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[en] The H.E.S.S. collaboration recently reported the discovery of VHE γ-ray emission coincident with the young stellar cluster Westerlund 2. This system is known to host a population of hot, massive stars, and, most particularly, the WR binary WR 20a. Particle acceleration to TeV energies in Westerlund 2 can be accomplished in several alternative scenarios, therefore we only discuss energetic constraints based on the total available kinetic energy in the system, the actual mass loss rates of respective cluster members, and implied gamma-ray production from processes such as inverse Compton scattering or neutral pion decay. From the inferred gamma-ray luminosity of the order of 10³⁵ erg/s, implications for the efficiency of converting available kinetic energy into non-thermal radiation associated with stellar winds in the Westerlund 2 cluster are discussed under consideration of either the presence or absence of wind clumping

[en] Full text: Fermi gamma-ray space telescope is an international satellite mission with a physics program spanning from gamma-ray astronomy to particle astrophysics. Fermi was launched in 2008, and is successfully conducting science observations of the gamma-ray sky. A variety of discoveries have been made already, e.g. finding radio-quiet PSRs as major constituents among the galactic gamma-ray sources, and disproving a universal 'GeV excess' in the diffuse emission spectrum. Complementary in many aspects, the ground-based High Energy Stereoscopy System (H.E.S.S.) reveals even more extreme particle accelerators. With both techniques deployed a golden age for particle astrophysics using the photon messenger has just begun. (author)

[en] The launch of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) in 2007 will open the possibility of combined studies of astrophysical sources with existing ground-based VHE γ-ray experiments such as H.E.S.S., VERITAS and MAGIC. Ground-based γ-ray observatories provide complementary capabilities for spectral, temporal, spatial and population studies of high-energy γ-ray sources. Joint observations cover a huge energy range, from 20 MeV to over 50 TeV. The LAT will survey the entire sky every three hours, allowing us to perform long-term monitoring of variable sources under uniform observation conditions and to detect flaring sources promptly. Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) will complement these observations with high-sensitivity pointed observations on regions of interest

[en] Various emission mechanism suggest clusters of galaxies to exhibit high-energy gamma-ray radiation. Galaxy clusters are predicted to be at the edge of the instrumental sensitivity currently accessible with gamma-ray telescopes. It is suggested that galaxy clusters contribute to the extragalactic diffuse background and, in few individual cases, they might be already detectable as individual sources. On the assumption that a flux limited sample of X-ray bright clusters will suit as a reasonable selection, gamma-ray fluxes (E>100 MeV) are determined using EGRET data throughout the entire CGRO mission. In order to investigate beyond the case of the individual X-ray bright cluster, the gamma-ray data of individual clusters are cumulative stacked in a cluster-centered coordinate system and the resulting images have been analyzed. The results from EGRET are given and discussed in the light of predictions already found in the literature as well as in perspective of upcoming gamma-ray mission like INTEGRAL and, primarily, GLAST

[en] The dynamics of colliding-wind binary (CWB) systems and conditions for efficient particle acceleration therein have attracted multiple numerical studies in recent years. These numerical models seek an explanation of the thermal and nonthermal emission of these systems as seen by observations. In the nonthermal regime, radio and X-ray emission is observed for several of these CWBs, while gamma-ray emission has so far only been found in η Carinae and possibly in WR 11. Energetic electrons are deemed responsible for a large fraction of the observed high-energy photons in these systems. Only in the gamma-ray regime might there be, depending on the properties of the stars, a significant contribution of emission from neutral pion decay. Thus, studying the emission from CWBs requires detailed models of the acceleration and propagation of energetic electrons. This in turn requires a detailed understanding of the magnetic field, which will affect not only the energy losses of the electrons but also, in the case of synchrotron emission, the directional dependence of the emissivity. In this study we investigate magnetohydrodynamic simulations of different CWB systems with magnetic fields that are strong enough to have a significant effect on the winds. Such strong fields require a detailed treatment of the near-star wind acceleration zone. We show the implementation of such simulations and discuss results that demonstrate the effect of the magnetic field on the structure of the wind collision region.

