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Resolving the Crab pulsar wind nebula at teraelectronvolt energies

Nature Astronomy volume 4, pages 167–173 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Crab nebula is one of the most-studied cosmic particle accelerators, shining brightly across the entire electromagnetic spectrum up to very-high-energy gamma rays1,2. It is known from observations in the radio to gamma-ray part of the spectrum that the nebula is powered by a pulsar, which converts most of its rotational energy losses into a highly relativistic outflow. This outflow powers a pulsar wind nebula, a region of up to ten light-years across, filled with relativistic electrons and positrons. These particles emit synchrotron photons in the ambient magnetic field and produce very-high-energy gamma rays by Compton up-scattering of ambient low-energy photons. Although the synchrotron morphology of the nebula is well established, it has not been known from which region the very-high-energy gamma rays are emitted3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report that the Crab nebula has an angular extension at gamma-ray energies of 52 arcseconds (assuming a Gaussian source width), much larger than at X-ray energies. This result closes a gap in the multi-wavelength coverage of the nebula, revealing the emission region of the highest-energy gamma rays. These gamma rays enable us to probe a previously inaccessible electron and positron energy range. We find that simulations of the electromagnetic emission reproduce our measurement, providing a non-trivial test of our understanding of particle acceleration in the Crab nebula.

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Fig. 1: Images of the Crab nebula.
Fig. 2: SED, with the measured and predicted extensions of the Crab PWN.
Fig. 3: Projected event distribution from the direction of the Crab nebula.

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Data availability

The raw data and the code used in this study are not public but belong to the H.E.S.S. Collaboration. All derived higher-level data that are shown in plots will be made available on the H.E.S.S. Collaboration’s website (https://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/publications/pubs_jour.shtml) upon publication of this study.

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Acknowledgements

The support of the Namibian authorities and of the University of Namibia in facilitating the construction and operation of H.E.S.S. is gratefully acknowledged, as is the support by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the Max Planck Society, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Helmholtz Association, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS/IN2P3 and CNRS/INSU), the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the National Science Centre, Poland (grant number 2016/22/M/ST9/00382), the South African Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation, the University of Namibia, the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology of Namibia (NCRST), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the University of Amsterdam. We appreciate the excellent work of the technical support staff in Berlin, Zeuthen, Heidelberg, Palaiseau, Paris, Saclay, Tübingen and Namibia in the construction and operation of the equipment. This work benefited from services provided by the H.E.S.S. Virtual Organisation, supported by the national resource providers of the EGI Federation. R.C.G.C. was funded by EU FP7 Marie Curie (grant agreement number PIEF-GA-2012-332350).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Deceased: S. Colafrancesco, A. Jacholkowska.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    H. Abdalla, C. Arcaro, M. Backes, M. Barnard, M. Böttcher, T. Chand, S. Chandra, H. Ndiyavala, H. Schutte, A. S. Seyffert, D. J. van der Walt, C. van Rensburg, C. Venter, Z. Wadiasingh & M. Zacharias

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany

    F. Aharonian, F. Ait Benkhali, K. Bernlöhr, P. Bordas, S. Casanova, N. Chakraborty, C. Deil, A. Donath, J. Hahn, G. Hermann, J. A. Hinton, W. Hofmann, R. López-Coto, V. Marandon, R. Marx, A. M. W. Mitchell, M. Panter, R. D. Parsons, F. Rieger, C. Romoli, E. Ruiz-Velasco, R. Tuffs, H. J. Völk, R. White, R. Yang, R. Zanin & J. Zorn

  3. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin, Ireland

    F. Aharonian & L. O’C. Drury

  4. National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

    F. Aharonian & V. Sahakian

  5. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France

    E. O. Angüner & J.-P. Ernenwein

  6. Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    M. Arakawa, H. Iwasaki, D. Khangulyan, S. Saito, N. Tsuji & Y. Uchiyama

  7. Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LAPP, Annecy, France

    C. Armand, A. Carosi, A. Fiasson, F. Gaté, G. Lamanna, G. Maurin, Q. Piel, V. Poireau, D. A. Sanchez & T. Vuillaume

  8. Department of Physics, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

    M. Backes, I. D. Davids, K. Shiningayamwe & R. Steenkamp

  9. Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden

    Y. Becherini, T. Bylund, M. Punch & M. Senniappan

  10. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Weltraum und Astrophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    J. Becker Tjus & R. Schlickeiser

