Deep view of composite SNR CTA1 with LHAASO in γ-rays up to 300 TeV

Abstract

The ultra-high-energy (UHE) gamma-ray source 1LHAASO J0007+7303u is positionally associated with the composite SNR CTA1 that is located at high Galactic Latitude b ≈ 10.5°. This provides a rare opportunity to spatially resolve the component of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) and supernova remnant (SNR) at UHE. This paper conducted a dedicated data analysis of 1LHAASO J0007+7303u using the data collected from December 2019 to July 2023. This source is well detected with significances of 21σ and 17σ at 8–100 TeV and >100 TeV, respectively. The corresponding extensions are determined to be 0.23°±0.03° and 0.17°±0.03°. The emission is proposed to originate from the relativistic electrons accelerated within the PWN of PSR J0007+7303. The energy spectrum is well described by a power-law with an exponential cutoff function dN/dE=(42.4±4.1)(E20TeV)−2.31±0.11exp(−E110±25TeV) TeV−1 cm−2 s−1 in the energy range from 8 to 300 TeV, implying a steady-state parent electron spectrum dNe/dEe∝(Ee100TeV)−3.13±0.16exp[(−Ee373±70TeV)2] at energies above ≈ 50 TeV. The cutoff energy of the electron spectrum is roughly equal to the expected current maximum energy of particles accelerated at the PWN terminal shock. Combining the X-ray and gamma-ray emission, the current space-averaged magnetic field can be limited to ≈ 4.5 µG. To satisfy the multi-wavelength spectrum and the γ-ray extensions, the transport of relativistic particles within the PWN is likely dominated by the advection process under the free-expansion phase assumption.