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Tumer, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Tumer, T..

Low-energy and medium-energy gamma rays from PSR 0531 + 21

Results are presented from the Crab Pulsar PSR 0531 + 21 for energies of 0.3-30 MeV. For energies of 1-30 MeV, the absolute phase and separation of the first and second pulses 12.9 + or - 0.3 ms, widths of the pulses 2.2 + or - 0.5 ms FWHM, and 1.6 + or - 0.4 ms FWHM, ratio of the counts in the second to the first pulse 0.64 + or - 0.33 and ratio of counts in the interpulse region to the total pulsed counts 0.17 + or - 0.30 are compared to te results vor energies, E greater than 50 MeV and their variations with time. Values from the phase plots for E greater than 0.3 MeV are compared with low-energy gamma rays during 1970 through 1980 from several experiments with energies from about 20 to 360 keV. The above suggest different production mechanisms for low- and high-energy gamma rays with a transition at about 1 MeV. Derived fluxes from 0.3 to 30 MeV confirm a previously derived power law.

White, R. S.

Gamma rays of 1-30 MeV from the Vela Pulsar PSR 0833-45

Results are reported for observations of gamma rays of 1-30 MeV from the Vela Pulsar PSR 0833 - 45 carried out with the UCR double scatter gamma ray telescope on a balloon launched from Alice Springs, Australia on November 10, 1981. An integrated flux of (5.3 + or - 1.3) x 10 to the -4th photons/sq cm/s is found for the Vela region above 2 MeV. This value, together with those for the energy intervals of 2-4, 4-7, and 7-15 MeV are in reasonable agreement with the power law found by COS-B at energies above 50 MeV. A sky contour map of the fluxes is shown.

Tumer, T.

Cygnus X-3 observed at photon energies above 500 GeV

High-energy gamma rays from Cyg X-3 have been observed with the twin 11-m mirrors of NASA JPL's solar energy facility, using the atmospheric Cerenkov technique, resulting in data from about 100,000 air shower events with an approximate threshold energy of 500 GeV for the August 29 to September 6, 1981 period. A positive signal whose amplitude is 10.9 + or - 2.5% of the background cosmic ray rate appears near phase 0.6 of the 4.8-hour cycle, where phase 0.0 corresponds to minimum X-ray emission. This, together with previous Cerenkov detections, indicates that the high energy emission from Cyg X-3 is evolving on a time scale of a few years and suggests that the present form of the system has a recent origin.

Lamb, R. C.

Galactic plane gamma-radiation

Analysis of the SAS 2 data together with the COS B results shows that the distribution of galactic gamma-radiation has several similarities to that of other large-scale tracers of galactic structure. The radiation is primarily confined to a thin disc which exhibits offsets from b = 0 degrees similar to warping at radio frequencies. The principal distinction of the gamma-radiation is a stronger contrast in intensity between the region from 310 to 45 degrees in longitude and the regions away from the center that can be attributed to a variation in cosmic-ray density as a function of position in Galaxy. The diffuse galactic gamma-ray energy spectrum shows no significant variation in direction, and the spectrum seen along the plane is the same as that for the galactic component of the gamma-radiation at high altitudes. The uniformity of the galactic gamma-ray spectrum, the smooth decrease in intensity as a function of altitude, and the absence of any galactic gamma-ray sources at high altitudes indicate a diffuse origin for bulk of the galactic gamma-radiation rather than a collection of localized sources.

Hartman, R. C.

Comparison of high energy gamma rays from absolute value of b greater than 30 deg with the galactic neutral hydrogen distribution

High-energy gamma-ray (energy above 35 MeV) data from the SAS 2 satellite have been used to compare the intensity distribution of gamma rays with that of neutral hydrogen (H I) density along the line of sight, at high galactic latitudes (absolute values greater than 30 deg). A model has been constructed for the case where the observed gamma-ray intensity has been assumed to be the sum of a galactic component proportional to the H I distribution plus an isotropic extragalactic emission. A chi-squared test of the model parameters indicates that about 30% of the total high-latitude emission may originate within the Galaxy.

Ozel, M. E.

