H.E.S.S. observations of the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622: shell-type morphology and spectrum of a widely extended VHE gamma-ray source

F. Aharonian , A.G. Akhperjanian , A.R. Bazer-Bachi (1) , M. Beilicke , W. Benbow , D. Berge , K. Bernlöhr , C. Boisson (2) , O. Bolz , V. Borrel (1) , I. Braun , A.M. Brown , R. Bühler , I. Büsching , S. Carrigan , P.M. Chadwick , L.M. Chounet (3) , G. Coignet (4) , R. Cornils , L. Costamante , B. Degrange (3) , H.J. Dickinson , A. Djannati-Ataï (5) , L.O'C. Drury , G. Dubus (3) , K. Egberts , D. Emmanoulopoulos , P. Espigat (6) , F. Feinstein (7) , E. Ferrero , A. Fiasson (7) , M.D. Filipovic , G. Fontaine , Y. Fukui , S. Funk , M. Füssling , Y.A. Gallant (7) , B. Giebels (3) , J.F. Glicenstein (8) , P. Goret (8) , C. Hadjichristidis , D. Hauser , M. Hauser , G. Heinzelmann , G. Henri (9) , G. Hermann , J.A. Hinton , J.S. Hiraga , A. Hoffmann , W. Hofmann , M. Holleran , S. Hoppe , D. Horns , Y. Ishisaki , A. Jacholkowska (7) , O.C. de Jager , E. Kendziorra , M. Kerschhaggl , B. Khélifi (3) , N. Komin , A. Konopelko , K. Kosack , G. Lamanna (4) , I.J. Latham , R. Le Gallou , A. Lemière (6) , M. Lemoine-Goumard (3) , T. Lohse , J.M. Martin (2) , O. Martineau-Huynh (10) , A. Marcowith , C. Masterson , G. Maurin (6) , T.J.L. Mccomb , Emmanuel Moulin (7) , Y. Moriguchi , M. de Naurois (10) , D. Nedbal , S.J. Nolan , A. Noutsos , K.J. Orford , J.L. Osborne , M. Ouchrif (10) , M. Panter , G. Pelletier (9) , S. Pita (6) , G. Pühlhofer , M. Punch (6) , S. Ranchon (4) , B.C. Raubenheimer , M. Raue , S.M. Rayner , A. Reimer , J. Ripken , L. Rob , L. Rolland (8) , S. Rosier-Lees (4) , G. Rowell , V. Sahakian , A. Santangelo , L. Saugé (9) , S. Schlenker , R. Schlickeiser , R. Schröder , U. Schwanke , S. Schwarzburg , S. Schwemmer , A. Shalchi , H. Sol (2) , D. Spangler , F. Spanier , R. Steenkamp , C. Stegmann , G. Superina , P.H. Tam , J.-P. Tavernet (10) , R. Terrier (6) , M. Tluczykont (3) , C. van Eldik , G. Vasileiadis (7) , C. Venter , J.P. Vialle (4) , P. Vincent , H.J. Völk , S.J. Wagner , M. Ward

1 CESR - Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements
2 LUTH (UMR_8102) - Laboratoire Univers et Théories
3 LLR - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
4 LAPP - Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules
5 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies
6 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
7 LPTA - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules
8 DAPNIA - Département d'Astrophysique, de physique des Particules, de physique Nucléaire et de l'Instrumentation Associée
9 LAOG - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
10 LPNHE - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

The shell-type supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622 was observed with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) of Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes between December 2004 and May 2005 for a total observation time of 33 hours, above an average gamma-ray energy threshold of 250 GeV. The angular resolution of ~0.06 degree (for events triggering 3 or 4 telescopes) and the large field of view of H.E.S.S. ($5^{\circ}$ diameter) are well adapted to studying the morphology of the object in very high energy gamma-rays, which exhibits a remarkably thin shell very similar to the features observed in the radio range and in X-rays. The spectral analysis of the source from 300 GeV to 20 TeV is also presented. Finally, the possible origins of the very high energy gamma-ray emission (Inverse Compton scattering by electrons or the decay of neutral pions produced by proton interactions) are discussed, on the basis of morphological and spectral features obtained at different wavelengths.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

F. Aharonian, A.G. Akhperjanian, A.R. Bazer-Bachi, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, et al.. H.E.S.S. observations of the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622: shell-type morphology and spectrum of a widely extended VHE gamma-ray source. The Astrophysical Journal, 2007, 661, pp.236-249. ⟨10.1086/512603⟩. ⟨in2p3-00124615⟩