No Arabic abstract
Recent progress in pushing the sensitivity of the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique into the 10 mCrab regime has enabled first sensitive observations of the innermost few 100 pc of the Milky Way in Very High Energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma rays. These observations are a valuable tool to understand the acceleration and propagation of energetic particles near the Galactic Centre. Remarkably, besides two compact gamma-ray sources, faint diffuse gamma-ray emission has been discovered with high significance. The current VHE gamma-ray view of the Galactic Centre region is reviewed, and possible counterparts of the gamma-ray sources and the origin of the diffuse emission are discussed. The future prospects for VHE Galactic Centre observations are discussed based on order-of-magnitude estimates for a CTA type array of telescopes.
Progress in the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique has enabled first sensitive observations of the innermost few 100 pc of the Milky Way in Very High Energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma rays. Observations by the H.E.S.S. instrument deliver the at date most precise data on this peculiar region, and provide an interesting view onto the acceleration and propagation of energetic particles near the Galactic Centre. Besides two point-like sources -- one coincident with the supermassive black hole (SMBH) Sgr A* -- diffuse VHE emission has been discovered within a 1 deg region around the centre. The current VHE gamma-ray view of the region is reviewed, and possible counterparts of the gamma-ray sources and the origin of the diffuse emission are discussed.
The H.E.S.S. Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Array is currently the most sensitive instrument for Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations in the energy range of about 0.1-10 TeV. During more than two years of operation with the complete 4-telescope array, many galactic and extragalactic VHE gamma-ray sources have been discovered. With its superior sensitivity and its large field-of-view camera, H.E.S.S. is particularly suited for surveys and detailed studies of extended sources. A selection of recent H.E.S.S. results is presented in this proceeding.
The inner region of the Milky Way is one of the most interesting and complex regions of the gamma-ray sky. The intense interstellar emission and resolved point sources, as well as potential contributions by other sources such as unresolved source populations and dark matter, complicate the interpretation of the data. In this paper the Fermi LAT team analysis of a 15x15 degree region about the Galactic centre is described. The methodology for point-source detection and treatment of the interstellar emission is given. In general, the bulk of the gamma-ray emission from this region is attributable to a combination of these two contributions. However, low-intensity residual emission remains and its characterisation is discussed.
Galactic cosmic rays reach energies of at least several PeV, and their interactions should generate $gamma$-rays and neutrinos from decay of secondary pions. Therefore, Galactic sources have a guaranteed contribution to the total high-energy cosmic neutrino flux observed by IceCube. Assuming that the highest energy $gamma$-rays are pionic, promising neutrino source candidates have been identified based on their spectra, and observing them is likely over the lifetime of the IceCube experiment. Here, we present the search for Galactic sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos by focusing on sources identified by HAWCs very high energy $gamma$-ray survey.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been an enigma since their discovery forty years ago. However, considerable progress unraveling their mysteries has been made in recent years. Developments in observations, theory, and instrumentation have prepared the way so that the next decade can be the one in which we finally answer the question, What are gamma-ray bursts? This question encompasses not only what the progenitors are that produce the GRBs, but also how the enormous luminosity of the GRBs, concentrated in gamma rays, is achieved. Observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, from both the ground and space, will be required to fully tackle this important question. This white paper, mostly distilled from a recent study commissioned by the Division of Astrophysics of the American Physical Society, focuses on what very high energy (~100 GeV and above) gamma-ray observations can contribute. Very high energy gamma rays probe the most extreme high energy particle populations in the burst environment, testing models of lepton and proton acceleration in GRBs and constraining the bulk Lorentz factor and opacity of the outflow. Sensitivity improvements of more than an order of magnitude in the very high energy gamma-ray band can be achieved early in the next decade, in order to contribute to this science.