The inverse-compton and extragalactic components of the diffuse gamma-ray emission

Dec, 1995
21 pages
Published in:
  • Astrophys.J. 463 (1996) 169
e-Print:

Citations per year

199620022008201420183102
Abstract: (arXiv)
We present spectra of the inverse-Compton and extragalactic components of the high-energy gamma-radiation based on an analysis of the emission at high galactic latitudes (\vertb\vert \geq 30deg30\deg). We correlate the gamma-ray intensity with a model consisting of an isotropic component, a component proportional to the 408 MHz synchrotron radiation, and a component proportional to atomic hydrogen (H I) column density with different emissivities in eight galactic octants. The spectrum of gamma-radiation that is correlated with the H I column density indicates that this component originates in cosmic-ray/matter interactions. The cosmic-ray electrons which produce the 408 MHz radio continuum emission also produce gamma-radiation through inverse-Compton interactions with interstellar photons. By correlating the gamma-radiation with the 408 MHz continuum, we measure the spectrum and absolute intensity of the IC emission. The isotropic component gives us the spectrum and intensity of the extragalactic gamma-radiation. We discuss interpretation of the extragalactic spectrum.