ALTO is a project, currently in the research and development phase, with the goal of constructing a Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray observatory in the southern hemisphere. It will detect the particle content reaching the ground from the interactions of either VHE gamma rays or cosmic rays in the atmosphere known as extensive air showers. In this thesis, we use an ALTO prototype built at Linneaus University to estimate the vertical muon intensity in Växjö. The atmospheric muons we detect at ground level come from hadronic showers caused by a cosmic ray entering the atmosphere. Such showers are considered background noise in the context of VHE gamma-ray astronomy, and the presence of muons is an important indicator of the nature of the shower, and thus of the primary particle. The measurement is done by isolating events that produce signals in two small scintillation detectors that are part of the ALTO prototype, and are placed almost directly above each other. This gives us a data set that we assume represents muons travelling along a narrow set of trajectories, and by measuring the rate of such events, we estimate the muon intensity. We estimate the corresponding momentum threshold using two different methods; Monte Carlo simulation and calculation of the mean energy loss. The vertical muon intensity found through this method is about 21% higher than commonly accepted values. We discuss some possible explanations for this discrepancy, and conclude that the most likely explanation is that the isolated data set contains a significant number of “false positives”, i.e., events that do not represent a single muon following the desired trajectory.

PSR B1259-63 ist ein Binärsystem in welchem ein Pulsar um einen massereichen Be-Stern kreist. Dieses System weist variable, nicht thermische Strahlung um den Periastron herum auf, welche vom Radiobereich bis zu sehr hohen Energien (engl. very-high-energy VHE; E > 100 GeV) sichtbar ist. Die vorliegende Dissertation präsentiert VHE Daten des Systems, gemessen in den Jahren 2005, 2006 b.z.w. vor und kurz nach dem Periastron im Jahr 2007. Diese Daten erweitern das Wissen um die Lichtkurve dieses Objektes über alle Phasen der Umlaufbahn. Diese Daten wurden mit den H.E.S.S. Teleskopen gewonnen. Gamma-Strahlung in einem Energiebereich von 0.5-70 TeV wurde gemessen. Von PSR B1259-63 wurde, unter Verwendung von 55 h Detektorzeit im Jahr 2007, VHE Strahlung mit einer Gesamtsignifikanz von 9.5 Sigma detektiert. Der monatliche Photonen-Fluss wurde vermessen was erstmals zu VHE Lichtkurvendaten noch weit vor dem Periastron führte. PSR B1259-63 wurde auch in den Jahren 2005 und 2006, weit weg vom Periastron, ueberwacht. Hierbei war kein signifikanter Ueberschuss an gamma-Strahlung über Untergrund zu verzeichnen. Die signifikante Detektion von VHE Photonen, die bei einer wahren Anomalie von -0.35 , also bereits 50 Tage vor dem Periastron, ausgesendet wurden, schliesst ein Szenario mit stellarer Scheibe als Zielmaterial für hadronische Wechselwirkungen als Hauptemissionsmechanismus eher aus. Weiters konnten innerhalb einer phänomenologischen Studie Hinweise gefunden werden, dass PSR B1259-63 ein periodischer VHE Strahler ist. Darüber hinaus wurden Modellrechnungen, die auf inverser Comptonstreuung (IC) von schockbeschleunigten Pulsarwindelektronen basieren, durchgeführt. Das dargestellte Modell berücksichtigt strahlungsfreie Verluste, die möglicherweise im Bereich, in dem der Pulsarwind terminiert wird, eine Rolle spielen. Die gefundenen Ergebnisse zeigen ein eigentümliches nicht radiatives Kühlverhalten um den Periastron, das die VHE Emission in PSR B1259-63 dominiert. / PSR B1259-63 is a binary system where a 48 ms pulsar orbits a massive Be star. The system exhibits variable, non-thermal radiation around periastron visible from radio to very high energies (VHE; E>100 GeV). This thesis presents VHE data from PSR B1259-63 as taken during the years 2005, 2006 and before as well as shortly after the 2007 periastron passage. These data extend the knowledge of the lightcurve of this object to all phases of the binary orbit. Observations of VHE gamma-rays with the H.E.S.S. telescope array were performed. Gamma-ray events in an energy range of 0.5-70 TeV were recorded. VHE gamma-ray emission from PSR B1259-63 was detected with an overall significance of 9.5 standard deviations using 55 h of exposure, obtained in 2007. The monthly flux of gamma-rays during the observation period was measured, yielding VHE lightcurve data for the early pre-periastron phase of the system for the first time. PSR B1259-63 was also monitored in 2005 and 2006, far from periastron passage, comprising 8.9 h and 7.5 h of exposure, respectively. No significant excess of gamma-rays is seen in those observations. The firm detection of VHE photons emitted at a true anomaly of -0.35 of the pulsar orbit, i.e. already ~50 days prior to the periastron passage, disfavors the stellar disc target scenario as a primary emission mechanism, based on current knowledge about the companion star''s disc inclination, extension, and density profile. In a phenomenological study indirect evidence that PSR B1259-63 could in fact be a periodical VHE emitter is presented using the TeV data discussed in this work. Moreover, model calculations based on inverse compton (IC) scattering of shock accelerated pulsar wind electrons were performed. The model presented accounts for non-radiative losses possibly at work in the region where the pulsar wind is shocked by stellar outflows. The presented results show a peculiar non-radiative cooling profile around periastron dominating the VHE emission.