posted on 2023-07-12, 08:27authored byF Aharonian, F Ait Benkhali, EO Anguner, H Ashkar, M Backes, V Barbosa Martins, R Batzofin, Y Becherini, D Berge, K Bernloehr, M Bottcher, C Boisson, J Bolmont, M de Bony de Lavergne, M Breuhaus, R Brose, F Brun, T Bulik, T Bylund, F Cangemi, S Caroff, S Casanova, M Cerruti, T Chand, A Chen, O Chibueze, G Cotter, P Cristofari, J Damascene Mbarubucyeye, J Devin, A Djannati-Atai, A Dmytriiev, K Egberts, S Einecke, J-P Ernenwein, K Feijen, A Fiasson, G Fichet de Clairfontaine, G Fontaine, S Funk, S Gabici, YA Gallant, S Ghafourizadeh, G Giavitto, L Giunti, D Glawion, JF Glicenstein, M-H Grondin, M Horbe, W Hofmann, TL Holch, M Holler, D Horns, Zhiqiu Huang, M Jamrozy, V Joshi, I Jung-Richardt, E Kasai, U Katz, K Katarzynski, B Khelifi, W Kluzniak, Nu Komin, K Kosack, D Kostunin, A Lemiere, M Lemoine-Goumard, J-P Lenain, F Leuschner, T Lohse, A Luashvili, I Lypova, J Mackey, D Malyshev, V Marandon, P Marchegiani, A Marcowith, G Marti-Devesa, R Marx, G Maurin, PJ Meintjes, M Meyer, A Mitchell, R Moderski, L Mohrmann, A Montanari, E Moulin, J Muller, K Nakashima, M de Naurois, A Nayerhoda, J Niemiec, A Priyana Noel, P O'Brien, S Ohm, L Olivera-Nieto, E de Ona Wilhelmi, M Ostrowski, S Panny, M Panter, RD Parsons, G Peron, V Poireau, DA Prokhorov, G Puehlhofer, M Punch, A Quirrenbach, P Reichherzer, A Reimer, O Reimer, M Renaud, B Reville, F Rieger, G Rowell, B Rudak, H Rueda Ricarte, V Sahakian, S Sailer, H Salzmann, DA Sanchez, A Santangelo, M Sasaki, J Schaefer, F Schussler, HM Schutte, U Schwanke, JNS Shapopi, R Simoni, H Sol, A Specovius, L Stawarz, S Steinmassl, C Steppa, I Sushch, T Takahashi, T Tanaka, AM Taylor, R Terrier, M Tsirou, Y Uchiyama, T Unbehaun, C van Eldik, J Veh, J Vink, HJ Voelk, SJ Wagner, F Werner, R White, A Wierzcholska, Yu Wun Wong, A Yusafzai, M Zacharias, D Zargaryan, AA Zdziarski, A Zech, SJ Zhu, S Zouari, N Zywucka
Observations with imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) have enhanced our knowledge of nearby supernova (SN) remnants with ages younger than 500 yr by establishing Cassiopeia A and the remnant of Tychoas SN as very-high-energy (VHE) ?-ray sources. The remnant of Kepleras SN, which is the product of the most recent naked-eye SN in our Galaxy, is comparable in age to the other two, but is significantly more distant. If the ?-ray luminosities of the remnants of Tychoas and Kepleras SNe are similar, then the latter is expected to be one of the faintest ?-ray sources within reach of the current generation IACT arrays. Here we report evidence at a statistical level of 4.6? for a VHE signal from the remnant of Kepleras SN based on deep observations by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) with an exposure of 152 h. The measured integral flux above an energy of 226 GeV is ?0.3% of the flux of the Crab Nebula. The spectral energy distribution (SED) reveals a ?-ray emitting component connecting the VHE emission observed with H.E.S.S.To the emission observed at GeV energies with Fermi-LAT. The overall SED is similar to that of the remnant of Tychoas SN, possibly indicating the same nonthermal emission processes acting in both these young remnants of thermonuclear SNe.
Funding
The support of the Namibian authorities and of the University of Namibia in facilitating the construction and operation of H.E.S.S. is gratefully acknowledged, as is the support by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the Max-Planck Society, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Helmholtz Association, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS/IN2P3 and CNRS/INSU), the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the National Science Centre, Poland grant no. 2016/22/M/ST9/00382, the South African Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation, the University of Namibia, the National Commission on Research, Science & Technology of Namibia (NCRST), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and by the University of Amsterdam. We appreciate the excellent work of the technical support staff in Berlin, Zeuthen, Heidelberg, Palaiseau, Paris, Saclay, Tübingen, and in Namibia in the construction and operation of the equipment. This work benefitted from services provided by the H.E.S.S. Virtual Organisation, supported by the national resource providers of the EGI Federation. J. Vink and D. Prokhorov are partially supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101004131 and by the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA).
History
Citation
Aharonian, F., Benkhali, F.A., Angüner, E.O., Ashkar, H., Backes, M., Martins, V.B., Batzofin, R., Becherini, Y., Berge, D., Bernloehr, K. and Boettcher, M., 2022. Evidence for γ-ray emission from the remnant of Kepler’s supernova based on deep HESS observations. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 662, p.A65.