RAPID GAMMA-RAY FLUX VARIABILITY DURING THE 2013 MARCH CRAB NEBULA FLARE
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Date
2013-09-11
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Citation of Original Publication
M. Mayer, R. Buehler, E. Hays, C. C. Cheung, M. S. Dutka, J. E. Grove, M. Kerr, and R. Ojha, RAPID GAMMA-RAY FLUX VARIABILITY DURING THE 2013 MARCH CRAB NEBULA FLARE, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 775, Number 2,https://doi.org/10.1088%2F2041-8205%2F775%2F2%2Fl37
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law
Public Domain Mark 1.0
This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law
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Abstract
We report on a bright flare in the Crab Nebula detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The period of significantly increased luminosity occurred in 2013 March and lasted for approximately two weeks. During this period, we observed flux variability on timescales of approximately 5 hr. The combined photon flux above 100 MeV from the pulsar and its nebula reached a peak value of (12.5 ± 0.8) centerdot 10⁻⁶ cm⁻² s⁻¹ on 2013 March 6. This value exceeds the average flux by almost a factor of six and implies a ~20 times higher flux for the synchrotron component of the nebula alone. This is the second brightest flare observed from this source. Spectral and temporal analysis of the LAT data collected during the outburst reveal a rapidly varying synchrotron component of the Crab Nebula while the pulsar emission remains constant in time.