Observations of Pulsars, PSR 1509-58 and PSR 1259-63, by CANGAROO 3.8 m Telescope

T. Sako, S. A. Dazeley, P. G. Edwards, T. Hara, Y. Hayami, S. Kamei, T. Kifune, R. Kita, T. Konishi, A. Masaike, Y. Matsubara, Y. Matsuoka, Y. Mizumoto, M. Mori, H. Muraishi, Y. Muraki, T. Naito, K. Nishijima, S. Ogio, J. R. Patterson, M. D. Roberts, G. P. Rowell, K. Sakurazawa, R. Susukita, A. Suzuki, R. Suzuki, T. Tamura, T. Tanimori, G. J. Thornton, S. Yanagita, T. Yoshida, T. Yoshikoshi

Published 1997-07-02Version 1

The data for VHE (~TeV) gamma rays from young gamma-ray pulsar PSR1509-58 observed in 1996 with the CANGAROO 3.8m Cerenkov imaging telescope are presented, as well as the additional data from March to June of 1997. The high spin-down luminosity of the pulsar and the plerionic feature around the pulsar observed with radio and X-rays suggest that VHE gamma-ray emission is quite likely above the sensitivity of the CANGAROO telescope. The CANGAROO results on other pulsars, such as PSR1259-63, are also presented. PSR1259-63 is a highly eccentric X-ray binary system, which includes a high mass Be companion star, and a preliminary analysis on the data taken 4 months after the periastron in 1994 suggests emission of VHE gamma rays.