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Article
Measurement of the 0.3-8.5 MeV Galactic Gamma-Ray Spectrum from the Galactic Center Direction
The Astrophysical Journal
  • M J Harris, Naval Research Lab
  • Gerald H Share, Naval Research Lab
  • Mark D Leising, Clemson University
  • R L Kinzer, Naval Research Lab
  • D C Messina, Naval Research Lab
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-10-1990
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Abstract

The low-energy gamma-ray spectrum from the direction of the Galactic center is determined using data obtained with the SMM Gamma-Ray Spectrometer. It is found that the diffuse gamma-ray spectrum from the Galactic center region can be interpreted in a straightforward way as the sum of five components of a presented equation. The components include a hard power law dominating the continuum at high energies caused principally by cosmic ray electron bremsstrahlung radiation, two narrow lines due to Al-26 decay and positron annihilation, an excess continuum component below 0.511 MeV consistent with the annihilation of positrons by formation of Ps, and a soft power law at low energies which is consistent with an extrapolation upward in energy of known hard X-ray sources in the Galactic center region.

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