Discovery of extended VHE gamma-ray emission from the asymmetric pulsar wind nebula in MSH 15-52 with HESS

F. Aharonian; A. G. Akhperjanian; K.-M. Aye; A. R. Bazer-Bachi; M. Beilicke; W. Benbow; D. Berge; P. Berghaus; K. Bernlöhr; C. Boisson; O. Bolz; I. Braun; F. Breitling; A. M. Brown; J. Bussons Gordo; P. M. Chadwick; L.-M. Chounet; R. Cornils; L. Costamante; B. Degrange; A. Djannati-Ataï; G. Dubus; D. Emmanoulopoulos; P. Espigat; F. Feinstein; P. Fleury; G. Fontaine; Y. Fuchs; S. Funk; Y. A. Gallant; B. Giebels; S. Gillessen; J. F. Glicenstein; 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; B. Khélifi; Nu. Komin; A. Konopelko; I. J. Latham; R. Le Gallou; A. Lemière; M. Lemoine-Goumard; N. Leroy; T. Lohse; O. Martineau-Huynh; A. Marcowith; C. Masterson; T. J. L. McComb; M. de Naurois; S. J. Nolan; A. Noutsos; K. J. Orford; J. L. Osborne; M. Ouchrif; M. Panter; G. Pelletier; S. Pita; G. Pühlhofer; M. Punch; 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. Saugé; S. Schlenker; R. Schlickeiser; C. Schuster; U. Schwanke; M. Siewert; H. Sol; R. Steenkamp; C. Stegmann; J.-P. Tavernet; R. Terrier; C. G. Théoret; M. Tluczykont; G. Vasileiadis; C. Venter; P. Vincent; H. J. Völk; S. J. Wagner

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200500105

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Volume 435 / No 1 (May III 2005)

A&A, 435 1 (2005) L17-L20

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Issue		A&A Volume 435, Number 1, May III 2005


Page(s)		L17 - L20
Section		Letters
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200500105
Published online		25 April 2005

A&A 435, L17-L20 (2005)

Letter to the Editor

Discovery of extended VHE gamma-ray emission from the asymmetric pulsar wind nebula in MSH 15-52 with HESS

F. Aharonian¹, A. G. Akhperjanian², K.-M. Aye³, A. R. Bazer-Bachi⁴, M. Beilicke⁵, W. Benbow¹, D. Berge¹, P. Berghaus⁶, K. Bernlöhr¹^,7, C. Boisson⁸, O. Bolz¹, I. Braun¹, F. Breitling⁷, A. M. Brown³, J. Bussons Gordo⁹, P. M. Chadwick³, L.-M. Chounet¹⁰, R. Cornils⁵, L. Costamante¹^,11, B. Degrange¹⁰, A. Djannati-Ataï⁶, L. O'C. Drury¹², G. Dubus¹⁰, D. Emmanoulopoulos¹³, P. Espigat⁶, F. Feinstein⁹, P. Fleury¹⁰, G. Fontaine¹⁰, Y. Fuchs¹⁴, S. Funk¹, Y. A. Gallant⁹, B. Giebels¹⁰, S. Gillessen¹, J. F. Glicenstein¹⁵, P. Goret¹⁵, C. Hadjichristidis³, M. Hauser¹³, G. Heinzelmann⁵, G. Henri¹⁴, G. Hermann¹, J. A. Hinton¹, W. Hofmann¹, M. Holleran¹⁶, D. Horns¹, O. C. de Jager¹⁶, B. Khélifi¹, Nu. Komin⁷, A. Konopelko¹^,7, I. J. Latham³, R. Le Gallou³, A. Lemière⁶, M. Lemoine-Goumard¹⁰, N. Leroy¹⁰, T. Lohse⁷, O. Martineau-Huynh¹⁷, A. Marcowith⁴, C. Masterson¹^,11, T. J. L. McComb³, M. de Naurois¹⁷, S. J. Nolan³, A. Noutsos³, K. J. Orford³, J. L. Osborne³, M. Ouchrif¹⁷^,11, M. Panter¹, G. Pelletier¹⁴, S. Pita⁶, G. Pühlhofer¹^,13, M. Punch⁶, B. C. Raubenheimer¹⁶, M. Raue⁵, J. Raux¹⁷, S. M. Rayner³, I. Redondo¹⁰^,11, A. Reimer¹⁸, O. Reimer¹⁸, J. Ripken⁵, L. Rob¹⁹, L. Rolland¹⁷, G. Rowell¹, V. Sahakian², L. Saugé¹⁴, S. Schlenker⁷, R. Schlickeiser¹⁸, C. Schuster¹⁸, U. Schwanke⁷, M. Siewert¹⁸, H. Sol⁸, R. Steenkamp²⁰, C. Stegmann⁷, J.-P. Tavernet¹⁷, R. Terrier⁶, C. G. Théoret⁶, M. Tluczykont¹⁰^,11, G. Vasileiadis⁹, C. Venter¹⁶, P. Vincent¹⁷, H. J. Völk¹ and S. J. Wagner¹³

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: Bruno.Khelifi@mpi-hd.mpg.de
² Yerevan Physics Institute, Armenia
³ University of Durham, Department of Physics, UK
⁴ Centre d'Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS/UPS, Toulouse, France
⁵ Universität Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Germany
⁶ APC, Paris, France
⁷ Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
⁸ LUTH, UMR 8102 du CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, France
⁹ Groupe d'Astroparticules de Montpellier, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Montpellier II, France
¹⁰ Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, IN2P3/CNRS, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
¹¹ European Associated Laboratory for Gamma-Ray Astronomy, jointly supported by CNRS and MPG
¹² Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Ireland
¹³ Landessternwarte, Königstuhl, Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁴ Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, INSU/CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier, France
¹⁵ DAPNIA/DSM/CEA, CE Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
¹⁶ Unit for Space Physics, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
¹⁷ Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, IN2P3/CNRS, Universités Paris VI & VII, France
¹⁸ Institut für Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Weltraum und Astrophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
¹⁹ Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
²⁰ University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

Received: 2 March 2005
Accepted: 27 March 2005

Abstract

The Supernova Remnant MSH 15-52 has been observed in very high energy (VHE) γ-rays using the HESS 4-telescope array located in Namibia. A γ-ray signal is detected at the 25 sigma level during an exposure of 22.1 h 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 ~ $2'$ . 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 $\Gamma=2.27\pm0.03_{\textrm {\scriptsize \,stat}}\pm 0.20_{\textrm{\scriptsize \,syst}}$ . The detected emission can be plausibly explained by inverse Compton scattering of accelerated relativistic electrons with soft photons.  

Key words: gamma-rays: observations / ISM: supernova remnants / pulsar wind nebula / ISM: individual objects: PSR B1509–58 / ISM: individual objects: G 320.4–1.2

© ESO, 2005

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