Observations of Supernova Remnants and Pulsar Wind Nebulae: A VERITAS Key Science Project

TL;DR

This paper summarizes VERITAS observations of supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae, highlighting their significance as sources of cosmic rays and gamma-ray emissions, based on two years of data collection.

Contribution

It provides new observational data and insights into supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae as gamma-ray sources from the VERITAS Key Science Project.

Findings

Supernova remnants are strong candidates for cosmic ray sources below 10^15 eV.

Pulsar wind nebulae are confirmed as prolific very-high-energy gamma-ray emitters.

The observational program has expanded understanding of gamma-ray emissions from these objects.

Abstract

The study of supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae was one of the Key Science Projects for the first two years of VERITAS observations. VERITAS is an array of four imaging Cherenkov telescopes located at the Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. Supernova remnants are widely considered to be the strongest candidate for the source of cosmic rays below the knee at around 10^15 eV. Pulsar wind nebulae are synchrotron nebulae powered by the spin-down of energetic young pulsars, and comprise one of the most populous very-high-energy gamma-ray source classes. This poster will summarize the results of this observation program.