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Register a new userExploring the Galaxy at TeV energies: Latest results from the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey
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The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is an array of four imaging atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes located in Namibia and designed to detect extensive air showers initiated by gamma-rays in the very-high-energy domain. It is an ideal instrument for surveying the Galactic plane in search of new sources, thanks to its location in the Southern Hemisphere, its excellent sensitivity, and its large field-of-view. The efforts of the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey, the first comprehensive survey of the inner Galaxy at TeV energies, have contributed to the discovery of an unexpectedly large and diverse population of over 60 sources of VHE gamma rays within its current range of l=250 to 65 degrees in longitude and |b|<=3.5 degrees in latitude. The population of VHE gamma-ray emitters is dominated by the pulsar wind nebula and supernova remnant source classes, although nearly a third remain unidentified or confused. The sensitivity of H.E.S.S. to sources in the inner Galaxy has improved significantly over the past two years, from continued survey observations, dedicated follow-up observations of interesting source candidates, and from the development of advanced methods for discrimination of gamma-ray-induced showers from the dominant background of hadron-induced showers. The latest maps of the Galaxy at TeV energies will be presented, and a few remarkable new sources will be highlighted.
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Diffuse gamma-ray emission has long been established as the most prominent feature in the GeV sky. Although the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique has been successful in revealing a large population of discrete TeV gamma-ray sources, a thorough investigation of diffuse emission at TeV energies is still pending. Data from the Galactic Plane Survey (GPS) obtained by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) have now achieved a sensitivity and coverage adequate for probing signatures of diffuse emission in the energy range of ~100 GeV to a few TeV. Gamma-rays are produced in cosmic-ray interactions with the interstellar medium (aka sea of cosmic rays) and in inverse Compton scattering on cosmic photon fields. This inevitably leads to guaranteed gamma-ray emission related to the gas content along the line-of-sight. Further contributions relate to those gamma-ray sources that fall below the current detection threshold and the aforementioned inverse Compton emission. Based on the H.E.S.S. GPS, we present the first observational assessment of diffuse TeV gamma-ray emission. The observation is compared with corresponding flux predictions based on the HI (LAB data) and CO (as a tracer of H2, NANTEN data) gas distributions. Consequences for unresolved source contributions and the anticipated level of inverse Compton emission are discussed.
The nine-year H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey (HGPS) yielded the most uniform observation scan of the inner Milky Way in the TeV gamma-ray band to date. The sky maps and source catalogue of the HGPS allow for a systematic study of the population of TeV pulsar wind nebulae found throughout the last decade. To investigate the nature and evolution of pulsar wind nebulae, for the first time we also present several upper limits for regions around pulsars without a detected TeV wind nebula. Our data exhibit a correlation of TeV surface brightness with pulsar spin-down power $dot{E}$. This seems to be caused both by an increase of extension with decreasing $dot{E}$, and hence with time, compatible with a power law $R_mathrm{PWN}(dot{E}) sim dot{E}^{-0.65 pm 0.20}$, and by a mild decrease of TeV gamma-ray luminosity with decreasing $dot{E}$, compatible with $L_{1-10,mathrm{TeV}} sim dot{E}^{0.59 pm 0.21}$. We also find that the offsets of pulsars with respect to the wind nebula centres with ages around 10 kyr are frequently larger than can be plausibly explained by pulsar proper motion and could be due to an asymmetric environment. In the present data, it seems that a large pulsar offset is correlated with a high apparent TeV efficiency $L_{1-10,mathrm{TeV}}/dot{E}$. In addition to 14 HGPS sources considered as firmly identified pulsar wind nebulae and 5 additional pulsar wind nebulae taken from literature, we find 10 HGPS sources that form likely TeV pulsar wind nebula candidates. Using a model that subsumes the present common understanding of the very high-energy radiative evolution of pulsar wind nebulae, we find that the trends and variations of the TeV observables and limits can be reproduced to a good level, drawing a consistent picture of present-day TeV data and theory.
The Fermi Bubbles were discovered about a decade ago in the {it Fermi}-LAT data as a double-lobe structure extending up to 55 deg. in Galactic latitudes above and below the Galactic Center. At the moment their origin is still unknown. The H.E.S.S. collaboration is currently performing the first ever survey in TeV gamma rays of the Milky Way inner region: the Inner Galaxy Survey. This survey is intended to achieve the best sensitivity to faint and diffuse emissions in a region of several degrees around the Galactic Centre. It provides an unprecedented sensitivity to dark matter signals, new diffuse emissions, and TeV outflows from the Galactic Centre. Understanding the properties of the Fermi Bubbles at low Galactic latitudes will provide key insights into their origin. We search for TeV emission at the base of the Fermi Bubbles using low-latitude spatial templates. The first results obtained with the 2014-2020 H.E.S.S. observations will be reported.
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.
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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