Diffuse Galactic Gamma-Ray Continuum

Abstract

Coordinated observations of the galactic center region using the imaging SIGMA instrument and the high-sensitivity OSSE instrument were performed to separate the compact source contributions from the diffuse component. The resulting compact-source corrected spectrum of the galactic center region is found to be similar in both intensity and spectral index to the spectra obtained from OSSE observations of the galactic plane at l = 25 degrees and 339 degrees, suggesting that the spatial distribution of the emission is broad and nearly flat in galactic longitude. At energies below ~ 100 keV, the observed spectrum is found to be softer and more intense than predicted by theoretical models. The observed low energy continuum may be either diffuse in origin, or due to unresolved X-ray sources below the SIGMA detection threshold.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 02, 1995
Accession Number
ADA464399

Entities

People

  • G. Jung
  • G. Vedrenne
  • J. G. Skibo
  • J. P. Roques
  • James D. Kurfess
  • L. Bouchet
  • P. Mandrou
  • Robert L. Kinzer
  • W. Neil Johnson
  • William R. Purcell

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Band Spectra
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Emission
  • Energy Bands
  • Gamma Ray Spectra
  • Gamma Rays
  • Hard X Rays
  • Intensity
  • Latitude
  • Longitude
  • Military Research
  • Observation
  • Sensitivity
  • Spatial Distribution
  • Spectra
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy/Astrophysics