Speaker
Description
Here we report the discovery of a giant enigmatic extended source peanut-shaped source (PEANUT) emitting UHE γ rays with LHAASO. Observed spatial morphology and energy spectrum suggest a common origin of PEANUT substructures. The spectrum is described with a power-law with index of −1.92 ± 0.13 and an exponential cutoff at 229 ± 59 TeV,implying a total luminosity of ≃ 7.04 × 1032 (D/3 kpc) erg s−1. The absence of a spatial correlation between this LHAASO PEANUT and interstellar gas makes it unlikely that the observed signal is caused by hadronic γ radiation. The inverse Compton(IC) scattering from a luminous millisecond pulsar (MSP) J0218+4232 is more compelling. These findings suggest that MSPs have the potential to act as PeV accelerators (PeVatrons) of the Milky Way.
