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PKS 1830-211 is a known macrolensed quasar located at a redshift of z = 2.5. Its highenergy gamma-ray emission has been detected with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) instrument and evidence for lensing was obtained by several authors from its high-energy data. Observations of PKS 1830-211 were taken with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes in 2014 August, following a flare alert by the Fermi-LAT Collaboration. The H.E.S.S observations were aimed at detecting a gamma-ray flare delayed by 20-27 d from the alert flare, as expected from observations at other wavelengths. More than 12 h of good-quality data were taken with an analysis threshold of similar to 67 GeV. The significance of a potential signal is computed as a function of the date and the average significance over the whole period. Data are compared to simultaneous observations by Fermi-LAT. No photon excess or significant signal is detected. An upper limit on PKS 1830-211 flux above 67 GeV is computed and compared to the extrapolation of the Fermi-LAT flare spectrum.
PKS 0625-354 (z = 0.055) was observed with the four High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescopes in 2012 during 5.5 h. The source was detected above an energy threshold of 200 GeV at a significance level of 6.1 sigma. No significant variability is found in these observations. The source is well described with a power-law spectrum with photon index Gamma = 2.84 +/- 0.50(stat) +/- 0.10(syst) and normalization (at E-0 = 1.0 TeV) N-0(E-0)=(0.58 +/- 0.22(stat) +/- 0.12(syst)) x 10(-12) TeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1). Multiwavelength data collected with Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT, Swift-UVOT, ATOM and WISE are also analysed. Significant variability is observed only in the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray and Swift-XRT X-ray energy bands. Having a good multiwavelength coverage from radio to very high energy, we performed a broad-band modelling from two types of emission scenarios. The results from a one zone lepto-hadronic and a multizone leptonic models are compared and discussed. On the grounds of energetics, our analysis favours a leptonic multizone model. Models associated to the X-ray variability constraint support previous results, suggesting a BL Lac nature of PKS 0625-354 with, however, a large-scale jet structure typical of a radio galaxy.
The H.E.S.S. Collaboration has discovered a new very high energy (VHE, E > 0.1 TeV) gamma-ray source, HESS J1741-302, located in the Galactic plane. Despite several attempts to constrain its nature, no plausible counterpart has been found so far at X-ray and MeV/GeV gamma-ray energies, and the source remains unidentified. An analysis of 145-h of observations of HESS J1741-302 at VHEs has revealed a steady and relatively weak TeV source (similar to 1% of the Crab Nebula flux), with a spectral index of Gamma = 2.3 +/- 0.2(stat) +/- 0.2(sys), extending to energies up to 10 TeV without any clear signature of a cut-off. In a hadronic scenario, such a spectrum implies an object with particle acceleration up to energies of several hundred TeV. Contrary to most H.E.S.S. unidentified sources, the angular size of HESS J1741-302 is compatible with the H.E.S.S. point spread function at VHEs, with an extension constrained to be below 0.068 degrees at a 99% confidence level. The gamma-ray emission detected by H.E.S.S. can be explained both within a hadronic scenario, due to collisions of protons with energies of hundreds of TeV with dense molecular clouds, and in a leptonic scenario, as a relic pulsar wind nebula, possibly powered by the middle-aged (20 kyr) pulsar PSR B1737-30. A binary scenario, related to the compact radio source 1LC 358.266+0.038 found to be spatially coincident with the best fit position of HESS J1741-302, is also envisaged.
A search for dark matter linelike signals iss performed in the vicinity of the Galactic Center by the H.E.S.S. experiment on observational data taken in 2014. An unbinned likelihood analysis iss developed to improve the sensitivity to linelike signals. The upgraded analysis along with newer data extend the energy coverage of the previous measurement down to 100 GeV. The 18 h of data collected with the H.E.S.S. array allow one to rule out at 95% C.L. the presence of a 130 GeV line (at l = -1.5 degrees, b = 0 degrees and for a dark matter profile centered at this location) previously reported in Fermi-LAT data. This new analysis overlaps significantly in energy with previous Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. results. No significant excess associated with dark matter annihilations was found in the energy range of 100 GeV to 2 TeV and upper limits on the gamma-ray flux and the velocity weighted annihilation cross section are derived adopting an Einasto dark matter halo profile. Expected limits for present and future large statistics H.E.S.S. observations are also given.
