A future very-high-energy view of our Galaxy
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford, CA 94025 (United States)
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)
- Max-Planck Institut fuer Kernphysik, P.O. Box 103980, D-69029, Heidelberg (Germany)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford, CA-94025 (United States)
The survey of the inner Galaxy with H.E.S.S. [1, 2] was remarkably successful in detecting a wide range of new very-high-energy gamma-ray sources. New TeV gamma-ray emitting source classes were established, although several of the sources remain unidentified, and progress has been made in understanding particle acceleration in astrophysical sources. In this work, we constructed a model of a population of such very-high-energy gamma-ray emitters and normalised the flux and size distribution of this population model to the H.E.S.S.-discovered sources. Extrapolating that population of objects to lower flux levels we investigate what a future array of imaging atmospheric telescopes (IACTs) such as AGIS or CTA might detect in a survey of the Inner Galaxy with an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity. The sheer number of sources detected together with the improved resolving power will likely result in a huge improvement in our understanding of the populations of galactic gamma-ray sources. A deep survey of the inner Milky Way would also support studies of the interstellar diffuse gamma-ray emission in regions of high cosmic-ray density. In the final section of this paper we investigate the science potential for the Galactic Centre region for studying energy-dependent diffusion with such a future array.
- OSTI ID:
- 21255197
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1085, Issue 1; Conference: 4. international meeting on high energy gamma-ray astronomy, Heidelberg (Germany), 7-11 Jul 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3076819; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The Advanced Gamma-Ray Imaging System (AGIS): Science Highlights
Neutrinos from the Galactic Center Hosting a Hypernova Remnant