Extreme Environment Astrophysics with H.E.S.S. Phase I 2007-2010
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
PPARC has supported for the past few years UK participation in the construction, commissioning and operation of a very high energy (VHE) gamma ray telescope in Namibia, South West Africa, called the H.E.S.S. array. The first 4 telescopes of the array began routine operations in January 2004, and are revealing to us a wealth of astronomical objects acting as huge particle accelerators - supermassive black holes in distant galaxies, supernova remnants and pulsars. UK astronomers are particularly interested in variability in such objects, particularly how active galaxies accelerate particles and in mini versions of these objects in our own galaxy known as microquasars, and in the mechanisms of particle acceleration in pulsars. We are also interested in the solution of one of the great puzzles of the last 100 years, which is the origin of the cosmic rays that bombard us all the time. It has long been suspected that they are produced in supernova remnants, and now we are beginning to find evidence that this might well be the case. However, the final pieces of the jigsaw need to come from more extensive VHE gamma ray observations and observations at other wavelengths. As well as analysing the data from the telescopes, UK scientists are responsible for some of the technical tasks that ensure the whole collaboration is able to get the scientific results from the telescopes. The Durham group is responsible for the calibration systems used with the telescopes in order to ensure that the achieve full sensitivity. Uniquely, in the case of VHE gamma ray telescopes, the atmosphere actually forms part of the detector, and so we have to understand the atmosphere and then use that information in computer simulations to calculate the energies of the incoming gamma rays. In addition, data often have to be corrected for atmospheric variations, so that these can be disentangled from variations in the gamma ray emission of the objects that we observe, which obviously has an important bearing on our scientfic interests. Dr. Jim Hinton at Leeds is responsible for parts of the electronic system and software that ensure the telescopes work properly together. This grant requests funding for two postdoctoral scientists to continue working on H.E.S.S. data and perform the important calibration tasks for the collaboration.
People |
ORCID iD |
James Hinton (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Acero F
(2010)
First detection of VHE ? -rays from SN 1006 by HESS
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Aharonian F
(2010)
Discovery of VHE ? -rays from the BL Lacertae object PKS 0548-322
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Aharonian F
(2010)
Erratum to "Observations of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy by the HESS experiment and search for a dark matter signal" [Astropart. Phys. 29(1) (2008) 55-62]
in Astroparticle Physics
Abramowski A
(2011)
H.E.S.S. OBSERVATIONS OF THE GLOBULAR CLUSTERS NGC 6388 AND M15 AND SEARCH FOR A DARK MATTER SIGNAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abramowski A
(2011)
Search for Lorentz Invariance breaking with a likelihood fit of the PKS 2155-304 flare data taken on MJD 53944
in Astroparticle Physics
Aharonian F
(2011)
Primary particle acceleration above 100 TeV in the shell-type supernova remnant RX J1713.7 - 3946 with deep H.E.S.S. observations ( Corrigendum )
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Abramowski A
(2011)
H.E.S.S. constraints on dark matter annihilations towards the sculptor and carina dwarf galaxies
in Astroparticle Physics
Abramowski A
(2011)
Search for a Dark Matter Annihilation Signal from the Galactic Center Halo with H.E.S.S.
in Physical Review Letters
Abramowski A
(2012)
Probing the extent of the non-thermal emission from the Vela X region at TeV energies with H.E.S.S.
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Abramowski A
(2012)
THE 2010 VERY HIGH ENERGY ?-RAY FLARE AND 10 YEARS OF MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF M 87
in The Astrophysical Journal
Description | HESS |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) is a world-leading gamma-ray telescope system in Namibia, run by an international collaboration - see http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/collaboration/institutions/ My group has made many contributions to HESS data analysis and interpretation since 2006. The University of Leicester is now active in the upgrade of the camera hardware for HESS phase 2. |
Collaborator Contribution | Most hardware development and analysis effort for HESS has come from German and French institutes. |
Impact | Numerous STFC press releases, 87 refereed journal publications, the Descartes prize of the European Union, the Rossi price. |
Start Year | 2006 |
Description | HESS |
Organisation | Paris Diderot University |
Department | UFR of Physics |
Country | France |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) is a world-leading gamma-ray telescope system in Namibia, run by an international collaboration - see http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/pages/collaboration/institutions/ My group has made many contributions to HESS data analysis and interpretation since 2006. The University of Leicester is now active in the upgrade of the camera hardware for HESS phase 2. |
Collaborator Contribution | Most hardware development and analysis effort for HESS has come from German and French institutes. |
Impact | Numerous STFC press releases, 87 refereed journal publications, the Descartes prize of the European Union, the Rossi price. |
Start Year | 2006 |