Exploring a SNR/Molecular Cloud Association Within HESS J1745-303

F. Aharonian , A.G. Akhperjanian , U. Barres de Almeida , A.R. Bazer-Bachi , B. Behera , M. Beilicke , W. Benbow , K. Bernlöhr , C. Boisson (1) , O. Bolz , V. Borrel , I. Braun , E. Brion (2) , A.M. Brown , R. Bühler , T. Bulik , I. Büsching , T. Boutelier (3) , S. Carrigan , P.M. Chadwick , L.-M. Chounet (4) , A.C. Clapson , G. Coignet (5) , R. Cornils , L. Costamante , M. Dalton , B. Degrange (4) , H.J. Dickinson , A. Djannati-Ataï (6) , W. Domainko , L.O'C. Drury , F. Dubois (5) , G. Dubus (3) , J. Dyks , K. Egberts , D. Emmanoulopoulos , P. Espigat (7) , C. Farnier (8) , F. Feinstein (8) , A. Fiasson (8) , A. Förster , G. Fontaine (4) , S. Funk , M. Füssling , Y.A. Gallant (8) , B. Giebels (4) , J.F. Glicenstein (2) , B. Glück , P. Goret (2) , C. Hadjichristidis , D. Hauser , M. Hauser , G. Heinzelmann , G. Henri (3) , G. Hermann , J.A. Hinton , A. Hoffmann , W. Hofmann , M. Holleran , S. Hoppe , D. Horns , A. Jacholkowska (8) , O.C. de Jager , I. Jung , K. Katarzy'Nski , E. Kendziorra , M. Kerschhaggl , B. Khélifi (4) , D. Keogh , Nu. Komin (8) , K. Kosack , G. Lamanna (5) , I.J. Latham , M. Lemoine-Goumard (4) , J.-P. Lenain (1) , T. Lohse , J.M. Martin (1) , O. Martineau-Huynh (9) , A. Marcowith (8) , C. Masterson , D. Maurin (9) , T.J.L. Mccomb , R. Moderski , Emmanuel Moulin (2) , M. Naumann-Godo (4) , M. de Naurois (9) , D. Nedbal , D. Nekrassov , S.J. Nolan , S. Ohm , J.-P. Olive , E. de Ona Wilhelmi (7) , K.J. Orford , J.L. Osborne , M. Ostrowski , M. Panter , G. Pedaletti , G. Pelletier (3) , P.-O. Petrucci (3) , S. Pita (7) , G. P¨uhlhofer , M. Punch (7) , B.C. Raubenheimer , M. Raue , S.M. Rayner , M. Renaud , J. Ripken , L. Rob , S. Rosier-Lees (5) , G. Rowell , B. Rudak , J. Ruppel , V. Sahakian , A. Santangelo , R. Schlickeiser , F.M. Sch¨ock , R. Schröder , U. Schwanke , S. Schwarzburg , S. Schwemmer , A. Shalchi , H. Sol , D. Spangler , Ł. Stawarz , R. Steenkamp , C. Stegmann , G. Superina (4) , P.H. Tam , J.-P. Tavernet (9) , R. Terrier (7) , C. van Eldik , G. Vasileiadis (8) , C. Venter , J.P. Vialle (5) , P. Vincent (9) , M. Vivier , H.J. Völk , F. Volpe , S.J. Wagner , M. Ward , A.A. Zdziarski , A. Zech (1)

1 LUTH (UMR_8102) - Laboratoire Univers et Théories
2 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
3 LAOG - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
4 LLR - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
5 LAPP - Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules
6 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies
7 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
8 LPTA - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules
9 LPNHE - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

HESS J1745-303 is an extended, unidentified VHE (very high energy) gamma-ray source discovered using HESS in the Galactic Plane Survey. Since no obvious counterpart has previously been found in longer-wavelength data, the processes that power the VHE emission are not well understood. Combining the latest VHE data with recent XMM-Newton observations and a variety of source catalogs and lower-energy survey data, we attempt to match (from an energetic and positional standpoint) the various parts of the emission of HESS J1745-303 with possible candidates. Though no single counterpart is found to fully explain the VHE emission, we postulate that at least a fraction of the VHE source may be explained by a supernova-remnant/molecular-cloud association and/or a high-spin-down-flux pulsar.

Mots clés: observations; X-rays: observations; Galaxy: general; cosmic rays; molecular clouds

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

F. Aharonian, A.G. Akhperjanian, U. Barres de Almeida, A.R. Bazer-Bachi, B. Behera, et al.. Exploring a SNR/Molecular Cloud Association Within HESS J1745-303. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2008, 483, pp.509-517. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:20079230⟩. ⟨in2p3-00274380⟩