2018A&A...620A..66H

Query : 2018A&A...620A..66H

2018A&A...620A..66H - Astronomy and Astrophysics, volume 620A66-66 (2018/12-1)

First ground-based measurement of sub-20 GeV to 100 GeV γ-Rays from the Vela pulsar with H.E.S.S. II.

HESS COLLABORATION, ABDALLA H., AHARONIAN F., AIT BENKHALI F., ANGUNER E.O., ARAKAWA M., ARCARO C., ARMAND C., ARRIETA M., BACKES M., BARNARD M., BECHERINI Y., BECKER TJUS J., BERGE D., BERNHARD S., BERNLOHR K., BLACKWELL R., BOTTCHER M., BOISSON C., BOLMONT J., BONNEFOY S., BORDAS P., BREGEON J., BRUN F., BRUN P., BRYAN M., BUCHELE M., BULIK T., BYLUND T., CAPASSO M., CAROFF S., CAROSI A., CASANOVA S., CERRUTI M., CHAKRABORTY N., CHANDRA S., CHAVES R.C.G., CHEN A., COLAFRANCESCO S., CONDON B., DAVIDS I.D., DEIL C., DEVIN J., DEWILT P., DIRSON L., DJANNATI-ATAI A., DMYTRIIEV A., DONATH A., DOROSHENKO V., DRURY L.O., DYKS J., EGBERTS K., EMERY G., ERNENWEIN J.-P., ESCHBACH S., FEGAN S., FIASSON A., FONTAINE G., FUNK S., FUSSLING M., GABICI S., GALLANT Y.A., GATE F., GIAVITTO G., GLAWION D., GLICENSTEIN J.F., GOTTSCHALL D., GRONDIN M.-H., HAHN J., HAUPT M., HEINZELMANN G., HENRI G., HERMANN G., HINTON J.A., HOFMANN W., HOISCHEN C., HOLCH T.L., HOLLER M., HORNS D., HUBER D., IWASAKI H., JACHOLKOWSKA A., JAMROZY M., JANKOWSKY D., JANKOWSKY F., JOUVIN L., JUNG-RICHARDT I., KASTENDIECK M.A., KATARZYNSKI K., KATSURAGAWA M., KATZ U., KERSZBERG D., KHANGULYAN D., KHELIFI B., KING J., KLEPSER S., KLUZNIAK W., KOMIN N., KOSACK K., KRAKAU S., KRAUS M., KRUGER P.P., LAMANNA G., LAU J., LEFAUCHEUR J., LEMIERE A., LEMOINE-GOUMARD M., LENAIN J.-P., LESER E., LOHSE T., LORENTZ M., LOPEZ-COTO R., LYPOVA I., MALYSHEV D., MARANDON V., MARCOWITH A., MARIAUD C., MARTI-DEVESA G., MARX R., MAURIN G., MEINTJES P.J., MITCHELL A.M.W., MODERSKI R., MOHAMED M., MOHRMANN L., MOULIN E., MURACH T., NAKASHIMA S., DE NAUROIS M., NDIYAVALA H., NIEDERWANGER F., NIEMIEC J., OAKES L., O'BRIEN P., ODAKA H., OHM S., OSTROWSKI M., OYA I., PADOVANI M., PANTER M., PARSONS R.D., PERENNES C., PETRUCCI P.-O., PEYAUD B., PIEL Q., PITA S., POIREAU V., PRIYANA NOEL A., PROKHOROV D.A., PROKOPH H., PUHLHOFER G., PUNCH M., QUIRRENBACH A., RAAB S., RAUTH R., REIMER A., REIMER O., RENAUD M., RIEGER F., RINCHIUSO L., ROMOLI C., ROWELL G., RUDAK B., RUIZ-VELASCO E., SAHAKIAN V., SAITO S., SANCHEZ D.A., SANTANGELO A., SASAKI M., SCHLICKEISER R., SCHUSSLER F., SCHULZ A., SCHWANKE U., SCHWEMMER S., SEGLAR-ARROYO M., SENNIAPPAN M., SEYFFERT A.S., SHAFI N., SHILON I., SHININGAYAMWE K., SIMONI R., SINHA A., SOL H., SPANIER F., SPECOVIUS A., SPIR-JACOB M., STAWARZ L., STEENKAMP R., STEGMANN C., STEPPA C., TAKAHASHI T., TAVERNET J.-P., TAVERNIER T., TAYLOR A.M., TERRIER R., TIBALDO L., TIZIANI D., TLUCZYKONT M., TRICHARD C., TSIROU M., TSUJI N., TUFFS R., UCHIYAMA Y., VAN DER WALT D.J., VAN ELDIK C., VAN RENSBURG C., VAN SOELEN B., VASILEIADIS G., VEH J., VENTER C., VINCENT P., VINK J., VOISIN F., VOLK H.J., VUILLAUME T., WADIASINGH Z., WAGNER S.J., WAGNER R.M., WHITE R., WIERZCHOLSKA A., YANG R., ZABOROV D., ZACHARIAS M., ZANIN R., ZDZIARSKI A.A., ZECH A., ZEFI F., ZIEGLER A., ZORN J., ZYWUCKA N., KERR M., JOHNSTON S. and SHANNON R.M.

