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Originally published in Science Express on 16 October 2008
Science 21 November 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5905, pp. 1218 - 1221
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165572
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Reports

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Discovers the Pulsar in the Young Galactic Supernova Remnant CTA 1

A. A. Abdo,1,2 M. Ackermann,3 W. B. Atwood,4 L. Baldini,5 J. Ballet,6 G. Barbiellini,7,8 M. G. Baring,9 D. Bastieri,10,11 B. M. Baughman,12 K. Bechtol,3 R. Bellazzini,5 B. Berenji,3 R. D. Blandford,3 E. D. Bloom,3 G. Bogaert,13 E. Bonamente,14,15 A. W. Borgland,3 J. Bregeon,5 A. Brez,5 M. Brigida,16,17 P. Bruel,13 T. H. Burnett,18 G. A. Caliandro,16,17 R. A. Cameron,3 P. A. Caraveo,19 P. Carlson,20 J. M. Casandjian,6 C. Cecchi,14,15 E. Charles,3 A. Chekhtman,2,21 C. C. Cheung,22 J. Chiang,3 S. Ciprini,14,15 R. Claus,3 J. Cohen-Tanugi,23 L. R. Cominsky,24 J. Conrad,20,25 S. Cutini,26 D. S. Davis,2,27 C. D. Dermer,2 A. de Angelis,28 F. de Palma,16,17 S. W. Digel,3 M. Dormody,4 E. do Couto e Silva,3 P. S. Drell,3 R. Dubois,3 D. Dumora,29,30 Y. Edmonds,3 C. Farnier,23 W. B. Focke,3 Y. Fukazawa,31 S. Funk,3 P. Fusco,16,17 F. Gargano,17 D. Gasparrini,26 N. Gehrels,22,32 S. Germani,14,15 B. Giebels,13 N. Giglietto,16,17 F. Giordano,16,17 T. Glanzman,3 G. Godfrey,3 I. A. Grenier,6 M.-H. Grondin,29,30 J. E. Grove,2 L. Guillemot,29,30 S. Guiriec,23 A. K. Harding,22 R. C. Hartman,22 E. Hays,22 R. E. Hughes,12 G. Jóhannesson,3 A. S. Johnson,3 R. P. Johnson,4 T. J. Johnson,22,32 W. N. Johnson,2 T. Kamae,3 Y. Kanai,33 G. Kanbach,34* H. Katagiri,31 N. Kawai,33,35 M. Kerr,18 T. Kishishita,36 B. Kiziltan,37 J. Knödlseder,38 M. L. Kocian,3 N. Komin,6,23{dagger} F. Kuehn,12 M. Kuss,5 L. Latronico,5 M. Lemoine-Goumard,29,30 F. Longo,7,8 V. Lonjou,29,30 F. Loparco,16,17 B. Lott,29,30 M. N. Lovellette,2 P. Lubrano,14,15 A. Makeev,21 M. Marelli,19 M. N. Mazziotta,17 J. E. McEnery,22 S. McGlynn,20 C. Meurer,25 P. F. Michelson,3 T. Mineo,39 W. Mitthumsiri,3 T. Mizuno,31 A. A. Moiseev,40 C. Monte,16,17 M. E. Monzani,3 A. Morselli,41 I. V. Moskalenko,3 S. Murgia,3 T. Nakamori,33 P. L. Nolan,3 E. Nuss,23 M. Ohno,36 T. Ohsugi,31 A. Okumura,42 N. Omodei,5 E. Orlando,34 J. F. Ormes,43 M. Ozaki,36 D. Paneque,3 J. H. Panetta,3 D. Parent,29,30 V. Pelassa,23 M. Pepe,14,15 M. Pesce-Rollins,5 G. Piano,41 L. Pieri,10 F. Piron,23 T. A. Porter,4 S. Rainò,16,17 R. Rando,10,11 P. S. Ray,2 M. Razzano,5 A. Reimer,3 O. Reimer,3 T. Reposeur,29,30 S. Ritz,22,32 L. S. Rochester,3 A. Y. Rodriguez,44 R. W. Romani,3 M. Roth,18 F. Ryde,20 H. F.-W. Sadrozinski,4 D. Sanchez,13 A. Sander,12 P. M. Saz Parkinson,4 T. L. Schalk,4 A. Sellerholm,25 C. Sgrò,5 E. J. Siskind,45 D. A. Smith,29,30 P. D. Smith,12 G. Spandre,5 P. Spinelli,16,17 J.-L. Starck,6 M. S. Strickman,2 D. J. Suson,46 H. Tajima,3 H. Takahashi,31 T. Takahashi,36 T. Tanaka,3 J. B. Thayer,3 J. G. Thayer,3 D. J. Thompson,22 S. E. Thorsett,4 L. Tibaldo,10,11 D. F. Torres,44,47 G. Tosti,14,15 A. Tramacere,3,48 T. L. Usher,3 A. Van Etten,3 N. Vilchez,38 V. Vitale,41 P. Wang,3 K. Watters,3 B. L. Winer,12 K. S. Wood,2* H. Yasuda,31 T. Ylinen,20,49 M. Ziegler4*

