Measurement of the high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Moon with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Abstract

We have measured the gamma-ray emission spectrum of the Moon using the data collected by the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi satellite during its first 7 years of operation, in the energy range from 30 MeV up to a few GeV. We have also studied the time evolution of the flux, finding a correlation with the solar activity. We have developed a full Monte Carlo simulation describing the interactions of cosmic rays with the lunar surface. The results of the present analysis can be explained in the framework of this model, where the production of gamma rays is due to the interactions of cosmic-ray proton and helium nuclei with the surface of the Moon. Finally, we have used our simulation to derive the cosmic-ray proton and helium spectra near Earth from the Moon gamma-ray data.

arXiv commentPublished by PRD, 16 pages, 11 figures, corresponding authors: F. Loparco and M. N. Mazziotta

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• Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog
• Science with e-ASTROGAM (A space mission for MeV-GeV gamma-ray astrophysics)
• The angular power spectrum of the diffuse gamma-ray emission as measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope and constraints on its Dark Matter interpretation
• First Observation of Time Variation in the Solar-Disk Gamma-Ray Flux with Fermi
• Cosmic-ray interactions with the Sun using the FLUKA code
• Hard and bright gamma-ray emission at the base of the Fermi bubbles
• Constraints on Dark Matter from the Moon
• A new possibility for light-quark Dark Matter
• Self-consistent Modelling of Gamma-Ray Spectra from Solar Flares with the Monte Carlo Simulation Package FLUKA
• Yet Another Sunshine Mystery: Unexpected Asymmetry in GeV Emission from the Solar Disk
• Search for Features in the Cosmic-Ray Electron and Positron spectrum measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Possible detection of gamma rays from Epsilon Eridani
• Study of the Cosmic Rays and Interstellar Medium in Local HI Clouds using Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray Observations
• Lunar neutrinos
• Constraints on the gamma-ray emission from Small Solar System Bodies with the Fermi Large Area Telescope data
• Puzzling Variation of Gamma Rays from the Sun over the Solar Cycle Revealed with Fermi-LAT
• Probing antigravitational effects through CP violation on the Moon
• Angular Distribution of Gamma Rays Produced in Proton-Proton Collisions
• An Experiment Exploring Gravitational Effects on CP Violation