Search for Gamma-ray emission from Abell 119 galaxy cluster using INTEGRAL/ISGRI, COMPTEL, and DAMPE data

TL;DR

This study conducted a multi-band search for gamma-ray emission from galaxy cluster Abell 119 using archival data from INTEGRAL, COMPTEL, and DAMPE, finding no significant emission and setting upper limits across keV to TeV energies.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive multi-band upper limits on gamma-ray emission from Abell 119, combining data from multiple space observatories to constrain non-thermal processes.

Findings

No significant gamma-ray emission detected in any energy band.

Set upper limits on flux from keV to TeV energies.

Results challenge the interpretation of the GeV excess as non-thermal emission from the cluster.

Abstract

We present a comprehensive search for non-thermal high-energy $\gamma$-ray emission from the nearby merging galaxy cluster Abell~119 ($z=0.044$) using archival observations spanning over seven decades in photon energy. Our analysis combines hard X-ray data from INTEGRAL/ISGRI (30--100~keV), MeV $\gamma$-ray observations from COMPTEL (0.75--30~MeV), and GeV--TeV data from the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE; 3~GeV--1~TeV). No statistically significant emission is detected at the cluster position in any energy band. In the hard X-ray regime, we derive a $3\sigma$ upper limit of $F_{30-100\,\mathrm{keV}} \lesssim 8.5 \times 10^{-11}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$ from ISGRI mosaic imaging. Reanalysis of archival COMPTEL data yields 95\% confidence-level upper limits ranging from $\sim 9 \times 10^{-11}$ to $\sim 8 \times 10^{-10}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$ across 0.75--30~MeV. In the GeV--TeV range, DAMPE constrains the differential energy flux to $\sim 10^{-12}$--$10^{-10}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$ (95\% confidence level). These results provide independent multi-band constraints on the reported GeV excess from recent Fermi-LAT studies. While our DAMPE limits do not exclude the flux levels claimed in those analyses, the absence of confirmation across keV--MeV--GeV bands indicate that any non-thermal emission from Abell~119 remains tentative.