Discovery of TeV gamma-ray emission from the Pulsar Wind Nebula 3C 58 by MAGIC

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of TeV gamma-ray emission from the Pulsar Wind Nebula 3C 58 using MAGIC, revealing it as the least luminous PWN at VHE with a low flux and providing insights into its distance, magnetic field, and emission mechanisms.

Contribution

First detection of TeV gamma-ray emission from PWN 3C 58 with detailed spectral analysis and modeling, establishing its low luminosity and constraining physical parameters.

Findings

Detected VHE gamma-ray emission at 5.7 sigma significance.

Measured differential energy spectrum with a photon index of 2.4.

Disfavored hadronic origin due to unrealistic energy requirements.

Abstract

The Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) 3C 58 is energized by one of the highest spin-down power pulsars known (5% of Crab pulsar) and it has been compared to the Crab Nebula due to their morphological similarities. This object was detected by Fermi-LAT with a spectrum extending beyond 100 GeV. We analyzed 81 hours of 3C 58 data taken with the MAGIC telescopes and we detected VHE gamma-ray emission for the first time at TeV energies with a significance of 5.7 sigma and an integral flux of 0.65% C.U. above 1 TeV. The differential energy spectrum between 400 GeV and 10 TeV is well described by a power-law function $d\Phi/dE=f_{o}(E/1TeV)^{-\Gamma}$ with $f_{o}=(2.0\pm0.4stat\pm0.6sys) 10^{-13}cm^{-2}s^{-1}TeV^{-1}$ and $\Gamma=2.4\pm0.2sta\pm0.2sys$. This leads 3C 58 to be the least luminous PWN ever detected at VHE and the one with the lowest flux at VHE to date. According to time-dependent models in which electrons up-scatter photon fields, the best representation favors a distance to the PWN of 2 kpc and FIR comparable to CMB photon fields. If we consider an unexpectedly high FIR density, the data can also be reproduced by models assuming a 3.2 kpc distance. A low magnetic field, far from equipartition, is required to explain the VHE data. Hadronic contribution from the hosting supernova remnant (SNR) requires unrealistic energy budget given the density of the medium, disfavoring cosmic ray acceleration in the SNR as origin of the VHE gamma-ray emission.