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Astron. Astrophys. 361, 1073-1078 (2000)
Optimizing the angular resolution of the HEGRA telescope system to study the emission region of VHE gamma rays in the Crab Nebula
F.A. Aharonian 1,
A.G. Akhperjanian 7,
J.A. Barrio 2,3,
K. Bernlöhr 1,
H. Bojahr 6,
O. Bolz 1,
H. Börst 5,
J.L. Contreras 3,
J. Cortina 3,
S. DenninghoffV. Fonseca 2,3,
J.C. Gonzalez 3,
N. Götting 4,
G. Heinzelmann 4,
G. Hermann 1,
A. Heusler 1,
W. Hofmann 1,
D. Horns 4,
A. Ibarra 3,
C. Iserlohe 6,
I. Jung 1,
R. Kankanyan 1,
M. Kestel 2,
J. Kettler 1,
A. Kohnle 1,
A. Konopelko 1,
H. Kornmeyer 2,
D. Kranich 2,
H. Krawczynski 1,
H. Lampeitl 1,
E. Lorenz 2,
F. Lucarelli 3,
N. Magnussen 6,
O. Mang 5,
H. Meyer 6,
R. Mirzoyan 2,
A. Moralejo 3,
L. Padilla 3,
M. Panter 1,
R. Plaga 2,
A. Plyasheshnikov J. Prahl * 1,4,
G. Pühlhofer 1,
W. Rhode 6,
A. Röhring 4,
G. Rowell 1,
V. Sahakian 7,
M. Samorski 5,
M. Schilling 5,
F. Schröder 6,
M. Siems 5,
W. Stamm 5,
M. Tluczykont 4,
H.J. Völk 1,
C. Wiedner 1 and
W. Wittek 2
1 Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 103980, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany
2 Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805 München, Germany
3 Universidad Complutense, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain
4 Universität Hamburg, II. Institut für Experimentalphysik, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
5 Universität Kiel, Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Leibnizstrasse 15-19, 24118 Kiel, Germany
6 Universität Wuppertal, Fachbereich Physik, Gaussstrasse 20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany
7 Yerevan Physics Institute, Alikhanian Br. 2, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
Received 4 February 2000 / Accepted 13 July 2000
Abstract
The HEGRA system of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes provides for specially selected classes of events an angular resolution of better than 3´. By comparing the measured angular distribution of TeV gamma rays from the Crab Nebula with the distribution expected on the basis of Monte Carlo simulations, and with measurements of gamma rays from the point source Mrk 501, we conclude that the rms size of the VHE gamma-ray emission region in the Crab Nebula is less than 1.5´.
Key words: gamma rays:
observations 
ISM: individual objects: Crab
Nebula
ISM: supernova remnants
* On leave from Altai State University, Dimitrov Street 66, 656099 Barnaul, Russia
Send offprint requests to: W. Hofmann (Werner.Hofmann@mpi-hd.mpg.de)
Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Observations of the Crab Nebula with the HEGRA CT system
- 3. The limit on the size of the emission region
- 4. Concluding remarks
- Acknowledgements
- References
© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2000
Online publication: October 10, 2000
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