Serendipitous discovery of the unidentified extended TeV γ-ray source HESS J1303-631
Open Access
- 12 August 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by EDP Sciences in Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Vol. 439 (3) , 1013-1021
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20053195
Abstract
The serendipitous discovery of an unidentified extended TeV γ-ray source close to the galactic plane named HESS J1303-631 at a significance of 21 standard deviations is reported. The observations were performed between February and June 2004 with the HESS stereoscopic system of Cherenkov telescopes in Namibia. HESS J1303-631 was discovered roughly north of the binary system PSR B1259-63/SS 2883, the target object of the initial observation campaign which was also detected at TeV energies in the same field of view. HESS J1303-631 is extended with a width of an assumed intrinsic Gaussian emission profile of and the integral flux above is compatible with constant emission over the entire observational period of % of the Crab Nebula flux. The measured energy spectrum can be described by a power-law with a photon index of . Up to now, no counterpart at other wavelengths is identified. Various possible TeV production scenarios are discussed.Keywords
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