Supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs)

Abstract

The observation of very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma rays is an excellent tool to study the most energetic and violent environments in the Galaxy. This energy range is only accessible with ground-based instruments such as Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) that reconstruct the energy and direction of the primary gamma ray by observing the Cherenkov light from the induced extended air showers in Earths atmosphere. The main goals of Galactic VHE gamma-ray science are the identification of individual sources of cosmic rays (CRs), such as supernova remnants (SNRs), and the study of other extreme astrophysical objects at the highest energies, such as gamma-ray binaries and pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe).One of the main challenges is the discrimination between leptonic and hadronic gamma-ray production channels. To that end, the gamma-ray signal from each individual source needs to be brought into context with the multi-wavelength environment of the astrophysical object in question, particularly with observations tracing the density of the surrounding interstellar medium, or synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons.In this review presented at the European Cosmic Ray Symposium 2014 (ECRS2014), the most recent developments in the field of Galactic VHE gamma-ray science are highlighted, with particular emphasis on SNRs and PWNe.