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This content will become publicly available on July 10, 2026

Title: Orbital Modulation of Gamma Rays up to 100 TeV from LS 5039
Abstract Gamma-ray binaries are luminous in gamma rays, composed of a compact object orbiting a massive companion star. The interaction between these two objects can drive relativistic outflows, either jets or winds, in which particles can be accelerated to energies reaching hundreds of teraelectronvolts (TeV). However, it is still debated where and under which physical conditions particles are accelerated in these objects and ultimately whether protons can be accelerated up to PeV energies. Among the well-known gamma-ray binaries, LS 5039 is a high-mass X-ray binary with an orbital period of 3.9 days that has been observed up to TeV energies by the High Energy Stereoscopic System. We present new observations of LS 5039 obtained with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. Our data reveal that the gamma-ray spectrum of LS 5039 extends up to 200 TeV with no apparent spectral cutoff. Furthermore, we confirm, with a confidence level of 4.7σ, that the emission between 2 and 118 TeV is modulated by the orbital motion of the system, and find a 2.2σhint of variability above 100 TeV. This indicates that these photons are likely produced within or near the binary orbit, where they can undergo absorption by the stellar photons. In a leptonic scenario, the highest energy photons detected by HAWC can be emitted by ∼200 TeV electrons inverse Compton scattering stellar photons, which would require an extremely efficient acceleration mechanism operating within LS 5039. Alternatively, a hadronic scenario could explain the data through proton–proton or proton–gamma collisions of protons accelerated to petaelectronvolt energies.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2411860 2209533
PAR ID:
10621689
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; « less
Corporate Creator(s):
Publisher / Repository:
IOP
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume:
987
Issue:
2
ISSN:
2041-8205
Page Range / eLocation ID:
L42
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Gamma-ray observatories, Gamma-ray sources, High energy astrophysics, High mass x-ray binary stars, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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