# Studying Cosmic-ray Interactions in Giant Molecular Clouds with the HAWC Gamma-ray Observatory

## TL;DR

This study uses HAWC gamma-ray data to analyze cosmic-ray interactions in giant molecular clouds, testing the assumption that local cosmic-ray flux represents the Galactic average.

## Contribution

It presents the first analysis of gamma-ray emissions from giant molecular clouds outside the galactic plane using HAWC data.

## Key findings

- Preliminary detection of gamma rays from the Aquila Rift, Hercules, and Taurus clouds.
- Supports the use of HAWC for studying large-scale cosmic-ray interactions.
- Provides insights into the distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy.

## Abstract

The cosmic-ray flux in the Galaxy can be characterized by combining the knowledge of the distribution of gas in the Galaxy and the observation of gamma rays. We analyze the data from the HAWC Observatory to look for gamma rays in three galactic giant molecular clouds, that are outside the galactic plane ($|b|>5^{\circ}$). We can then test the paradigm that the measured local cosmic-ray flux is the same as the "sea" of Galactic cosmic rays. Due to its large field of view, and high duty cycle, HAWC is suitable to search for gamma rays from large structures in the TeV gamma-ray regime. We present here preliminary results from measurements of the Aquila Rift, Hercules and Taurus molecular clouds.