Observations of supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae at gamma-ray energies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2015

Abstract

In the past few years, gamma-ray astronomy has entered a golden age thanks to two major breakthroughs: Cherenkov telescopes on the ground and the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite. The sample of supernova remnants (SNRs) detected at gamma-ray energies is now much larger: it goes from evolved supernova remnants interacting with molecular clouds up to young shell-type supernova remnants and historical supernova remnants. Studies of SNRs are of great interest, as these analyses are directly linked to the long standing issue of the origin of the Galactic cosmic rays. In this context, pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) need also to be considered since they evolve in conjunction with SNRs. As a result, they frequently complicate interpretation of the gamma-ray emission seen from SNRs and they could also contribute directly to the local cosmic ray spectrum, particularly the leptonic component. This paper reviews the current results and thinking on SNRs and PWNe and their connection to cosmic ray production.

Publication Title

Comptes Rendus Physique

Volume

16

Issue

6-7

First Page

674

Last Page

685

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crhy.2015.08.015

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