New Study Confirms TeV Halos Are Common in Middle 2x1m1b Aged Pulsars

HAWC Observatory researchers reveal TeV halos as universal features of middle-aged pulsars, offering new insights into gamma-ray emissions and pulsar detection. 4543

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 22 May 2025 22:07 IST

New Study Confirms TeV Halos Are Common in Middle-Aged Pulsars

Photo Credit: ESO 633x19

TeV Halos Are Common in Middle-Aged Pulsars, Reveals HAWC Observatory Study

Highlights

TeV halos found to be common around middle-aged pulsars
HAWC data reveals gamma-ray signals from hidden neutron stars
Discovery could reshape models of particle travel in the Milky Way

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Pulsars are neutron stars rotating rapidly, emitting electromagnetic radiation in various wavelengths, including radio waves, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray. In some middle aged pulsars, regions of extended gamma-ray emission in tera electron volt (TeV) energies are documented in recent days. These regions, referred to as TeV halos, were found to be significantly larger than their corresponding pulsar's wind nebulae. Despite being increasingly documented, the question prevailed if TeV halos are common or rare phenomenon. In a recent study by a large group of researchers from USA and Mexico, suggest that TeV halos are universal features of middle-aged pulsars.

About the study j662z

According to the study, TeV halos are universal features of middle-aged pulsars and could thus be used to identify pulsars that cannot be detected using instruments designed to pick up radio waves or lower-energy gamma rays.

In this study researchers analysed a sky map containing high-energy gamma-ray observations collected over a period of 2,300 days at the HAWC observatory. The HAWC observatory, situated on the slopes of the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, specializes in the detection of secondary particles that are produced when high-energy gamma rays originating from space reach Earth's atmosphere.

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The team identified TeV halos around the middle-aged pulsars that were in HAWC's field of view. Then they used their likelihood profiles to determine how the data indicates the presence of extended gamma-ray emission. Stacking these profiles, they assessed a collective signal that could indicate the widespread presence of TeV halos.

Future implications 416d42

The discovery of TeV halos to be a universal phenomenon implies that they could be used to detect the rather undetectable pulsars.

Sara Coutiño De León, co-author of the paper, said to Milky Way. We now plan to conduct detailed studies of individual TeV halos. By doing this, we aim to better understand how particles propagate in and around these sources."

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