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Register a new userProbing the Nature of the unidentified TeV Gamma-ray source HESS J0632+057 with Swift
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New generation TeV gamma-ray telescopes have discovered many new sources, including several enigmatic unidentified TeV objects. HESS J0632+057 is a particularly interesting unidentified TeV source since: it is a point source, it has a possible hard-spectrum X-ray counterpart and a positionally consistent Be star, it has evidence of long-term VHE flux variability, and it is postulated to be a newly detected TeV/X-ray binary. We have obtained Swift X-ray telescope observations of this source from MJD 54857 to 54965, in an attempt to ascertain its nature and to investigate the hypothesis that its a previously unknown X-ray/TeV binary. Variability and spectral properties similar to those of the other 3 known X-ray/TeV binaries have been observed, with measured flux increases by factors of approximately 3. X-ray variability is present on multiple timescales including days to months; however, no clear signature of periodicity is present on the timescales probed by these data. If binary modulation is present and dominating the measured variability, then the period of the orbit is likely to be more than 54 days (half of this campaign), or it has a shorter period with a variable degree of flux modulation on successive high states. If the two high states measured to date are due to binary modulation, then the favored period is approximately 35-40 days. More observations are required to determine if this object is truly a binary system and to determine the extent that the measured variability is due to inter-orbit flaring effects or periodic binary modulation.
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HESS J0632+057 is one of only two unidentified very-high-energy gamma-ray sources which appear to be point-like within experimental resolution. It is possibly associated with the massive Be star MWC 148 and has been suggested to resemble known TeV binary systems like LS I +61 303 or LS 5039. HESS J0632+057 was observed by VERITAS for 31 hours in 2006, 2008 and 2009. During these observations, no significant signal in gamma rays with energies above 1 TeV was detected from the direction of HESS J0632+057. A flux upper limit corresponding to 1.1% of the flux of the Crab Nebula has been derived from the VERITAS data. The non-detection by VERITAS excludes with a probability of 99.993% that HESS J0632+057 is a steady gamma-ray emitter. Contemporaneous X-ray observations with Swift XRT reveal a factor of 1.8+-0.4 higher flux in the 1-10 keV range than earlier X-ray observations of HESS J0632+057. The variability in the gamma-ray and X-ray fluxes supports interpretation of the ob ject as a gamma-ray emitting binary.
HESS J0632+057 is the only gamma-ray binary known so far whose position in the sky allows observations with ground-based observatories both in the northern and southern hemispheres. Here we report on long-term observations of HESS J0632+057 conducted with the VERITAS and H.E.S.S. Cherenkov Telescopes and the X-ray Satellite Swift, spanning a time range from 2004 to 2012 and covering most of the systems orbit. The VHE emission is found to be variable, and is correlated with that at X-ray energies. An orbital period of $315 ^{+6}_{-4}$ days is derived from the X-ray data set, which is compatible with previous results, $P = (321 pm 5$) days. The VHE light curve shows a distinct maximum at orbital phases close to 0.3, or about 100 days after periastron passage, which coincides with the periodic enhancement of the X-ray emission. Furthermore, the analysis of the TeV data shows for the first time a statistically significant ($> 6.5 sigma$) detection at orbital phases 0.6--0.9. The obtained gamma-ray and X-ray light curves and the correlation of the source emission at these two energy bands are discussed in the context of the recent ephemeris obtained for the system. Our results are compared to those reported for other gamma-ray binaries.
We study changes in the $gamma$--ray intensity at very high energies observed from the $gamma$--ray binary HESS J0632+057. Publicly available data collected by Cherenkov telescopes were examined by means of a simple method utilizing solely the number of source and background events. Our results point to time variability in signal from the selected object consistent with periodic modulation of the source intensity.
The variable gamma-ray source HESS J0632+057 is an excellent candidate for a gamma-ray binary. The putative binary system was discovered as a point-like VHE gamma-ray source by HESS. Later measurements by VERITAS yielding no detection, provided evidence for variable emission in the gamma-ray domain. A variable X-ray source as well as a Be star (MWC 148) are found at the location of the gamma-ray source. Recently a periodic X-ray outburst occurring about every 320 days was reported by Swift (ATel 3152). The putative binary system was observed by the MAGIC stereo system in 2010 and 2011. Our measurements demonstrate significant activity in the gamma-ray (E > 200 GeV) band in February 2011. Our detection of the system occurred during an X-ray outburst reported by Swift. Here we present the obtained light curve and spectrum during this outburst and put them into context with the X-ray measurements.
We present the results of UBVRI polarimetry of the TeV gamma-ray binary HESS J0632+057 obtained on 2015 March 24 (JD 2457106) and 2015 December 12 (JD 2457369). The detected polarisation values of HESS J0632+057, just after periastron passage (March 24), are higher than all previously published values (p(V) ~ 4.2%) and the position angle (theta ~ 171-172 degrees) is also different by ~6-10 degrees from previously published values. The data obtained just before the subsequent periastron passage (December 12) show statistically lower polarisation in all photometric bands (p(V) ~ 3.9%) and a different position angle theta ~ 167-168 degrees. From observations of a nearby field star, the interstellar component of the measured polarisation was estimated as p_is(V) ~ 0.65% and theta_is ~ 153 degrees. This estimate was used with the previous V-band estimation by field-stars method (p(V) ~ 2% and theta_is ~ 165 degrees) of Yudin (2014) to identify the wavelength dependence of the intrinsic polarisation in HESS J0632+057. It was found that after subtraction of the interstellar component (for both p_is estimates), the wavelength dependence of the intrinsic polarisation in HESS J0632+057 is essentially flat. We propose that the formation of an additional source of polarisation or some perturbation of circumstellar material at this orbital phase can explain the changes in the level of polarisation in HESS J0632+057 close to periastron passage.
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