Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6883
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-4-26
pubmed:abstractText
Protons with energies up to approximately 10(15) eV are the main component of cosmic rays, but evidence for the specific locations where they could have been accelerated to these energies has been lacking. Electrons are known to be accelerated to cosmic-ray energies in supernova remnants, and the shock waves associated with such remnants, when they hit the surrounding interstellar medium, could also provide the energy to accelerate protons. The signature of such a process would be the decay of pions (pi(0)), which are generated when the protons collide with atoms and molecules in an interstellar cloud: pion decay results in gamma-rays with a particular spectral-energy distribution. Here we report the observation of cascade showers of optical photons resulting from gamma-rays at energies of approximately 10(12) eV hitting Earth's upper atmosphere, in the direction of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946. The spectrum is a good match to that predicted by pion decay, and cannot be explained by other mechanisms.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:status
PubMed-not-MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0028-0836
pubmed:author
pubmed-author:AsaharaAA, pubmed-author:BicknellG VGV, pubmed-author:EdwardsP GPG, pubmed-author:EnomotoRR, pubmed-author:GunjiSS, pubmed-author:HaraSS, pubmed-author:HaraTT, pubmed-author:HayashiSS, pubmed-author:ItorII, pubmed-author:KabukiSS, pubmed-author:KajinoFF, pubmed-author:KatagiriHH, pubmed-author:KataokaJJ, pubmed-author:KawachiAA, pubmed-author:KifuneTT, pubmed-author:KuboHH, pubmed-author:KushidaJJ, pubmed-author:MaedaSS, pubmed-author:MaeshiroAA, pubmed-author:MatsubaraYY, pubmed-author:MizumotoYY, pubmed-author:MoriMM, pubmed-author:MoriyaMM, pubmed-author:MuraishiHH, pubmed-author:MurakiYY, pubmed-author:NaitoTT, pubmed-author:NakaseTT, pubmed-author:NishijimaKK, pubmed-author:OhishiMM, pubmed-author:OkumuraKK, pubmed-author:PattersonJ RJR, pubmed-author:SakurazawaKK, pubmed-author:SuzukiRR, pubmed-author:SwabyD LDL, pubmed-author:TakanoKK, pubmed-author:TakanoTT, pubmed-author:TanimoriTT, pubmed-author:TokanaiFF, pubmed-author:TsuchiyaKK, pubmed-author:TsunooHH, pubmed-author:UrumaKK, pubmed-author:WatanabeAA, pubmed-author:YanagitaSS, pubmed-author:YoshidaTT, pubmed-author:YoshikoshiTT
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
25
pubmed:volume
416
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
823-6
pubmed:dateRevised
2003-11-3
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
The acceleration of cosmic-ray protons in the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan. enomoto@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article