High-(Energy)-Lights The Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Sky
نویسنده
چکیده
The high-lights of ground-based very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gammaray astronomy are reviewed. The summary covers both Galactic and extragalactic sources. Implications for our understanding of the non-thermal Universe are discussed. Identified VHE sources include various types of supernova remnants (shell-type, mixed morphology, composite) including pulsar wind nebulae, and X-ray binary systems. A diverse population of VHE-emitting Galactic sources include regions of active star formation (young stellar associations), and massive molecular clouds. Different types of active galactic nuclei have been found to emit VHE gamma-rays: besides predominantly Blazar-type objects, a radio-galaxy and a flat-spectrum radio-quasar have been discovered. Finally, many (presumably Galactic) sources have no convincing counterpart and remain at this point unidentified. A total of at least 70 sources are currently known. The next generation of ground based gamma-ray instruments aims to cover the entire accessible energy range from as low as ≈ 10 GeV up to 105 GeV and to improve the sensitivity by an order of magnitude in comparison with current instruments.
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