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Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, astro-ph.HE, Astrophysics, Galaxy Astrophysics, astro-ph.GA
Abstract:
Supernova Remnants (SNRs) are believed to be acceleration sites of Galactic
cosmic rays. Therefore, deep studies of these objects are instrumental for an
understanding of the high energy processes in our Galaxy. RX J0852.0-4622, also
known as Vela Junior, is one of the few (4) shell-type SNRs resolved at Very
High Energies (VHE; E > 100 GeV). It is one of the largest known VHE sources (~
1.0 deg radius) and its flux level is comparable to the flux level of the Crab
Nebula in the same energy band. These characteristics allow for a detailed
analysis, shedding further light on the high-energy processes taking place in
the remnant. In this document we present further details on the spatial and
spectral morphology derived with an extended data set. The analysis of the
spectral morphology of the remnant is compatible with a constant power-law
photon index of 2.11 +/- 0.05_stat +/- 0.20_syst from the whole SNR in the
energy range from 0.5 TeV to 7 TeV. The analysis of the spatial morphology
shows an enhanced emission towards the direction of the pulsar PSR J0855-4644,
however as the pulsar is lying on the rim of the SNR, it is difficult to
disentangle both contributions. Therefore, assuming a point source, the upper
limit on the flux of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) between 1 TeV and 10 TeV, is
estimated to be ~ 2% of the Crab Nebula flux in the same energy range.