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No indication of excess MeV gamma radiation from the Crab Nebula

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Abstract

DURING the past two years results from two different balloon experiments1,2 indicate that the γ-ray emission from the Crab Nebula between 1 and 10 MeV is considerably above the straight line interpolation from lower and higher photon energies. The excess above the power law has been claimed to be factor of 7 between 1 and 3 MeV and of a factor 30 between 3 and 10 MeV. The fact that both experiments yielded nearly identical results gives support to the reality of the excess component. The power in this excess is nearly as large as the total integrated synchrotron power of 2×10−7 erg cm−2 s−1 of the Crab Nebula. It has been speculated that this powerful, narrow-band component may be produced in the pulsar magnetosphere, possibly near the surface of the neutron star2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, 8046, Garching, West Germany

    V. SCHÖNFELDER, G. LICHTI & C. MOYANO

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  1. V. SCHÖNFELDER
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  2. G. LICHTI
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  3. C. MOYANO
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SCHÖNFELDER, V., LICHTI, G. & MOYANO, C. No indication of excess MeV gamma radiation from the Crab Nebula. Nature 257, 375–376 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/257375a0

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