What Is The Nature Of The Unidentified TeV Gamma-ray Source HESS J0632+057 ?
Abstract
TeV gamma-ray telescopes have discovered many new sources, including several enigmatic unidentified TeV objects. HESS J0632+057 is a particularly interesting unidentified TeV source: it is a point source, it has a possible hard-spectrum X-ray counterpart and a positionally consistent Be star, it has evidence of long-term VHE flux variability, and it is postulated to be a newly detected TeV/X-ray binary. We have obtained long term Swift X-ray telescope observations of this source from MJD 54857 to the present time, in an attempt to ascertain its nature and to investigate the hypothesis that it is a previously unknown X-ray/TeV binary. Variability and spectral properties similar to those of the other 3 known X-ray/TeV binaries have been observed, with measured flux increases to factors of three. X-ray variability is present on multiple timescales including days to months. We will report on the status of this campaign and our conclusions regarding the nature of this object.
- Publication:
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AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #11
- Pub Date:
- March 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010HEAD...11.4227F