2008/02/26 by Y. Butt, Yousaf M. Butt, Andrei M. Bykov +1 · 32 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #COSMIC cancer database #Cosmic ray #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Interstellar medium #Large Magellanic Cloud #Physics #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Stars #Superbubble #Supernova #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/587875
published in The Astrophysical Journal 677(1), L21-L22 (IOP Publishing) · Accepted for publication in ApJL
arxiv created 2008/02/26 · openalex publication_date 2008/03/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Superbubbles (SBs) are among the greatest injectors of energy into the Galaxy, and have been proposed to be the acceleration site of Galactic cosmic rays. They are thought to be powered by the fast stellar winds and powerful supernova explosions of massive stars in dense stellar clusters and associations. Observations of the SB "DEM L192" in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) show that it contains only about one-third the energy injected by its constituent stars via fast stellar winds and supernovae. It is not yet understood where the excess energy is going—thus, the so-called energy-crisis. We show here that it is very likely that a significant fraction of the unaccounted for energy is being taken up in accelerating cosmic rays, thus bolstering the argument for the SB origin of cosmic rays.