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Study of Galaxy Evolution Using VHE γ-ray Observations with Ground-based Čerenkov Telescopes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

A. Konopelko*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany

Abstract

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The spectral distribution of the extragalactic background light (EBL) in the infrared yields important information about the evolution of galaxies. The spectrum of a galaxy in the 0.1–200 μm region is a footprint of the intrinsic starlight at ~ 1μm and its extinction by dust with re-emission at ~ 100 μm. The overall spectral energy distribution of the EBL is then determined by the galaxy luminosity evolution. High-energy γ-rays are absorbed by the EBL photons through γγ → e+e- reactions. Such an effect has been seen recently in the Mkn 501 TeV spectrum measured by the HEGRA (High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy) collaboration using an advanced system of imaging atmospheric Čerenkov telescopes (IACTs). The intrinsic spectra of AGNs in the 50 GeV-1 TeV energy range may be constrained by the X-ray fluxes measured with satellite instruments aboard missions such as RXTE, XMM, and ASCA. By reducing the energy threshold down to 50 GeV, forthcoming ground-based IACTs systems (CANGAROO IV, H.E.S.S., VERITAS) may be able to study the absorption cutoff in energy spectra of distant AGNs (z< 0.4), to unfold the true galaxy luminosity evolution function.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001