  11. DESY, Zeuthen, Germany

    D. Berge, S. Bonnefoy, M. Füßling, G. Giavitto, M. Haupt, S. Klepser, I. Lypova, T. Murach, S. Ohm, I. Oya, H. Prokoph, A. Schulz, C. Stegmann & A. M. Taylor

  12. School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    R. Blackwell, P. deWilt, J. Lau, G. Rowell & F. Voisin

  13. LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Meudon, France

    C. Boisson, A. Dmytriiev, J. Lefaucheur, H. Sol & A. Zech

  14. Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE), Paris, France

    J. Bolmont, M. Cerruti, G. Emery, A. Jacholkowska, J.-P. Lenain, C. Perennes, J.-P. Tavernet & P. Vincent

  15. Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, CNRS/IN2P3, CC 72, Montpellier, France

    J. Bregeon, R. C. G. Chaves, J. Devin, Y. A. Gallant, A. Marcowith, M. Renaud, M. Tsirou & G. Vasileiadis

  16. IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    F. Brun, P. Brun, J. F. Glicenstein, K. Kosack, E. Moulin, B. Peyaud, L. Rinchiuso, F. Schüssler, M. Seglar-Arroyo & T. Tavernier

  17. GRAPPA, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    M. Bryan, R. Simoni & J. Vink

  18. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen, Germany

    M. Büchele, S. Eschbach, S. Funk, D. Jankowsky, I. Jung-Richardt, U. Katz, M. Kraus, L. Mohrmann, S. Raab, M. Sasaki, I. Shilon, A. Specovius, D. Tiziani, C. van Eldik, J. Veh & A. Ziegler

  19. Astronomical Observatory, The University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    T. Bulik

  20. Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    M. Capasso, V. Doroshenko, D. Gottschall, D. Malyshev, G. Pühlhofer & A. Santangelo

  21. Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Palaiseau, France

    S. Caroff, S. Fegan, G. Fontaine, C. Mariaud, M. de Naurois, C. Trichard & D. Zaborov

  22. Instytut Fizyki Jadrowej PAN, Kraków, Poland

    S. Casanova, J. Niemiec & A. Wierzcholska

  23. Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICC UB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Barcelona, Spain

    M. Cerruti

  24. School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    A. Chen, S. Colafrancesco, Nu. Komin, D. A. Prokhorov & N. Shafi

  25. Université Bordeaux, CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d’Études Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, Gradignan, France

    B. Condon, M.-H. Grondin & M. Lemoine-Goumard

  26. Universität Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany

    L. Dirson, G. Heinzelmann, D. Horns, M. A. Kastendieck & M. Tluczykont

  27. APC, AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France

    A. Djannati-Ataï, S. Gabici, L. Jouvin, B. Khélifi, A. Lemière, S. Pita, M. Punch, A. Sinha, M. Spir-Jacob & R. Terrier

  28. Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    J. Dyks, W. Kluźniak, R. Moderski, B. Rudak & A. A. Zdziarski

  29. Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    K. Egberts, C. Hoischen, E. Leser, C. Stegmann & C. Steppa

  30. Landessternwarte, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    D. Glawion, F. Jankowsky, J. King, M. Mohamed, A. Quirrenbach, S. Schwemmer & S. J. Wagner

  31. Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, Grenoble, France

    G. Henri & P.-O. Petrucci

  32. Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    T. L. Holch, T. Lohse, L. Oakes & U. Schwanke

  33. Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    M. Holler, D. Huber, G. Martí-Devesa, F. Niederwanger, R. Rauth, A. Reimer & O. Reimer

  34. Obserwatorium Astronomiczne, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Kraków, Poland

    M. Jamrozy, M. Ostrowski, A. Priyana Noel, L. Stawarz & N. Żywucka

  35. Centre for Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland

    K. Katarzyński

  36. Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa City, Chiba, Japan

    M. Katsuragawa, T. Takahashi & H. Yoneda

  37. Department of Physics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    P. J. Meintjes & B. van Soelen

  38. Physik Institut, Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    A. M. W. Mitchell

  39. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    C. Moore & P. O’Brien

  40. RIKEN, Wako, Saitama, Japan

    S. Nakashima

  41. Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    H. Odaka

  42. Yerevan Physics Institute, Yerevan, Armenia

    V. Sahakian

  43. Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Albanova University Center, Stockholm, Sweden

