• DOI:10.1038/318267A0
• Corpus ID: 4262045

A cosmic-ray explanation of the galactic ridge of cosmic X-rays

@article{Bhat1985ACE,
  title={A cosmic-ray explanation of the galactic ridge of cosmic X-rays},
  author={C. L. Bhat and Tadashi Kifune and Arnold Whittaker Wolfendale},
  journal={Nature},
  year={1985},
  volume={318},
  pages={267-269}
}

• C. L. Bhat, T. Kifune, A. Wolfendale
• Published 21 November 1985
• Physics
• Nature

Recent observations1 with the Exosat X-ray satellite have confirmed the existence of an apparently diffuse galactic ridge of emission extending over the inner Galaxy (l = 320° −40°) and confined to about ±2° in galactic latitude. On the basis of measurements2 carried out in the galactic plane at l≃55°, we have proposed previously3 that the diffuse galactic X-ray flux known at that time could be understood in terms of the synchrotron radiation of cosmic-ray electrons in the galactic magnetic field. The more extensive Exosat measurements fit nicely into this picture and the X-ray-producing electrons can now be readily understood as being secondary to the ultra-high-energy protons, which are themselves generated in galactic objects as epitomized by the recently discovered4,5 Cygnus X-3. We show here that, on this model, the number of Cyg X-3-like objects present in the Galaxy at any one time, averaged over the past 103 yr or so, is ≃30.