TeV gamma-ray survey of the northern hemisphere sky using the Milagro observatory

R. Atkins, W. Benbow, D. Berley, E. Blaufuss, J. Bussons, D. G. Coyne, T. DeYoung, B. L. Dingus, D. E. Dorfan, R. W. Ellsworth, L. Fleysher, R. Fleysher, G. Gisler, M. M. Gonzalez, J. A. Goodman, T. J. Haines, E. Hays, C. M. Hoffman, L. A. Kelley, C. P. LansdellJ. T. Linnemann, J. E. McEnery, R. S. Miller, A. I. Mincer, M. F. Morales, P. Nemethy, D. Noyes, J. M. Ryan, F. W. Samuelson, A. Shoup, G. Sinnis, A. J. Smith, G. W. Sullivan, D. A. Williams, S. Westerhoff, M. E. Wilson, X. W. Xu, G. B. Yodh

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Milagro is a water Cerenkov extensive air shower array that continuously monitors the entire overhead sky in the TeV energy band. The results from an analysis of ∼3 yr of data (2000 December-2003 November) are presented. The data have been searched for steady point sources of TeV gamma rays between declinations of 1°.1 and 80°. Two sources are detected, the Crab Nebula and the active galaxy Mrk 421. For the remainder of the northern hemisphere, we set 95% confidence level (CL) upper limits between 275 and 600 mcrab (4.8 × 10-12 to 10.5 × 10-12 cm-2 s -1) above 1 TeV for source declinations between 5° and 70°. Since the sensitivity of Milagro depends on the spectrum of the source at the top of the atmosphere, the dependence of the limits on the spectrum of a candidate source is presented. Because high-energy gamma rays from extragalactic sources are absorbed by interactions with the extragalactic background light, the dependence of the flux limits on the redshift of a candidate source are given. The upper limits presented here are over an order of magnitude more stringent than previously published limits from TeV gamma-ray all-sky surveys.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)680-685
    Number of pages6
    JournalAstrophysical Journal
    Volume608
    Issue number2 I
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jun 20 2004

    Keywords

    • Galaxies: active
    • Gamma rays: observations
    • Surveys

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Astronomy and Astrophysics
    • Space and Planetary Science

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