Discovery of extended VHE gamma-ray emission from the asymmetric pulsar wind nebula in MSH 15-52 with H.E.S.S

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

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

The Supernova Remnant MSH 15-52 has been observed in very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays using the H.E.S.S. 4-telescope array located in Namibia. A gamma-ray signal is detected at the 25 sigma level during an exposure of 22.1 hours live time. The image reveals an elliptically shaped emission region around the pulsar PSR B1509-58, with semi-major axis 6' in the NW-SE direction and semi-minor axis 2' approximately. This morphology coincides with the diffuse pulsar wind nebula as observed at X-ray energies by ROSAT. The overall energy spectrum from 280 GeV up to 40 TeV can be fitted by a power law with photon index Gamma = 2.27 +/- 0.03(stat.) +/- 0.20(syst.). The detected emission can be plausibly explained by inverse Compton scattering of accelerated relativistic electrons with soft photons.

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

F. Aharonian, A. G. Akhperjanian, K.-M. Aye, A. R. Bazer-Bachi, M. Beilicke, et al.. Discovery of extended VHE gamma-ray emission from the asymmetric pulsar wind nebula in MSH 15-52 with H.E.S.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2005, 435, pp.L17-L20. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:200500105⟩. ⟨in2p3-00024066⟩