Discovery of two candidate pulsar wind nebulae in very-high-energy gamma rays

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 , E. Brion , A. M. Brown , R. Buhler , I. Busching , T. Boutelier (3) , S. Carrigan , P. M. Chadwick , L. M. Chounet (4) , G. Coignet (5) , R. Cornils , L. Costamante , B. Degrange (4) , H. J. Dickinson , A. Djannati-Ataï (6) , L. O'Connor-Drury , G. Dubus (4) , K. Egberts , D. Emmanoulopoulos , P. Espigat (7) , C. Farnier (8) , F. Feinstein (8) , E. Ferrero , A. Fiasson (8) , G. Fontaine (4) , S. Funk , M. Fuling , Y.A. Gallant (8) , B. Giebels (4) , J. F. Glicenstein (9) , B. Glück , P. Goret (9) , C. Hadjichristidis , D. Hauser , M. Hauser , G. Heinzelmann , G. Henri (3) , G. Hermann , J. A. Hinton , A. Hoffmann , W. Hofmann , M. Holleran , S. Hoppe , D. Horns , A. Jacholkowska (8) , O. C. de Jager , E. Kendziorra , M. Kerschhaggl , B. Khelifi (4) , N. Komin (8) , K. Kosack , G. Lamanna (5) , I. J. Latham , R. Le Gallou , A. Lemiere (7) , M. Lemoine-Goumard (4) , T. Lohse , J. M. Martin (2) , O. Martineau-Huynh (10) , A. Marcowith (1, 8) , C. Masterson , G. Maurin (7) , T. J. L. Mccomb , Emmanuel Moulin (8) , M. de Maurois (10) , D. Nedbal , S. J. Nolan , A. Noutsos , J. P. Olive , K. J. Orford , J. L. Osborne , M. Panter , G. Pelletier (3) , P. O. Petrucci (3) , S. Pita (7) , G. Pühlhofer , M. Punch (7) , S. Ranchon (5) , B. C. Raubenheimer , M. Raue , S. M. Rayner , A. Reimer , O. Reimer , J. Ripken , L. Rob , L. Rolland (9) , S. Rosier-Lees (5) , G. Rowell , V. V. Sahakian , A. Santangelo , L. Sauge (3) , 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 (4) , P. H. Tam , J. P. Tavernet (10) , R. Terrier (7) , M. Tluczykont (4) , C. van Eldik , G. Vasileiadis (8) , C. Venter , J. P. Vialle (5) , P. Vincent (10) , 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 LAOG - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
4 LLR - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
5 LAPP - Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules
6 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies
7 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
8 LPTA - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules
9 DAPNIA - Département d'Astrophysique, de physique des Particules, de physique Nucléaire et de l'Instrumentation Associée
10 LPNHE - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

We present the discovery of two very-high-energy gamma-ray sources in an ongoing systematic search for emission above 100 GeV from pulsar wind nebulae in survey data from the H.E.S.S. telescope array. Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes are ideal tools for searching for extended emission from pulsar wind nebulae in the very-high-energy regime. H.E.S.S., with its large field of view of 5 degrees and high sensitivity, gives new prospects for the search for these objects. An ongoing systematic search for very-high-energy emission from energetic pulsars over the region of the Galactic plane between -60 degrees < l < 30 degrees, -2 degrees < b < 2 degrees is performed. For the resulting candidates, the standard H.E.S.S. analysis was applied and a search for multi-wavelength counterparts was performed. We present the discovery of two new candidate gamma-ray pulsar wind nebulae, HESS J1718-385 and HESS J1809-193. H.E.S.S. has proven to be a suitable instrument for pulsar wind nebula searches.

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.. Discovery of two candidate pulsar wind nebulae in very-high-energy gamma rays. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2007, 472, pp.489-495. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:20077280⟩. ⟨in2p3-00148471⟩