Very high energy gamma rays from the composite SNR G0.9+0.1

F. Aharonian , A.G. Akhperjanian , K.-M. Aye , A.R. Bazer-Bachi , M. Beilicke , W. Benbow , D. Berge , P. Berghaus (1, 2) , K. Bernlohr , C. Boisson , O. Bolz , C. Borgneier , I. Bruan , F. Breitling , A.M. Brown , J. Bussons Gordo (3) , P.M. Chadwick , L.-M. Chounet (4) , R. Cornils , L. Costamante , B. Degrange (4) , A. Djannati-Ataï (1, 2) , L.O'C. Drury , G. Dubus , T. Ergin , P. Espigat (1, 2) , F. Feinstein (3) , P. Fleury (4) , G. Fontaine (4) , S. Funk , Y. Gallant (3) , B. Giebels (4) , S. Gillessen , P. Goret , C. Hadjichristidis , M. Hauser , G. Heinzelmann , G. Henri , G. Hermann , W. Hofmann , M. Holleran , D. Horns , O.C. de Jager , I. Jung , B. Khelifi , Nu. Komin , A. Konopelko , I.J. Latham , R. Le Gallou , A. Lemière (1, 2) , M. Lemoine (4) , N. Leroy (4) , T. Lohse , A. Marcowith , C. Masterson , T.J.L. Mccomb , M. de Naurois (5) , S.J. Nolan , A. Noutsos , K.J. Orford , J.L. Osborne , M. Ouchrif (5) , M. Panter , G. Pelletier , S. Pita (1, 2) , M. Pohl , G. Puhlhofer , M. Punch (1, 2) , B.C. Raubenheimer , M. Raue , J. Raux , S.M. Rayner , I. Redondo , A. Reimer , O. Reimer , J. Ripken , L. Rob , L. Rolland , G. Rowell , V. Sahakian , L. Sauge , S. Schlenker , R. Schlickeiser , C. Schuster , U. Schwanke , M. Siewert , H. Sol , R. Steenkamp , C. Stegmann , J.-P. Tavernet (5) , R. Terrier (1, 2) , C.G. Théoret (1, 2) , M. Tluczykont (4) , G. Vasileiadis (3) , C. Venter , P. Vincent (5) , B. Visser , H.J. Volk , S.J. Wagner

1 PCC - Physique Corpusculaire et Cosmologie - Collège de France
2 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
3 LPTA - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules
4 LLR - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
5 LPNHE - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

Very high energy (> 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission has been detected for the first time from the composite supernova remnant G0.9+0.1 using the H.E.S.S. instrument. The source is detected with a significance of 13 sigma, and a photon flux above 200 GeV of (5.7+/-0.7 stat +/- 1.2 sys) * 10^-12 cm^-2 s^-1, making it one of the weakest sources ever detected at TeV energies. The photon spectrum is compatible with a power law (dN/dE \propto E^-Gamma) with photon index Gamma = 2.40 +/- 0.11 stat +/- 0.20 sys. The gamma-ray emission appears to originate in the plerionic core of the remnant, rather than the shell, and can be plausibly explained as inverse Compton scattering of relativistic electrons.

Keywords: ISM: supernova remnants; ISM: individual objects: G 0.9+0.1; gamma-rays: observations

Domains: Physics [physics]; Astrophysics [astro-ph]; Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Astrophysics [astro-ph]

F. Aharonian, A.G. Akhperjanian, K.-M. Aye, A.R. Bazer-Bachi, M. Beilicke, et al.. Very high energy gamma rays from the composite SNR G0.9+0.1. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2005, 432, pp.L25-L29. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:200500022⟩. ⟨in2p3-00023664⟩