A Deconvolution technique for VHE Gamma-ray Astronomy, and its application to the morphological study of shell-type supernova remnants

TL;DR

This paper introduces a deconvolution algorithm tailored for VHE gamma-ray images from H.E.S.S., enhancing morphological analysis of supernova remnants to better understand their emission origins.

Contribution

It presents a novel Richardson-Lucy based deconvolution method specifically designed for ground-based gamma-ray telescope data.

Findings

Refined morphological details of supernova remnants.

Improved correlation analysis with other wavelengths.

Enhanced interpretation of gamma-ray emission origins.

Abstract

Deconvolution algorithms have been used successfully for optimization/restoration/deblurring of astronomical images in a variety of wavelengths, especially in the optical band (e.g., for HST). We present here an iterative Richardson-Lucy type method designed for treatment of images obtained with the H.E.S.S. array of ground-based gamma-ray telescopes. Its application to shell-type supernova remnant images yields refined details relevant for the study of correlations with other wavelengths, and hence for interpretation in terms either of hadronic or leptonic origin of the observed VHE gamma-ray emission.