Very high-energy constraints on the Infrared Extragalactic Background Light

Abstract

Context. Measurements of the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) are a fundamental source of information on the collective emission of cosmic sources. Aims. At infrared wavelengths, however, these measurements are precluded by the overwhelming dominance from Interplanetary Dust emission and the Galactic infrared foreground. Only at $\lambda >300\mu$m, where the foregrounds are minimal, has the Infrared EBL (IR EBL) been inferred from analysis of the COBE maps. The present paper aims to assess the possibility of evaluating the IR EBL from a few $\mu$m up to the peak of the emission at >100 $\mu$m using an indirect method that avoids the foreground problem. Methods. To this purpose we exploit the effect of pair-production from gamma-gamma interaction by considering the highest energy photons emitted by extragalactic sources and their interaction with the IR EBL photons. We simulate observations of a variety of low redshift emitters with the forthcoming Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) arrays (CTA in particular) and water Cherenkov observatories (LHAASO, HAWC, SWGO) to assess their suitability to constrain the EBL at such long wavelengths. Results. We find that, even under the most extremely favorable conditions of huge emission flares, extremely high-energy emitting blazars are not very useful for our purpose because they are much too distant (>100 Mpc the nearest ones, MKN 501 and MKN 421). Observations of more local Very High Energy (VHE) emitting AGNs, like low-redshift radio galaxies (M87, IC 310, Centaurus A), are better suited and will potentially allow us to constrain the EBL up to $\lambda \simeq 100\mu$m.

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• ASTRI Mini-Array Core Science at the Observatorio del Teide
• Modeling the Extragalactic Background Light and the Cosmic Star Formation History
• Curvature in the very-high energy gamma-ray spectrum of M87
• The $\gamma$-ray sky seen at X-ray energies II: the Swift hunt of Fermi BL Lac objects among unidentified gamma-ray sources
• Probing $\mu$eV ALPs with future LHAASO observation of AGN $\gamma$-ray spectra
• Constraining the cosmic-ray pressure in the inner Virgo Cluster using H.E.S.S. observations of M 87
• Observable spectral and angular distributions of $\gamma$-rays from extragalactic ultrahigh energy cosmic ray accelerators: the case of extreme TeV blazars
• Optical spectroscopic characterization of Fermi blazar candidates of uncertain type with TNG and DOT: First Results
• The relation between optical and $\gamma$-ray emission in BL Lac sources
• Probing the extragalactic mid-infrared background with HAWC
• Studies of Extragalactic Background Light with TeV BL Lac Objects