Journal
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Volume 422, Issue 3, Pages L47-L50Publisher
EDP SCIENCES S A
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20040172
Keywords
gamma rays; galactic structure; interstellar medium; cosmic rays; supernova remnants; pulsars
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We present a solution to the apparent discrepancy between the radial gradient in the diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emissivity and the distribution of supernova remnants, believed to be the sources of cosmic rays. Recent determinations of the pulsar distribution have made the discrepancy even more apparent. The problem is shown to be plausibly solved by a variation in the W(CO)-to-N(H(2)) scaling factor. If this factor increases by a factor of 5-10 from the inner to the outer Galaxy, as expected from the Galactic metallicity gradient, we show that the source distribution required to match the radial gradient of gamma-rays can be reconciled with the distribution of supernova remnants as traced by current studies of pulsars. 'The resulting model fits the EGRET gamma-ray profiles extremely well in longitude, and reproduces the mid-latitude inner Galaxy intensities better than previous models.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available