Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T07:18:13.962Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

High-energy particles from SN-explosions near the Galactic center

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2014

Ernst A. Dorfi
Affiliation:
Institut für Astrophysik, Universität Wien Türkenschanzstr. 17, A-1180 Wien, Austria email: [email protected] email: [email protected]
Daniel Steiner
Affiliation:
Institut für Astrophysik, Universität Wien Türkenschanzstr. 17, A-1180 Wien, Austria email: [email protected] email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Several supernovae exploding in a compact cluster of massive stars generate a galactic outflow with embedded shock waves. Based on numerical simulations for an expanding superbubble above the Galactic center we find that these individual waves generated by the repeated SN-explosions, interact with each other and finally coalesce into a single strong shock at a distance of 5 kpc above the Galactic plane at about 5 ċ 106 years after outbreak. The resulting shock with a Mach number M ≃ 10 propagates up to 100 kpc in less than 108 years. The time-dependent mass an energy loss out of the superbubble affects the further evolution of the outflow. In such long lasting shock waves energetic particles can be accelerated above the knee of 1015 eV already near the galactic plane by a first-order Fermi-mechanism. The additional pressure gradients from such cosmic rays lead to further accelerations of the galactic outflow since these ultra-relativistic particles suffer less from adiabatic losses than the thermal gas.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014 

References

Breitschwerdt, D., McKenzie, J. F., Völk, H. J. 1991, A&A 245, 79Google Scholar
Dorfi, E. A., Breitschwerdt, D. 2013, A&A 540, A77Google Scholar
Drury, L. O.'C. 1983, Rep. Prog. Phys. 46, 973CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kompaneets, A. S. 1960, Soviet Phys. Doklady 5, 46Google Scholar