Search for Ultrahigh Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from Supernova Remnants

Session 62 -- Supernova Remnants and Pulsars
Oral presentation, Tuesday, 10, 1995, 10:00am - 11:30am

[62.02] Search for Ultrahigh Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from Supernova Remnants

G.E.~Allen, C.Y.~Chang, M.L.~Chen, C.L.~Dion, J.A.~Goodman, M.J.~Stark (UMCP), D.~Berley (UMCP, NSF), S.~Biller (UCI, U.Leeds), R.L.~Burman, T.J.~Haines, C.M.~Hoffman, D.E.~Nagle, D.M.~Schmidt, C.~Sinnis (LANL), M.~Cavalli-Sforza, D.~Coyne, D.~Dorfan, L.~Kelley, R.~Schnee, D.A.~Williams, T.~Yang (UCSC), P.~Chumney, A.~Shoup, G.B.~Yodh (UCI), R.W.~Ellsworth (GMU), S.~Klein (UCSC, LBL), J.-P.~Wu (UCR)

The majority of the cosmic rays in our galaxy with energies in the range of $\sim$ 10$^{9}$--10$^{14}$ eV are thought to be accelerated in supernova remnants (SNRs). Measurements of SNR gamma-ray spectra in this energy region could support or contradict this hypothesis. The Energetic Gamma-Ray Telescope Experiment (EGRET) has reported several sources of gamma rays in the energy range of $\sim$ 10$^{8}$--10$^{10}$ eV whose coordinates are correlated with SNRs. Five of these are within the field of view of the CYGNUS extensive air shower detector. No evidence of gamma-ray emission above $\sim$ 10$^{14}$ eV is found for these five SNRs in the CYGNUS data set. The flux upper limits from the CYGNUS experiment and the fluxes measured with the EGRET instrument are compared. The implications for models of gamma-ray production in these five SNRs will be presented.

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