SAS-2 observations of the diffuse gamma radiation in the galactic latitude interval from 10 to 90 deg in both hemispheres

An analysis of all the second Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS-2) gamma-ray data for galactic latitudes higher than 10 deg in both hemispheres has shown that the intensity varies with galactic latitude, being larger near 10 deg than 90 deg. For energies above 100 MeV the gamma-ray data are consistent with a latitude distribution of the form I(b) = C1 + C2/sin b, with the second term being dominant. This result suggests that the radiation above 100 MeV is coming largely from local regions of the galactic disk. Between 35 and 100 MeV, a similar equation is also a good representation of the data, but here the two terms are comparable. These results indicate that the diffuse radiation above 35 MeV consists of two parts, one with a relatively hard galactic component and the other an isotropic steep spectral component which extrapolates back well to the low-energy (less than 10 MeV) diffuse radiation. The steepness of the diffuse isotropic component places significant constraints on possible theoretical models of this radiation.

Fichtel, C. E.

Celestial diffuse gamma-ray emission observed by SAS-2 and its interpretation

A clearly established diffuse celestial gamma-ray component was seen by SAS-2 above 35 MeV, after examining several regions of the sky at different latitudes, including the north celestial pole. For energies above 100 MeV the gamma ray results are consistent with an equation of the form I(b)=C1+C2/sin b with the second term being dominant, suggesting that the radiation above 100 MeV comes largely from the local regions of the galactic disk. Between 35 and 100 MeV, a similar equation is also a reasonable representation of the data, but here the two terms are comparable, with the first, or isotropic term, actually being the larger one. In addition to indicating that the diffuse radiation is partially galactic, these results imply a steepness for the energy spectrum of the diffuse isotropic component which places significant constraints on possible theoretical models of this radiation.

Fichtel, C. E.

Recent high energy gamma-ray results from SAS-2

Recent developments in gamma-ray astronomy due to the results from SAS-2 have focused on two areas. First, the emission from the plane of the Galaxy is the dominant feature in the gamma-ray sky. The galactic latitude and longitude distributions are consistent with the concept that the high-energy radiation originates from cosmic rays interacting with interstellar matter, and the measurements support a galactic origin for cosmic rays. Second, searches of the SAS-2 data for emission from localized sources have shown three strong discrete gamma-ray sources: the Crab nebula and PSR 0531 + 21, the Vela supernova remnant and PSR 0833-45, and a source near galactic coordinates 193 deg longitude, +3 deg latitude, which does not appear to be associated with other known celestial objects. Evidence has also been found for pulsed gamma-ray emission from two other radio pulsars, PSR 1818-04 and PSR 1747-46. A localized source near longitudes 76-80 deg may be associated with the X-ray source Cyg X-3.

Thompson, D. J.

High-energy gamma-ray results from the second small astronomy satellite

Data are reported which were obtained with a high-energy (exceeding 35 Mev) gamma-ray telescope flown on the second Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS-2). The high-energy galactic gamma radiation is observed to dominate over the general diffuse radiation along the entire galactic plane, and its longitudinal and latitudinal distributions appear to be generally correlated with galactic structural features, particularly with arm segments. Principally on the basis of its angular distribution and magnitude, it is suggested that this radiation results primarily from cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar matter. A uniform celestial gamma radiation appears to have been detected; the form of its differential spectrum over the energy range from about 35 to 170 MeV is obtained, and a cosmological origin is suggested for this radiation. In addition to the general galactic emission, high-energy gamma radiation was detected from the Crab Nebula, Vela X, a general region toward the galactic center, and a region located a few degrees north of the galactic plane. Upper limits to the high-energy gamma ray fluxes are set for a number of localized sources.

Fichtel, C. E.

Distribution of cosmic gamma rays in the galactic anticenter region as observed by SAS-2

The high energy (above 35 MeV) gamma ray telescope flown on the second Small Astronomy Satellite has collected over one thousand gamma rays from the direction of the galactic anticenter. In addition to the diffuse galactic emission the distribution indicates a strong pulsed contribution from the Crab nebula with the same period and phase as the NP0532 pulsar. There also seems to be an excess in the direction of (gal. long. ? 195 deg; gal. lat ? +5 deg) where there is a region containing old supernova remnants. Search for gamma ray pulsations from other pulsars in the region do not show any statistically significant signal. The general intensity distribution of the gamma rays away from the plane appear to be similar to nonthermal radio emission brightness contours.

Kniffen, D. A.