Discovery of Diffuse TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from the Galactic Plane

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  • 15 February 2005
Abstract
Gamma-ray emission from a narrow band at the Galactic equator has previously been detected up to 30 GeV. We report the first observation of a diffuse Galactic plane gamma-ray signal at TeV energies by Milagro, a large field of view water Cherenkov detector for extensive air showers. An excess with a significance of 4.5 sigma has been observed from the region of Galactic longitude 40 < l < 100^{\circ} and latitude |b| < 5^{\circ}. The measured integral flux is phi_{gamma}(>1TeV) = 5.1 +/-1.0 +/-1.7 10^{-10} cm^{-2}s^{-1} sr^{-1}$. This flux is below, but consistent with, an extrapolation of the EGRET spectrum between 1 and 30 GeV in this Galactic region.

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