Cosmic rays from Cygnus X-3

Today many investigators adhere to the idea that cosmic rays receive all their energy from discrete sources with interstellar space acting only as a diffusive medium. An object that accelerates particles to cosmic-ray velocities will almost inevitably produce gamma rays as well. Hence, gamma rays are therefore an effective probe of the source of cosmic radiation even though they account for less than .1% of the total flux. Recently, Cygnus X-3 has been shown to be source of high-energy gamma rays and hence a source of cosmic radiation. Two models of Cygnus-X are discussed in order to explain how Cygnus-X ca accelerate particles to cosmic ray velocities. Both models assume that it is a binary star system in which one component is a dense neutron star. 9 figures.