X- and gamma-ray studies of HESS J1731-347 coincident with a newly discovered SNR
Abstract
In the survey of the Galactic plane conducted with H.E.S.S., many VHEgamma-ray sources were discovered for which no clear counterpart at otherwavelengths could be identified. HESS J1731-347 initially belonged to thissource class. Recently however, the new shell-type supernova remnant (SNR)G353.6-0.7 was discovered in radio data, positionally coinciding with the VHEsource. We will present new X-ray observations that cover a fraction of the VHEsource, revealing nonthermal emission that most likely can be interpreted assynchrotron emission from high-energy electrons. This, along with a largerH.E.S.S. data set which comprises more than twice the observation time used inthe discovery paper, allows us to test whether the VHE source may indeed beattributed to shell-type emission from that new SNR. If true, this would makeHESS J1731-347 a new object in the small but growing class of non-thermalshell-type supernova remnants with VHE emission.