The Influence of the Sun and Moon on the Observation of Very High Energy Gamma-ray Sources Using EAS Arrays

Abstract

Abstract With great advance of ground-based extensive air shower arrays, such as LHAASO and HAWC, many very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray sources have been discovered and are being monitored regardless of the day and the night. Hence, the Sun and Moon would have some impacts on the observation of gamma-ray sources, which have not been taken into account in previous analysis. In this paper, the influence of the Sun and Moon on the observation of very high energy gamma-ray sources when they are near the line of sight of the Sun or Moon is estimated. The tracks of all the known VHE sources are scanned and several VHE sources are found to be very close to the line of sight of the Sun or Moon during some period. The absorption of very high energy gamma rays by sunlight is estimated with detailed method and some useful conclusions are achieved. The main influence is the block of the Sun and Moon on gamma rays and the shadow on the cosmic ray background. The influence is investigated considering the detector angular resolution and some strategies on data analysis are proposed to avoid the underestimation of the gamma-ray emission.