Measurement of the EBL spectral energy distribution using the VHE gamma-ray spectra of HESS blazars
(2017)
Very high-energy gamma rays (VHE, E greater than or similar to 100 GeV) propagating over cosmological distances can interact with the low-energy photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and produce electron-positron pairs. The transparency of the Universe to VHE gamma rays is then directly related to the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL. The observation of features in the VHE energy spectra of extragalactic sources allows the EBL to be measured, which otherwise is very difficult. An EBL model-independent measurement of the EBL SED with the H.E.S.S. array of Cherenkov telescopes is presented. It was obtained by extracting the EBL absorption signal from the reanalysis of high-quality spectra of blazars. From H.E.S.S. data alone the EBL signature is detected at a significance of 9.5 sigma, and the intensity of the EBL obtained in different spectral bands is presented together with the associated gamma-ray horizon.
Shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs) are considered prime candidates for the acceleration of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) up to the knee of the CR spectrum at E approximate to 3 x 10(15) eV. Our MilkyWay galaxy hosts more than 350 SNRs discovered at radio wavelengths and at high energies, of which 220 fall into the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey (HGPS) region. Of those, only 50 SNRs are coincident with a H.E.S.S source and in 8 cases the very high-energy (VHE) emission is firmly identified as an SNR. The H.E.S.S. GPS provides us with a legacy for SNR population study in VHE gamma-rays and we use this rich data set to extract VHE flux upper limits from all undetected SNRs. Overall, the derived flux upper limits are not in contradiction with the canonical CR paradigm. Assuming this paradigm holds true, we can constrain typical ambient density values around shell-type SNRs to n <= 7 cm(-3) and electron-to-proton energy fractions above 10 TeV to epsilon(ep) <= 5 x 10(-3). Furthermore, comparisons of VHE with radio luminosities in non-interacting SNRs reveal a behaviour that is in agreement with the theory of magnetic field amplification at shell-type SNRs.
The inner region of the Milky Way halo harbors a large amount of dark matter (DM). Given its proximity, it is one of the most promising targets to look for DM. We report on a search for the annihilations of DM particles using gamma-ray observations towards the inner 300 pc of the Milky Way, with the H.E.S.S. array of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. The analysis is based on a 2D maximum likelihood method using Galactic Center (GC) data accumulated by H.E.S.S. over the last 10 years (2004-2014), and does not show any significant gamma-ray signal above background. Assuming Einasto and Navarro-Frenk-White DM density profiles at the GC, we derive upper limits on the annihilation cross section <sigma nu >. These constraints are the strongest obtained so far in the TeV DM mass range and improve upon previous limits by a factor 5. For the Einasto profile, the constraints reach <sigma nu > values of 6 x 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1) in the W+W- channel for a DM particle mass of 1.5 TeV, and 2 x 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1) in the tau(+)tau(-) channel for a 1 TeV mass. For the first time, ground-based gamma-ray observations have reached sufficient sensitivity to probe <sigma nu > values expected from the thermal relic density for TeV DM particles.
Spectral lines are among the most powerful signatures for dark matter (DM) annihilation searches in very-high-energy gamma rays. The central region of the Milky Way halo is one of the most promising targets given its large amount of DM and proximity to Earth. We report on a search for a monoenergetic spectral line from self-annihilations of DM particles in the energy range from 300 GeV to 70 TeV using a two-dimensional maximum likelihood method taking advantage of both the spectral and spatial features of the signal versus background. The analysis makes use of Galactic center observations accumulated over ten years (2004-2014) with the H.E.S.S. array of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. No significant gamma-ray excess above the background is found. We derive upper limits on the annihilation cross section (sigma v) for monoenergetic DM lines at the level of 4 x 10(-28) cm(3) s(-1) at 1 TeV, assuming an Einasto DM profile for the Milky Way halo. For a DM mass of 1 TeV, they improve over the previous ones by a factor of 6. The present constraints are the strongest obtained so far for DM particles in the mass range 300 GeV-70 TeV. Ground-based gamma-ray observations have reached sufficient sensitivity to explore relevant velocity-averaged cross sections for DM annihilation into two gamma-ray photons at the level expected from the thermal relic density for TeV DM particles.
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are among the most promising targets for detecting signals of Dark Matter (DM) annihilations. The H.E.S.S. experiment has observed five of these systems for a total of about 130 hours. The data are re-analyzed here, and, in the absence of any detected signals, are interpreted in terms of limits on the DM annihilation cross section. Two scenarios are considered: i) DM annihilation into mono-energetic gamma-rays and ii) DM in the form of pure WIMP multiplets that, annihilating into all electroweak bosons, produce a distinctive gamma-ray spectral shape with a high-energy peak at the DM mass and a lower-energy continuum. For case i), upper limits at 95% confidence level of about <sigma upsilon > less than or similar to 3 x 10(-25) cm(3) s(-1) are obtained in the mass range of 400 GeV to 1TeV. For case ii), the full spectral shape of the models is used and several excluded regions are identified, but the thermal masses of the candidates are not robustly ruled out.