On the nature of the AGILE galactic transient sources

Context. The Italian gamma-ray satellite AGILE has recently reported the detection of some variable high-energy sources likely of galactic origin. These sources do not have any obvious counterpart at lower energies. Aims. We propose that these sources are produced in proton-dominated jets of galacti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Romero, Gustavo Esteban, Vila, Gabriela Soledad
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2009
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/26680
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/26680
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:X-ray binaries
Gamma rays
Radiation mechanisms
Non thermal mechanisms
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:Context. The Italian gamma-ray satellite AGILE has recently reported the detection of some variable high-energy sources likely of galactic origin. These sources do not have any obvious counterpart at lower energies. Aims. We propose that these sources are produced in proton-dominated jets of galactic microquasars. Methods. We develop a model for microquasar jets that takes into account both primary leptons and protons and all relevant radiative processes, including secondary particle emission and gamma-ray attenuation due to pair creation in the jet. Results. We obtain spectral energy distributions that correspond to what is observed by AGILE, with most of the power concentrated between 100 MeV and 10 GeV and reaching luminosities of 1034-35 erg s-1. We make detailed spectral predictions that can be tested by the Fermi gamma-ray telescope in the immediate future. Conclusions. We conclude that hadronic jets in galactic accreting sources can be responsible for the variable unidentified gamma-ray sources detected by AGILE.