IAP weekly specialised seminars / 8 March 2024
Fabio Acero (CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
In the aftermath of the cataclysmic explosion of stellar objects, the kinetic energy of the supernova will create a hot sphere of ejected stellar material expanding at high velocity. This supernova remnant (SNR) allows us to study the nucleosynthesis and explosion mechanisms even centuries after the explosion via X-ray observations of the thermal emission of the shock heated ejecta. The high velocity shock-wave in the SNR combined with a high magnetic field leads to an efficient particle acceleration in those objects which are believed to be significant contributors to the pool of Galactic cosmic-rays. The acceleration mechanism and particle properties can be probed using the combined information of X-ray, GeV and TeV gamma-rays telescopes. This seminar will start with a short introduction on SNR physics, present the current scientific questions, and what we’ve learned from X- and gamma-ray observations in the recent years. The future prospects with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) in TeV gamma-rays and the ESA L-class mission Athena will also be presented.