H.E.S.S. upper limit on the very high energy gamma-ray emission from the globular cluster 47 Tucanae

F. Aharonian , A.G. Akhperjanian , G. Anton , U. Barres de Almeida , A.R. Bazer-Bachi (1) , Y. Becherini (2) , B. Behera , K. Bernlöhr , C. Boisson (3) , A. Bochow , V. Borrel (1) , I. Braun , E. Brion (4) , J. Brucker , P. Brun (4) , R. Bühler , T. Bulik , I. Büsching , T. Boutelier (5) , P.M. Chadwick , A. Charbonnier (6) , R.C.G. Chaves , A. Cheesebrough , L.-M. Chounet (7) , A.C. Clapson , G. Coignet (8) , M. Dalton , M.K. Daniel , I.D. Davids , B. Degrange (7) , C. Deil , H.J. Dickinson , A. Djannati-Ataï (9) , W. Domainko , L.O'C. Drury , F. Dubois (8) , G. Dubus (5) , J. Dyks , M. Dyrda , K. Egberts , D. Emmanoulopoulos , P. Espigat (2) , C. Farnier (10) , F. Feinstein (10) , A. Fiasson (10) , A. Förster , G. Fontaine (7) , M. Füssling , S. Gabici , Y.A. Gallant (10) , L. Gérard (2) , B. Giebels (7) , J.F. Glicenstein (4) , B. Glück , P. Goret (4) , D. Hauser , M. Hauser , S. Heinz , G. Heinzelmann , G. Henri (5) , G. Hermann , J.A. Hinton , A. Hoffmann , W. Hofmann , M. Holleran , S. Hoppe , D. Horns , A. Jacholkowska (6) , O.C. de Jager , I. Jung , K. Katarzy'Nski , U. Katz , S. Kaufmann , E. Kendziorra , M. Kerschhaggl , D. Khangulyan , B. Kh'Elifi (7) , D. Keogh , Nu. Komin (4) , K. Kosack , G. Lamanna (8) , J.-P. Lenain (3) , T. Lohse , V. Marandon (2) , J.M. Martin (3) , O. Martineau-Huynh (6) , A. Marcowith (10) , D. Maurin (6) , T.J.L. Mccomb , M.C. Medina (3) , R. Moderski , Emmanuel Moulin (4) , M. Naumann-Godo (7) , M. de Naurois (6) , D. Nedbal , D. Nekrassov , J. Niemiec , S.J. Nolan , S. Ohm , J.-F. Olive (1) , E. de Oña Wilhelmi (2) , K.J. Orford , M. Ostrowski , M. Panter , M. Paz Arribas , G. Pedaletti , G. Pelletier (5) , P.-O. Petrucci (5) , S. Pita (2) , G. Pühlhofer , M. Punch (2) , A. Quirrenbach , B.C. Raubenheimer , M. Raue , S.M. Rayner , O. Reimer , M. Renaud (2) , F. Rieger , J. Ripken , L. Rob , S. Rosier-Lees (8) , G. Rowell , B. Rudak , C.B. Rulten , J. Ruppel , V. Sahakian , A. Santangelo , R. Schlickeiser , F.M. Schöck , R. Schröder , U. Schwanke , S. Schwarzburg , S. Schwemmer , A. Shalchi , J.L. Skilton , H. Sol (3) , D. Spangler , Ł. Stawarz , R. Steenkamp , C. Stegmann , G. Superina (7) , A. Szostek , P.H. Tam , J.-P. Tavernet (6) , R. Terrier (2) , O. Tibolla , C. van Eldik , G. Vasileiadis (10) , C. Venter , L. Venter (3) , J.P. Vialle (8) , P. Vincent (6) , M. Vivier (4) , H.J. Völk , F. Volpe (7) , S.J. Wagner , M. Ward , A.A. Zdziarski , A. Zech (3)

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

Observations of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104), which contains at least 23 millisecond pulsars, were performed with the H.E.S.S. telescope system. The observations lead to an upper limit of F(E>800 GeV) < 6.7e-13 / cm^2 s on the integral gamma-ray photon flux from 47 Tucanae. Considering millisecond pulsars as the unique potential source of gamma-rays in the globular cluster, constraints based on emission models are derived: on the magnetic field in the average pulsar nebula and on the conversion efficiency of spin-down power to gamma-ray photons or to relativistic leptons.

Mots clés: (Galaxy:) globular clusters: individual: 47 Tucanae; (Stars:) pulsars: general; Gamma rays: observations; msPSR

Domaines: Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]; Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]

F. Aharonian, A.G. Akhperjanian, G. Anton, U. Barres de Almeida, A.R. Bazer-Bachi, et al.. H.E.S.S. upper limit on the very high energy gamma-ray emission from the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2009, 499, pp.273-277. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/200811564⟩. ⟨in2p3-00392048⟩