2009/10/31 by Gregory Dobler, Douglas P. Finkbeiner, Ilias Cholis +2 · 278 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Bremsstrahlung #CMB cold spot #Cosmic microwave background #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Electron #Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Haze #Microwave #Nuclear physics #Optics #Physics #Population #Sky #Supernova #Synchrotron #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/717/2/825
published in The Astrophysical Journal 717(2), 825-842 (IOP Publishing) · 21 pages, 18 figures; accepted in ApJ; several new fits including the Fermi Diffuse Model and expanded discussion of fit residuals and haze spectra
arxiv created 2010/05/07 · openalex publication_date 2010/06/18 · arxiv updated 2010/11/10 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals a diffuse inverse Compton (IC) signal in the inner Galaxy with a similar spatial morphology to the microwave haze observed by WMAP, supporting the synchrotron interpretation of the microwave signal. Using spatial templates, we regress out π 0 gammas, as well as IC and bremsstrahlung components associated with known soft-synchrotron counterparts. We find a significant gamma-ray excess toward the Galactic center with a spectrum that is significantly harder than other sky components and is most consistent with IC from a hard population of electrons. The morphology and spectrum are consistent with it being the IC counterpart to the electrons which generate the microwave haze seen at WMAP frequencies. In addition, the implied electron spectrum is hard; electrons accelerated in supernova shocks in the disk which then diffuse a few kpc to the haze region would have a softer spectrum. We describe the full-sky Fermi maps used in this analysis and make them available for download.