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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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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Polarized Gamma-Ray Emission from the Crab.
A. J. Dean, D. J. Clark, J. B. Stephen, V. A. McBride, L. Bassani, A. Bazzano, A. J. Bird, A. B. Hill, S. E. Shaw, and P. Ubertini (2008)
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Discovery of Very High Energy Gamma Rays Associated with an X-ray Binary.
F. Aharonian, A. G. Akhperjanian, K.-M. Aye, A. R. Bazer-Bachi, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, D. Berge, P. Berghaus, K. Bernlohr, C. Boisson, et al. (2005)
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