[en] Recent reports claiming an association of the massive star binary system ${\mathrm{\gamma <!--\; ??\; -->}}^2$ Velorum (WR 11) with a high-energy γ-ray source observed by Fermi-LAT contrast the so far exclusive role of η Carinae as the hitherto only detected γ-ray emitter in the source class of particle-accelerating colliding-wind binary (CWB) systems. We offer support to this claim of association by providing dedicated model predictions for the nonthermal photon emission spectrum of ${\mathrm{\gamma <!--\; ??\; -->}}^2$ Velorum. We use 3D magnetohydrodynamic modeling (MHD) to investigate the structure and conditions of the wind-collision region (WCR) of ${\mathrm{\gamma <!--\; ??\; -->}}^2$ Velorum including the important effect of radiative braking in the stellar winds. A transport equation is then solved for the entire computational domain to study the propagation of relativistic electrons and protons. The resulting distributions of particles are subsequently used to compute nonthermal photon emission components. In agreement with observation in X-ray spectroscopy, our simulations yield a large shock-cone opening angle. We find the nonthermal γ-ray emission of ${\mathrm{\gamma <!--\; ??\; -->}}^2$ Velorum to be of hadronic origin owing to the strong radiation fields in the binary system, which inhibit the acceleration of electrons to energies sufficiently high for efficient inverse-Compton radiation. We also discuss the strong dependence of a hadronic γ-ray component on the energy-dependent diffusion used in the simulations. Of two mass-loss rates for the WR star found in literature, only the higher rate is able to accommodate the observed γ-ray spectrum with reasonable values for important simulation parameters such as the injection ratio of high-energy particles within the WCR.

[en] In 2003, PKS 2155-304 has been significantly detected by H.E.S.S. at Very High Energies (VHE), with an average spectrum of Γ = 3.3. Due to absorption by the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), the intrinsic spectrum is heavily modified both in shape and intensity. To correct for this effect, and locate the Inverse Compton (IC) peak of the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), we used three EBL models (representatives of three different flux levels for the stellar peak component). The resulting TeV spectrum has a peak around 1 TeV for stellar peak fluxes above the Primack (2001) calculation, while the spectrum is steeper than Γ = 2 (thus locating the IC peak < 200 GeV) for fluxes below. With bulk Lorentz factors δ = 20 - 30 (typically used for this object), in the first case the IC peak is in the Klein-Nishina transition region, while in the other case it is in the Thompson regime, and in agreement with the commonly fitted source parameters (e.g. [17]). The constraint on δ given by transparency to 2 TeV photons is δ > 19 (for historical SED fluxes and 2 hours variability timescale)

[en] We present a data set derived from ∼50 ksec continuous Suzaku observations and covered with quasi-simultaneous TeV-observations (HESS, MAGIC) of two of the more distant TeV-blazars detected to date: 1ES 1101-232 and 1ES 1553+113. Both sources are found in a non-variable state with combined XIS-PIN spectra indicating downward curvature up to several tens of keV. 1ES 101-232 was found in a quiet state with the lowest X-ray flux ever measured. We discuss the contemporaneous broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of both sources and implications from absorption in the EBL for the redshift of 1ES 1553+113.

[en] Massive stars in binary systems have long been regarded as potential sources of high-energy γ rays. The emission is principally thought to arise in the region where the stellar winds collide and accelerate relativistic particles which subsequently emit γ rays. On the basis of a three-dimensional distribution function of high-energy particles in the wind collision region—as obtained by a numerical hydrodynamics and particle transport model—we present the computation of the three-dimensional nonthermal photon emission for a given line of sight. Anisotropic inverse Compton emission is modeled using the target radiation field of both stars. Photons from relativistic bremsstrahlung and neutral pion decay are computed on the basis of local wind plasma densities. We also consider photon-photon opacity effects due to the dense radiation fields of the stars. Results are shown for different stellar separations of a given binary system comprising of a B star and a Wolf-Rayet star. The influence of orbital orientation with respect to the line of sight is also studied by using different orbital viewing angles. For the chosen electron-proton injection ratio of 10^–2, we present the ensuing photon emission in terms of two-dimensional projections maps, spectral energy distributions, and integrated photon flux values in various energy bands. Here, we find a transition from hadron-dominated to lepton-dominated high-energy emission with increasing stellar separations. In addition, we confirm findings from previous analytic modeling that the spectral energy distribution varies significantly with orbital orientation.