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Title: HESS J1741-302: a hidden accelerator in the Galactic plane

Journal Article · · Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The H.E.S.S. Collaboration has discovered a new very high energy (VHE, E > 0.1 TeV) γ-ray source, HESS J1741-302, located in the Galactic plane. Despite several attempts to constrain its nature, no plausible counterpart has been found so far at X-ray and MeV/GeV γ-ray energies, and the source remains unidentified. An analysis of 145-h of observations of HESS J1741-302 at VHEs has revealed a steady and relatively weak TeV source (~1% of the Crab Nebula flux), with a spectral index of Γ = 2.3 ± 0.2stat ± 0.2sys, extending to energies up to 10 TeV without any clear signature of a cut-off. In a hadronic scenario, such a spectrum implies an object with particle acceleration up to energies of several hundred TeV. Contrary to most H.E.S.S. unidentified sources, the angular size of HESS J1741-302 is compatible with the H.E.S.S. point spread function at VHEs, with an extension constrained to be below 0.068° at a 99% confidence level. The γ-ray emission detected by H.E.S.S. can be explained both within a hadronic scenario, due to collisions of protons with energies of hundreds of TeV with dense molecular clouds, and in a leptonic scenario, as a relic pulsar wind nebula, possibly powered by the middle-aged (20 kyr) pulsar PSR B1737-30. A binary scenario, related to the compact radio source 1LC 358.266+0.038 found to be spatially coincident with the best fit position of HESS J1741-302, is also envisaged.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Contributing Organization:
H.E.S.S. Collaboration; NANTEN Collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1434924
Journal Information:
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 612; ISSN 0004-6361
Publisher:
EDP SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 3 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

The H.E.S.S. Galactic plane survey journal April 2018
Second AGILE catalogue of gamma-ray sources journal June 2019
The H.E.S.S. Galactic plane survey text January 2018

Figures / Tables (7)

Fig. 1(p. 3)figure Fig. 1
Table 1(p. 3)table Table 1
Fig. 2(p. 4)figure Fig. 2
Table 2(p. 4)table Table 2
Fig. 3(p. 5)figure Fig. 3
Fig. 4(p. 6)figure Fig. 4
Table 3(p. 6)table Table 3

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Gamma rays: ISM
gamma rays: general
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ISM: clouds