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Unveiling the high energy Milky Way reveals 'dark accelerators'
Posted: Friday, March 25, 2005
Unveiling the high energy Milky Way reveals 'dark accelerators'
In the March 25th 2005 issue of Science Magazine, the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) team of international astrophysicists, including UK astronomers from the University of Durham, report results of a first sensitive survey of the central part of our galaxy in very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays. Included among the new objects discovered are two 'dark accelerators' - mysterious objects that are emitting energetic particles, yet apparently have no optical or x-ray counterpart.
This survey reveals a total of eight new sources of VHE gamma-rays in the disc of our Galaxy, essentially doubling the number known at these energies. The results have pushed astronomy into a previously unknown domain, extending our knowledge of the Milky Way in a novel wavelength regime thereby opening a new window on our galaxy.
Gamma-rays are produced in extreme cosmic particle accelerators such as supernova explosions and provide a unique view of the high energy processes at work in the Milky Way. VHE gamma-ray astronomy is still a young field and H.E.S.S. is conducting the first sensitive survey at this energy range, finding previously unknown sources.
Particularly stunning is that two of these new sources discovered by H.E.S.S. have no obvious counterparts in more conventional wavelength bands such as optical and X-ray astronomy. The discovery of VHE gamma-rays from such sources suggests that they may be 'dark accelerators', as Stefan Funk from the Max-Planck Institut in Heidelberg affirms: "These objects seem to only emit radiation in the highest energy bands. We had hoped that with a new instrument like H.E.S.S. we would detect some new sources, but the success we have now exceeds all our expectations."
Full Article : physorg.com
More: Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
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