Detection of the crab pulsar with MAGIC

TL;DR

The MAGIC telescope detected pulsed gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar in the very high energy range, revealing a spectral cutoff at around 17.7 GeV and providing insights into the pulsar's emission mechanisms.

Contribution

First detection of pulsed VHE gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar using MAGIC with a new trigger system lowering the energy threshold.

Findings

Detected pulsed gamma-rays above 25 GeV from Crab pulsar

Observed energy-dependent changes in light curve peaks

Determined spectral cutoff at approximately 17.7 GeV

Abstract

The MAGIC telescope has detected for the first time pulsed gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar in the VHE domain. The observations were performed with a newly developed trigger system that allows us to lower the energy threshold of the telescope from 55 GeV to 25 GeV. We present a comparison of light curves measured by our experiment with the one measured by space detectors. A strong energy dependent decrease of the first peak with respect to the second peak P1/P2 could be observed. Finally, fitting our measured data and previous measurements from EGRET we determine a turnover of the energy spectrum at 17.7 +- 2.8 (stat.) +- 5.0 (syst.) GeV, assuming an exponential cutoff. This rules out the scenario in which the gamma rays are produced in vicinity of the polar caps of the neutron star.