Observation of pulsed gamma-rays above 25 GeV from the Crab pulsar with MAGIC

Science. 2008 Nov 21;322(5905):1221-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1164718. Epub 2008 Oct 16.

Abstract

One fundamental question about pulsars concerns the mechanism of their pulsed electromagnetic emission. Measuring the high-end region of a pulsar's spectrum would shed light on this question. By developing a new electronic trigger, we lowered the threshold of the Major Atmospheric gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescope to 25 giga-electron volts. In this configuration, we detected pulsed gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar that were greater than 25 giga-electron volts, revealing a relatively high cutoff energy in the phase-averaged spectrum. This indicates that the emission occurs far out in the magnetosphere, hence excluding the polar-cap scenario as a possible explanation of our measurement. The high cutoff energy also challenges the slot-gap scenario.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't