Fermi large area telescope observations of the cosmic-ray induced γ-ray emission of the Earth's atmosphere

A. A. Abdo*, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, D. Bastieri, B. M. Baughman, K. Bechtol, R. Bellazzini, B. Berenji, E. D. Bloom, E. Bonamente, A. W. Borgland, A. Bouvier, J. Bregeon, A. Brez, M. Brigida, P. BruelR. Buehler, T. H. Burnett, S. Buson, G. A. Caliandro, R. A. Cameron, P. A. Caraveo, J. M. Casandjian, C. Cecchi, Ö Çelik, E. Charles, A. Chekhtman, J. Chiang, S. Ciprini, R. Claus, J. Cohen-Tanugi, J. Conrad, F. De Palma, S. W. Digel, E. Do Couto E Silva, P. S. Drell, R. Dubois, D. Dumora, C. Farnier, C. Favuzzi, S. J. Fegan, W. B. Focke, P. Fortin, M. Frailis, Y. Fukazawa, S. Funk, P. Fusco, F. Gargano, N. Gehrels, S. Germani, B. Giebels, N. Giglietto, F. Giordano, T. Glanzman, G. Godfrey, I. A. Grenier, M. H. Grondin, J. E. Grove, L. Guillemot, S. Guiriec, E. Hays, D. Horan, R. E. Hughes, G. Jóhannesson, A. S. Johnson, T. J. Johnson, W. N. Johnson, T. Kamae, H. Katagiri, J. Kataoka, N. Kawai, M. Kerr, J. Knödlseder, M. Kuss, J. Lande, L. Latronico, M. Lemoine-Goumard, F. Longo, F. Loparco, B. Lott, M. N. Lovellette, P. Lubrano, A. Makeev, M. N. Mazziotta, J. E. McEnery, C. Meurer, P. F. Michelson, W. Mitthumsiri, T. Mizuno, C. Monte, M. E. Monzani, A. Morselli, I. V. Moskalenko, S. Murgia, P. L. Nolan, J. P. Norris, E. Nuss, T. Ohsugi, A. Okumura, N. Omodei, E. Orlando, J. F. Ormes, D. Paneque, J. H. Panetta, D. Parent, V. Pelassa, M. Pepe, M. Pesce-Rollins, F. Piron, T. A. Porter, S. Rainò, R. Rando, M. Razzano, A. Reimer, O. Reimer, T. Reposeur, L. S. Rochester, A. Y. Rodriguez, M. Roth, H. F.W. Sadrozinski, A. Sander, P. M. Saz Parkinson, C. Sgrò, G. H. Share, E. J. Siskind, D. A. Smith, P. D. Smith, G. Spandre, P. Spinelli, M. S. Strickman, D. J. Suson, H. Takahashi, T. Tanaka, J. B. Thayer, J. G. Thayer, D. J. Thompson, L. Tibaldo, D. F. Torres, G. Tosti, A. Tramacere, Y. Uchiyama, T. L. Usher, V. Vasileiou, N. Vilchez, V. Vitale, A. P. Waite, P. Wang, B. L. Winer, K. S. Wood, T. Ylinen, M. Ziegler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report on measurements of the cosmic-ray induced γ-ray emission of Earth's atmosphere by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The Large Area Telescope has observed the Earth during its commissioning phase and with a dedicated Earth limb following observation in September 2008. These measurements yielded ∼6.4×106 photons with energies >100MeV and ∼250 hours total live time for the highest quality data selection. This allows the study of the spatial and spectral distributions of these photons with unprecedented detail. The spectrum of the emission-often referred to as Earth albedo gamma-ray emission-has a power-law shape up to 500GeV with spectral index Γ=2.79±0.06.

Original languageEnglish
Article number122004
JournalPhysical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
Volume80
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009 Dec 29

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fermi large area telescope observations of the cosmic-ray induced γ-ray emission of the Earth's atmosphere'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this