Artigo Acesso aberto Revisado por pares

H.E.S.S. observations of RX J1713.7−3946 with improved angular and spectral resolution: Evidence for gamma-ray emission extending beyond the X-ray emitting shell

2017; EDP Sciences; Volume: 612; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1051/0004-6361/201629790

ISSN

1432-0746

Autores

H. Abdalla, A. Abramowski, F. Aharonian, F. Ait Benkhali, A. G. Akhperjanian, T. Andersson, E. O. Angüner, M. Arrieta, P. Aubert, Michael Backes, A. Balzer, M. Barnard, Y. Becherini, J. Becker Tjus, D. Berge, S. Bernhard, K. Bernlöhr, R. Blackwell, M. Böttcher, C. Boisson, J. Bolmont, P. Bordas, J. Bregeon, F. Brun, P. Brun, M. Bryan, T. Bulik, M. Capasso, J. Carr, S. Casanova, M. Cerruti, Nachiketa Chakraborty, R. Chalmé-Calvet, R. C. G. Chaves, A. Chen, J. Chevalier, M. Chrétien, S. Colafrancesco, G. Cologna, B. Condon, J. M. Conrad, Y. Cui, I. D. Davids, J. Decock, B. Degrange, C. Deil, J. Devin, P. deWilt, L. Dirson, A. Djannati-Ataı̈, W. Domainko, Axel Donath, L. O’C. Drury, G. Dubus, K. Dutson, J. Dyks, T. Edwards, K. Egberts, P. Eger, J.-P. Ernenwein, S. Eschbach, C. Farnier, S. Fegan, M. V. Fernandes, A. Fiaßon, G. Fontaine, A. Förster, Taro Fukuyama, S. Funk, M. Füßling, S. Gabici, M. Gajdus, Y. A. Gallant, T. Garrigoux, G. Giavitto, B. Giebels, J. F. Glicenstein, D. Gottschall, A. Goyal, M.-H. Grondin, D. Hadasch, Joachim Hahn, M. Haupt, J. Hawkes, G. Heinzelmann, G. Henri, G. Hermann, O. Hervet, J. A. Hinton, W. Hofmann, C. Hoischen, M. Holler, D. Horns, A. Ivascenko, A. Jachołkowska, M. Jamrozy, M. Janiak, D. Jankowsky, F. Jankowsky, M. Jingo, T. Jogler, L. Jouvin, I. Jung-Richardt, M. A. Kastendieck, K. Katarzyński, U. Katz, D. Kerszberg, B. Khélifi, M. Kieffer, J. King, S. Klepser, D. Klochkov, W. Kluźniak, D. Kolitzus, Nu. Komin, K. Kosack, S. Krakau, M. Kraus, F. Krayzel, P. P. Krüger, H. Laffon, G. Lamanna, J. Lau, J. P. Lees, J. Lefaucheur, V. Lefranc, A. Lemière, M. Lemoine‐Goumard, J.-P. Lenain, E. Leser, T. Lohse, M. Lorentz, R. Liu, R. López-Coto, I. Lypova, V. Marandon, A. Marcowith, C. Mariaud, R. Marx, G. Maurin, Nigel Maxted, M. Mayer, P. J. Meintjes, M. Meyer, Alison Mitchell, R. Moderski, M. Mohamed, L. Mohrmann, K. Morå, E. Moulin, T. Murach, M. de Naurois, F. Niederwanger, J. Niemiec, L. Oakes, P. T. O’Brien, Hirokazu Odaka, S. Öttl, S. Ohm, M. Ostrowski, R. Mirzoyan, M. Padovani, M. Panter, R. D. Parsons, N. W. Pekeur, G. Pelletier, C. Perennes, Pierre-Olivier Petrucci, B. Peyaud, Q. Piel, S. Pita, H. Poon, Д. А. Прохоров, H. Prokoph, G. Pühlhofer, M. Punch, A. Quirrenbach, S. Raab, A. Reimer, O. Reimer, M. Renaud, R. de los Reyes, Frank Rieger, C. Romoli, S. Rosier-Lees, Gavin Rowell, B. Rudak, C. B. Rulten, V. Sahakian, D. Salek, D. A. Sánchez, A. Santangelo, M. Sasaki, R. Schlickeiser, F. Schüßler, A. Schulz, U. Schwanke, S. Schwemmer, M. Settimo, A. S. Seyffert, N. Shafi, I. Shilon, R. Simoni, H. Sol, F. Spanier, G. Spengler, F. Spies, Ł. Stawarz, R. Steenkamp, C. Stegmann, F. Stinzing, K. Stycz, I. Sushch, Tadayuki Takahashi, J.‐P. Tavernet, T. Tavernier, A. M. Taylor, R. Terrier, L. Tibaldo, D. Tiziani, M. Tluczykont, C. Trichard, R. Tuffs, Y. Uchiyama, D. J. van der Walt, C. van Eldik, C. van Rensburg, B. van Soelen, G. Vasileiadis, J. Veh, C. Venter, A. Viana, P. Vincent, Jacco Vink, F. Voisin, H. J. Völk, F. Volpe, Thomas Vuillaume, Zorawar Wadiasingh, S. J. Wagner, P. Wagner, Robert Wagner, R. White, A. Wierzcholska, P. Willmann, A. Wörnlein, D. Wouters, R. Yang, V. Zabalza, D. Zaborov, M. Zacharias, A. A. Zdziarski, A. Zech, F. Zefi, A. Ziegler, Natalia Żywucka,

Tópico(s)

Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations

Resumo

Supernova remnants exhibit shock fronts (shells) that can accelerate charged particles up to very high energies. In the past decade, measurements of a handful of shell-type supernova remnants in very-high-energy gamma rays have provided unique insights into the acceleration process. Among those objects, RX$~$J1713.7-3946 (also known as G347.3-0.5) has the largest surface brightness, allowing us in the past to perform the most comprehensive study of morphology and spatially resolved spectra of any such very-high-energy gamma-ray source. Here we present extensive new H.E.S.S. measurements of RX$~$J1713.7-3946, almost doubling the observation time compared to our previous publication. Combined with new improved analysis tools, the previous sensitivity is more than doubled. The H.E.S.S. angular resolution of $0.048^\circ$ ($0.036^\circ$ above 2 TeV) is unprecedented in gamma-ray astronomy and probes physical scales of 0.8 (0.6) parsec at the remnant's location. The new H.E.S.S. image of RX$~$J1713.7-3946 allows us to reveal clear morphological differences between X-rays and gamma rays. In particular, for the outer edge of the brightest shell region, we find the first ever indication for particles in the process of leaving the acceleration shock region. By studying the broadband energy spectrum, we furthermore extract properties of the parent particle populations, providing new input to the discussion of the leptonic or hadronic nature of the gamma-ray emission mechanism.

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