A search for TeV gamma-ray emission from SNRs, pulsars and unidentified GeV sources in the Galactic plane in the longitude range between and

¹ Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 103980, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany
² Yerevan Physics Institute, Alikhanian Br. 2, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia On leave from Altai State University, Dimitrov Street 66, 656099 Barnaul, Russia Now at Yale University, PO Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101, USA Home institute: University Lodz, Poland
³ Universität Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
⁴ Universität Wuppertal, Fachbereich Physik, Gaußstr.20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany
⁵ Universität Kiel, Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Leibnizstraße 15-19, 24118 Kiel, Germany
⁶ Max Planck Institut für Physik, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805 München, Germany
⁷ Universidad Complutense, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Corresponding author: H. Lampeitl, lampeitl@daniel.mpi-hd.mpg.de

Received: 6 March 2002
Accepted: 16 August 2002

Abstract

Using the HEGRA system of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, one quarter of the Galactic plane () was surveyed for TeV gamma-ray emission from point sources and moderately extended sources (Ø). The region covered includes 86 known pulsars (PSR), 63 known supernova remnants (SNR) and nine GeV sources, representing a significant fraction of the known populations. No evidence for emission of TeV gamma radiation was detected, and upper limits range from 0.15 Crab units up to several Crab units, depending on the observation time and zenith angles covered. The ensemble sums over selected SNR and pulsar subsamples and over the GeV-sources yield no indication of emission from these potential sources. The upper limit for the SNR population is 6.7% of the Crab flux and for the pulsar ensemble is 3.6% of the Crab flux.