400 research outputs found
Charting the TeV Milky Way: H.E.S.S. Galactic plane survey maps, catalog and source populations
Very-high-energy (VHE, E>100 GeV) gamma-rays provide a unique view of the
non-thermal universe, tracing the most violent and energetic phenomena at work
inside our Galaxy and beyond. The latest results of the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane
Survey (HGPS) undertaken by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), an
array of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located in Namibia, are
described here. The HGPS aims at the detection of cosmic accelerators with
environments suitable for the production of photons at the highest energies and
has led to the discovery of an unexpectedly large and diverse population of
over 60 sources of TeV gamma rays within its current range of l = 250 to 65
degrees in longitude and |b|<3.5 degrees in latitude. The data set of the HGPS
comprises 2800 hours of high-quality data, taken in the years 2004 to 2013. The
sensitivity for the detection of point-like sources, assuming a power-law
spectrum with a spectral index of 2.3 at a statistical significance of 5 sigma,
is now at the level of 2% Crab or better in the core HGPS region. The latest
maps of the inner Galaxy at TeV energies are shown alongside an introduction to
the first H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey catalog. Finally, in addition to an
overview of the H.E.S.S. Galactic source population a few remarkable, recently
discovered sources will be highlighted.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, in Proceedings of the 48th Rencontres de Moriond
(2013), La Thuile (Italy
Capability of Cherenkov Telescopes to Observe Ultra-fast Optical Flares
The large optical reflector (~ 100 m^2) of a H.E.S.S. Cherenkov telescope was
used to search for very fast optical transients of astrophysical origin. 43
hours of observations targeting stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars were
obtained using a dedicated photometer with microsecond time resolution. The
photometer consists of seven photomultiplier tube pixels: a central one to
monitor the target and a surrounding ring of six pixels to veto background
events. The light curves of all pixels were recorded continuously and were
searched offline with a matched-filtering technique for flares with a duration
of 2 us to 100 ms. As expected, many unresolved (500 us)
background events originating in the earth's atmosphere were detected. In the
time range 3 to 500 us the measurement is essentially background-free, with
only eight events detected in 43 h; five from lightning and three presumably
from a piece of space debris. The detection of flashes of brightness ~ 0.1 Jy
and only 20 us duration from the space debris shows the potential of this setup
to find rare optical flares on timescales of tens of microseconds. This
timescale corresponds to the light crossing time of stellar-mass black holes
and neutron stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics, 8 pages, 9
figures, 1 tabl
A Population of Teraelectronvolt Pulsar Wind Nebulae in the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey
The most numerous source class that emerged from the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane
Survey are Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe). The 2013 reanalysis of this survey,
undertaken after almost 10 years of observations, provides us with the most
sensitive and most complete census of gamma-ray PWNe to date. In addition to a
uniform analysis of spectral and morphological parameters, for the first time
also flux upper limits for energetic young pulsars were extracted from the
data. We present a discussion of the correlation between energetic pulsars and
TeV objects, and their respective properties. We will put the results in
context with the current theoretical understanding of PWNe and evaluate the
plausibility of previously non-established PWN candidates.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. In Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic
Ray Conference (ICRC2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil
Discovery of new TeV supernova remnant shells in the Galactic plane with H.E.S.S
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are prime candidates for efficient particle
acceleration up to the knee in the cosmic ray particle spectrum. In this work
we present a new method for a systematic search for new TeV-emitting SNR shells
in 2864 hours of H.E.S.S. phase I data used for the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane
Survey. This new method, which correctly identifies the known shell
morphologies of the TeV SNRs covered by the survey, HESS J1731-347, RX
1713.7-3946, RCW 86, and Vela Junior, reveals also the existence of three new
SNR candidates. All three candidates were extensively studied regarding their
morphological, spectral, and multi-wavelength (MWL) properties. HESS J1534-571
was associated with the radio SNR candidate G323.7-1.0, and thus is classified
as an SNR. HESS J1912+101 and HESS J1614-518, on the other hand, do not have
radio or X-ray counterparts that would permit to identify them firmly as SNRs,
and therefore they remain SNR candidates, discovered first at TeV energies as
such. Further MWL follow up observations are needed to confirm that these newly
discovered SNR candidates are indeed SNRs
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