    R. M. Wagner

Consortia

H.E.S.S. Collaboration

  • H. Abdalla
  • , F. Aharonian
  • , F. Ait Benkhali
  • , E. O. Angüner
  • , M. Arakawa
  • , C. Arcaro
  • , C. Armand
  • , M. Backes
  • , M. Barnard
  • , Y. Becherini
  • , J. Becker Tjus
  • , D. Berge
  • , K. Bernlöhr
  • , R. Blackwell
  • , M. Böttcher
  • , C. Boisson
  • , J. Bolmont
  • , S. Bonnefoy
  • , P. Bordas
  • , J. Bregeon
  • , F. Brun
  • , P. Brun
  • , M. Bryan
  • , M. Büchele
  • , T. Bulik
  • , T. Bylund
  • , M. Capasso
  • , S. Caroff
  • , A. Carosi
  • , S. Casanova
  • , M. Cerruti
  • , N. Chakraborty
  • , T. Chand
  • , S. Chandra
  • , R. C. G. Chaves
  • , A. Chen
  • , S. Colafrancesco
  • , B. Condon
  • , I. D. Davids
  • , C. Deil
  • , J. Devin
  • , P. deWilt
  • , L. Dirson
  • , A. Djannati-Ataï
  • , A. Dmytriiev
  • , A. Donath
  • , V. Doroshenko
  • , L. O’C. Drury
  • , J. Dyks
  • , K. Egberts
  • , G. Emery
  • , J.-P. Ernenwein
  • , S. Eschbach
  • , S. Fegan
  • , A. Fiasson
  • , G. Fontaine
  • , S. Funk
  • , M. Füßling
  • , S. Gabici
  • , Y. A. Gallant
  • , F. Gaté
  • , G. Giavitto
  • , D. Glawion
  • , J. F. Glicenstein
  • , D. Gottschall
  • , M.-H. Grondin
  • , J. Hahn
  • , M. Haupt
  • , G. Heinzelmann
  • , G. Henri
  • , G. Hermann
  • , J. A. Hinton
  • , W. Hofmann
  • , C. Hoischen
  • , T. L. Holch
  • , M. Holler
  • , D. Horns
  • , D. Huber
  • , H. Iwasaki
  • , A. Jacholkowska
  • , M. Jamrozy
  • , D. Jankowsky
  • , F. Jankowsky
  • , L. Jouvin
  • , I. Jung-Richardt
  • , M. A. Kastendieck
  • , K. Katarzyński
  • , M. Katsuragawa
  • , U. Katz
  • , D. Khangulyan
  • , B. Khélifi
  • , J. King
  • , S. Klepser
  • , W. Kluźniak
  • , Nu. Komin
  • , K. Kosack
  • , M. Kraus
  • , G. Lamanna
  • , J. Lau
  • , J. Lefaucheur
  • , A. Lemière
  • , M. Lemoine-Goumard
  • , J.-P. Lenain
  • , E. Leser
  • , T. Lohse
  • , R. López-Coto
  • , I. Lypova
  • , D. Malyshev
  • , V. Marandon
  • , A. Marcowith
  • , C. Mariaud
  • , G. Martí-Devesa
  • , R. Marx
  • , G. Maurin
  • , P. J. Meintjes
  • , A. M. W. Mitchell
  • , R. Moderski
  • , M. Mohamed
  • , L. Mohrmann
  • , C. Moore
  • , E. Moulin
  • , T. Murach
  • , S. Nakashima
  • , M. de Naurois
  • , H. Ndiyavala
  • , F. Niederwanger
  • , J. Niemiec
  • , L. Oakes
  • , P. O’Brien
  • , H. Odaka
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Contributions

D.B., J.H., M. Holler, D.K. and R.D.P. analysed and interpreted the data, and prepared the manuscript. The whole of the H.E.S.S. collaboration contributed to the publication with involvement at various stages ranging from the design, construction and operation of the instrument, to the development and maintenance of all software for data handling, data reduction and data analysis. All authors reviewed, discussed, and commented on the present results and on the manuscript.

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Supplementary Figures 1-2, Supplementary Tables 1-2, Supplementary References 1-13

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H.E.S.S. Collaboration. Resolving the Crab pulsar wind nebula at teraelectronvolt energies. Nat Astron 4, 167–173 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0910-0

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