, C., Schwanke, U., Siewert, M., Sol, H., Spangler, D., Steenkamp, R., Stegmann, C., Tavernet, J.-P., Terrier, R., Théoret, C. G., Tluczykont, M., van Eldik, C., Vasileiadis, G., Venter, C., Vincent, P., Völk, H. J., Wagner, S. J.·2006·Nature

DOI 10.1038/nature04467

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Abstract

The source of Galactic cosmic rays (with energies up to 1015 eV) remains unclear, although it is widely believed that they originate in the shock waves of expanding supernova remnants. At present the best way to investigate their acceleration and propagation is by observing the γ-rays produced when cosmic rays interact with interstellar gas. Here we report observations of an extended region of very-high-energy (> 1011 eV) γ-ray emission correlated spatially with a complex of giant molecular clouds in the central 200 parsecs of the Milky Way. The hardness of the γ-ray spectrum and the conditions in those molecular clouds indicate that the cosmic rays giving rise to the γ-rays are likely to be protons and nuclei rather than electrons. The energy associated with the cosmic rays could have come from a single supernova explosion around 104 years ago.

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THE GALACTIC CENTER ENVIRONMENT
Morris, M., & Serabyn, E. (1996) · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1146/annurev.astro.34.1.645 · Cited by 930
A Deep Submillimeter Survey of the Galactic Center
Pierce-Price, D., Richer, J. S., Greaves, J. S., Holland, W. S., Jenness, T., Lasenby, A. N., White, G. J., Matthews, H. E., Ward-Thompson, D., Dent, W. R. F., et al. (2000) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/317884 · Cited by 198

Show all 2 references

Acceleration of petaelectronvolt protons in the Galactic Centre
HESS Collaboration (2016) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature17147 · Cited by 503
FERMI-LAT OBSERVATIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY γ-RAY EMISSION TOWARD THE GALACTIC CENTER
Ajello, M., Albert, A., Atwood, W. B., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Bissaldi, E., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., et al. (2016) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/0004-637x/819/1/44 · Cited by 401
Self-citation
Fermi Bubbles: Giant, Multibillion-Year-Old Reservoirs of Galactic Center Cosmic Rays
Crocker, R. M., & Aharonian, F. (2011) · Physical Review Letters · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.106.101102 · Cited by 242
Self-citation
Giant magnetized outflows from the centre of the Milky Way
Carretti, E., Crocker, R. M., Staveley-Smith, L., Haverkorn, M., Purcell, C., Gaensler, B. M., Bernardi, G., Kesteven, M. J., & Poppi, S. (2013) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11734 · Cited by 215
ORIGIN OF THE FERMI BUBBLE
Cheng, K.-S., Chernyshov, D. O., Dogiel, V. A., Ko, C.-M., & Ip, W.-H. (2011) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/731/1/l17 · Cited by 120

See all 494

Authors: Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A. G., Bazer-Bachi, A. R., Beilicke, M., Benbow, W., Berge, D., Bernlöhr, K., Boisson, C., Bolz, O., Borrel, V., Braun, I., Breitling, F., Brown, A. M., Chadwick, P. M., Chounet, L.-M., Cornils, R., Costamante, L., Degrange, B., Dickinson, H. J., Djannati-Ataï, A., Drury, L. O., Dubus, G., Emmanoulopoulos, D., Espigat, P., Feinstein, F., Fontaine, G., Fuchs, Y., Funk, S., Gallant, Y. A., Giebels, B., Gillessen, S., Glicenstein, J. F., Goret, P., Hadjichristidis, C., Hauser, D., Hauser, M., Heinzelmann, G., Henri, G., Hermann, G., Hinton, J. A., Hofmann, W., Holleran, M., Horns, D., Jacholkowska, A., de Jager, O. C., Khélifi, B., Klages, S., Komin, N., Konopelko, A., Latham, I. J., Le Gallou, R., Lemière, A., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Leroy, N., Lohse, T., Marcowith, A., Martin, J. M., Martineau-Huynh, O., Masterson, C., McComb, T. J. L., de Naurois, M., Nolan, S. J., Noutsos, A., Orford, K. J., Osborne, J. L., Ouchrif, M., Panter, M., Pelletier, G., Pita, S., Pühlhofer, G., Punch, M., Raubenheimer, B. C., Raue, M., Raux, J., Rayner, S. M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ripken, J., Rob, L., Rolland, L., Rowell, G., Sahakian, V., Saugé, L., Schlenker, S., Schlickeiser, R., Schuster, C., Schwanke, U., Siewert, M., Sol, H., Spangler, D., Steenkamp, R., Stegmann, C., Tavernet, J.-P., Terrier, R., Théoret, C. G., Tluczykont, M., van Eldik, C., Vasileiadis, G., Venter, C., Vincent, P., Völk, H. J., & Wagner, S. J.
Venue: Nature
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2006-02
Volume: 439
Issue: 7077
Pages: 695-698
ISSN: 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
1476-4687
DOI: 10.1038/nature04467
OpenAlex: W2152976315
Cited by: 494
References: 2
FWCI: 30.83
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green

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This page: CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Discovery of very-high-energy γ-rays from the Galactic Centre ridge. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1038/nature04467
The paper: Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A. G., Bazer-Bachi, A. R., Beilicke, M., Benbow, W., Berge, D., Bernlöhr, K., Boisson, C., Bolz, O., Borrel, V., Braun, I., Breitling, F., Brown, A. M., Chadwick, P. M., Chounet, L.-M., Cornils, R., Costamante, L., Degrange, B., Dickinson, H. J., . . . Wagner, S. J. (2006). Discovery of very-high-energy γ-rays from the Galactic Centre ridge. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04467

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Discovery of very-high-energy γ-rays from the Galactic Centre ridge

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