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Science 25 March 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5717, pp. 1938 - 1942
DOI: 10.1126/science.1108643
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Reports

A New Population of Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Sources in the Milky Way

F. Aharonian,1 A. G. Akhperjanian,2 K.-M. Aye,3 A. R. Bazer-Bachi,4 M. Beilicke,5 W. Benbow,1 D. Berge,1 P. Berghaus,6* K. Bernlöhr,1,7 C. Boisson,8 O. Bolz,1 C. Borgmeier,7 I. Braun,1 F. Breitling,7 A. M. Brown,3 J. Bussons Gordo,9 P. M. Chadwick,3 L.-M. Chounet,10 R. Cornils,5 L. Costamante,1 B. Degrange,10 A. Djannati-Ataï,6 L. O'C. Drury,11 G. Dubus,10 T. Ergin,7 P. Espigat,6 F. Feinstein,9 P. Fleury,10 G. Fontaine,10 S. Funk,1{dagger} Y. A. Gallant,9 B. Giebels,10 S. Gillessen,1 P. Goret,12 C. Hadjichristidis,3 M. Hauser,13 G. Heinzelmann,5 G. Henri,14 G. Hermann,1 J. A. Hinton,1 W. Hofmann,1 M. Holleran,15 D. Horns,1 O. C. de Jager,15 I. Jung,1,13{ddagger} B. Khélifi,1 Nu. Komin,7 A. Konopelko,1,7 I. J. Latham,3 R. Le Gallou,3 A. Lemière,6 M. Lemoine,10 N. Leroy,10 T. Lohse,7 A. Marcowith,4 C. Masterson,1 T. J. L. McComb,3 M. de Naurois,16 S. J. Nolan,3 A. Noutsos,3 K. J. Orford,3 J. L. Osborne,3 M. Ouchrif,16 M. Panter,1 G. Pelletier,14 S. Pita,6 G. Pühlhofer,1,13 M. Punch,6 B. C. Raubenheimer,15 M. Raue,5 J. Raux,16 S. M. Rayner,3 I. Redondo,10§ A. Reimer,17 O. Reimer,17 J. Ripken,5 L. Rob,18 L. Rolland,16 G. Rowell,1 V. Sahakian,2 L. Saugé,14 S. Schlenker,7 R. Schlickeiser,17 C. Schuster,17 U. Schwanke,7 M. Siewert,17 H. Sol,8 R. Steenkamp,19 C. Stegmann,7 J.-P. Tavernet,16 R. Terrier,6 C. G. Théoret,6 M. Tluczykont,10 D. J. van der Walt,15 G. Vasileiadis,9 C. Venter,15 P. Vincent,16 B. Visser,15 H. J. Völk,1 S. J. Wagner13

Very high energy {gamma}-rays probe the long-standing mystery of the origin of cosmic rays. Produced in the interactions of accelerated particles in astrophysical objects, they can be used to image cosmic particle accelerators. A first sensitive survey of the inner part of the Milky Way with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) reveals a population of eight previously unknown firmly detected sources of very high energy {gamma}-rays. At least two have no known radio or x-ray counterpart and may be representative of a new class of "dark" nucleonic cosmic ray sources.

1 Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Post Office Box 103980, D-69029 Heidelberg, Germany.
2 Yerevan Physics Institute, 2 Alikhanian Brothers Street, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia.
3 Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
4 Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS/UPS, 9 av. du Colonel Roche, BP 4346, F-31029 Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
5 Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, D-22761 Hamburg, Germany.
6 Physique Corpusculaire et Cosmologie, IN2P3/CNRS, Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, F-75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
7 Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstr. 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany.
8 Laboratoire Univers et Théories (LUTH), UMR 8102 du CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, F-92195 Meudon Cedex, France.
9 Groupe d'Astroparticules de Montpellier, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Montpellier II, CC85, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
10 Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, IN2P3/CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.
11 Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 5 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.
12 Service d'Astrophysique, DAPNIA/DSM/CEA, CE Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
13 Landessternwarte, Königstuhl, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
14 Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, INSU/CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
15 Unit for Space Physics, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
16 Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies, IN2P3/CNRS, Universités Paris VI and VII, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
17 Institut für Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Weltraum und Astrophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
18 Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics, Charles University, V Holesovickach 2, 180 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic.
19 University of Namibia, Private Bag 13301, Windhoek, Namibia.

* Present address: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences, Campus de la Plaine, CP230, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Physics, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, CB 1105, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

§ Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stefan.funk{at}mpi-hd.mpg.de

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