The last few years have seen a revolution in very-high gamma-ray astronomy (VHE; E>100 GeV) driven largely by a new generation of Cherenkov telescopes (namely the H.E.S.S. telescope array, the MAGIC and MAGIC-II large telescopes and the VERITAS teles
cope array). The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project foresees a factor of 5 to 10 improvement in sensitivity above 0.1 TeV, extending the accessible energy range to higher energies up to 100 TeV, in the Galactic cut-off regime, and down to a few tens GeV, covering the VHE photon spectrum with good energy and angular resolution. As a result of the fast development of the VHE field, the number of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) detected has increased from one PWN in the early 90s to more than two dozen firm candidates today. Also, the low energy threshold achieved and good sensitivity at TeV energies has resulted in the detection of pulsed emission from the Crab Pulsar (or its close environment) opening new and exiting expectations about the pulsed spectra of the high energy pulsars powering PWNe. Here we discuss the physics goals we aim to achieve with CTA on pulsar and PWNe physics evaluating the response of the instrument for different configurations.
The observational coverage with HESS of the Carina region in VHE gamma-rays benefits from deep exposure (40 h) of the neighboring open cluster Westerlund 2. The observations have revealed a new extended region of VHE gamma-ray emission. The new VHE s
ource HESS J1018-589 shows a bright, point-like emission region positionally coincident with SNR G284.3-1.8 and 1FGL J1018.6 - 5856 and a diffuse extension towards the direction of PSR J1016-5857. A soft Gamma=2.7+-0.5 photon index, with a differential flux at 1TeV of N0=(4.2+-1.1)10^-13 TeV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1 is found for the point-like source, whereas the total emission region including the diffuse emission region is well fit by a power-law function with spectral index Gamma=2.9+-0.4 and differential flux at 1TeV of N0=(6.8+-1.6) 10^-13 TeV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1. This H.E.S.S. detection motivated follow-up X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton satellite to investigate the origin of the VHE emission. The analysis of the XMM-Newton data resulted in the discovery of a bright, non-thermal point-like source (XMMU J101855.4-58564) with a photon index of Gamma=1.65+-0.08 in the center of SNRG284.3-1.8, and a thermal, extended emission region coincident with its bright northern filament. The characteristics of this thermal emission are used to estimate the plasma density in the region as n~0.5 cm^-3(2.9kpc/d)^2. The position of XMMUJ101855.4-58564 is compatible with the position reported by the Fermi-LAT collaboration for the binary system 1FGL J1018.6-5856 and the variable Swift XRT source identified with it. The new X-ray data are used alongside archival multi-wavelength data to investigate the relationship between the VHE gamma-ray emission from HESSJ1018-589 and the various potential counterparts in the Carina arm region.
Aims. Previous observations with the H.E.S.S. telescope array revealed the existence of extended very-high-energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) {gamma}-ray emission, HESS J1023-575, coincident with the young stellar cluster Westerlund 2. At the time of discovery,
the origin of the observed emission was not unambiguously identified, and follow-up observations have been performed to further investigate the nature of this {gamma}-ray source. Methods. The Carina region towards the open cluster Westerlund 2 has been re-observed, increasing the total exposure to 45.9 h. The combined dataset includes 33 h of new data and now permits a search for energy-dependent morphology and detailed spectroscopy. Results. A new, hard spectrum VHE {gamma}-ray source, HESSJ1026-582, was discovered with a statistical significance of 7{sigma}. It is positionally coincident with the Fermi LAT pulsar PSR J1028-5819. The positional coincidence and radio/{gamma}-ray characteristics of the LAT pulsar favors a scenario where the TeV emission originates from a pulsar wind nebula. The nature of HESS J1023-575 is discussed in light of the deep H.E.S.S. observations and recent multi-wavelength discoveries, including the Fermi LAT pulsar PSRJ1022-5746 and giant molecular clouds in the region. Despite the improved VHE dataset, a clear identification of the object responsible for the VHE emission from HESS J1023-575 is not yet possible, and contribution from the nearby high-energy pulsar and/or the open cluster remains a possibility.
Detection of a gamma-ray source above 300 GeV is reported, confirming the unidentified source MGRO J1908+06, discovered by the Milagro collaboration at a median energy of 20 TeV. The source was observed during 27 h as part of the extension of the H.E
.S.S. Galactic plane survey to longitudes >30degr. HESS J1908+063 is detected at a significance level of 10.9 s with an integral flux above 1 TeV of (3.76+-0.29stat+-0.75sys)x10^-12 ph cm^-2 s^-1, and a spectral photon index Gamma = 2.10+-0.07stat+-0.2sys. The positions and fluxes of HESS 1908+063 and MGRO J1908+06 are in good agreement. Possible counterparts at other wavelengths and the origin of the gamma-ray emission are discussed. The nearby unidentified GeV source, GRO J1908+0556 (GeV) which also remains unidentified and the new Fermi pulsar 0FGL J1907.5+0617, may be connected to the TeV source.
We observed the first known very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emitting unidentified source, TeV J2032+4130, for 94 hours with the MAGIC telescope. The source was detected with a significance of 5.6 sigma. The flux, position, and angular extension are
compatible with the previous ones measured by the HEGRA telescope system five years ago. The integral flux amounts to (4.5+-0.3stat+-0.35sys)x10^{-13} ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ above 1 TeV. The source energy spectrum, obtained with the lowest energy threshold to date, is compatible with a single power law with a hard photon index of Gamma=-2.0+-0.3stat+-0.2sys.
