Galactic VHE gamma-ray astrophysics : Recent discoveries and future plans

Séminaire IPAG de Ryan C.G. Chaves (MPIA Heidelberg), jeudi 3 mars 2011 à 11h00, IPAG seminar room

Our understanding of the Galaxy in the very-high-energy gamma-ray domain has dramatically improved since the inception of the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey in 2004. The four H.E.S.S. imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in Namibia are highly sensitive to gamma rays above 0.1 TeV and feature a large 5-degree field-of-view, making them especially suited for large surveys. From their vantage point in the southern hemisphere, the H.E.S.S. telescopes have detected an unexpectedly large and diverse population of now 66 Galactic sources of VHE gamma rays, whereas only a handful of sources were previously known. The source population has been revealed to be dominated by pulsar wind nebulae and supernova remnants, although more than a third remain unidentified or confused, illustrating both the challenges and scientific potential that pervade the emerging field of VHE gamma-ray astrophysics. This talk will summarize the current state of our knowledge of the VHE Galaxy — including reports of the latest and most remarkable discoveries from the H.E.S.S. Survey — and present a vision of the future built upon collaborative multi-wavelength endeavors, H.E.S.S.-II., and especially the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).