Abstract
We report the first detection of a TeV γ-ray flux from the solar disk (6.3σ), based on 6.1 years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. The 0.5-2.6 TeV spectrum is well fit by a power law, dN/dE=A(E/1 TeV)-γ, with A=(1.6±0.3)×10-12 TeV-1 cm-2 s-1 and γ=3.62±0.14. The flux shows a strong indication of anticorrelation with solar activity. These results extend the bright, hard GeV emission from the disk observed with Fermi-LAT, seemingly due to hadronic Galactic cosmic rays showering on nuclei in the solar atmosphere. However, current theoretical models are unable to explain the details of how solar magnetic fields shape these interactions. HAWC's TeV detection thus deepens the mysteries of the solar-disk emission.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Article number | 051201 |
Journal | Physical review letters |
Volume | 131 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 4 2023 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
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In: Physical review letters, Vol. 131, No. 5, 051201, 04.08.2023.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Discovery of Gamma Rays from the Quiescent Sun with HAWC
AU - (HAWC Collaboration)
AU - Albert, A.
AU - Alfaro, R.
AU - Alvarez, C.
AU - Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.
AU - Avila Rojas, D.
AU - Ayala Solares, H. A.
AU - Babu, R.
AU - Belmont-Moreno, E.
AU - Brisbois, C.
AU - Caballero-Mora, K. S.
AU - Capistrán, T.
AU - Carramiñana, A.
AU - Casanova, S.
AU - Chaparro-Amaro, O.
AU - Cotti, U.
AU - Cotzomi, J.
AU - Coutiño De León, S.
AU - De La Fuente, E.
AU - Diaz Hernandez, R.
AU - Dingus, B. L.
AU - Duvernois, M. A.
AU - Durocher, M.
AU - Díaz-Vélez, J. C.
AU - Ellsworth, R. W.
AU - Engel, K.
AU - Espinoza, C.
AU - Fan, K. L.
AU - Fang, K.
AU - Fernández Alonso, M.
AU - Fleischhack, H.
AU - Fraija, N.
AU - García-González, J. A.
AU - Garfias, F.
AU - González, M. M.
AU - Goodman, J. A.
AU - Harding, J. P.
AU - Hernandez, S.
AU - Hinton, J.
AU - Huang, D.
AU - Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F.
AU - Hüntemeyer, P.
AU - Iriarte, A.
AU - Joshi, V.
AU - Kaufmann, S.
AU - Lee, J.
AU - Linnemann, J. T.
AU - Longinotti, A. L.
AU - Luis-Raya, G.
AU - Malone, K.
AU - Mostafá, M.
N1 - Funding Information: We thank Jung-Tsung Li for useful comments on the manuscript. We acknowledge the support from the US National Science Foundation (NSF); the US Department of Energy Office of High-Energy Physics; the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program of Los Alamos National Laboratory; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), México, Grants No. 271051, No. 232656, No. 260378, No. 179588, No. 254964, No. 258865, No. 243290, No. 132197, No. A1-S-46288, No. A1-S-22784, cátedras 873, 1563, 341, 323, Red HAWC, México; DGAPA-UNAM Grants No. IG101320, No. IN111716-3, No. IN111419, No. IA102019, No. IN110621, No. IN110521, No. IN102223; VIEP-BUAP; PIFI 2012, 2013, PROFOCIE 2014, 2015; the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; the Institute of Geophysics, Planetary Physics, and Signatures at Los Alamos National Laboratory; Polish Science Centre Grant No. DEC-2017/27/B/ST9/02272; Coordinación de la Investigación Científica de la Universidad Michoacana; Royal Society—Newton Advanced Fellowship 180385; Generalitat Valenciana, Grant No. CIDEGENT/2018/034; The Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation, NXPO (Grant No. B16F630069); Coordinación General Académica e Innovación (CGAI-UdeG), PRODEP-SEP UDG-CA-499; and the Institute of Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR), University of Tokyo. H. F. acknowledges support by NASA under Award No. 80GSFC21M0002. We also acknowledge the significant contributions over many years of Stefan Westerhoff, Gaurang Yodh, and Arnulfo Zepeda Dominguez, all deceased members of the HAWC collaboration. Thanks to Scott Delay, Luciano Díaz, and Eduardo Murrieta for technical support. The work of J. F. B. was supported by NSF Grant No. PHY-2012955. The work of B. Z. was supported by the Simons Foundation. The work of A. H. G. P., B. Z., K. N., J. F. B., M. N., and T. L. was supported in part by NASA Grant No. 80NSSC20K1354. The work of A. H. G. P. and J. F. B. was additionally supported in part by NASA Grant No. 80NSSC22K0040. The work of T. L. was supported by the ERC under Grant No. 742104, the SNSA under Contract No. 117/19, and VR under Contract No. 2019-05135. The work of K. C. Y. N. is supported by the RGC of HKSAR, Project No. 24302721. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 American Physical Society.
PY - 2023/8/4
Y1 - 2023/8/4
N2 - We report the first detection of a TeV γ-ray flux from the solar disk (6.3σ), based on 6.1 years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. The 0.5-2.6 TeV spectrum is well fit by a power law, dN/dE=A(E/1 TeV)-γ, with A=(1.6±0.3)×10-12 TeV-1 cm-2 s-1 and γ=3.62±0.14. The flux shows a strong indication of anticorrelation with solar activity. These results extend the bright, hard GeV emission from the disk observed with Fermi-LAT, seemingly due to hadronic Galactic cosmic rays showering on nuclei in the solar atmosphere. However, current theoretical models are unable to explain the details of how solar magnetic fields shape these interactions. HAWC's TeV detection thus deepens the mysteries of the solar-disk emission.
AB - We report the first detection of a TeV γ-ray flux from the solar disk (6.3σ), based on 6.1 years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. The 0.5-2.6 TeV spectrum is well fit by a power law, dN/dE=A(E/1 TeV)-γ, with A=(1.6±0.3)×10-12 TeV-1 cm-2 s-1 and γ=3.62±0.14. The flux shows a strong indication of anticorrelation with solar activity. These results extend the bright, hard GeV emission from the disk observed with Fermi-LAT, seemingly due to hadronic Galactic cosmic rays showering on nuclei in the solar atmosphere. However, current theoretical models are unable to explain the details of how solar magnetic fields shape these interactions. HAWC's TeV detection thus deepens the mysteries of the solar-disk emission.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167873938&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85167873938&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.051201
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.051201
M3 - Article
C2 - 37595214
AN - SCOPUS:85167873938
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 131
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
IS - 5
M1 - 051201
ER -