Embassy Activities
SA scientists make ground breaking gamma-ray discovery
Wits University astronomers have discovered three extremely luminous gamma-ray sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, using the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescopes. After seven years of collecting 200 hours of data, the scientists found these new sources, namely, the Pulsar Wind Nebula, Supernova Remnant, and the Superbubble. The discovery was featured in the latest edition of the scientific journal, Science, in a research paper titled: The exceptionally powerful TeV ƴ-ray emitters in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Wits scientists are part of a multinational team of astronomers working on the H.E.S.S telescope. Others are from North West University, and the universities of the Free State and Johannesburg.