COS-B observations of high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Orion cloud complex.
Caraveo, P. A.; Bignami, G. F.; Strong, A. W.; Hermsen, W.; Masnou, J. L.; Lebrun, F.; Bennett, K.; Kanbach, G.; Mayer-Hasselwander, H. A.; Paul, J. A.; Scarsi, L.; Swanenburg, B. N.; Wills, R. D.; Sacco, B.
Italy, Netherlands, France, Germany
Abstract
Emission of high-energy gamma rays (between 70 and 5000 MeV) has been observed from the direction of the Orion cloud complex by the COS-B satellite. The emission is resolved and the existence of structure is apparent within the excess with two maxima coinciding with L 1630 and L 1641, i.e. the northern and the southern major clouds in the complex. The flux is evaluated and, coupled with an emissivity value deduced for the same general region of the sky, yields a total mass for the complex well in agreement with independent radio astronomical evaluations.