Photon reconstruction for the H.E.S.S. 28 m telescope and analysis of Crab Nebula and galactic centre observations

In the presented thesis, the most advanced photon reconstruction technique of ground-based γ-ray astronomy is adapted to the H.E.S.S. 28 m telescope. The method is based on a semi-analytical model of electromagnetic particle showers in the atmosphere. The properties of cosmic γ-rays are reconstructed by comparing the camera image of the telescope with the Cherenkov emission that is expected from the shower model. To suppress the dominant background from charged cosmic rays, events are selected based on several criteria. The performance of the analysis is evaluated with simulated events. The method is then applied to two sources that are known to emit γ-rays. The first of these is the Crab Nebula, the standard candle of ground-based γ-ray astronomy. The results of this source confirm the expected performance of the reconstruction method, where the much lower energy threshold compared to H.E.S.S. I is of particular importance. A second analysis is performed on the region around the Galactic Centre. The analysis results emphasise the capabilities of the new telescope to measure γ-rays in an energy range that is interesting for both theoretical and experimental astrophysics. The presented analysis features the lowest energy threshold that has ever been reached in ground-based γ-ray astronomy, opening a new window to the precise measurement of the physical properties of time-variable sources at energies of several tens of GeV.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Potsdam

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• Holler, Markus

Contributors dc:contributor

• Stegmann, Christian

• Gammastrahlungsastronomie
• Rekonstruktionsmethoden
• Datenanalyse
• Krebsnebel
• galaktisches Zentrum
• gamma-ray astronomy
• reconstruction methods
• data analysis
• Crab Nebula
• galactic centre

Statement dc:rights

• CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International

Repository record source_url

https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/6973

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-potsdam:6973