Pulsarwinds

In early 2004, observations carried out with the H.E.S.S. array of imaging Cerenkov telescopes in Namibia confirmed with startling accuracy a prediction published in 1999 by astrophysicists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik of the gamma-ray spectrum of the binary star system PSR B1259-63. Although these observations are a strong indication that the theory is not on the wrong track, they have also posed new puzzles. In combination with observations made in other wavelength ranges, they promise to lead to a deeper understanding of the physics involved in the production of highly relativistic pulsar winds.