Energetic young pulsars and expanding blast waves [supernova remnants (SNRs)] are the most visible remains after massive stars, ending their lives, explode in core-collapse supernovae. The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has unveiled a radio quiet pulsar located near the center of the compact synchrotron nebula inside the supernova remnant CTA 1. The pulsar, discovered through its gamma-ray pulsations, has a period of 316.86 milliseconds and a period derivative of 3.614 x 10–13 seconds per second. Its characteristic age of 104 years is comparable to that estimated for the SNR. We speculate that most unidentified Galactic gamma-ray sources associated with star-forming regions and SNRs are such young pulsars.

1 National Research Council Research Associate, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 20001, USA.
2 Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
3 W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
4 Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
5 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy.
6 Laboratoire Astrophysique, Interactions, Multi-échelles–Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA)–CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France.
7 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
8 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
9 Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, MS-108, Post Office Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251, USA.
10 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
11 Dipartimento di Fisica "G. Galilei," Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
12 Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
13 Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, École Polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Palaiseau, France.
14 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.
15 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.
16 Dipartimento di Fisica "M. Merlin" dell'Università e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari, Italy.
17 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy.
18 Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195–1560, USA.
19 Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, I-20133 Milano, Italy.
20 Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan), AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
21 George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.
22 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
23 Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS/IN2P3, Montpellier, France.
24 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928–3609, USA.
25 Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
26 Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Science Data Center, I-00044 Frascati (Roma), Italy.
27 Center for Space Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
28 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Udine and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Gruppo Collegato di Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy.
29 CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d'Études Nucléaires Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, Gradignan, 33175, France.
30 Université de Bordeaux, Centre d'Études Nucléaires Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, Gradignan, 33175, France.
31 Department of Physical Science and Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.
32 University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
33 Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
34 Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstraße, 85748 Garching, Germany.
35 Cosmic Radiation Laboratory, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
36 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan.
37 University of California Observatories/Lick Observatories, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
38 Centre d'Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS/UPS, BP 44346, F-30128 Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
39 Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica Palermo, 90146 Palermo, Italy.
40 Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
41 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma "Tor Vergata" and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata," I-00133 Roma, Italy.
42 Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
43 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA.
44 Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Campus Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
45 NYCB Real-Time Computing Inc., 18 Meudon Drive, Lattingtown, NY 11560–1025, USA.
46 Department of Chemistry and Physics, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN 46323–2094, USA.
47 Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain.
48 Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Fisica Spaziale, I-10133 Torino, Italy.
49 School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences, University of Kalmar, SE-391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.

{dagger} Present address: Laboratoire Astrophysique, Interactions, Multi-échelles–Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA)–CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gok{at}mpe.mpg.de (G.K.); kent.wood{at}nrl.navy.mil (K.S.W.); ziegler{at}scipp.ucsc.edu (M.Z.)

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Detection of 16 Gamma-Ray Pulsars Through Blind Frequency Searches Using the Fermi LAT.
A. A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, B. Anderson, W. B. Atwood, M. Axelsson, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, M. G. Baring, et al. (2009)
Science 325, 840-844
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