Abstract (from CDS):

Aims. We report on the measurement and investigation of pulsed high-energy γ-ray emission from the Vela pulsar, PSR B0833-45, based on observations with the largest telescope of H.E.S.S., CT5, in monoscopic mode, and on data obtained with the Fermi-LAT.
Methods. Data from 40.3 h of observations carried out with the H.E.S.S. II array from 2013 to 2015 have been used. A dedicated very low-threshold event reconstruction and analysis pipeline was developed to achieve the lowest possible energy threshold. Eight years of Fermi-LAT data were analysed and also used as reference to validate the CT5 telescope response model and analysis methods.
Results. A pulsed γ-ray signal at a significance level of more than 15σ is detected from the P2 peak of the Vela pulsar light curve. Of a total of 15 835 events, more than 6000 lie at an energy below 20GeV, implying a significant overlap between H.E.S.S. II-CT5 and the Fermi-LAT. While the investigation of the pulsar light curve with the LAT confirms characteristics previously known up to 20GeV in the tens ofGeV energy range, CT5 data show a change in the pulse morphology of P2, i.e. an extreme sharpening of its trailing edge, together with the possible onset of a new component at 3.4σ significance level. Assuming a power-law model for the P2 spectrum, an excellent agreement is found for the photon indices (Γ~=4.1) obtained with the two telescopes above 10GeV and an upper bound of 8% is derived on the relative offset between their energy scales. Using data from both instruments, it is shown however that the spectrum of P2 in the 10-100GeV has a pronounced curvature; this is a confirmation of the sub-exponential cut-off form found at lower energies with the LAT. This is further supported by weak evidence of an emission above 100GeV obtained with CT5. In contrast, converging indications are found from both CT5 and LAT data for the emergence of a hard component above 50GeV in the leading wing (LW2) of P2, which possibly extends beyond 100GeV.
Conclusions. The detection demonstrates the performance and understanding of CT5 from 100GeV down to the sub-20GeV domain, i.e. unprecedented low energy for ground-based γ-ray astronomy. The extreme sharpening of the trailing edge of the P2 peak found in the H.E.S.S. II light curve of the Vela pulsar and the possible extension beyond 100GeV of at least one of its features, LW2, provide further constraints to models of γ-Ray emission from pulsars.

Abstract Copyright: © ESO 2018

Journal keyword(s): gamma rays: stars - pulsars: individual: PSR B0833-45 - radiation mechanisms: non-thermal

Simbad objects: 7

Full paper

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Number of rows : 7

N	Identifier	Otype	ICRS (J2000) RA	ICRS (J2000) DEC	Mag V	Sp type	#ref 1850 - 2026	#notes
1	M 1	SNR	05 34 31.8	+22 01 03		~	6516	1
2	V* CM Tau	Psr	05 34 31.9474694616	+22 00 52.153698024		~	5476	0
3	PSR J0633+1746	Psr	06 33 54.153	+17 46 12.91		~	1308	0
4	NAME Pup A	SNR	08 24 07	-42 59.8		~	636	1
5	NAME Vela X	Psr	08 33 08.880	-45 11 24.36		~	302	1
6	NAME Vela Pulsar	Psr	08 35 20.65525	-45 10 35.1545	15.10	~	2446	1
7	NAME Vela Jr SN	SNR	08 52.0	-46 20		~	507	2

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