We report the polarization measurement in prompt γ-ray emission of GRB 100826A with the Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter (GAP) aboard the small solar power sail demonstrator IKAROS. We detected the firm change of polarization angle (PA) during the prompt emission with 99.9 % (3.5 σ) confidence level, and the average polarization degree (Π) of 27 ± 11 % with 99.4 % (2.9 σ) confidence level. Here the quoted errors are given at 1 σ confidence level for two parameters of interest. The systematic errors have been carefully included in this analysis, unlike any previous reports. Such a high Π can be obtained in several emission models of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), including synchrotron and photospheric models. However, it is difficult to explain the observed significant change of PA within the framework of axisymmetric jet as considered in many theoretical works. The non-axisymmetric (e.g., patchy) structures of the magnetic fields and/or brightness inside the relativistic jet are therefore required within the observable angular scale of ∼ Γ −1 . Our observation strongly indicates that the polarization measurement is a powerful tool to constrain the GRB production mechanism, and more theoretical works are needed to discuss the data in more details.

Protons with energies up to ~ 10 15 eV are the main component 1 of cosmic rays, but evidence for the specific locations where they could have been accelerated to these energies has been lacking 2 . Electrons are known to be accelerated to cosmic-ray energies in supernova remnants 3,4 , and the shock waves associated with such remnants, when they hit the surrounding interstellar medium, could also provide the energy to accelerate protons. The signature of such a process would be the decay of pions (π 0 ), which are generated when the protons collide with atoms and molecules in an interstellar cloud: pion decay results in γ-rays with a particular spectral-energy distribution 5,6 . Here we report the observation of cascade showers of optical photons resulting fromγ-rays at energies of ~ 10 12 eV hitting Earth's upper atmosphere, in the direction of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946. The spectrum is a good match to that predicted by pion decay, and cannot be explained by other mechanisms.

A deep survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud at ∼ 0.1−100 TeV photon energies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array is planned. We assess the detection prospects based on a model for the emission of the galaxy, comprising the four known TeV emitters, mock populations of sources, and interstellar emission on galactic scales. We also assess the detectability of 30 Doradus and SN 1987A, and the constraints that can be derived on the nature of dark matter. The survey will allow for fine spectral studies of N 157B, N 132D, LMC P3, and 30 Doradus C, and half a dozen other sources should be revealed, mainly pulsar-powered objects. The remnant from SN 1987A could be detected if it produces cosmic-ray nuclei with a flat power-law spectrum at high energies, or with a steeper index 2.3 − 2.4 pending a flux increase by a factor > 3 − 4 over ∼ 2015 − 2035. Large-scale interstellar emission remains mostly out of reach of the survey if its > 10 GeV spectrum has a soft photon index ∼ 2.7, but degree-scale 0.1 − 10 TeV pion-decay emission could be detected if the cosmic-ray spectrum hardens above >100 GeV. The 30 Doradus star-forming region is detectable if acceleration efficiency is on the order of 1 − 10% of the mechanical luminosity and diffusion is suppressed by two orders of magnitude within < 100 pc. Finally, the survey could probe the canonical velocity-averaged cross section for self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles for cuspy Navarro-Frenk-White profiles.

In this Letter we report the discovery of TeV gamma-ray emission from a supernova remnant made with the CANGAROO 3.8 m telescope. TeV gamma rays were detected at the sky position and extension coincident with the northeast rim of shell-type supernova remnant (SNR) SN 1006 (Type Ia). SN 1006 has been a most likely candidate for an extended TeV gamma-ray source, since the clear synchrotron X-ray emission from the rims was recently observed by ASCA (Koyama et al.), which is strong evidence for the existence of very high energy (up to hundreds of TeV) electrons in the SNR. The observed TeV gamma-ray flux was (2.4 ‫ע‬ 0.0.7 [systematic]) # 10 3.0 ‫ע‬ 0.9 (4.6 ‫ע‬ 0.6 ‫ע‬ 1.4) # 10 1.7 ‫ע‬ 0.5 from the 1996 and 1997 observations, respectively. Also, we set an upper limit on the TeV gamma-ray emission from the southwest rim, which is estimated to be cm Ϫ2 s Ϫ1 (≥ TeV, 95% confidence level) Ϫ12

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The in-orbit performance and calibration of the Gas Imaging Spectrometer (GIS), located on the focal plane of the X-ray astronomy satellite ASCA, are described. An extensive in-orbit calibration has confirmed its basic performance, including a position resolution of 0.6 mm (FWHM) and an energy resolution of 7.8% (FWHM), both at 6 keV. When combined with the X-ray telescope, the GIS sensitivity range becomes 0.7-10 keV. The in-orbit non X-ray background of the GIS has been confirmed to be as low as (5-9) × 10−4 cs−1 cm−2 keV−1 over the 1-10 keV range. The long-term detector gain has been stable within a few % for nearly 3 years. Extensive observations of the Crab Nebula and other sources have provided accurate calibrations of the position response, photometric capability, dead time, and timing accuracy of the GIS. Furthermore, the overall energy response, including the temporal and positional gain variations and the absolute gain scale, has been calibrated to ∼ 1%. Thus, the GIS is working as an all-round cosmic X-ray detector, capable of X-ray imagery, fine X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photometry with a flux dynamic range covering more than 5 orders of magnitude, and fast X-ray photometry with a time resolution up to 60 μs.

We report the strictest observational verification of CPT invariance in the photon sector, as a result of γ-ray polarization measurement of distant gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are the brightest stellar-sized explosions in the Universe. We detected γ-ray polarization of three GRBs with high significance levels, and the source distances may be constrained by a well-known luminosity indicator for GRBs. For the Lorentz- and CPT-violating dispersion relation E(±)(2) = p(2) ± 2ξp(3)/M(Pl), where ± denotes different circular polarization states of the photon, the parameter ξ is constrained as |ξ|