Discovery of gamma-ray emission from the shell-type supernova remnant RCW 86 with Hess

Aharonian F, Akhperjanian AG, De Almeida UB, Bazer-Bachi AR, Behera B, Beilicke M, Benbow W, Bernloehr K, Boisson C, Bochow A, Borrel V, Braun IV, Brion E, Brucker J, Buehler R, Bulik T, Buesching I, Boutelier T, Carrigan S, Chadwick PM, Charbonnier A, Chaves RCG, Chounet LM, Clapson AC, Coignet G, Costamante L, Dalton M, Degrange B, Dickinson HJ, Djannati-Atai A, Domainko W, Drury LO, Dubois F, Dubus G, Dyks J, Egberts K, Emmanoulopoulos D, Espigat P, Farnier C, Feinstein F, Fiasson A, Foerster A, Fontaine G, Fuessling M, Gabici S, Gallant YA, Gerard L, Giebels B, Glicenstein JF, Glueck B, Goret P, Hadjichristidis C, Hauser D, Hauser M, Heinzelmann G, Henri G, Hermann G, Hinton JA, Hoffmann A, Hofmann W, Holleran M, Hoppe S, Horns D, Jacholkowska A, De Jager OC, Jung I, Katarzynski K, Kaufmann S, Kendziorra E, Kerschhaggl M, Khangulyan D, Khelifi B, Keogh D, Komin N, Kosack K, Lamanna G, Latham IJ, Lemoine-Goumard M, Lenain JP, Lohse T, Marandon V, Martin JM, Martineau-Huynh O, Marcowith A, Masterson C, Maurin D, Mccomb TJL, Medina C, Moderski R, Moulin E, Naumann-Godo M, De Naurois M, Nedbal D, Nekrassov D, Niemiec J, Nolan SJ, Ohm S, Olive JF, Wilhelmi EDO, Orford KJ, Osborne JL, Ostrowski M, Panter M, Pedaletti G, Pelletier G, Petrucci PO, Pita S, Puehlhofer G, Punch M, Quirrenbach A, Raubenheimer BC, Raue M, Rayner SM, Renaud M, Rieger F, Ripken J, Rob L, Rosier-Lees S, Rowell G, Rudak B, Ruppel J, Sahakian V, Santangelo A, Schlickeiser R, Schoeck FM, Schroeder R, Schwanke U, Schwarzburg S, Schwemmer S, Shalchi A, Skilton JL, Sol H, Spangler D, Stawarz L, Steenkamp R, Stegmann C, Superina G, Tam PH, Tavernet JP, Terrier R, Tibolla O, van Eldik C, Vasileiadis G, Venter C, Vialle JP, Vincent P, Vink J, Vivier M, Voelk HJ, Volpe F, Wagner SJ, Ward M, Zdziarski AA, Zech A (2009)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2009

Journal

Book Volume: 692

Pages Range: 1500-1505

Journal Issue: 2

DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/1500

Abstract

The shell-type supernova remnant (SNR) RCW 86, possibly associated with the historical supernova SN 185, with its relatively large size (about 40′ in diameter) and the presence of nonthermal X-rays is a promising target for γ-ray observations. The high sensitivity, good angular resolution of a few arcminutes and the large field of view of the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) make it ideally suited for the study of γ-ray morphology of such extended sources. HESS observations have indeed led to the discovery of the SNR RCW 86 in very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) γ-rays. With 31 hr of observation time, the source is detected with a statistical significance of 8.5σ and is significantly more extended than the HESS point-spread function. Morphological studies have been performed and show that the γ-ray flux does not correlate perfectly with the X-ray emission. The flux from the remnant is ∼10% of the flux from the Crab nebula, with a similar photon index of about 2.5. Possible origins of the VHE γ-ray emission, via either Inverse Compton scattering by electrons or the decay of neutral pions produced by proton interactions, are discussed on the basis of spectral features obtained both in the X-ray and γ-ray regimes. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Germany (DE) École Polytechnique - Université Paris-Saclay France (FR) Centre CEA de Saclay (Essonne) France (FR) University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot / Université Paris VII Denis Diderot France (FR) Durham University United Kingdom (GB) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics Germany (DE) Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI) / Երևանի Ֆիզիկայի Ինստիտուտ Armenia (AM) Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) Germany (DE) National Center for Scientific Research / Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) France (FR) Universität Hamburg (UHH) Germany (DE) Université Joseph Fourier (UJF Grenoble 1) France (FR) University of Montpellier / Université Montpellier France (FR) Noordwes-Universiteit / North-West University South Africa (ZA) Jagiellonian University / Uniwersytet Jagielloński (UJ) Poland (PL) Univerzita Karlova v Praze / Charles University in Prague Czech Republic (CZ) Université Bordeaux 1, Sciences et Technologies France (FR) Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) Ireland (IE) Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier France (FR) University of Leeds United Kingdom (GB) Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences Poland (PL) Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Germany (DE) Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Germany (DE) University of Adelaide Australia (AU) University of Namibia (UNAM) Namibia (NA) Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) / Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu (UMK) Poland (PL) Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN / Instytut Fizyki Jądrowej im. Henryka Niewodniczańskiego PAN Poland (PL) Universiteit Utrecht (UU) / Utrecht University Netherlands (NL)

How to cite

APA:

Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A.G., De Almeida, U.B., Bazer-Bachi, A.R., Behera, B., Beilicke, M.,... Zech, A. (2009). Discovery of gamma-ray emission from the shell-type supernova remnant RCW 86 with Hess. Astrophysical Journal, 692(2), 1500-1505. https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/1500

MLA:

Aharonian, F., et al. "Discovery of gamma-ray emission from the shell-type supernova remnant RCW 86 with Hess." Astrophysical Journal 692.2 (2009): 1500-1505.

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